Wonderful soundstage

Very unforgiving

I have owned the speakers for 6 months. I have heard nothing in this price range that has the quickness or soundstage that the b&w's are capable of. Most people who listen to my system think I am using the center channel because the vocals are firmly anchored between the speakers. The sound stage is wide, fairly deep and defined.

The 602 s2's are capable of sounding amazing. They are also capable of sounding amazingly bad, if hooked to the wrong electronics. I started with an pioneer elite vsx-49, The combo souned bright and VERY forward, I couldn't listen for more than an hour. Switched to the rotel rsx 965. This is a VERY good match. I don't enjoy any speaker of this size without a sub. especially on HT. But a pair of 602's and a asw1000 is less than most floor standers.

If you listened to these speakers and didn't like them listen again with different equipment. These are not a forgiving speaker.


My system:
Rotel rsx 965
b&w 602 s2
pioneer 414 dvd player
straightwire stage & symphony II wire and interconnects
cerwin vega passive sub.

My music:
Natlie Merchant
Tracy Chapman
Rippingtons
Spyro Gyro
Dire Straits

Very clear, fast and concise sound

Mid-range a bit closed, could be my equipment

I feel that these speakers, for the money are the best on the market. When matched with even mediocre equipment the sound comes alive. The bass is clear and tight, the highs are brilliant. The mid-range is a bit closed and covered, but that may be my equipment. I use and Adcom GFA-535II, with a GTP-450. Not the best, but with these amazing speakers, makes me feel like I have Krell. I highly recommend these speakers for their value. I tested many others in the same and even higher range and found nothing of this clarity. I will couple these with a yet unfound sub, this should really set the sound off.

Similar Products Used:

Definitive Technology, Energy.

Incredible sound. What else do you want?

Sensitive to the equipment driving them.

These are truly excellent speakers. I looked for over 6 months, evaluating dozens of similarly priced speakers, including highly touted ones like the Energy Take 5 and Encores (no bottom end), Atlantic Technology's System 170 (no high end), and many other home theater oriented speakers. The only ones that even came close were the PSBs. I have four 602's and an LCR6. I may add a small sub later, just for that extra movie theater rumble, but I haven't been disappointed at all without one. Could probably have gone with 601's for the rears.

Everything these speakers put out is just incredible. I think many of the complaints about these speakers come down to the equipment they're attached to: you need to use quality components for these speakers. I have them biwired to a Yamaha RXV595a. I built the cables from Category 5 networking cable, very similar to the one described at TNT-Audio.Com. They're sitting on sand-filled cement block stands (they're not quite as bad looking as you might think: the blocks have been shaved to expose the black rocks inside).

Similar Products Used:

Owned JBL, Advent. Evaluated Infinity (flat), Energy (no low end), Atlantic Technology (no high end), PSB (nice), Paradigm (worth a listen), Acoustic Research, Boston Acoustics (nice, definitely needs a sub), Cambridge Soundworks (don't even go there), Celestion, Definitive Technology (not bad), Energy, Klipsch (not a horn lover), Magnepan (really nice if you have the room and the equipment for them), Mission (muddy), Monitor Audio (harsh), NHT (nice), RBH (awesome, if you've got the $), Tannoy, and probably a few others.

Accuracy; nice clean, neutral sound; good imaging; excellent midrange; crisp, easy to listen to sound

Some slight rasping in high frequencies

After much researching and auditioning, I was most impressed by the B&W 600 S2 speakers. Among others, I listened to the Atlantic Technology 170 series (which had rave reviews in many magazines) and was quite disappointed. Perhaps it was the setup in the store, but they had an unclear, very raspy sound. I also listened to the Energy Encore speakers, expecting a lot given the success of their Take 5 speakers. Again, I was disappointed after auditioning them in two different stores. The bass was somewhat muddy and the dialogue in movies was unclear; I also found them somewhat too colored and bright; maybe the sound rooms contributed to this problem. However, when I listened to the B&W speakers in three different stores, two with sound rooms that were a joke, and one with a real listening room, I was impressed every time. The various instruments in music material were well-defined.

I ended up with the 602 S2's for fronts, an LCR6 S2 for the center, DS6's for rears, and an ASW1000 sub, for my home theater setup and have been quite pleased. I am debating, though, whether to get 603's for fronts for the additional bass, and use the 602's as rear speakers for 5 channel music. I think the main weakness of the 600 series speakers is some slight rasping at high frequencies, (which, by the way, I also heard in the 801's), but otherwise they are a great bargain for the price compared to what's out there. I should note I have always preferred British to North American speakers, since I like the clean, neutral sound the British have perfected. My advice is avoid speakers with a lot of coloration, since they sound good intially, but after a short time become a real pain in the ear.

Similar Products Used:

Denon AVR 3300
Sony DVP-S7700

Phil Rackus:
If you paid $600 for a set of B&W 602 s2 at Dewar, they must be a very used set. They are very strict on pricing and the 602 "s2" goes for $900+. If it's recently used, you'll get something like $100 off.
In Montreal, you can get the B&W 602 "s2" for $700.

Clarity, Low distortion, Technology

None considering the size and price

Beautiful clarity, luscious mids, (although not the most accurate, but who cares ?) Fairly good bass, goes low enough unless you are a bass freak. They are not afraid to tell you about the weaknesses in your equipment or your software, so be ready and get some good cable, I reccomend that you get warm sounding electronics and cables, since it is a slightly bright speaker, although it is never fatiguing. Go listen to this speaker if you have not already so you will know what everyone is raving about, it is a wonderful speaker and I got 25% off of the original price, you absolutely cannot find a better speaker @ $450.00 or for that matter at $600.00 (their MSRP) Overall great speaker, worth every dollar.

Similar Products Used:

Most bookshelf audiophile quality speakers in this price range

Midrange, bass

Looks

My current system:
Denon 2801 receiver,
B&W DM 602 S2 front,
B&w CC3 center,
B&W DM 302 rear,
Paradigm PDR-10 subwoofer

These speakers have clear and deep sound. I bought them based on comparison I made in some audio shops and based on reviews here. Now I know that I made the right choice... I just like the sound of them.
I like the bass. For a bookshelf, it is great. And if bass is lacking, the PDR-10 compensate it.

To many to mention!

None!

This review is based on the fact that these are not 20.000-dollar speakers, and speakers in this price point and size has their limitations. People complaining these has not enough bass and cannot play down to 20Hz are making me throw up.

These are the best ever made for the price.

5 GOLDEN STARS FROM “WHAT HI-FI”, SPEAKS FOR IT SELF!

They sound very natural, and open. There is no loss of details, and they can paint a tremendously big soundstage! When you take their grills off, you will see that the yellow midrange and the silver tweeter look quite sexy together, so it is possible to combine technology and looks. Technology generally is not something that impresses me, but when a company like B&W explains how well there technologies are and then shows performance, it can impress me indeed. The DM602 series 2 real strength is its top-to-bottom coherence, and that is one of the basic things when we talk speakers, and where the most (speakers) fail (certainly not B&W). There long-term listenability is also a nice thing, making them easy to listen to for hours.

I am now using them as rear speakers, together with a T-770 from NAD and Philips DVD-710 player. Tried to use them as main speakers, without sub. Placed them on some VM-acoustics Blackfoot 60 foots, weighing 34kg each. Cabled them with some TaraLabs Prism Bi-Wire, using TaraLabs Prism D1 digitial (coax) between the receiver and DVD. They handled both music and Home Theatre very nice. Listened to these movies: The Matrix, Armageddon (Dolby claims this is the movie with the biggest average sound pressure ever made), The Haunting and Saving Private Ryan. All movies where delivered with big levels of details and a very deep and big soundstage. In the bass department there was absolutely no problems too, everything was very defined and controlled. The bass was on the tight and dynamic side and not boomy at all. The movie bass quiet impressed me, having enough output to make me grin.

In music they sound very open too, having enough bass to satisfy those into dance (my self) or rock. They are so natural that they can satisfy you, regardless of what music style you might have.

Conclusion – this is a wonderful speaker in every aspect, and for the price an excellent buy. If you would like more information about the B&W DM602S2 you can send me an e-m@il.

Similar Products Used:

B&W DM603S2, B&W DM604S2!

Ultra realistic reproduction, superior imaging, tight and responsive sound, incredible performance for the price.

I've heard it, I've read it, and I've experienced it. It's just a fact. These babies are short on bass. This is to be expected with a bookshelf speaker. I just realized after I bought them that I need a little more boom. I am upgrading to a floor standing speaker. Although, these are easily the best small speakers I've ever heard.

A brief story to describe this product: I was in a stereo showroom and was talking to a salesman. Behind my back, I heard someone playing the piano. I thought to myself how annoying it was that I was trying to hold a conversation and someone was playing the piano. Then it dawned on me. I was in a stereo store, and there was no piano in the store. I immediately wanted to find out what speakers were producing such amazingly accurate and true to life reproductions. It turned out to be the B&W 602 S2 paired with an NAD integrated amplifier, and NAD Cd player. I am somewhat concerned with budget, so I was immediately impressed at the low price tag on these speakers. They sound better than most 1,500 speakers I've heard. They are nothing short of incredible. They have an incredibly tight sound, which I like and would also be a great choice for a studio monitor.

Similar Products Used:

Event, Snell, Totem.

Very clean in the upper range.

None

This is my first real pair of speakers. I am only 16 and decided finally that $150.00 more was absolutely worth it to get these speakers compared to the 601's. The 601's did not have quite the bass that I was looking for.
For $600.00 these speakers are the way to go.

Similar Products Used:

B&W 601S2