Imaging, detail-especially lower level impressive dynamics-good, even tonality once broken in, they totally open up once biwired

Not much, rolled off bass? they're only bookshelf speakers!!!! buy a sub if you want more bass!

This review may be a little bit different from other reviews posted on these great little speakers, but I think it will be helpful nonetheless. To begin, I'm not going to go into much detail of the *other* speakers I auditioned while searching for my new speaks. A brief list though: Tannoy, PSB, Paradigm, JBL (I had read several favorable reviews...don't believe the hype!!!), KEF, Mission, JM Lab Micro Utopias (just for fun), Def-Tech, Klipsch, MB Quart, the list goes on. Anyway, these B&W's were replacing a much beloved pair of PSB Alpha A/V's. For those not familiar with Alpha's, they're dirt cheap (I'm a college student), they sound pretty darn good, and match well to most mid-fi components, highly recommended for bargain-bassment-budget entry level speakers. The most noticable areas that the PSB's are lacking in are detail and soundstaging. So I began my search for a pair of bookshelfs with better imaging, greater detail, but still having a good deal of even tonality (something the Alpha's are suprisingly good at). After much research and a good bit of auditioning, I came to the B&W 601 S3's. My first impressions were that these speakers are a bit bright, with a knack for revealing a bit too much about poor recordings and weak components. But even during my first audition, they seemed to capture voices like nothing I had heard otherwise. One of my *test* CD's is a singer named Lamb, a female vocalist backed by a DJ who plays upright bass. The 601's were spot on, if a little edgy, but a welcome change from my laid back Alpha's-exciting is a good way to describe their sound. Soundstaging was nice and broad, deep and very tangible. Impressive for a pair of sub $500 bookshelfs. Warning: these speakers require patience, it took over 50 hours for them to break in. However, the sound is much worth the wait. After bi-wiring with AudioQuest Type-4's (external bi-wire), detail is even greater, and after breaking in, a lower treble sweetness becomes the dominant character of these speakers, very smooth and non-fatiguing. To sum up: be patient, take them home-that is, don't go on just the in store demo. Also, although they aren't perfect, at the sub-$500 price point the 601's do way less wrong and much more right than much of the competition. Highly recommended speakers!!!

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Tannoy, JBL, PSB, Paradigm, Kef, Klipsch, others

Good, articulate sound from 60Hz upwards. Natural sounding bass, mids and treble. Impressive looks, Price.

Gee, that's a hard one... nope there are none. They go well without a sub, but if you listen to deep bass music or watch movies, get a sub. B&W subs are nice, but buy the 601's and be happy. 602's have a fuller bass sound, but really, the rest of the audio spectrum is the same between the two. *NOTE: 601's do have strong bass.... just go and compare.

After extensive listening to jamo, jbl, bose, mission (very nice), dynaudio (expensive) and a few others, I decided that B&W 601 S3 was the way to go. Better looking than 602 and (slightly) tighter bass. I don't know why people complain about bass. These babies (once run in) have very accurate bass and good detail in the top end. Mid range is very natural too. Sure they don't go waaay down in the bass, but once you've listened for a while in a small/medium room, you don't miss the 40Hz rumbles - besides, no speaker has articulate treble, mids, bass AND sub-bass. But 3 out of 4 is pretty good for the price. I have a 12", 200W "Thunder-Down-Under" sub anyway. But remember, keep the subs crossover at 50 Hz or you affect the overall sound quality. My sub is only barely audible when the speakers are muted. I use bi-wire 3m/side braided ofc cable, and even though they're not run in fully yet (20 hours...30 to go!!!) they are starting to sound SOOOOO good. I am experiencing audio nirvana. I am using an ONKYO TX-DS595 AV reciever and cd player at the moment, as i plan for surround sound using the B&W 603 S3's as fronts and moving the 601's to rears, with the LCR 600 centre channel speaker. YOU HAVE TO TRY B&W SPEAKERS..... You won't be let down by their sound and quality. Recommended. FAR BETTER THAN YOU WILL/COULD EVER EXPECT. (i paid .85 retail price)

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dB Dynamics junk, sony junk, jamo, jbl junk, tested most other name brands such as psb also.

VERY CLEAR HIGH, POWERFULL BASS,AND A LOT OF DETAILS!!!

REALLY NONE.

just one word: simply FANTASTICS!!!! I USED THE DIAMOND 8.1, AND THE DIFFERENCE IS INCREDIBLE: THE DIAMOND ARE REALLY BAD, WHITH CONFUSED DETAILS AND POOR OF HIGH. I ALSO USED THE BOSTON CR75 AND THE TANNOY MX2 THAT ARE MUCH BETTER THAN DIAMOND, BUT THE B&W ARE THE BEST!!! IF YOU ARE SEARCHING FOR A BOOKSHELF, HAVE NO DOUBT: TAKE THE B&W601S3.

Similar Products Used:

WHARFEDALE DIAMOND 8.1, BOSTON CR75, TANNOY MX2.

All for the money.

None for the money.

Hi again! I have already posted about this little and wonderful speakers but, after biwiring them and, the most important, after start listening from real CDs (I will explain later) I know that I should come back here and tell you: "how! how! how!". Now I am REALLY HAPPY!!!! I have purchased this speakers with my bank help (I am student) and I can tell that any month I feel wrong about the payment taxes or something like this, I am making this efforts with an smiling mouth and more than happy ears. Biwiring: at least two times better speakers is what I get after biwiring them with QED 25th Anniversary Bi-Wire cable. I must said that the http://www.hificables.co.uk women were VERY patient with me and the shipping and payment were FAST and CLEAN. Real CDs: with a professional soundcard running 20bits DAC and good SNR I believe that my VBR hi-quality encoded 20GB of MP3's were bringing me all what my ears need... Poor guy of me... Just ONE test between one track played in digital mode from my CD-ROM and the same in MP3 format from my HD was ENOUGH to understand how stupid I was... It seems that the MP3 song sound like all the musicians were playing inside a phone-box. No soundstage, precision or texture compared with the CD version. As soon as I get the money I will buy a Rotel RCD-961 CD player, by the momment I am surviving with an old Philips CDi. Now I can really tell you: TAKE A LISTEN BEFORE BUYING ANYTHING ELSE!!! And if you could buy the: 602 S3 or, even better, the 603 S3.

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WIDE B&Ws product range listened (till Nautilus 801), KEF, Jamo, Mission, Tannoy (hi-end line)... Electronics: Electrocompaniet, Krell, NAD, Adcom, Musical Fidelity, Rotel, Marantz... Just a few of

Very good appearance, clear on mid/high, Very soft on bass.

none

I listened both on Acoustic Reseach series and KEF. KEF are rather soft and enjoyable but detail sound was not presented clearly. Meanwhile the vocal, bass & high of AR were good but they were a little noisy. Finally my choice was 601 S3. Their sound were wonderful with affordable price.

Similar Products Used:

Dynaudio.

for me it was between this speaker and DM303 and the next higher model (the 602 s3). i opted for the 601 s3 for several reasons. first, the DM 303 does not use the B&W in house yellow kevlar driver. i listened to the DM 303 and liked it ok, but felt that it would be nice to have the kevlar driver (same one used in most if not all of B&Ws higher range speakers). i liked the proportions and overall look of the 601 s3 better than the larger 602 s3. the 602s are quite big and i would have had to buy new shorter speaker stands to use those. my room is not very big and since i use a subwoofer, i felt that there would be diminishing returns in going with the 602 model since the primary difference is more bass output in the 602s. the salesman also said that with the 602s, speaker placement would be a little more tricky since it outputs more upper bass and therefore could potentially sound muddy if not placed correctly. finally, my local B&W dealer offers a good trade-up policy where they will give me the full purchase price if i want to trade up to a higher speaker in the future. so if at some point in the future i do decide i want the 602s or even some other speaker, i'm covered. now on to my impressions of the 601 s3. the first thing you notice when you unpack these speakers is how well the are packed and how sturdy the packing is. after having unpacked a lot of Paradigm speakers in my time, i can attest that B&W provides much better, more secure packaging. the fit and finish of the speakers are top notch. peering into the ports evokes not only a sense of cool style, but also one of quality. unlike my old Paradigms, where the port tube was just made out of cardboard and evoked a feeling of a toilet paper roll. the yellow kevlar driver looks very cool but takes some getting used to. with my LCR60 s3 center channel speaker, i am leaving the grill on as the yellow is a bit distracting to see on top of my TV while watching a movie. these speakers are also a design element and conversation piece for the room. i thought i wouldn't like the yellow color but they really do make the speakers look more expensive than they actually are and they add some pizzaz to the environs. i set up the speakers and played some music through them but didn't really listen carefully just yet. i wanted to let them break in a bit first. i also watched a few movies through them and n

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paradigm mini monitors

Soundstage. Beatiful highs, mids and great bass for the size, sometimes even unbeliveable.

None.

I am student who loves music. I have played piano for six years, some guitar experience and many, many, many hours spended in audio shops and WEB sites like AudioReview (¡the best!). I have dreamed with a good hi-fi system since I was seven and I watched the Houston Jarre''''s Concert... with my first serious work I purchased Rotel 931MKII, B&W 601 S3, Van den Hull cables, Audioquest interconnects and a professional soundcard which allows me to enjoy getting good sound throught a 20bits Class A DAC. 40GB of VBR high quality compressed MP3s extracted from original CDs allows you to make exceptional benchmarks jumping from song to song, just like a jukebox. Before the 603s S3 I have tested many other speakers, thats my experience: - No rival from comercial speakers: Sony, JBL, Magnat, Infinity... sucks!! - Medium high-end speakers like Jamo sound great and are less expensive but: they don''''t reach the high quality B&W''''s finish, they don''''t use kevlar, flow port, tube tapered tweeters... different story, different results. - B&W DM 303: cheaper, well built, wonderful for small music and may be, MAY BE, more silky sound and precission. But te 601 still sounding better, bigger soundstage, more exciting sound and you play them loud withour hesitate for their capabilities. - The others (hi-end rivals): no rival for the price, no technology and emotions offered by any speaker at this price range could equal de 601 S3. You should think that, as I student with a few money, I have listened carefully before bought anything, so if I have tried this you should, at least, give them a chance if you are planning any shop. What''''s more: I have listened a HT setup with 603 S2 as mains and 601 S2 as rears and it sounds beatiful so imagine what 601 S3 could do for you if after mains you upgrade your system... Result: 601 S3 wins. Before buying this wonderful speaker I have for a week a 601 S2 and I can hear the difference and the great B&W''''s job raising de 600 Series to a new outstanding quality levels from Series 2 to Series 3. Less agressive but more dinamic, more precission driving basses, bright highs but not as harsh as Series 2. Just bette for the same price. Just one advice: if you can buy the 602 (bass). I can not do it simply because I have already spended all my money in the mentioned setup. 602 will claim more power, Rotel 972 instead of 931.

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All the popular speakers that an audiophile uses to write here, you know, many hours spended at the stores (God bless our patient salesmen).

Highs and midrange are really nice. Sound is clear and detailed. Not as laid back as some would think. Images nice.

If you want to get picky maybe the lower bass response. But remember the price and the size of the cabinet. These are small inexpensive speakers. If you want more bass, get the 602''s.

I purchased these 601 S3''s to take the place of my B&W DM 2 series 2 floor standing towers. The towers didn''t have enough high end for me as they were built over 20 years ago. I was looking for a monitor that I could use with my home theater and also to listen to music. Extended bass responce was not a priority as I have a sub that is always on with my system. Where I live there aren''t any audio stores to audition sounds so I new that I would go with B&W as I used to sell them a long time ago and I knew their reputation was excellent. Well after bi-wiring them up with some DIY cat-5 cables I listened to them and was not dissapointed. The highs are really nice and the midrange also. They have much more detail than my old ones and the imaging is really precise. The bass doesn''t go way down but that was expected for this size woofer and cabinet. If you want more bass you can just get the 602''s. Plus I knew that I would be using a sub so that is not a big thing. For the price, I really like these speakers and I am really happy with them. I run them through a Yamaha receiver with a Sony CD player, and a Toshiba DVD. I also made a set of stands for them myself to position them correctly to my ear height. If anyone wants the plans including directions, photos and a diagram with material list you can email me at: wongr024@hawaii.rr.com

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none

B&W mystique, the Kevlar yellow drivers look cool, the whole speaker set looks great with the grills off, excellent performance for this price range, sonic quality, refined sound. Buying anything from B&W adds exclusivity from all those boring Canadian companies and mass produced equipment sold at Best Buy/Circuit City/Ultimate Electronics etc...

None really for the features and price. Watch out for local retail stores like "Sounds Like Music" in Arizona that have a monopoly on the local market. They will screw you into paying full price and are untrustworthy in the way they do business. It really hurts the quality B&W name and reputation if their retail stores are providing this kind of disservice.

These babies rock! -Cosmetics/Appearance- Wow, these have a real wood veneer; they look and feel just like wood. As you “knock” on the speaker box, they sound solid. They have a heavy/solid feel to them when you pick them up. The connections on the back of each speaker is first rate gold plated hardware! These are real quality speakers, and as I stated in the “Strengths”, this whole set looks amazing with the speaker grills off. Unpacking these speakers is a real treat. B&W does a phenomenal job of packing their products and the accessories and manual are all packed smartly. In comparison to the JM Labs, the JMs look tacky. The PSBs look cheap and look like the old Infinity RS Series. The Paradigms look cheap as well and the gray front casing just does not look fashionably correct. Of course the biggest emphasis of purchasing a speaker is its sonic quality, but you have to admit that appearance is also a major purchasing factor. -Sound- These speakers are excellent; very refined, clean and smooth. The sound is a little laid back right now due to the fact that they are not completely broken in. But after a couple days of listening I can already hear them starting to warm up nicely. I had a hard time deciding whether or not to buy the Paradigm Monitor 7s with the Monitor Mini and CC-370. But to be honest the only thing going for the Paradigm Monitors was the price (although they do sound fantastic). Bass response is fast and smooth. Trebles are clear; these speakers are NOT bright sounding at all. Speaker set consists of: DM602.5 S3 LCR600 S3 DM601 S3

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B&W DM302s, Paradigm Monitor Minis, JM Lab Chorus, PSB Image, Wharfedale Diamonds (just for fun)

detailed highs, wide soundstage, dynamics, tonal balance, imaging

recessed upper bass, frequency extension

I decided to audition comparable speakers from paradigm, psb, and nht. I found the speaker to be very revealing, which may or may not be a good thing. With good recordings, it sounded very smooth and natural, but it did not apologize for poor recordings (i.e. a burned cd with compressed mp3 music). These speakers threw the widest soundstage of the bunch. But where the area they best excelled was the higher frequencies. The cymbals in Dave Brubeck''s Take Five had so much bite, it sounded like they were playing right in front of me. Imaging was also very excellent. When I A/B demoed them to the paradigm, psb, and nht, I noticed that while the B&W''s didn''t do everything right, what they did do right, they did VERY well. Listening to the paradigms alone, I would never before have classified them as boxy sounding, but the B&W''s threw such a large soundstage that they did sound boxy compared to the b&w''s. The B&W''s also imaged the most precisely of them all; it had both width and depth. When it came to tonal balance, I didn''t really care for the nht''s thin-sounding acoustic suspension design. The nht''s never disappeard and had no presence. They also had the least frequency extension of all the speakers, making them all the much harder to integrate well with a subwoofer. The Paradigms had presence, weight, and could produce loud music with very little strain, but could also sound a little muffled. In some ways, they were the opposite of the NHT''s. While the nht''s were too "cool" sounding and uninvolving, the paradigms were too "warm" sounding and muffled. The PSB''s exhibited the best tonal balance, at least in the middle and lower frequencies. Voices sounded very natural; in fact, it sounded like the ella fitzgerald and louis armstrong were standing right in front of me. The jazz idiom walking basslines sounded tight and musical. It sounded neither too cool, nor too warm, but just right. The B&W''s, meanwhile, sounded recessed in the midrange and bass. Neither too warm nor too cool, just not as natural tonally as the PSB''s. However, they did have a more detailed upper end, and ultimately this is what swayed me to choose the B&W''s. I can always get a subwoofer to take care of the low frequencies, and get the best of both worlds. Not the cheapest speakers out there, but I think you get what you pay for.

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In order of preference when I auditioned them: B&W 601 PSB Image 2b Paradigm Minimonitor NHT SB 2