When Marilyn Monroe sang about diamonds being a girl's best friend, it is doubtful she had the Bowers and Wilkins 800 series in mind.

While most women would be thrilled if their partner brought home a £14,000 gem, they might not be so impressed if it was attached to a giant hi-fi speaker.

But that is exactly what you will get if you splash out on one of a new range of products from the Worthing-based speaker company.

Sounds like the ultimate "bling bling" hi-fi gimic? Far from it, insists the company.

The diamonds in the 800 series do not sparkle and shine.

Instead, they are an integral part of the mechanism of what Bowers and Wilkins claims are theoretically perfect loudspeakers.

Scientists at the firm have searched for years to find the right material from which to make tweeters - small speakers which sit above the main speaker cone and deliver high-pitched sounds.

Company spokesman Danny Haikin said: "The perfect tweeter would be made from a material which is stiff and does not bend or warp. Aluminium and beryllium are good but diamond is the ultimate.

"It may sound like a gimic but even untrained ears would instantly recognise the superior quality of these speakers.

"It's as good as the musicians being in the same room."

Celebrity users include Peter Gabriel and Dave Stewart and the 800 series even grace the world-famous Abbey Road studios in London.

But perfection comes at a price, in this case between £6,000 and £14,000 a pair.

Bowers and Wilkins was founded after the war by John Bowers and Roy Wilkins. Bowers spent the war years working on special operations in clandestine radio contact with Allied resistance operatives in occupied Europe.

Mr Haikin said: "One of John's passions was classical music. He was disappointed by the sound reproduction of the day and set about improving the quality by modifying existing loudspeakers."

In 1966, he and lifelong friend Peter Hayward founded a separate manufacturing company, then called B&W Electronics.

Bowers died in 1987 after setting up a research and development facility for his team of engineers in Steyning, dubbed the University of Sound.

The 800 series will be available from March 3 at Phase 3 Hi-Fi in Worthing.

For more information visit www.bwspeakers.com