B&W's are known for the world's best sounding speakers. I've owned a few B&W's and other speakers to date but these were the best speakers I've heard, in my lifetime and budget, so far. Interchanging between amps, pairing it with Densen Beat-100's, a vintage Sansui G-900 and sometimes a Harman Kardon HK 3480, the result was always the same - an accurate reproduction of the full-range of sounds makes you feel as if you are in the studio with the artist/s, band or group, and even the orchestra singing and making their music. The deep tight bass, the crystal clear details of the mid and the great nautilus tweeter all works very well in harmony which makes the music very rich and warm and life-like. If I had a bigger house and more of this speaker, I'd have my own musical hall...cheers!

Tower speaker with amplified subs(less floor space) Surprisingly tight and deep bass Great Nautilus tweeters Great with music and movies

Not for small rooms Need to play with bass settings to have a good blend with the rest of the speaker(this will take time) No choices in veneers (black)

I listen to music more than home theater but I'm please with how well these speakers handle both. B&W has always been known for its transparent and neutral response with music. This is why I was surprised how robustly they(605-S2) handled home theater material. The bass response is shocking. I did not expect 4 - 7 1/2" woofers to reach levels that loud or that deep. The advantages I noticed right away a better dispursion of upper bass(not localize like you sometimes get with a typical corner placed sub) and very tight deep bass response. Not muddy or boomy even with explosions or low bass musical parts. Being amplified(130w each), with crossover and output adjustments, the bass end of these speakers is well covered. With the right setting, the subs can blend harmoniously with outstanding midrange and Nautilus tweeters.

Similar Products Used:

B&W 603 Bose 701

Huge bass, smooth sound, great overall sound. Also like the LFE inputs and roll off/bass output controls.

Heavy (130 amp in each one), size, overall low wife appeal.

I bought these speakers as to be the mains in a hi fi/home theater setup in a new large family room. I also have a pair of b&w 603 S1's that use in another system, so I knew that I already liked the B&W sound. I read the reviews here and on the B&W site, took a big chance and bought these off the internet (used for 1000/pr) without hearing them... I can't begin to express how much I love these speakers. HUGE, controlled BASS, smooth mids and highs and extremely listenable at both low and high volumes. I have a bass reference tune (Pink Floyd, Yet Another Movie) that has sent virtually every sub-$1500 pairs of speakers that I have listened to into convulsions. The 605's don't even break a sweat when playing it! I am doing the standard audio geek think and playing back all of my CD's (eclectic with large doses of alt metal, classic rock, dance, female singers and folk/acoustic) and rediscovering how great they all sound on the 605's. The one weakness that I would point out is that they do not image as well as some other stand mounters I have listened to. However, if you are looking for gutsy, extremely enjoyable, LOUD, affordable speakers, then look no further (as long as your room is reasonably large).

Similar Products Used:

B&W 603 S1, Mission 737, Infinity Kappa, Spendor Mini Monitor

Range, clairity, tuning, and so much more.

Honestly can not think of any.

I searched for years before I could afford a serious set of speakers. When I heard them I feel in love. I continued to shop around but they were clearly the speakers for me. The soundstage is incredible. Whether listening to classical or rock you would almost swear the orchestra is in the room with you. The sound seems to pour from the walls. I really enjoy the integrated amps as I do not have room for a sub. Loud is an understatement, they can be deafing, but never lack clairity. The price is not unreasonable considering the fact that they will last much longer than most marriages. Matched with an LCR6 S2 and pair of 602 S2 in the rear around a 55" HDTV, I would rather stay home than go to the movies. I highly recommend them.

Great soundstage, accurate, non-fatiguing.

May be too "bassy" for some people''s taste

I waited a long time and searched far and wide before upgrading from my cheap 1980''s consumer brand speakers and bought the DM605''s. These speakers create a wide soundstage and articulate music and home theatre with amazing accuracy. The bass is tight and accurate, but may be too much for some music; luckily they have adjustable rolloff for each speaker. This feature also helped me dial in the speakers to the room I have them in and the placement in the room. They sounded great even on my cheap 1980''s consumer brand AV receiver....except that they revealed just how cheap and unmusical that it was! Though I am somewhat new to high-end (or in this case medium-end) audio, I know quite a bit about what good sound is having been in several recording studios as a musician. These speakers are very accurate and musical even without using tube amplification. I know I''ll keep them for a long time. I didn''t hear anything that could touch them for the price.

Great music reproduction. Excellent range. Nice to look out. The powered woofers sound great.

Maybe expensive. The powered woofers may not be an acceptable subwoofer for some people. It is definitely fine for music and I find it very good for movies (basically I have 4 subs this way)

Just to be clear, I paid 1600 per pair. Well, I bought these speakers after listening to lots of other speaker sets (atlantic technology, klipsch, mirage, martin logan, kef, def tech, infinity and others). I brought the same 6 cd''s and listened to each set of speakers with them. I was going for the best music reproduction as opposed to home cinema. I decided on the B&W''s due to what I thought was te greatest range in sound reproduction. The ability to hear the lows simultaneously with the highs was unmatched by any of the other speakers with the exception of the KEF''s which were considerably more expensive and not as dynamic. In the end I bought 2 sets of these and a lcr6s2 (basically a 603) and use it for home cinema and music. I am extremely happy with its music reproduction as I have heard things in some of my music I have never heard before. I think they are amazing. I have also watched several movies with this set up and am amazed at the quality of sound even though this is not an optimal rear speaker. The 4 powered woofers are excellent for hometheater as well. My system Carver C1000a Panasonic RP56 (digital out to Carver) Panasonic PT56WX51 2 Pairs B&W605S2 B&W LCR6S2

Built-in active Subwoofers (no space for an external subwoofer?!); nice hifi-sound, but no high-end!; homecinema impressive enough but no high-end too!

Design was seen too often; speach could be a bit clearer

Clear and dynamic sound up to 20 qm rooms. I regret that the sound of the different B&W compontents (DM605 S2, LCR6 S2, DS6) differ too much. I am missing the "direct kick" at AC-3/DTS, although it is clear that this is a weakness of any dipoles

Similar Products Used:

B&W LCR6 S2 (center); B&W DS6 (surround dipoles)

ekselent vith all it dos

cabinet just came in black.

i just had dis speaker i 1 monht and ai has just tested it on music on may yamaha RXV 800 and its just ekselent very god. it shall bi fun to test it in surond.

I am sory for the bad englis vriting but i hope you can forgive me.

Similar Products Used:

never had so ekspensiv speker befor

Solid, foundational bass. Outstanding midrange clarity and
articulation. Spacious and MERCIFULLY revealing high-end.

Slightly high threshold for built-in subwoofer auto turn-on.

I have a quite different opinion/experience from the listener from Germany. Timbre differs very little from
speaker to speaker in pans and this combination yields an
incredible soundstage with VERY dynamic and authoritative
bass. The center channel goes very well with the L/R's with
outstanding articulation of detail. Together with the DS-6
dipole surrounds, envelopement can only be described as
eerily cohesive and involving. I highly recommend this
combination of components for both music AND home theater.
Maybe the difference lies in his equipment or set-up??

Similar Products Used:

B&W LCR6 S2, DS-6.

Balanced as expected.

Flow-port dislodged easily.

I have misplaced my review at B&W 605 (Series 1) two days ago...Now, I think it would be alright to repeat my review at the appropriate forum.

The highs of 605S2 is guaranteed by the use of metal tweeter descended from the Nautilis blood line. The mids and lows are balanced and OK, just like what I expected from the audition of 604S2. The reason I bought 605S2 is for the claimed sub-woofer space-saving feature. With the actively amp-ed bass, you can recruit the bass speakers to do what you usually need with another separated sub-woofer. Acutually I bought the 605S2 after auditioned the 604S2 because the local audio store did not have the 605S2 on hand. During the stereo playing, you hear what is expected with balanced highs and lows. But during the movie playing, the LFE effect is now activated. You can feel rather than hear the lows of the LFE sound during some explosive, crackling, earthquaking and shaking scenes. Because of the directionality of the LFE, the placement of one sub-woofer may let you feel very discomfort as you "see" the LFE coming from the sub-woofer whichever place you positioned it. Now with 3 sub-woofers including the 605S2, you feel the air-mass pumping towards you without the feel of directionality. Furthermore the air-mass moved is much more than only one sub-woofer. I have auditioned the bioplar Mirage OM-7 and Definitive Technology 2000 for comparison of sound stage created by the bipolar and conventional non-bipolar speakers. Maybe because the positioning and listening environment were not fine-tuned, I found the bipolar speakers not very pleasing during the demo sessions at the audio-stores. The lows of Definitive Technology 2000 (with it's 15" woofer) is good while the lows of Mirage OM-7 is average. But in the light of Performance/Cost value, I give 5 stars to B&W605S2.

However, during the fine-tuning of the 605S2, I found that the flow-ports(the vented bass tube) were dislodged very easily while I moved the heavy(31kg) boxes with the aid of inserting my fingers into the ports as an achor of weight-lifting at re-positioning. I fixed this myself by applying carpenter's glue to the ports.

At final rating, despite the fact that the flow-ports dislodged easily which can be avoided by careful handling with 2 persons working together during fine-tuning of position, I deem B&W 605S2 as the best medium to low-buget home-theatre/stereo main speakers. The high priced Hi-end B&W 800 series is just too expensive and far-reached at the top of the sigmoid curve of P/C value for the ordinary audiophiles. You can taste the good stereo sound with 604S2 but not the movie sound without 605S2.

Similar Products Used:

B&W 604S2