These speakers aren't a first-class product, they're first-class garbage. I don't know what people see in these speakers. I Bought them from a high-end audio store, and for the price, thought they would be dynamite speakers. My ears were offended the minute I listened to them. Like a pair of Cerwin Vegas my cousin has, they sounded very poor. The highs were ok, but the bass response was very off, and untimely. The bass as well as the mids were muddy and unclear. I have tried many speakers that are sold at Circuit and Sun, and ended up returning them because they were so poor. I would also open up these speakers to see how well the woofers, tweeters, and crossovers were made. Just as I suspected, they were very cheap. The magnets on the woofers are far too small, and some of the speakers I examined didn't even have crassovers. It's no wonder ther're so lousy. I opened up my B&W 601 speakers, and even though they had a crossover, in a way, the same shoddy workmanship was used. The drivers of course used a small magnet. I took an even closer look and noticed that the voice coil was made of card board. This means that alot of the bass will be absorbed before it even touches the cone. That coil is also going to change shape as the seasons change over the years, on top of that its going to eventually dry-wrot. For this reason, these speakers have a very limited life. Speakers made ten years ago performed much better than speakers made today. The same applies to receivers. Equipment that's rated as "high end" will perform the same way as equipment sold at discount stores and warehouse clubs. I would not recommend any B&W product at all. Their stuff is a rip-off.

Admittedly, I have not been an audiophile for two long. Two years ago, I purchased these speakers and since then have considered myself much more than an audio enthusiast. I paid retail ($400) for the DM601s but since day 1 have not regretted buying them. My last pair of speakers were Yamaha (comparable in size and power) but I learned quickly that you get what you pay for. Since buying the B&Ws I have developed an ear for good sounding music to a much higher degree than I ever had before. A good friend of mine owns the CDM1s and now I'm able to tell the difference quite easily between our two systems (of course he's also running off from a Mark Levinson amp, while I'm still stuck with a mass produced Japanese amp).
More than once I have been either watching a movie or listening to music and when a person in a movie or on a CD talks, I'd swear they were sitting right on my speakers. The clarity and accuracy is simply unbelievable for the price of these speakers. The best part about them is they actually put a smile on my face (call me crazy) day in and day out when I turn on the music. If you are looking for a speaker that will sound good for any type of music and for movies, these will work. Personally, I think they sound best with bands like Dave Matthews and Jars of Clay, but 2Pac, Hendrix, and John Williams all sound magnificient as well (if you can call 2Pac magnificient).

If you are seriously considering these or already own them, I definitely recommend buying the B&W stands made specifically for these speakers. They look really sharp and allow optimum positioning for the best sound. Many thank yous to B&W!

B&W 601 SPEAKER,very good for the price.if you have to play it loud the cabinet starts to vibrate and distort the sound four stars

Very simple, they are made of 5-star drivers and 1-star cabinets. While the base response is good, base impact (or weight) is non-existing. What a shame! It disgraces the superior highs and mids. I prefer to pay $100 more for the same speakers with heavier cabinets.

These speakers contribute to my life the pleasures that make it a joy to be alive. I will not pay exorbitant prices for speakers and with these guys I won't have to and still enjoy the beautifully brisk highs and mids that come out of these speakers. After one speaker developed a rattle (the dealer replaced the damaged woofer) due to sending too much power to the speakers, I decided at the suggestion of the dealer the purchase of a sub woofer (M&K VX7-II). The B&W's with the sub are a fantastic combination! The mains deliver clean highs and mid's while the sub takes care of the frequencies that the B&W's can't reach. I am entirely satisfied.(other stuff includes: Rotel RA971 int.amp., Rotel RA951cdp,and Kimber Kable PBJ interconnect.

I bought these speakers on sale a few days ago, i paid about $280 for them. Originally I was looking for the DM602, but they didn't have it, but I really wanted to listen to the B&W 600 series. So i asked if I could listen to the 601's, they had such a crisp sound. I was amazed by their huge output and that from such a little speaker. However, the bass was a little weak,so I asked if the salesman could hookup an Onkyo 310 subwoofer (which i saw in the store earlier). I found out that this was an excellent combination. If you are looking for a great sounding affordable speaker, then this is the one you are looking for! Although personally I think you need a good sub with these speakers.

My system is:
Onkyo TX-DS555 DD-reciever
Onkyo CX370 6cd changer
Sony MDS-S38 MD-Deck
B&W 601 front speakers
JBL Flix10 front and surround speakers (I'm planning to buy some new ones)

Golden Midrange

Lacks low end bass, imaging, stuffy

OK heres the deal on these speakers, tried them with monster cable, result beautiful vocals but no bass and very stuffy. Cymbals and metal sounds sounded muted and un metal like. Switched to Tara Omni Prism solid core cables in a biwire config and now the treble was there cymbals had a smooth silky quality but unfortunatly the golden vocals became more leaner and less warm/forward, bass was unaffected.
As these are in my bedroom I turned them upside down tweeter on bottom woofer on top which resulted also in a more treble and detail and less stuffines. Overall excellent speakers but they have to be biwired with solid core wire or they are very stuffy. An extra star for the kevlar woofer beats paper or plastic woofers any day.

clarity, precision and sincerity

bottom-end bass

I have searched high and low for a "decent" pair of speakers (500-1000$) for some time. Then miraculously I stumbled on the DM601, I search no more!

After a year, i m still amazed at the sound quality they produce: precise and honest. They invalidate the old saying: "size does matter". Truly, they lack in bass somewhat but if anyone could find another pair with such quality and within the same price range with more bass, please let me know. Good luck!!

In summary, three words for these little guys: live-stage performance!

Other components:
Rotel RCD-971
Rotel RC-971
Rotel RB-970BX
AudioQuest Type 4+ Hyperlitz
AudioQuest Turquoise
Monster Cable

I HAVE HAD MY 601'S FOR 1 MONTH AND I CAN SAY THAT THEY ARE THE BEST SPEAKER THAT YOU CAN FIND FOR $400. SURE OTHER SPEAKERS ARE OUT THERE THAT SOUND BETTER,BUT YOU WOULD HAVE TO SELL YOUR HOUSE TO BUY THEM. IF YOU ARE TRYING TO DECIDE WHETHER YOU SHOULD PURCHASE THE 601'S, I WOULD SAY GO FOR IT. O YEAH, DONT LISTEN TO MARK THE "AUDIOPHILE". NOT AN AUDIO NOTHING. OOPS HOPE I DID NOT ABUSE THIS SITE.

These speakers are an excellent value for the money. I am using them in my bedroom, which is relatively small. The treble and midrange are very clean. The speakers have a good sense of rhythm and enough bass to keep me satisfied in my smallish bedroom. If more bass is desired, you ought to goto w/ the B&W 602's at $550 US/pair. Imaging is pretty good, with a laid back perspective. Although at this price point, I think the best imaging speakers are the KEF Q-15's ($350 US/pair), which I've heard at home with the same electronics. The KEF's have wonderful imaging, a real sense of presence of singers being in the room, but are also bass shy, and more revealing of the electronics and recordings. The 601's are a good investment if your priorities are like mine, that is pretty good imaging, decent bass, and sounding pretty good on most sources, and very good with excellent source material, e.g. Chesky records. My associated equipement were the California Audio Labs DX-1 CD player, NAD 314 integrated amp, Audioquest Crystal Bi-wired speaker cables, MIT terminator 5 interconnects, and Sanus speaker stands. I gave the 601's 4 stars because their imaging falls short of the KEF Q-15's. I would give the KEF Q-15's 5 stars because of their imaging but would also note that these speakers are far too revealing to be used w/ most receivers and budget CD players.