sound, build quality, bass

loose sound

I don't actually own this speaker, but I have been listening to it at my dealer for a while. I paired it up with a Musical Fidelity amp and an X-RAY or Arcam CD.
Last year sounded good. This year (S2) sounds even better. So, I brought in my cd's: Bach - Mathew's Passion, Mozart - Requiem, Depeche Mode, U2 and Sarah Mclaughlin. Bach sounds amazing especially the choir and the organ (bass). Sarah sounded ok, especially as I compared these speakers with the CDM SE1 (still undecided whether 400 pounds extra is money well spent). The sound on the DM 601 is very good. However when compared to CDMSE is clearly "loose" i.e. the CDMSE have tight bass.
I also compared them with Mission 771. B&W clearly came as a winner. I still have to listen to the Mission 781 and then I will make up my mind on how to spend 2-300 on speakers. So far 601's are the best value for money at this level (200 pounds).

Similar Products Used:

mission

Detail, speed, bass (for bookshelve), soundstage and imaging

slightly "bright" and can be fatiguing at mid-volume

I upgraded my system recently from an all Carver and Klipsch Forte' college-stadium-rock setup to Rotel components.

Rotel RB-980BX (120 W per)
Rotel RC-972 pre-amp
Denon 370 cd carousel (w/ Burr Brown DACs)
Lovan stands
DIY TNT-audio X 1.5 IC's
DIY Chris Venhaus Cat 5 teflon (27 pair) speaker cables

I auditioned all the usual suspects for a few weeks(at the stores), which really tells you nothing but the basics. But, I finally found a place that carried systems up to $140k that let me hang out for hours and try different setups in one of their listening rooms even though I was a financial blip on their radar. To me, they projected a much better soundstage and more realistic mid-range w/ vocals.

Anyway, I brought them home and these speakers really needed a break-in, at least 3-4 days of playing. They are fairly edgey out of the box. But, after a sufficient period, what a surprise (still got better for weeks). The detail that they deliver is amazing, and on vocals, with decent equipment the sound is hair-raisingly realistic. Play all the usual suspects; Diana Krall, Nat King Cole, Sinatra, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Sarah Vaughn, and you will be amazed.

Initially, the bass was marginal for my taste, but after a month I got a new Denon DCM-370 CD player w/ a vastly different sound then my original Denon 360. The 370 has Burr Brown Dac's compared to the 360's Alpha processor. The Burr brown's have a richly warm sound compared to the Alpha's very precise, detailed performance. Anyway, it seemed that the new cd player had a compressed soundstage so I started playing with my speaker placement. My living room is 15' X 20' with one side opening onto the dining room six feet below. Behind that, a wall extends down partially from a bedroom above leaving a four foot high by fout foot deep by fifteen foot long opening which does some fairly strange things with sound. I orginally had the speakers 8' apart (on the open wall) as suggested by B&W which was great. But, foot by foot I moved the speakers out to 14' apart (1 ft from walls) and lessened the angle towards the center - WOW! Much deeper, full, bass and the sounstage became vast and airy. The musical image gained oodles of depth. A whole different speaker. Actually, I had been missing the point all along and I'm not sure you can really expect more from a speaker at this size and price. These things fill a room with rich, glorious, music, beautifully detailed.

(I've since learned that there are a lot of small or imported speakers w/ supposedly better image and performace, but you can burn up a small fortune on shipping while auditioning and returning them)

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The one drawback is that the 601's can be annoyingly bright if not paired with the right equipment. With my Rotels and the Denon CD player, after a few hours the high freq's seem slightly piercing. From reviews of Rotel components I see that they can be fairly forward on their own, couple this with B&W's tweeter and it can be a fatiguing pair. I switched to the extremely warm Denon 370 cd player to get rid of this, and it is still there, much less, but still there. So for me, the solution is either get rid of the speakers or get a tube pre-amp. Unfortunately, it is much cheaper to replace the speakers than get a used Conrad-Johnson pv10 tube pre-amp I want.
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But, this is only with my system (as far as I know), and I still believe these speakers are one of the greatest values to be had. Especially, since I see that people are getting them for as low as $350 now. And an added bonus is that they are designed to withstand the riguers of home theater also, which many audio only speakers may not do well.

Similar Products Used:

Paradigm mini-monitor & Atoms, Canton, Energy,

Detail, clarity, imaging and
price.

None

As a result of this formums positive
review of the B&W 601 S2 I went out
and auditioned them to see if
they could actually be as good as
claimed. Folks their better than good
morelike very good. I purchased a pair
at Sound Advice for $399 and frankly
would have paid more if necessary.
After initial breakin I found them
clear as a bell and natural as a live performance. Clean clear Hi's
great mid's and well balanced bass
add up to a bookshelf you should
consider and audition if possible.

enhanced detail and clarity

somewhat laking in low bass but a sub would definitely do that.

i'm using nice speaker in conjunction with my yamaha rx-v995 and very impressed with its performance. The vocals are superb (cleal and nostalgic at times ) the highs are sweet and detailed, the bass is good but a sub is a must have i think. For its price i think the 601 s2's are hard to beat but of course there are speakers out there that are a lot better but more expensive of course. one more thing, bi-wiring them would produce a much better soundstage.

Resolution

Image height and width

My system consists of:Levenson, Rotel, Cal Audio Labs, Marantz, Genesis. It is a very reveling system. I can hear the differences between every component in the system, including cables and interconnects. This ability to hear these changes were clearly audible through the B&W 601s. I think this says alot about its resolution power. It also implies that an owner can upgrade and tweek to their hearts delight and be confindent that they can improve the sound of the system. Keep in mind that there is no perfect component, actually it's a matter of synergy. For instance: The cables (not cheap)I was using with the Quads sounded awful with the B&Ws, I replaced them with a low priced wire from Esoteric Audio and reaped a major improvement.
About the sound: Very detailed, the sound stage goes as deep as I have heard on any system, regardless of price. Tonal quality was also very good, in fact it was hard to find fault with.
Limitations: The sound remained between the speakers, the image height extended only slightly above the speakers and lastly, The very lowest bass could have been a little tighter.
Several respondents said that the bass was a little weak. I did not notice it except on the very bottom where it produced no bass at all. In fact, I kept turning my sub down until I went to turn it down a little more only to find that it was already off. Maybe this is a product of the electonics I use?
One last point: I think that for the money, a person would have a hard time finding a better speaker. I gave it an overall rating of only 4 stars because of the reduced image width and height(especially the height).
Recommendation - Buy them! (If you don't like the way they sound then change you system and they will respond.

Similar Products Used:

KLH , Cambridge Sound works, and I use Quads ESL 63

The B&W name.

Peaks at about 1-2K

These speakers are okay. They have a peak in the 1-2k range which makes them harsh. Esp. on Sarah McLaughlin's song angel. It almost tore my ear off. B&W used to make good speakers with the 560 and DM610i. But sine they have gone to cheaper components and that danm Kevlar, their speakers just don't cut it. The bass is good. But could be deeper. But in most cases this speaker will probably be used with a subwoofer. I wish that they didn't change this speaker. TGhe orginal 601 and 602 were better...

Similar Products Used:

Paradigm Mini Monitor

Clean, clear and natural midrange

none for the price

These small wonders never cease to amaze me. Very natural sounding and produces extremely clean midrange. Bass is a bit lacking, but is expected due to its size. A decent subwoofer is needed to produce extreme lows. However, all of the speakers i auditioned that were similar in price range and size (tannoy and mission), could not keep up with the B&W 601 S2. The 601 S2, in my opinion, is worth five stars and should definitely be auditioned!

I cannot say unequivocally that the 601s are the best speakers in their price range, but I liked them the most out of all the speakers I auditioned. I think the best way to tell how a speaker performs is to listen to them yourself. I personally liked the way B&W speakers sound, very natural and not harsh. I am currently thinking about upgrading my speakers to the CDM 1SE or Nautilus 805.

My current system contists of:
Pioneer Elite VSX-26TX reciever
Toshiba SD3108 DVD player
Kimber Kable 4PR speaker cable

Great highs, great midrange

Not very good bass extension

Another great B&W product, especially for the money. I used to have pardigms, but switched over to the B&W's cause they had better controlled (and tighter) bass, a much better sounding midrange (the paradigms had very little midrange), and a less-harsh sounding tweeter (hard to find a metal dome tweeter that doesn't sound harsh). The only drawback is, the bass frequency only goes down to like 70Hz or something.

Tweeter

Expensive

Here in Australia these cost A$799, 200 more than the DM302s. Good sound but need a sub for bass. My advice get DM302s and spend the difference on a sub or spend another A$200 and get the DM602s. Thats what I did.