Nice clear sound. Amazing high end tweeters. Nice deep bass. Compact.

If tweeter packs in, as it has with one of mine, it sounds slightly dead when watching a film. Can't stop playing Xbox (which is connected).

I have had these speakers for only two weeks now and they are amazing, especially for how much i got them for, i got four of these speakers, a yamaha yst-sw90 sub and a pioneer vsx808 receiver for an amazing £100 pounds which i personally think is a good buy. I think that i will keep these speakers for a long long time as they perform above my expectations, me and my dad could not believe the clarity of the sound and the clear bass that came out of such a small (but big bookshelf) speaker!!!

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Sony bookshelfs and centre bought for £20. Also amazing, used on other surround system.

Amazing soundstage, dynamic range and clarity. Amazing speaker considering the $$$. Some of the easiest speakers to listen to, no fatigue to be found. And who can resist the looks? These things are great looking!

All the strengths listed above will only manifest AFTER purchasing good equipment, especially strong amps and detailed processors. Not a real weakness but more a requirement.

I bought these to replace some 601 S2 speakers. First off I must say that to my ear, there is little to no difference between the two other than looks. The highs, mids and bass are equally as defined after the initial break in period. Not unlike many other well made speakers these little guys require good equipment. This is not a weakness, but it is a requirement. Every time I upgrade these speakers sound better. Not just better, MUCH better. A few years ago I upgraded to better cables (ok, I know some don’t buy into this so just ignore this part if you think it’s bull). That immediately brought more detail, especially in the highs. Highly recommended (I went with Straightwire Rhapsody S). The big changes however came when I replaced my Marantz SR-7400 with a Rotel RMB-1075 5ch amplifier (used the Marantz as a pre/pro). These things literally came alive. The bass had much more punch, the soundstage opened up and the imaging went through the roof. I thought I had it made until ditching the 7400 and replacing it with a Sunfire processor. Every improvement added by the Rotel was doubled and then some. Every time I upgrade my stuff these speakers just get better. I know these guys have a limit and won’t sound better each and every time I upgrade, I strongly doubt these would sound like a pair of Wilson speaker if running off a $25,000 amp but they are absolutely worth every penny and then some. These guys are great performers for 5.1 and are great for 2ch as well when mated to a sub. I just don’t’ recommend a B&W sub, they’re not too great. I would describe these speakers as warm and inviting. The tweeter is absolutely amazing and produces some of the sharpest highs I’ve heard in a speaker of this class. Man, I love that Kevlar mid as well.

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Polk, Monitor Audio, Mordaunt Short, Klpisch, JBL, Jamo

Price Beautiful full sound Very good bass from such a small speaker

Show defects in source recodings Makes you listen to all your music all over again

I agree completely with the last post. I went to audition these speakers yesterday, and ended up walking out with them 1/2 an hour later. Even though they are not broken in yet, they still amaze me with the "full" sound coming from such a relatively small speaker. For only $430 you cannot find a better speaker in my humble opinion. I have owned M&K's that cost over 5 grand, and a set of MA Silver 9's which are very highly rated by this forum. I still cannot believe how close the B&W's are to them and I am not even using a sub. Granted if you are going to fill a very large room, you should use one, but for casual listening at low to moderate volume, these are the ones to get.

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Momitor Audio Silver 9's M&K NHT Super Zero's

Accuracy Imaging They make me smile

Cheap components or poor recording are very obvious, must be paired with a good amp eciever.

Bowers and Wilkins certainly pay a lot of attention to speaker design and manufacturing. They are a real speaker company that has decided to make high quality products, instead of trying to make lots of money selling a cheap well marketed speaker. The DM601S3 is a medium sized bookshelf speaker that you forget that it is in fact a bookshelf speaker. The overall tonal balance and imaging are incredibly acurate. These speakers may be harsh to some, they really show the weak points of your other equipment, and they really need to be matched with a good amp. Bass response is very acurate, but does not produce low boomy bass that some people think makes a better speaker. They produce highs and mids acurately, and they do not strain to produce low frequency as they only produce what they can. These speakers paired with a good sub rival many expensive tower speakers.

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Boston Acoustics CR77 PSB Image 2B

Excellent overall balance Solid highs (without being bright) Good bass Satisfying listening pleasure No obvious weaknesses

None

I’ve been a music and audio equipment lover for many years and few things excite me more than experiencing new products that perform above my expectations. It seems silly to say that about any B&W product, but the DM601 S3 surprised me because no speaker should sound this good at that price point. I have other equipment that is significantly more expensive and despite initially “settling” for these transducers for use in my study, it astounds me how solid they sound and how quickly they’ve earned my respect. The apparatus in this system is basic, comprising of regular 14 gauge speaker wire and a modest Denon UDM-50 rated at 30 watts a channel but the sound reproduction is honest in presentation and very fulfilling overall. Since I’ve added these speakers, they have become my sonic version of “Advil” by helping me stay productive and sane on those long lonely work nights. The highs are very detailed without being bright, the bass is solid for a bookshelf speaker using a 6.5 inch woofer and the imaging is far better than it should be for any product in this class. It’s certainly not perfect and cannot be confused with higher priced systems, but the DM601 S3’s serve its target market with resounding competence and proficiency. I highly recommend them and unlike numerous other manufacturers in this industry, I commend B&W on their integrity for sharing their superior technical competence on all of their products (not just their flagship 800 series speakers). With commendable products like these, B&W will create the next new wave of future audiophiles and capably satisfy the others that are already there.

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You name it!

Accuracy, detail, imaging (these DEMAND proper placement for that), very solid and lively bass for a mini.

Would appreciate a wider soundstage without as much effort needed in placement, but for this price, forget it.

The ultimate cheap speaker? I think it may be. I've owned and listened to a lot of speakers, ranging in price from a few hundred dollars to tens of thousands. Sure, the 601 can't compete with speakers costing tens of thousands of dollars, but it does a few things that blow my mind. After about a year of breaking them in, I find that they expose weaknesses in my amplifer (an NAD 317) much more than did my previous main speakers (PSB Stratus Bronze). No, they're not harsh. I think they're simply more accurate in the mids and highs. It's a given that the Stratus Bronze will rock your world with bass, but the highs and mids are a tad too mellow, even used with a solid-state amp like the NAD. (Some people might prefer this, though I'm NOT a fan of shrill highs by any means.) The bottom line is that I've never heard a speaker sound so appealing and so accurate for anything even double the price point, so I'm rather astounded. B&W has really introduced fine hi-fi to the masses with this incredibly inexpensive little speaker. Really, if anyone can find a speaker that sounds nearly as good for less than $1,000, I'd love to hear about it. Amazing.

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Pretty much every speaker made by NHT, Boston Acoustics, Paradigm.

Great sound. Treble is amazing. Bass is not punch but adequat. Bi-wiring is a big plus.

None I found so far. Except when singing in Karaoke, the speaker is so good that if you are a bad singer, your voice will sound bad, if you are good singer, your voice will sound great.

Hi all, I want to first to thank all reviewers on the dm601s3 because their reviews help me a lot of deciding to buy this gread product. If you don't believe at first, you have to go and audition them yourselves. I have spent so many times auditionning other products costing more but fail to satisfy. This is not a high end product so don't expect to compare with higher priced products. Once you get a taste, audition the higher end like the Nautilus 802 or greater, you will see how these speakers rock. Below are my own experience: I bought these speakers for several main reasons: 1. I made too many mistakes buying scrap and end up either selling them at lower price or not using them at all. And I finally decide to spend more money for quality speaker or mini monitor than mass production book shelf speakers. 2. I need speakers that meets my big expectation about sound fidelity when throwing to any kind of music, the speaker have to shine. 3. I need speakers that can be coupled nicely with my separate mixer for never ending karaoke sessions. After one month, here are the results: Excellent sound when played CD's from Chris Spheeris and Jesse Cook. Karaoke sessions with my Ensing mixer is a perfect match. I have to couple with a new stereo amplifier from NAD (Nad 320BEE). I have to add a new B&W ASW 300 Sub-Woofer to complement the bass though the DM301S3 have adequat bass but I found that coupled with the asw 300 subwoofer gives very noticeable missing punch. Make no mistakes, if you are in process of buying, it is worth to give them an audition, you won't regret it. That's all folks! A big thanks to B&W to build high quality products on all kind of budgets.

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None of them are really similar since they are all scrap.

The DM 601 S3's don't seem to have any "sound" of their own. Every album sounds different, and even subtleties like a change in recording location on the same album can come out. Cymbals and drums sound very live, and vocals are never boomy or shrill. Guitars sound really great, and every recording I've heard with a stand up bass just has a terrific punch to it. Nothing in the sub $400 range sounds remotely like these. Klipsch, Polk, Bose, Definitive, Paradigm, Energy, Boston Acoustics and JBL don't have anything this size in this price range that sound anything like this.

The Phase Tech's I listened to had a little more bass, but they cost twice as much, so I'm not sure that's a weakness.

I've had my little 601's for a year now, and I have to say that they're the best thing I've bought in a long time. They sound great no matter where you place them, but if you can put them on 24 inch stands and move them around a bit, you can get them to fill a pretty large room with strong bass, and very natural highs. I listened to several speakers in the US $1000 and less per pair price range, and I was really leaning towards Phase Tech PC 1.1II bookshelfs, which were $800/pair. They're about the same size, and I really liked the idea of replacing my big old 12" woofer boxes with something smaller. A friend suggested I at least check out the B&W's, and I was originally tempted to check out the 602's, but they were a little bigger than I really wanted. The 601's were the same size as the Phase Tech's, but half the price, and I couldn't believe how much I liked the sound. After having them for a year now, I couldn't be happier. I play these things every day, and I play my music loud. The 601's never sound like they're straining and everyone that's been over and listened to them just can't believe how great they sound. They won't make a bad recording sound good, in fact, mastering errors or just a lousy recording in the first place sounds pretty bad, but then again, it should sound bad. A top notch recording from any era always reveals things I never heard before. Drums and guitars are very lifelike, and vocals and piano are exquisite in their detail. These speakers really like a lot of power, and they will work an amplifier hard. An amplifier that isn't rated for 2 ohm or 4 ohm loads won't like these at all, and these speakers tend to bring out the best AND worst of the components around them. In all, they are very natural sounding and don't take up much room. I had considered adding a subwoofer, but so far I haven't felt a need for it. I listen with the tone controls defeated, and I'm amazed at the bass response on an album like Elvis Costello's "When I Was Cruel," as well as the really great sounds of The Rolling Stones' ABKCO remasters, even without hearing the SACD layer. The 601's will play loud or soft, and it's very easy to end up late for work because listening to music on these just seems to make time disappear.

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Phase Tech PC 1.1II Klipsch RB 25 Definitive BP 8B Polk RT25 Bose 301 V and some of their 3 piece, why can't you mix and match subs and cubes?

- Base, for a small bookshelf speaker is very good - clear mid range and highs - superb imaging.

None noticed

Just bought the 601-S3 to build a surround system. These speakers are excellent. I have a pair of DM 302's that I have used for several years and been very happy with. I moved them to surround back channel and was looking for something new for new front channels. I listend to PSB, Cambridge, Polk, Totem, Athena in the 300- 500 price range. By far, the B&W 601 was better than all others I heard. much better sound stage, less "boxey: sound, superb imaging. The base is limited at Low Freq, but base is surprising for the size of the speaker. My Setup - DM601-S3 fronts - DM302 Rear - LCR60 - Pioneer 711 Toshiba 42 HDTV

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BW 302, 303, 600 AUditioned , PSB, Totem, Athena, Polk, Cambridge audio etc

Everything! Really realistic sound Highs are just incredible Mids are just incredible Lows are great for their size Price! They look awesome, in black or wood

None that I can think of!

First of all I'd like to say the price is in canadian, so I didn't get ripped off. :D Wow! These speakers blow the competition clean out of the water! The sound is just incredible! I hear things in my music that I never heard before, which made me listen to all our CDs over again. They seem to get better with time, too, because they have to be broken in and because my ears have to adjust to a good sound system. My dad now has a set in the living room paired up with the Rotel RA-02 Integrated Amp, and I have the same speakers with a really old Kenwood KA-60 (Soon to be replaced with the same Rotel though). The only difference between him and me is I think they would be way better with a subwoofer. He doesn't believe in subs, mainly because he has heard all the cheap crap boomy ones everyone else has. I hope to get an SVS cylinder sub as the next step after the Rotel amp.

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B&W DM303