incredibly smooth and detailed presentation

need sufficient "break in" time (about 80 hours)

If you are looking for a stand mount speaker with an amazing midrange and an overall pleasant and sophisticated "British" sound, you need look no further than the DM 602 S2.

Although the highs are rather "hot" fresh out of the box, these bad boys smooth out very nicely after a sufficient amount of time. Music shines through these speakers in a very detailed fashion, yet they somehow maintain a refined composure even when played at above average volume. Bass is tight, accurate, and fast for a 7 inch (and I might add - gorgeous) Kevlar woofer.

I drive these beauties with a Pioneer Elite VSX-99 A/V receiver. I highly recommend these speakers and can't say enough good things about them!

Similar Products Used:

Infinity, Mirage, Polk Audio, and KEF

Excellent Imaging. Crystal-clear highs, bold mids, and clean lows. Biwirable.

Break-in.

I've been reading reviews for these for the past few months, and after taking them for a test run at a local shop for a few minutes, my heart was sold. Having heard horror stories about the notorious B&W break-in periods, I was already expecting them to be a little bright out of the box.

After they slid out of the box, I popped in a CD out of curiosity. After the first few minutes of play, I could feel those metal tweeters drilling a hole in my eardrum and into the center of my brain. Also, the mids were but non-existent. I took out Bono and put in some techno. It sounded as if someone was wearing fluffly slippers kicking a 4' bass drum while slamming a tack-hammer against a tin plate. In all honesty, however, the sloppy bass was owing much to the sub-standard equipment I was testing these on.

After my headache went away, I dragged everything downstairs, put Bono back in and locked them in the basement with the volume of the 25W amp at a moderate 12 o'clock (I was still waiting for my NAD C370).

I started cooking these suckers non-stop, and continued doing so for about 3 days checking now and then in between. Those kevlar mid/bass cones are damn stubborn. It took about a day and a half to get them to loosen up a little. The tweeter was razor sharp until day 2 when it began to give in a little and the strengthened mid tones helped take the edge off. The bass remained somewhat sloppy but only because of the fishing-line speaker wire I was using coupled with the 10-year-old 25W mini system in constant "limp mode" at 12 o'clock with the "panic fan" furiously trying to cool off it's coils.

I went down again after 3 days, and what I heard pouring out of those boxes brought tears to my eyes! After 70+ hours of non-stop U2, it finally paid off. And to think I only paid $600 for these. Considering how incredible they sound now, I would've gladly paid double if I had to.

Everyone seems to think that the 602's don't have enough bass. I believe there was enough to fill a medium sized room, but for larger rooms and home theatre applications...I'll have to agree that there probably isn't enough bass. However, for music in moderately sized rooms, there is plenty of bass, even for techno. I wouldn't think of adding a woofer to this system, the bass is already very strong and accurate. In my mind, adding a woofer would be excessive. The B&W DM602 s2's give fantastic sound at a fantastic price!


If I may, I would like to recommend some good matches for the 602's:

NAD C370 Integrated Amplifier
AudioQuest speaker wire: Type 2 (at least) biwired.
AudioQuest interconnects: Coral (if you feel like spending $100 on interconnects).

Accurate reproduction with strong bass. Good Aesthics. Strong on Classical

Too bright, especially on drum heavy pieces

Paid retail price for this with a store with an trade in policy. Currently they are on LOVAN stands (btw, Audio Advisor is great!!!).

I would say they are good not great. If you have an accoustically dead room (which I DO NOT HAVE) you will like them better. (BTW, I run all ADCOM and Marantz CD).

I am still on the fence but slightly disappointed.

Similar Products Used:

First BW experience

excelent sound in all frecuences

Imaging and soundstage.

Bass is rich, but may be a bit boomy. This may pass as the speakers break in.

I bought and installed these yesterday and find that they live up to all of the great reviews here. I expect them to improve more over time. I think that a lot of the poor reviews here may have to do with the systems used. I demoed these, and at the store they played my CDs on a low-end Sony DVD player (but with a very powerful Marantz receiver). The placement was awful in the store, but the speakers still sounded better than anything else in the price range.

I find that these speakers excel with rock and jazz, but are more restrained with classical music. Again, this may change as the mid-range opens up with break-in. I think that "What Hifi" or "Hifi Choice" called these speakers "restrained," and maybe they had a new pair in need of burning-in as well. Anyway, that was their only criticism in an otherwise glowing review (rating them a best buy).

My only criticism is the slightly obscure mid-range, but I expect it to open up with use. I will have to post a follow up review later.

I expect that I will be happy with these for a few years until I purchase the Nautilus 805s. These are a great value, and it will be less of a value to upgrade from here.

My system:

Rotel CD player
Marantz AV-5000 receiver
Monster cable (which will be upgraded soon to Kimber)

Similar Products Used:

Polk, Boston Acoustics.

Clarity, details, neutral, excelent mid-range, superb highs.

Long breakin period. Lacks low range.

I was doing some poor student speaker shopping a while back and was introduced to the B&W speakers. I first listened to the 302 and was immediately supprised at the quality of the sound. Then the salesman switched the sound to a pair of 601 and I was in heaven. While the 302 highs is well defined, there are moment in the songs that I can feel it was streching it. The warmth of the low range is also lacking and makes it kind of unbalance. The 601 was better defined in the highs and have more low range dynamics. I did not look at the 602 since I did not have the budget for it and bought a pair of 601.

This year, I was passing by the same store and decided to take a look. This time I listen to the 602 S2. Amazing is what I thought to myself. The high from this series 2 is so exquisite with absolute clarity, yet it never falters like the Boston or sound streched like the Paradigm. The tweeter from the Nautilus series surely has the helping hand here. Of all the speakers that I have heard so far, these B&W are by far the best in the high frequencies. The mid range is also well defined and the wide stage image which the B&W are known for is still there. However, the bass lacks tightness and sound dull compare to the Boston.

So if you are in classical or alternative music, please make yourself a favor and grab these speakers. They are like the British, mellow and polite. If you are in rap or heavy metal you should stay away from B&W and find some American-made speakers, their agressiveness and in-your-face attitude will better suit these music style. Or if you want a in-the-middle kind of between the British and the American then get a Canadian brand like PSB or Paradigm :).

One little note, the B&W requires a pretty long breakin period around 100 hours or so. Also don't forget to bi-wiring the B&W, you will see the difference.

Similar Products Used:

BOSE, Mission, KEF, B&W 302, 601 S1. Auditionned PSB, Paradigm, Boston.

Good with jazz music, the look of the main speaker !

not much bass

I purchased these speakers on August 2000.
I had been comparing them with TRIANGLE speakers at this time, but I prefered the smoothest sound of the B&W.
Triangle is very agressive by comparaison.
They sound very very good with Jazz, and also quiet good with classical music.
But my problem is that they cannot handle fat distorted metal guitar sound ! they're too smooth !
So, with pure metal, you're intented to put the sound upper and upper , and it gives you a headache.
So, if you listen quiet music, but them !
and if you listen rock or metal, trow them up !

Similar Products Used:

old Marantz speakers...

Neutral, clear, detailed, dynamic, tight clean bass

None that I can think of right now

My setup:
Harman Kardon AVR25 MKII high-current receiver rated at 75 watts/channel (40 amps). Paid $800(Cdn.) 2 years ago.
Sony cd player.
Pioneer CT-W616DR cassette deck.
Speaker stands.
Not bi-wired (yet).
Small room and setup is in a corner of the room.
Listening position is also not ideal, more toward the right speaker than the left.
Price paid: $700 Canadian (Mfr Sugg. $900).


B&W 302:
After listening to the wonderfully refined sounding B&W 302's for close to 2 years, I felt the desire to upgrade. I wanted a bigger sound. The 302 is a great speaker and value priced to boot ($313 Cdn., tax included). It was rated in Stereophile's Recommended Components List under their "C" class (LF Restricted). I opted for the 302 because the room where they would be used is small and the only available space was in the corner.


What has changed:
Nothing. Room is still small and the corner is still the only space I have available (until I buy a house...soon).


First, the 601 s2:
A few months back I was able to demo a 601 s2. There's nothing like being able to demo a speaker in your own home with "your" electronics. The 601's sound amazingly close to the 302's. Like a bigger 302. There are noticeable differences but you would have to listen to hear it. At one point, when I was switching back and forth doing A/B, I could hardly tell the difference between the two. Infact, the treble on the 601 s2 sounded harsh on one particular instrumental cd (metallicky?). It sounded OK on the 302. The vocals on another recording sounded "under-powered" and boxed-in on the 601 s2 but OK on the 302. I attributed these things to the 88db rating of the 601 s2 and my HK AVR25 MKII receiver. The 601 s2 sounds great in the store with the same recordings but then again, they have it hooked up to better electronics like a $500(Cdn.) HK amp. Still, I paid a lot of money for the HK receiver. Something else I noticed with the 601 s2 was that the bass could get boomy. I'm sure part of that is due to the current location of the speakers (the 602 s2 don't have that problem...the bass is very clean....strange, it's a bigger speaker). To sum it up, I didn't see any benefits to upgrading to the 601 s2.


Now, the 602 s2:
In the showroom the B&W 302 sounded very, very good when compared to the B&W 602 s2. That's when I started to really appreciate just how great sounding the 302's are. The 302's are just simply amazing sounding. Did I mention $313 Cdn.?

The 602 s2 sounds different from the 601 s2 and 302. The sound is bigger and there is more impact. You feel the bass as opposed to just hearing it with the 601 s2 and 302. I understand when some people complain about the bass. Yes, there is a lot of bass but it's not, excuse the language, "kick-ass" bass. Then again, is "kick-ass" bass realistic sounding (is that what you'll really hear if you were in the same room where the instrument is being played)? I'm sure I could improve the overall sound including the bass response (not that there's anything wrong with it right now) by bi-wiring them (soon) and getting a beter amp, etc. Still, my concerns about boomy bass (my experience with the smaller 601 s2) were unwarranted. The bass is clean and tight. Yet the box and drive unit of the 602 s2 is bigger than the 601 s2. They're placed in a corner of a small room to boot.

From here on in I'm just going to compare the 602 s2 to the 302 for the purpose of this review (er, my humble first impressions). Where I notice the biggest audio improvement is in the playback of instrumental recordings (ie., classical guitar solos, etc.). The 302's simply cannot match the 602 s2 in this area. The sound is big and has weight and presence. Great impact. I actually look forward to listening to instrumental recordings now (Jazz, classical, etc.). I mean, I enjoyed listening to them before but now it has this whole new sound to it. Much more exciting and dynamic.

I have the speakers set up at ear-level. For some reason I prefer the sound, for vocals, when the speakers are set up just a bit lower. Don't know why this is. Maybe I'll feel differently about it as time goes on. Once again, the speakers are not in the best of locations and my listening position is not that ideal either.

Remember, I've only had these speakers for under a week. It'll take more time to discover all the other qualities and nuances of these great speakers. The above is just my first impressions and I will post an update review later. At $900(Cdn.) retail they are a bit pricey but I got a discount of $200. At $700(Cdn.) it's a great buy indeed. At least, that's how I feel.

Similar Products Used:

B&W 302, 601 s2, Tannoy M2. !!Paid $700 Cdn. for 602 s2!!

Very clear and well defined in the upper frequencies. Enough bass to make them play well even in "party mode" :-)

None really, unless you're very into bass. I found that I needed to play them quite loud for a while to make them sound as they should. My neighbours didn't exactly like it ;)

I never ever heard such crystal clear discant, accompanied by well defined mid-range and bass in a 2-way speaker before (or 2.5 for that matter). Together with a N.A.D. C340 amp they play like nothing I heard before in this price segment, even with my old Technics SL-320PG CD player from 1993. I also tried out the Dali suite 2.5s with the same equipment, and though they might have had a little bit more well defined bass, they completely lacked the discant sharpness of the 602s. The 601s were tested with a N.A.D. C320, and sounded almost equally good, but the bass part was just not there at all compared to the 602s.
My conclusion is that if you like the english style of HiFi sound and want to buy an entry-level system, make sure the B&W 602S2's are the speakers you choose. Excellent price/performance :-)

Similar Products Used:

B&W DB601S2, Dali Suite 2.5

Good highs, clear mids, strong but controlled bass, INCREDIBLE imaging

none so far

Let me describe my setup: my equipment is meager to say the least. My amp is a Teac Reference 500 (integrated) and i'm using a Sony S330 DVD/CD player (I'm about to buy the Teac 7 CD changer to go with the amp). The cable is Monster all around. My room is about 12 feet deep and 15 feet wide. The speakers are placed about 8 feet apart from each other and about 8 feet from the couch I sit on when I listen. I pretty much followed the instruction manual in positioning them (it says to place the speakers and the listener on the corners of an equilateral triangle and to face the speakers at a point just in front of the listener). I chose, though, to keep them pointed straight ahead because that position seemed to give the best sound.

I am putting together a sort of mini-system of the best quality I can manage. The Teac pieces are a nice size. I was actually looking to buy a bookshelf speaker (which these barely are). They're about 19" high I think, which is pretty big for a bookshelf speaker. They're best on stands (I have some cheap wooden ones... I think I'm going to get some hollow metal ones and fill them with sand). You could put them on a shelf I guess but it would have to be a big shelf - I think the 601's are a little better suited for that. But once I heard these I couldn't resist them despite the size.

One worry was that my amp wouldn't have enough power to drive these things. They are rated at 25-120 watts (I think) and 90db sensitivity (or thereabouts). The high sensitivity is why I decided to take the chance with them. They seem to do fine, though. The amp will take them to very high volume levels with power to spare. Long story short, they're not power hungry, if that's something you're worried about.

Here's a roundup of the music I listen to: late medieval vocal, Renaissance choral and instrumental, J.S Bach, and some Classical piano music. It seems like these speakers were made for this kind of stuff. The high's are bright but not harsh, the mids are clearly defined (which is especially important in polyphonic stuff like Renaissance and Bach), and the bass seems plenty adequate. I don't listen to anything with more bass than organ music, and these speakers seem to handle that fine (good stands help). I don't need a sub, but depending on what you listen to (and if you're gonna use these for home theater) you might.

The imaging is EXCELLENT - scary almost =). The reason it's scary is that when I close my eyes and get lost in the the music the directionality is so defined, it's hard to believe that it's coming from two speakers. Listening to Rubenstein play Beethoven, I can almost watch his hands travel up and down the keyboard; listening to the B Minor Mass I can visualize the choir and orchestra and where everyone is positioned. I could go on and on, but you get the idea. The soundstage is good as well - the sound doesn't seem to deteriorate much as you move around the room.

I paid $600 for these and had to drive about two hours to the nearest B&W dealer. B&W is a British company with what is apparently a very rigid distribution in the US, which means that you can't buy their speakers over the internet or mail order and you can't find them at a discount. But they're worth it, I think.

Similar Products Used:

Mission, KEF