Detail, warmth, wide accuurate soundstage with great depth(move them away from the walls!)

For this price range? Yeah right.

I have had this speaker now for slightly over one year. I used it with a marantz, Quad,Denon,Yamaha, And now the best yet, a Cambridge Audio amp. Just until last week, i had these speakers going through my quad 33/303. I loved the sound. Warm, and detailed. I did wish that the soundstage was better. Thats when the cambridge came into play. I LOVE THIS SPEAKER/AMP COMBO! This is a good match for each other. The soundstage is much more opened, and the detail probably is twice of what it was before. I don't know what people are complaining about when it comes to bass, you should try moving the speakers AWAY from the walls. When i listen to music, my sub is off-i never have the need to turn it on. Great spaekers, in every respect, especially for its price range. Bravo!

Similar Products Used:

jbl,mission,advent,older B&W's,polk audio,tannoy

Musical, lively, natural sound. Micro and macro dynamics. Has B&W Kevlar driver on the series 3 makes it better than series 2.

Needs AT LEAST 65 watts with a HIGH CURRENT amplifier to come alive. Needs good amplification - not cheap Japanese stuff.

I have never liked B&W’s DM 600 series. What a relief switching from the DM 603 s2 to the CM-4. Auditioning for a small bookshelf speaker, the B&W 303 sounded nice. But comparably priced Paradigm had better dynamics and a nicer sound to me. I know, not scientfic but if I only listen to details in the music, I overlook a lot of the musicality of the speaker – hence my description. A/B’d JM Labs Chorus and their cheaper models to Paradigm as well. It took the JM Lab at the next price point above Paradigm to match the Paradigm. But I went to another B&W dealer who sold both Paradigm and the new 601 series 3. He wanted me to hear the new series 3. It was definitely better to my ears than a comparably priced Paradigm. B&W had the micro as well as macro dynamics down better. The music had more life to it. It sounded more natural. Paradigm had dynamics like the ground swells on the ocean but not the little ripples that ride on top of the ground swells. B&W did. So now I think 601 s3 is the Stereophile class “C”, bumping the 303 down to class “D”. In 1998 Stereophile had it the other way around. Wharfdale Diamonds from Audio Advisor may also be good. But even though they use Kevlar, I do not think it is woven like B&W. B&W’s weave is supposed to account for the increasingly directionality of sound at higher frequencies. Another reason why the Paradigm with solid polypropylene are not as good. But Wharfdale has some really nice looking floorstanders at the same price. Mission M74’s are pretty nice but not as clear as B&W. Also they sounded sort of dead by comparison. But hey, not everyone wants to be lifted out of their seat when they turn on the stereo. Also the $300 Mirage at Tweeters Etc. was pretty good and worth a listen. Little drivers/little sound but I could not point to an irritating area with these speakers. Just less of everything compared to say, Ref 3A De Cappo’s. (those speakers At $2,000+ are still worth a listen). Amplification is very important with this speaker. Rotel RA-1060 was horrendously bright. Teac ref 300/500 was pretty good at first but fatiguing and a bit bright after 15 minutes. Acoustic guitar was not quite right. NAD C730/740 receiver was nice and I really wanted a receiver. Alas it did not had the power to goose the B&W. The Cambridge A500 65 watts was the best. Music jumped out of the speakers at the 11:00 o’clock volume.

Similar Products Used:

Mission M74, Mirage, Paradigm, Polk (wow really distorted sound), JBL, Cerwin Vega (both not as musical and natural as B&W)

they look cool

poor sound, over-rated, not accurate, toney sounding, you can do better for the priceÄ

i listened to the B&W 601 S3 speakers for about an hour in the store and concluded that they are over-rated. the mid range sounded muddy, toney and the stereo separation was not very good. on pete yorn''s ''strange currencies'' the vocal and bass were muddy sounding. i wanted to like this speaker (i sure like the way it looks) but my ears were the deciding factor against them. i have gone with the new paradigm mini monitors v3 which use a bullet driver much like B&Ws and also has a waveguide faceplate like B&W uses. the difference is that the paradigms sound much better. clearer, more well defined throughout the frequency range, and more accurate, less toney.f

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Paradigm Mini Monitor v3

Nice Wide Sound Stage, Crisp and Clean Highs, not much else

Bass a little lackinf, but what do expect for a book shelf.

I had the 303''s for a while, then I went back to the store to listen to the new 601 S3''s, when they said they had a demo pair of S2''s still, so I took a listen. Wow, the bass and fullness compared to 303''s was worth the $50 extra dollars. Bass not as tight as the S3''s but good enough. At the same time I bought a matching CC6 S2 for my center channel. MY SYSTEM B&W 601 S2 L,r B&W CC6 S2 C PSB Ambient 1 LS,RS Yamaha SW-320 Sub Pioneer Elite VSX-33TX Reciever Pioneer DV-333 DVD Player

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B&W 303, 601 S3

Clarity, soundstage, musicality, versatility. Modest size.

None relative to size. Some may prefer the mid-bass of the S3 -- the current model.

My daughter wanted new speakers for her room. I have been an Energy fan for several years, and first took her to hear the eXL:16, the Connoisseur C1 and the C3. The C3 was terrific, the eXL:16 lacked the dynamics and was a bit muddy in the bass, and the C1 was a major disappointment. Unfortunately the C3 was too large, so off to another store to audition other candidates. My previous familiarity with current Infinity, BA, Polk and Klipsh speakers in the desired size range had already put them out of the question. Dynaudio was way too expensive. So we checked out the B&W''s. We listened critically for about 1 hour to the 303, 600 S3, 601 S2 and the 601 S3. The choice between the S2 and S3 was a tough one, but my daughter found the S3 "too precise" in the mid-bass and she selected the S2. These are a great speaker and a marvelous value (discontinued and store demo''s). If you see them on the used market, don''t hesitate to buy them. They sounded great for orchestral, jazz, piano, male, and female vocals. The imaging was outstanding with a deep and broad soundstage. Though lacking deep bass (as expected) the mid-bass was satisfactory and the midrange clear, vibrant, and accurate. Highs were scintillating without being overly bright.

Similar Products Used:

Energy eXL:16, C1, C3. B&W 303, 600 S3, 601 S3

Balance, tone, depth, and so on...

The bass is a little muddy and a little weak (some of the time), but these are book shelf speakers. What can you expect. Tim''s review below this metioned bracing the cabinets, so the muddy bass can be improved...

I''ve biamped mine with a couple of 60 watt Carver amps I had with very good results. Interconnect cables were very important. I used Nordost Blue heaven between the DVD player (using it in my video system) and the preamp (Rotel 995)and then an Audioquest Opal to the tweeters and an Audioquest Emerald to the woofer. Wire direction was very important in ths setup. Also, I found that tweaking the system with wires was the most important thing you could do with these speakers. My other stereo only system is Levinson amp and Quad speakers. What I find interesting about this is that these systems are not that far apart in terms of quality. The B&W system doesn''t have the air around the instruments, the amount of detail, or the transparency that the Quad system has, but there isn''t enough difference to justify the $8,000 difference in price, not to mention the difference in equipment quality. I also listened to some other B&Ws in the store...The 805s and the CDMs. I''m almost sure that these would sound better than the 601''s but the home setup is tweeked and as you know, speakers always sound better at home than in the store. I don''t know if I could justify the difference in price...Maybe? Recommendations: Absolutly by wire or biamp these and take considerable care in selecting wires... It will blow your socks off for the money.

detailed sound,outstanding highs, mid and bass is quite good, tight! best for use with classical , jazz and country music

perhap a little small for me. break-in time.

I have purchased these speakers for two months, well I think they are great speakers. First of all, I''m realy impressed by the level of detail of these babies. Their sound is very smooth, clean and without any muddy or harsh, well imaging and soundstage. When I first bought them, I think their highs were a bit bright and no deep bass at all. After a few week, they started to sound right but still lack of bass. One of my fiend told me to try to bi-wires and it only improved the resolution. Finally, I found the reason was my cheap small cables. Try to bi-wires and use with good thick cables, the bass is there! I recommend these for anyone who love natural and uncoloured sound. Oh! I love them!!! I use them with my Onkyo Tx8511.

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Jamo e630, Tannoy m3, Ar ps226s

Open and accurate sound, good base. Very detailed sounding speaker at its price range.

Audio system demand is quite high, not a really "easy going" speaker. Sensitive to speaker placement despite its front port design. Could sound little constrained and boxy when play loud (say close to it power handling limit).

My music taste is more in acoustic type: classical, jazz, vocal, occasionally pop and rock. I had a pair of Mission 700 before. When I was in London for vacation at the end of Year 2000, I had a chance listening B&W 601S2 at the local hi-fi store, the open mid band character and big sound stage really got me hooked. So I bought it and brought it back to Vancouver. I then found B&W dealer here carry the same speaker too, but I saved very big bucks. Anyway, I have been using this incredible speaker since then. Because of its true B&W nature, I keep listen my CD collection hours after hours. It eventually made me to ditch my previous brand new Japanese 5-disk CD player and Home theater receiver! I then got an NAD CD player (model C520, will change soon) and integrated amplifier from Musical Fidelity (A3 Duo Mono). This classic British combination made night and day difference! Sound stage is wide open and layered; voice is clear, somewhat warm and with good bass weight; there is enough space between instruments, I can hear lots of small but audible details that I didn’t hear before, bass is suddenly alive and becoming the foundation of entire sonic picture. Best of all, I can hear the overall balanced "right" music that is exciting, engaging, yet in the relaxed manner. Maybe much of the magic is coming from the amplifier which is more than 3 times the cost of my speaker. But on the other hand, this entry-level bookshelf speaker is capable of keeping up with good system, performing music magic that seems to be many times beyond its retail price. There are few things I learned to be critical about this speaker: 1) you MUST NOT TO treat this speaker as cheap speaker (even you bought it for cheap), rather, partner it with decent audio gear with musical power (B&W speakers love current). Many people complained about lack of bass, that’s because they amplification is under powered. I had same problem before, and I had to use subwoofer (which compromise the total sonic integration; 2) you should try different cable within your budget and expectation. Play around both interconnect and speaker cable (preferably bi-wired), in my case, in each try, I can hear difference in sound stage, bass weight, etc.; 3) you also should put speakers on stable, heavy and tall stand (24" at least), and position them in the way you like the most. Once you have done all this, you won’

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Mission 700 & 701, Tannoy MX2, KEF Cresta2

the colours of the yellow drivers do not match between LCR60 Center and DM 601 mains....hear them and forgive them.

first this is a review about the Series3 since theres no 601 S3 category yet. Price is in EURO its imposible to describe the amount of pleasure those monitors put out. i honestly thought i´d buy those mainly for listening to mp3s (which they handle fine) or for main speakers in HT. listening to cd´s was no big advantage over mp3s on my old crappy gift loudspeakers i owned before (which i sure did not realize at that time). in the store they sounded really good so i ordered them right away. after about 3 weeks of waiting for the sorento finish and putting them on the new purchased project stands the moment of enlightenment was close ;). to cut it short: I own them about 2 months now and so startet enjoying listening to music that I still can´t believe it. Only downside is that now I spend so much money on CD´s and audio stuff that my budget is slowly colapsing to a black hole. The Bass is detailed and tight, the mids and highs are awesome as well as imaging and soundstage. in my medium listening area they go down to (despite their small size)really low frequencies. biwired the bass is veeery tight when its supposed to and always musical. female voices I guess sound best for me on these speakers because of their great transparency and airy performance of the tweeter. mixed up with deep bass and alot of life sounding instruments and samples placed around the artist it realy freaks me out. dont misunderstand me. those are not nautilus (at least not at bass punch) and I know that there are far better speakers on the market but I´d strongly recomend listening to those. the sound you get for the price tag is unbeatable. enuf said...i gotta go back listening to my cd´s...

Excellent soundstage depth in small rooms, the "Nautilus style" tweeter is great.

Size limitations of course makes it lack some punch in the bottom segment.

A great speaker for hardly any money. In bigger setups it would make a great surround speaker. In use with a subwoofer they really peform and can play really demanding music with good result. Of course, such a small speaker can never compare to larger ones when it comes to punch and sheer volume.

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Paradigm, Sonab