Non-fatigue sound, great midrange, fast and exciting sounding. Very efficient, does not take alot of watts to come alive.

Poor and Boomy Bass, Very ordinary cosmetics.

My System: Creek 4330R, Micromega Stag 1 CD Player, Nakamichi LX-5 Cassette Deck, Rega P3 Turntable, Interconnects MIT Terminators 4, 5 and 6. Speaker cable is Monster CX-4.
I am not going to make it a very long summary here, all I want to say that it is a great sounding speaker, and as I have said that it is very non-fatigue sounding, with great midrange and highs, but bass is very very poor.
I rather have very little bass instead of a boomy sounding bass.
If you have a large room, it might sound ok, but for a small to medium size room, bass sound will not be that great.
Alot of people below are complaining that there is no bass, that is not true, there is a fair amount of bass this baby can produce, but it is the qulity which is not that great.
Other then this, it sounds very very engaging and involving.

Similar Products Used:

Energy C2, Signet SL280(Floor Standing)

Midrandge clarity, imaging

none

I had the 601S2's up front and moved them to the rear. Bought the 602's and noticed a big difference. The 602's are fuller, presenting a more "live", bigger sound. Soundstage is wider and deeper than 601. Overall, excellent speaker.

Similar Products Used:

B&W 601S2, CC6S2

Sound, size, build quality, look

break in period is long...after five months I still don't think they are there yet. Lower end is lacking(but that is what the sub is for!!!)

Joined the DVD revolution earlier this year. Had to upgrade my whole system. When I got my new AC3 reciever my Bose AM7s sounded like crap. I mean it was really terrible. They were ok with my old Dolby Digital system but the passive sub just couldn't do the job. I spent 4 months researching speakers and came across this web site. Found one place in Anchorage, Alaska that carried B&W. Went in and gave them a listen and they blew me away. Even with the crappy demo music at the dealer. Went to several other places to listen to other "so-called" quality speaker set-ups(Polk, Energy, Boston, Bose). Nothing came close. I needed speakers that could do double duty between Home Theater and quality music reproduction( hard rock to jazz and classical). I kept going back to the B&W set-up. I even carried in music from my collection. The only hole in the sound seemed to be on the lower end. Nothing I heard seemed to match the 602s2. I will eventually upgrade to a higher quality front speaker(I will stick with B&W) and these will move to the rear, but for now they sound like a dream. I would reccomend B&W speakers to anyone looking for quality in any price range. You will not find a speaking matching this quality for even close to the same price.]

My setup- (Nothing Fancy)

TV: Sony 53" (Hi-Scan)
A/V Receiver: Pioneer DVX-509s
Front Speakers: B&W 602s2
Center: B&W CC6s2
Rear:B&W DM303
Sub: Yamaha YST 320
DVD Player: Hitachi DV P505

Similar Products Used:

Bose(crap!)

Smooth, detailed, crisp highs, and tight bass. Very balanced, and very accurate imaging.

Doesn't hit the last octave, but what 7" woofer does? Not the most sensative speaker either.

This speaker really excells at imaging. Imaging and clarity. Fantastic range for a two way, with bass going all the way down into the 35-40hz region. A little picky on positioning, but once you've set them, they're fantastic.
Auditioned using
Patty Larkin - Perishable Fruit
Dave Matthews Band - All Albums
Electrical Light Parade
Etc.
Especially amazing is this speaker's ability to reproduce complicated passages, as in some of Dave Matthews Band.
Bach, Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 is excellent, with each instrument clearly in it's own. Female vocalists represented the best through this speaker out of all that I've auditioned, with the exception of the JM Reynaud, which may or may not have had the upper edge. It's hard to tell.

Equipment used:
Harman Kardon FL380 CD changer (heavily modified) - and Ah! Tjoeb '99 Single disc player
S&E pure Silver interconnects into
Yamaha 595a reciever
Through both Monster Z1 speaker cables and S&E Silver speaker cables
Sony DVPS360 DVD player

Initial hookup was through the original S&E Copper interconnects, which were then swapped to the Carbon Fiber interconnects. The Carbon Fibers really impressed me. I knew that they had a higher resistance, but the carbon fiber remains linear through a larger range than the copper interconnects. Next I tried Silver, which was thin. Finally, the S&E Reference, which blew the others out of the water. I'd say that the change to this interconnect was like changing the entire digital front end. Female vocals sang out of a pure, black background. I've had JPS Superconductor, and even a bunch of the Nordost interconnects, and none of them even come close to the S&E Reference.

Similar Products Used:

Dynaudio Audience 50s, Paradigm Studio 40s, Infinity IL40s, Polk RT800, JM Reynaud, NHT Super One,

Smooth, detailed, crisp highs, and tight bass. Very balanced, and very accurate imaging.

Doesn't hit the last octave, but what 7" woofer does? Not the most sensative speaker either.

This speaker really excells at imaging. Imaging and clarity. Fantastic range for a two way, with bass going all the way down into the 35-40hz region. A little picky on positioning, but once you've set them, they're fantastic.
Auditioned using
Patty Larkin - Perishable Fruit
Dave Matthews Band - All Albums
Electrical Light Parade
Etc.
Especially amazing is this speaker's ability to reproduce complicated passages, as in some of Dave Matthews Band.
Bach, Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 is excellent, with each instrument clearly in it's own. Female vocalists represented the best through this speaker out of all that I've auditioned, with the exception of the JM Reynaud, which may or may not have had the upper edge. It's hard to tell.

Equipment used:
Harman Kardon FL380 CD changer (heavily modified) - and Ah! Tjoeb '99 Single disc player
S&E pure Silver interconnects into
Yamaha 595a reciever
Through both Monster Z1 speaker cables and S&E Silver speaker cables
Sony DVPS360 DVD player

Initial hookup was through the original S&E Copper interconnects, which were then swapped to the Carbon Fiber interconnects. The Carbon Fibers really impressed me. I knew that they had a higher resistance, but the carbon fiber remains linear through a larger range than the copper interconnects. Next I tried Silver, which was thin. Finally, the S&E Reference, which blew the others out of the water. I'd say that the change to this interconnect was like changing the entire digital front end. Female vocals sang out of a pure, black background. I've had JPS Superconductor, and even a bunch of the Nordost interconnects, and none of them even come close to the S&E Reference.

Similar Products Used:

Dynaudio Audience 50s, Paradigm Studio 40s, Infinity IL40s, Polk RT800, JM Reynaud, NHT Super One,

Excellent imaging, spaciousness, great tweeters, smooth sound

Lack of bass

I used to own B&W 201s and then upgraded to Paradigm 5 SE Mk2 speakers. I sold those as well and had a choice between the new B&W 303 and 601/ 602, and Paradigm Monitor 3 v2. I thought the sound from the B&W 303s were ok, but lacked depth and needed more midrange. It just didn't have that full sound quality. I then checked out the 601s. An improvement in midrange quality. But it still wasn't quite there. I checked out Paradigms Monitor 3 and it was pretty good. I had better bass then the B&Ws. But its high end was too bright in my opinion. The imaging also was just not there. I couldn't actually hear the space the music was being played in. I got that imaging with all the B&Ws. Sure the stereo effect was there, but no spaciousness. So I listened to the B&W 602s. It came down to these two speakers. The 3s and the 602s. They seem to be compared a lot to each other, though the price difference between them is quite a bit. The B&Ws cost me $300 Canadian more then the Paradigms. I almost bought the Paradigms, mainly because of cost. But I knew the sound from the B&Ws was slightly better. Since both speakers were on sale I had to make a choice. I decided to take back the payment on the Paradigms and go for the B&W 602s. Sure they cost more, but the sound is way more refined. The tweeters are smooth and clear, but not overly bright. The voice presentation of the B&Ws was first class. I listened to a DMP 20 bit sampler CD and played "Fool's Gold" from the Vivino Brothers Band. Her voice was so present in the room and the sax even more so. I just didn't hear this quality on the Paradigms. Technically they were right, but I couldn't actually feel that the voice was in the room on the Monitor 3s. Some more playing with a Sting CD using Q sound. I could hear instruments outside of the speaker space. Extreme left for example. Some Annie Lennox- I could tell the recording quality was not quite as good as the others. I did not notice this on other speakers. These speakers actually present the quality of recordings. You can tell a DDD Telarc, DMP, Shefield CD compared to a regular studio done pop cd. These speakers work very well with vocals. Classical music was also well presented. I haven't listened to rock type music on these yet much. I'm thinking of Much Dance 2002 or other pop music for example. I'm thinking of a sub to fill in the low end that these speakers lack somewhat. By the way I bought these on 20% off on sale. My price worked out to $720 Canadian which I'm guessing is around $390 US. They list at $900-950 Canadian up here. I talked to one guy that owns 2 sets of 602s- both series 2 and the new series 3. He says he heard no difference in sound quality between these two- they sound the same. So I decided to save some money and get the series 2 on clearance. I wish these speakers came in red stained Rosewood like the CDM series. I would have gotten that color. The Paradigms offer that color and they cost less. Oh well.

Where B&Ws really shine is the clear smooth high end and excellent spaciousness and imaging. The drivers used seem to be quality parts. I have read that Paradigm uses better crossover parts, but who knows if that is true or not. The Paradigm Monitor 3s you cannot by-wire. The 602s you can. I didn't get expensive stands for these- just cheap hardwood Premiere brand 58 cm units. I'm playing my stuff through 8 gauge speaker wire at the moment with no by-wiring used. I have a Luxman LV-103 integrated amp that uses a hybrid configuration of tubes (6CG7A) in the preamp stage, and Mosfet transistors in the output stage. This unit is 60 watts of high current power. The Luxman and B&W speakers have always been good combos. I will have to listen more to be sure if my combo is good. I decided to get a bigger bookshelf speaker since the smaller ones just don't have the fullrange sound quality. I will post anothe review with some more listening down the road once my speakers break in. And these units need quite a bit of break in for the Kevlar woofers to loosen up. My listening was done on the speakers in store with broken in units and expensive receivers.

Similar Products Used:

Paradigm 5SE Mk2, Paradigm Monitor 3 v2, B&W DM 303, B&W DM 601, B&W DM 201

Imaging, dynamic range

ordinary styling

After auditioning various speakers from Polk, Infinity, & Paradigm, none of them could match the overall performance of the B&W 602 S2 for BOTH music and movies. The imaging and dynamic range of these speakers cannot be matched by anyone today in this price range. I set them up with the B&W CC6 S2 center channel and the cute
B&W LM 1 in the back to create a system rivaled only by systems costing twice as much.

Similar Products Used:

Receiver - Denon 3802
TV - Sony 36 inch XBR
DVD - Sony 700p

Beautiful all-around

None, as long as proper amplification is used. I need a sub, though, when using these.

I couldn't be happier with these speakers as front channels in my home theater setup. They offer a very clean, detailed sound even when played very loud. They sound very nice with music if you like the sound of a powered sub along with them. If you're the type that wants them for a two-channel setup and don't want a powered sub, you might want to consider saving money for a floor-stander. Many people knock this speaker for its bass performance even though its obviously not the intent of this model to be a full-range speaker. It's almost a full-range speaker, but not quite. However if you're in the market now, you might as well wait until the new series 3 hits the stores.

Similar Products Used:

300 series, Bose(yuck), Klipsch

open, detail, and big sound. Good with pop and rock music.

rather lack of focus and authority in jazz/ classical music.

I accompanied my friend to shop for his stereo. He heard a lot of great review about the 602S2. We spent hours in the audio shop testing this pair of 602S2 with NAD, Denon, Yamaha A/V amp. The B&W sounds big, open and detail. It needs a lot of space around it to generate good sound stage. Placing the pair in a small room wouldn't drastically reduce the speaker's true capability. The B&W excels in pop and rock music, but it got beaten up by Mission and KEF in jazz and classical. The B&W could potentially sound muddy in a big orchetra music. Frequency separation still lacks behind Mission and KEF. Mission and KEF have better focus and more authority when it comes to female vocal and chamber music, but they don't generate the kind of energy B&W has.

Similar Products Used:

test against Mission 780, KEF RDM2

Overall balance, midrange richness, does not require a lot of power

Only comes in 2 wood finishes, seems to require break in

I did not originally set out to purchase these. I was looking for a smaller speaker that would go in a small room. The speakers would have to be able to be placed close to a wall, which eliminated a lot of choices. I tried Paradigm's but their rear ports would not work in my room. I liked the Spendor S3/5, but it was a little pricey and it required more power than my 20 watt NAD receiver can provide. At low power, the Spendor seemed to lose its resolution. I was almost going to get either the NHT Super One's or B&W DM 601's (about equal) when the salesman insisted I try listening to the 602's. These are a huge improvement over the 601's and these speakers actually sounded better than the more expensive and highly regarded Paradigm Studio 20's. Compared to a lot of small mini-monitors, the 602's have much more bass response and more body in the midrange. I find I can listen at low volumes without having to turn up the bass boost on my receiver, something that I could never do with a smaller speaker. Also, for larger speakers, these image very well, actually better than the smaller 601's.
The only criticism I can make is that at high volumes, the treble becomes a little too prominent, but the speakers are not yet broken in and I have not yet tried bi-wiring. I am only using a single run of 12 gauge copper cable, so I am sure I can get more out these with some decent cables.
While there are several good speakers in this price range, these are at least a must audition. Also if you like the sound of the smaller B&W's you should audition these before deciding.

Similar Products Used:

Monitor Audio 2.5