Superb combination of clarity, bright and deep range of dynamics, with a very sexy look with those grills off.

They can support up to 120 watts which is pretty decent, but with a much stronger receiver, that could potentially catch up to them quickly.

I recently picked up a pair of B&W 602 Series 3 speakers to replace my B&W 601 S1 front mains. I have a smaller room size which is about 12 x 14. The speakers were about 3 feet off the wall. My listening position was about 8 feet away. I performed a listening test of the 602s vs the 601s. I was hoping the improved tweeter design in the 602 would really show details in the music. I found that the 602s are a bit less detailed then the 601s in this smaller room size. My setup is a Rotel RSX-1056 receiver and Paradigm Sub. They are not as detailed at lower volume levels. I suspect this speaker is designed for a much larger room size. When increasing the volume the speaker performs much better. After listening tests, I ended up placing back my 601s as my mains. I'll use these speakers in another room that doesn't have a sub because they have a better lower end. For folks considering these speakers, I suspect if you room size is larger then 12 x 14 then this is your speaker. For smaller rooms or setups with a subwoofer, I would stick with the 601 model. The 601 model is much more detailed at lower volume levels and can perform great without a sub.

I was surprised to learn I have now owned my B&W 602 speakers for more than ten years. They sound as good if not better than when I first bought them! I had previously owned a pair of Ohm Walsh 2s for about 8 years. Although a great sounding speaker with stellar imagining, they also sounded too muted for my liking. In other words, I tired of their sound and wanted something more exiting. I did and they cost $300 less!

I bought the B&W 602s along with a good pair of speaker stands upon the recommendation of a now defunct high end audio store (sniff) I used to frequent regularly. Price paid out the door was $710.00 including stands. What a bargain!
I bought the B&W 602 speakers just after moving to a much smaller house. I also have a B&W A S ‘6 sub woofer that moved with me but was unsure if it was overkill. I am glad I kept the sub as it is pretty cool to have watching movies and for a bass freak like me, essential to get my rocks off lol!

The B&W 602 speakers were the best value at the time and have withstood the test of time in my opinion.
I listen to a lot off jazz and have found these speakers perform quite nicely but I have to say I prefer to listen with sub on. The 602s do have great bass extension though and are very smooth in the mid range which I believe was a selling point at the time. Imagining is excellent and a joy to listen to. I don’t think you would be disappointed listening to Sinatra or Ella. Truthfully, these speakers deserve better amps than I provided them with and without a doubt would only complement their performance.

These speakers get really scary listening to rock! I mean, these things are killer rock speakers hands down. Provide a good subwoofer and you will a have spine tingling experience, no question. Now, this is in a small house, I don’t know about a bigger one. I also have hard wood floors and not much acoustic material lying around so the effect may be considerably less spine tingling. Again, a really good amp and you can open them up. In conclusion, if you are looking for a great pair of speakers that are versatile and reasonably priced, you cannot go wrong with B&W 602.

A cost effective choice for those looking for a versatile bookshelf with performance and good looks with versatility. I say versatile because these speakers are efficient enough for a small amp however can really shine if you let the wattage flow. They can handle being positioned close to walls without port issues as well. I have had the opportunity to listen to 805s side by side with the 602s in my living room. I was switching back and fourth and surprisingly the 602's go deeper with tighter and quicker response. The 805s tolerated higher Db's in the mid to high range when the 602's began to distort. Not bad considering the price range.

Excellent for 2 channel stereo with great imaging. If using for home theatre, depending on the room and taste, might consider a subwoofer as these roll off at 40 hz. The internal bracing really helps on deep notes and high levels however but I did notice a 3rd dimension to movies when I added a CDM sub.

Currently using in a 5.1 setup paired with the LCR 600 center and M1 surrounds. Often Listen in 2 channel or 5.1 DVD audio using on Onkyo 805 to process and drive the rears while a Rotel RMB 1075 Bi-amps the 602's at 125 watts per input at 8 ohms. I constantly challenge audio dealers conjure a better solution for the price. Needless to say, I'm still waiting and will be for some time...

Summary:
Simply one of the most versatile speakers I've ever owned. The best money can buy for sub $1k bookshelfs period.

A cost effective choice for those looking for a versatile bookshelf with performance and good looks with versatility. I say versatile because these speakers are efficient enough for a small amp however can really shine if you let the wattage flow. They can handle being positioned close to walls without port issues as well. I have had the opportunity to listen to 805s side by side with the 602s in my living room. I was switching back and fourth and surprisingly the 602's go deeper with tighter and quicker response. The 805s tolerated higher Db's in the mid to high range when the 602's began to distort. Not bad considering the price range.

Excellent for 2 channel stereo with great imaging. If using for home theatre, depending on the room and taste, might consider a subwoofer as these roll off at 40 hz. The internal bracing really helps on deep notes and high levels however but I did notice a 3rd dimension to movies when I added a CDM sub.

Currently using in a 5.1 setup paired with the LCR 600 center and M1 surrounds. Often Listen in 2 channel or 5.1 DVD audio using on Onkyo 805 to process and drive the rears while a Rotel RMB 1075 Bi-amps the 602's at 125 watts per input at 8 ohms. I constantly challenge audio dealers conjure a better solution for the price. Needless to say, I'm still waiting and will be for some time...

Summary:
Simply one of the most versatile speakers I've ever owned. The best money can buy for sub $1k bookshelfs period.

wonder why these speakers are never on ebay?
because once you have em, you dont let em go!
i had these for about a yr and notice a pair of mission 753 floorstanders (worth twice the price)
i couldn't believe how better the b&w's were......even my 15 yr old son told me not to sell em!
i use them with a nad c320bee and cambridge audio 540c v2 player.
sounds fantastic.
i'm about to upgrade the amp and should only get more out of these beauties!
thanks to all the good reviews on here that helped me make my choice.
so if you find a pair somewhere, just buy them because every type of music sounds good!!

Good Good Good

treble, highly efficient (best I have ever heard), good bass

not great in a bigger room, need expensive one collum stands

A good pair of speakers for the money. they deliver a huge soundstage that fills the room, crisp highs, smooth mids and a good punchy bass line. If you are the casual type listner who respects superb sound, I would highly recomend these.

Similar Products Used:

B&W dm600/ 601s, Kef, gale, mission, acoustic solutions

Nice hookup terminals
Clear sound and pretty strong bass for a bookshelf.

None at this price range except maybe cosmetic design. But who cares about that,the sound is all that counts.

You can't go wrong for the money. These put out a lot of sound and are good enough to fill a good size room. They are good with loud rock or mellow music.
So I guess you could say they are versatile. Definetly better than any floorstander I heard in that pricerange. In a good sized room I would use a good active subwoofer. I like lots of bass. In a smaller room a sub wouldn't be needed. Some people might think they don't need a bass boost . They are close to correct. They are punchy and the upper range is really good also. A poor recording will be really noticeable but so will a good one. So play good ones. I have two old Celestion woofers hooked up to crossovers in paralell with these. I am powering that configuration with a Kenwood KR-9600 200wpc receiver. (4 ohm load).
This setup works good. Super loud at 1/3 volume. I will keep these speakers for a long time. I am pretty picky about sound and believe me if these didn't sound good, I wouldn't hesitate to say so. I'm impressed with these.

Similar Products Used:

Celestion 1's and 3's
Mission 70's

Wonderfully sweet sounding, uncolored, they're incredibly easy to listen to, they sound fantastic nomatter what you are doing - movies , games, etc, they're great for anything. Wonderfully detailed, accurate sound. I'd have to say - you'd be hard pressed to do any better for under 1000$

None.

I love this set of speakers. I drive these speakers with a Rotel RB-1050, a truly wonderful combination! These speakers are an incredible bargain. I doubt that for 500$ you could do any better than this pair of B&W's! They are wonderfully musical, yet uncolored and very detailed. They produce some incredibly believable sound, before these started to break in - they sounded dull, however after about two weeks, they really started to open up, and they just keep sounding better and better. These have incredibly detailed & accurate reproduction, no noticeable coloration. They sound great for anything you could possibly imagine - great for video games & movies, yet still sound wonderful for music. I've got no complaints about these speakers, I'd have to say that these speakers could easily rival speakers costing twice as much, maybe a little more, grab a pair - as they're not manufactured anymore - there is nothing that dissapoints about these speakers. In addition, I've got a VMPS Larger subwoofer, which handles frequencies 80Hz and below, the rest is given to the B&W's. They have plenty of authority - you can crank these things WAY up - and I even find that I like the sound better when it's a bit louder, they seem to sound better when they're turned up - but at the same time - they're delicate enough to handle classical music - and have a beautiful soundstage and a wonderfully sweet sound! A truly great bargain.

Similar Products Used:

Wharfedale, PSB, Dahlquist, Renkus, VMPS.