Relatively small. Full range sound in as small an encosure as possible. Bass. B&W quality.

Size. Don't expect bose cube size (don't expect the crappy sound producd by ultra-small speakers either). Long break in period - it took about 3 months of daily use for these speakers to reach their full potential. At first I was feeling ripped off, then a month later I was thinking I got a bargin. :)

This is a great little speaker. It's small enough that, while not invisible mounted on the walls, it's certianly not an obtrusive surround speaker. Stylistically, it's nice looking and, if interior design permits, the 'Sorrento' finish is very cool. Sonically, these babies are very impressive. B&W doesn't make a speaker without a full and impressive midrange. These speakers are no exception. Dialouge and other mid-range effects are impressive and beliveable. However, considering their size, I thoght their low range was the most impressive aspect of these speaker's performance. Yamaha's YPAO (Yamaha Parametric Room Acoustic Optimizer) registers the DM600S3 as 'Large' meaning they have a large range and an extensive bass capability.

Similar Products Used:

Mirage Micro (gimmick)

Everything and beyond

None, Ever, and Never Will

Hey Everyone! I have purchased a pair of these BW 600 S3's today March 26th, 2004. I have never heard them before I bought them, and just because of the looks and because they are Bowers & Wilkins. I love the yellow kevlar bass/midrange woofer and the tweeter is out of this world, I can tell you that. I only listened to about 3 albums, and they all sound like they came from Mars, I mean as a good thing, I heard things I have never heard or even tought of. The Bass on these babies are amazing, far the best I have ever heard on "Bookshelf" speakers, but just so everyone knows these speakers didn't even pass their 60 to 80 hour breaking period. The best bookshelfs for $165.5 each in the universe. Also if someone out there doesn't agree with me they are dumb and have no idea about audio. Always remember the price I paid, never forget that.

Similar Products Used:

Definitive Technologies, Martin Logan, Denon

Great sound, perfect as surrounds. Easy to wall mount. Perfect match to the 600 series, better than the LM1's

Hungry, hungry, hungry.

I have put off purchasing these little wonders for too long! About a year and a half ago I purchased a set of 601 S2's and a CC6 S2 mated to a pair of Jamo surround 200's. Needless to say the 200's could not even compare to the soundstage, imaging and quality of the B&W's. I replaced them with a cheap set of PSB Alpha S di-pole surrounds. Nope, no good either. Finally I bit the bullet and bought a set of 600 S3's. Amazing! What a difference! From this point on I will only use direct firing speakers for surrounds. The 600's are perfectly matched to my 601's and CC6. After installing them and running a voice test through them I immediately noticed that there is finally no difference in the way they sound compared to my front end. Wonderful, could not be happier. One word of advice, these speakers are hungry! They will not only drop as low as 3ohms with lower freq but are also quite inefficient too. They require a solid amplifier. So far I have had good luck with my Marantz SR7400. Other than that, highly recommended. My current audio: B&W 601 S2 fronts B&W CC6 S2 center B&W 600 S3 surrounds Type Twelve Audio Monolith subwoofer Marantz SR7400 QSC RMX-850 (sub amp)

Similar Products Used:

Jamo, PSB, Monitor Audio.

* Brilliant detail; * Look the part; * Extended bandwidth; * Build quality is excellent; * great value; * Top class imaging.

* Lack of bass. Not a big issue when used with compatible subwoofer, but still problem with SACD or DVD-A when player lacks front bass management. * Sound quality in the highs drops noticeably with the grills on, therefore always leave them off, and take care with fragile tweeter.

I've had these speakers for some time, and these were actually the catalyst for me to upgrade the every other component in the rest of my system. Setup: Home Theatre use mainly, but a little music as well. Player - Pioneer DV-S733A (DVD-A & SACD) Amp/Receiver - Denon AVR-1803 Front speakers - B&W DM600 S3 Centre - B&W LCR60 Rear speakers - B&W LM1 Subwoofer - B&W ASW300 Cabling - all Monster These speakers truely belie their size. When shopping I looked as heaps of speakers, but the DM600 range from B&W really took my liking. They appealed as they reproduce the music as it was recorded. Everything was incredibly detailed. Plus the SACD/DVD-A extended frequency range of the speakers meant I could finally benefit from the nice player I brought six months earlier. I was deciding between the B&W LM1s, B&W DM600, B&W DM601 & Polk Audio RT25i. Due to my setup, small speakers are necessary, and my maximum size was very important. I loved the spacious sound of the LM1s as it a speaker without a definite sweet spot. But ultimately the sound quality wasn't higher enough to be used as fronts, so they ended up as rears. Additionally their vast mounting options meant they were better suited as my rear speakers. The RT25i's were a real favourite, in the way the sound was nicely balanced. Great mid-range, and well rounded highs. They also had considerable bass for their size. Unfortunately, they suffer from severe directionality. Either you were in the direct line of fire and got great sound, or you were outside that line and got less dynamic sound, and muddy highs. The B&W DM601's would have been my prefered choice as the bass extension was brilliant and a gorgous full mid-range was always present. However these speakers were too large, and the DM600s won. Now that I have the ASW300, which blends in seemlessly, I'm not worried about the lack of real bass. These speakers still have a sweet spot. When in the spot they sound like speakers 2 - 5 times their cost, but when outside the sound quality doesn't drop off as much as other speakers I tested. In my installation that is incredibly important. I would highly recommend these speakers if space is an issue, but if space and money are not so short, would safely recommend the DM601's too.

Similar Products Used:

Polk Audio RT25i, B&W DM601 S3, B&W LCR60, B&W LM1, B&O BeoLab 2500, B&W DM300

Very smooth and realistic, impressive bass extension, very clean and crisp at any volume.

Bass gets muddy if speaker is placed to close to the wall.

Background It's been 1 year since I bought these speakers last December, and I will admit that I am still impressed! Setup My setup for this review includes a Pioneer DV440 going into an Onkyo TX-DS575X feeding a very clean 80watts into my B&W DM600s. I recently bought Alicia Key's new album, The Diary of Alicia Keys and found this album to be perfect to do a follow-up to last year's review. Crisp & Clean One of the strongest points of these speakers is how clean they continue to sound. Turning the volume up relatively loud, listening to just the piano and Alicia Keys voice, there wasn't a slightest bit of stress on the speakers. Very crisp and very detailed. Smoothness The best feeling from these speakers is listening to your favorite type of relaxing music. For me, I love listening to jazz from the early 30s and 40s. With these speakers, I could pop some Ella Fitzgerald, and just fall asleep listening to her voice. Those recordings back then weren't at today's standards, but you can feel her voice flowing perfectly throughout the room with the B&W DM600s. It's so hard to descibed, but it's amazing how these speakers reproduce her voice! This area will definitely impress all jazz listeners. Subwoofer Needed? I am currently using my 600s as my mains with no sub. The 600s play more than enough bass for music, but if you want these for a lot of rap, or movies, you might want a sub. I currently use them for all music and movies, and I am very satisfied. I am set on buying B&Ws ASW600 but need to save up for it. I have tried to use other subs (JBL and Infinity), but theses speakers are very difficult to match to another sub. This leads me to my next strong point. Bass Tightness & Extension The bass extension on these is VERY impressive, as anyone will tell you. But what I found more appealing was just how rich and tight the bass notes from 100Hz and below were. The reason I could not match up any subwoofer is because compared to the bass from the 600 and the two subwoofers that I used (JBL & Infinity), the other two had very sloppy bass. When I first heard those subs, they were ok... sounded good to me. But after comparing them to REAL clean and tight bass of the 600, it’s a shame to what other people were use to calling "good". Flaws One fall on these speakers is how much the bassline becomes muddy if the speaker is placed to close to the wall. I first had my speakers on stands, and it was beautiful! But I have very playful dogs, so I put them on wall brackets to protect them. Even though there is about 5 inch gap from the speaker to the wall, there is a night and day difference in the bass' tightness. These really are not worth putting on the wall if used for mains. They still sound good, but nowhere as good as they do with stands. Comparison In the pass I have owned and used Infinity RS-5, JBL NB25, Klipsch RF3II, Infinity IL40, and JBL S36II. I really enjoyed the smoothness of my first Infinity's, but after they broke (accident) I was trapped in the world of mass-media and bought so many different speakers in search of MY speakers. I didn't know there was anything in my price-range that was better those speakers in stores like Circuit City and so forth, so I kept buying something newer, getting disappointed, and buying something else. But I was captured the first time I heard B&W Nautilus 802s. Those are my dream speakers! Regardless, when I heard of B&W I decided to see if they had anything in my price range that might please me the way those 802s did. I was in love from the moment I heard them the 600s. They had all the audio qualities I looked for, and had such an elegant look on the outside. Price & Research When I first saw the price, I thought that was a lot for a bookshelf (considering I bought a lot of towers). But compared to all my other speakers I've owned, these 600s really do blow away, even the towers. I really am that impressed with them! At the time, there were only 2 reviews here for these speakers, so it was just my ears making the decisions. There are more reviews now to help others, and I hope my review will help others too. Will I Upgrade? In all honesty, I have absolutely no plans on upgrading these to any other speakers, or towers. My next step is to buy the ASW600 subwoofer. Aside from that, unless I can afford the B&W 802s some day, I will keep these speakers for a very long time!

Similar Products Used:

Infinity RS-5, JBL NB25, Klipsch RF3II, Infinity IL40, and JBL S36II.

The sonic stage is the best point about them.

I cannot find any weaknesses with them.

These little wonders really amazed me.They are real quality sounding speakers for there size. I use them as my main instead of my B&W dm602s.

Similar Products Used:

polk s10 and the b&w 303

Great looks, musicality, very inexpensive considering the sound

It takes much better components and probably some disire to find a fault with these speakers

I was planning to use my 600 s3 as surround rear speakers for the futute home sinema set up, but meanwhile decided to try them with my Yamaha E300 mikro sistem just to see if I could hear any improvements in its sound. The very moment I plugged them in through Monster XPHP cables and put them on Atacama stands I heard huge difference and they seem to get better every day as they run in. I realize that it's not fair to use the speakers so talanted with a mikro sistem, but result is incredible! The bass is deep, mid range clear and the treble is as sweet as you could ever wish for! The moment I enter my flat now I swith my sistem on just to listen to them once again. What a sound!

Similar Products Used:

Mission m71

Strong on all points. Great all round speaker. Do not be fooled thinking this can only be used as a surround. They make great mains!

No Weaknesses

Wow! This speaker packs a punch. I auditioned the 600's against the 303's and 601's and comparatively, the quality and price points were better on the 600's. The bass comes out remarkably well for such a small speaker! I use it for my mains now with the 302's as my surrounds and CC6 as my center channel. I recently added a sub and my home entertainment system now sounds the best it has ever been! Way to go B&W!

Similar Products Used:

B&W DM 303 and B&W DM 601

- Smooth, open high end. Detailed but not harsh - Great bass even at low volumes - A steal in this price range

None so far

Until recently, I was using a set up of the B&W LM1's in my home office. They are certainly great looking and sounding speakers and cut above what most people have hooked up to their PC. Based on the recommendations of my sales guy at SF Stereo I decided to try out a set of the DM600S3's. Wow! I'm using these in my home office primarily for streaming audio over the web on my PC. The LM1 sounded great but I've really been blown away by the 600s. I wasn't sure there would be that much difference since both units are similar in size and price. However there is a world of difference. The LM1's have a bright tweeter which is nice for bringing out details but a little too much sometimes. Plus they sound a bit boxy. The DM600s have a nice, smooth tweeter and are very open sounding without too much highend. The image very nicely and have great bass even at low volume. I've only had them a couple of weeks but they continue to get improve with age. I have them connected to an old NAD integrated amp and the highly recommended Echo Indigo soundcard in my PC. Couldn't be happier. I can't image a better sounding speaker in this price range at least for my tastes.

Similar Products Used:

Also have: - B&W 800 in walls - B&W WM500 outdoor - Dynaudio Audience 72 - Dynaudio Audience 42W But have only compared to LM1s

So much sound for the size and the price.

For this price, none at all. Really, give them a shot. If your budget is $300 for speakers, the sound quality of these speakers will outdo anything you could find in a floor standing model for $100 more. In this case, size does matter - smaller is better!

I just got these little wonders to try out as surrounds and I am sold. I have CM2's (WHY, WHY, WHY is there no review section for the CM2s???) as my mains and I was all set to pop aonther $1000 for two more, but these speakers do everything I need from a surround. Actually, I am trying to find an excuse to get two more for my old two channel setup in my computer room/studio - they really could handle being your main speakers in a small room theater or stereo.