musicality

bass

excellent for the price. bring music to you ! listen to John Mayall ¨a sence of place¨, Hector Zazou ¨Sahara blue¨ and¨Dead can dance ¨Spiritchaser¨ you'll be convinced, these speakers are great and made for a wide range of music.not too heavy metal though.

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boston acoustics, 3A

Tight tight tight. Treble that is true and doesn't blow you you out of the room.

If you're serious about the low end you should have a subwoofer.

I'm not a dyed in the wool audiophile, I just like to have a good sounding system. These puppies are nice. For the first time ever I don't add any DSP effects to music, everything is "No Effect" and that's actually what sounds the best.
While I would suggest a subwoofer to round the system out, they do have a low end and can put out bass.
I love the treble, there is no overpowering mega-phone effect as with some other brands in the similar price/performance range.
Can they rock? I have some loud neighbors who spend hours jumping on a trampoline and have dog that barks. One night at about 11pm I decided to remind them that sound travels in both directions. I cranked the amp up to about "11" and tuned to a rock station for a few songs. It was so loud the walls were shaking, my ears hurt for two hours afterward. The speakers were flawless, no rattle, no saturation. Yes indeed, they can rock. The neighbors have toned down their decible level. The dog still barks.

Yamaha RX-V800 Amp
PSB Subsonic III Subwoofer

nice high/mids/bass... great sound stage...natural

very natural sounding with great sound stage...i was surprised with the bass coming from this speaker; very tight and not boomy at all. I auditoned those speakers above as well as other similar Energy speakers, but ended up with these 602s. I am sure those speakers above are really nice as well, but 602s are for me. Goes very nice with the Onkyo 777 and Mirage Fx7 sub. Great for music and HT!

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silver 3/5/7/9 paradigm monitor 3/5

Excellent Dynamic range, very little tinting, excellent timbre matching between other B&W speakers in the same family

none at all.

Using 5 602s2's for a home theatre combined with a Velodyne sub. What a great combination. The speakers handle everything that I can throw at them, and transition beautifully between the extremely loud and the extremely quiet, without losing anything.

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used Energy, Pardigm, and Audio Acoustics

Money well spent - Execellent Sound clarity

Stands for these are not sold as part of the speakers

After doing lots of research in these columns and also listening to various other brands, I made the choice of buying these quality speakers.The build quality is exceptional , as most speakers in this price range are now made in China and Malaysia. This beauty is Made In the United Kingdom. The price I paid for this pair was USD425

I have biwired these to YAMAHA RX795A - with Infinity rears (soon to be upgraded to B&W 601-S2) - Kef Coda Sub Woofer and Jamo Center speaker ( soon to be upgraded to B&W LCR6 S2.)
Its just pure bliss to watch movies like Matrix or Star Wars or any action / Sci-fi movies.

Not to forget the music - the sounds are so natural and crisp, i can not simply switch it off. I am forced to off it ,so as not to disturb my son's sleep ( he is just 2 and half)

My neighbor, realised I had a new srt of speakers , as when I met him in th elobby, he mentioned the music sounded different.

I am happy I bought these speakers and have decided to replace the whole system with the 600-S2 series of speakers.

I did get a quote for the speaker stands from the company here in Hong kong - USD240 a pair for silver and USD223 a pair for black.

I feel the price for stands are very high. I am in two minds to buy them or not?

I welcome suggestions from other owners of stands, to give their views on the quality of sound using the stands.

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AR , Energy , Kef

I find it terribly funny that each review above (as some one else pointed out) is contradictary to the one that it follows. Furthermore, being such audiophiles that everyone claims to be, no one bothers to mention the equiptment that they have paired with these speakers and how that might ultimately influence the overall sound reproducion. I've had these speakers for about three months, and I have found them to be good all around performers when matched with the right budget equiptment like a cheaper NAD or Rotel, etc. Their sound is weighty and the clarity is about right for a speaker its price. I think it farsical to compare them to Bose speaks as someone else has noted. However, they do have their obvious weakness (as do all speakers, esp ones of this sort). Right now I've them matched with a Puccini SE integrate amplifier. The Puccini is sweet sounding and just a bit slow, and therefore, the B&Ws sound a bit muddy though overall they never sound "boxy" as someone noted. When paired with the right equiptment or a kit of a more modest sort, the B&Ws are hard to match.

Midrange, bass, looks, and construction

maybe a little weak on the treble.

I have had these speakers for less than a week. I know that the break in time for them is supposed to be about a month or so, but none the less these speakers sound fantastic. The midrange and bass are exquisite. I currently have them attached to a system as a front chanel with kef cresta 2s in the rear. Together they sound wonderful. My only complaint is that right now, the bass is a little overpowering and the treble is not quite up to snuff. However, I am sure that this will fade with time as the ones in the store sounded wonderful. I highly recomend this product.

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kef cresta 2, b&w dm 303, dm 601, wharfdale 70s

Great sound...

...not too strong in the lower octaves.

The highs and midranges on these speakers are superb, but I need a subwoofer along with them to match my tastes. They were just a little bright out of the box, but they sound really, really beautiful now. I tried setting the receiver to "small" and give more work to the sub, but that just doesn't work for music on these beauties, I have to let them sing!
Highly recommended.

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Paradigm

Clear, detailed sound. Very good value

needs a relatively powerful amp. Biwiring is mandatory

I upgraded to B&W DM 602S2 from Mission 700 Leading Edge speakers (bought in 1988). The latter sounded very warm and tuneful, but ultimate lacked the degree of detail I like. I listened to a lot of speakers (both bookshelf and floorstanding) to replace them, and I kept coming back to the "B&W-sound", which offers a seductive combination of warmth and detail. The Nautilus and NT series definitely have better (clearer) treble than the 602S2, though I didn't find the difference in treble-quality as impressive as the difference in price. Overall I think the cdm 7 nt had the best tonal balance, with the 602 a close second. The difference lies mostly in the bass-weight, with the 9NT having too much of it, and the N805 and 1NT too little to my liking.

The 602's sounded very good, even out-of-the-box. The sound improved quite a lot during break-in. "Road trippin'" (by the Red Hot Chili Peppers) proved to be very handy in monitoring break-in improvements; according to the level of detail the speaker exhibited this track sounded very different.

After break-in though, the treble still sounded quite (unpleasently) grainy with loud recordings, like the Dido-album. To my surprise biwiring completely solved this problem, adding a much better seperation between highs and lows and a tighter bass-response as a bonus. My impression is that biwiring is even more important than using high-quality speaker cable, since even adding cheap speaker-cable as an experimental bi-wire already offered audible improvements to a single-wire-solution.

All in all I am very pleased with the DM 602 S2. They do need some tinkering to get the best out of them, but you get a lot in return in terms of value for money. And if I dare say so, even in absolute sound quality.


Current System:
NAD 317 Integrated Amplifier
Arcam 7SE CD player
B&W DM 602 S2 loudspeakers
Van den Hul Royal Jade Hybrid (bass/mid driver)
Van den Hul CS-122 Hybrid (tweeter)
Van den Hul AES-EBU 110 Ohm interlink (yes, I know it's a "digital" interlink, but it does the job)

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auditioned Nautilus 805, CDM 1 NT, CDM 7 NT, CDM9 NT

Wider soundstage than other competitors in that range. Suits vocals, classical and live jazz type bands better. Excellent performer as main speakers in a Home Theatre system as well.

Can seem to lack bass if not positioned appropriately in the room. Can also seem too sweet if inadequate speaker cables are used.

I listened to the first version of the 601 and 602 as well as the 302 during a demo listening session. Unfortunately I could only afford the 302. A few years later, I came across the 602 series II. I had to have them!!!!
Brought a few CDs to the dealer for a demo, sat down and the first few seconds of music were enough to convince me that they were definitely the speakers I wanted. It was like hearing the BIG brother of the 302.

Much wider sound and better bass support, more detail and presence. The sound stage reproduction is quite striking compared to other similar sized speakers. Bought a pair on the spot and went back home. Plugged them in and shock, horror, nothing like what I had heard before !!!!

BURN-IN period. These speakers definitely need a good burn-in period. I rewired the internal cables with some Kimber 4TC (as I did with the 302). I was a bit disappointed to see that the screws and allen bolts were not tightened properly on the front panels. Please have this checked for you or get your handyman kit out, its worth it. This made a difference straight away.

After a couple of weeks, there was a noticeable improvement in the sound and it was getting a lot closer to what I was expecting out of them. I went back through my collection of CDs and even the crappy sounding ones sounded like they had been re-recorded. I like to plug a CD in the player, sit down in my small lounge, close my eyes and feel like I'm in a jazz club or at the Opera House... That's how good it can get with these speakers.

Note: They do suit a good size room and need to be placed away enough from walls to let them breath. I might need to change house now, that's a thought! Do get good stands for them as well and they will serve you right. Be also careful when choosing your speaker cables, they may sound very sweet with certain types of cables. I use the Kimber 4TC.

Six months after, they have since settled in and sound great, both for stereo reproduction or within the Home Theatre system. The more the volume goes up, the wider (rather than louder) the sound gets).

I would recommend them if you are looking for speaker in and even above their price range and size. .

5 stars for value
4 stars for the overall because of the finish quality (please ensure all screws and allen screws are properly tightened)

Regards,

Hugo.

Similar Products Used:

B&W DM302, Kef Cresta