Clarity, musical and plain look.

Very bad finish. B&W really doesn't know how to build a buget speaker. The finish is so bad that rear panel is even not aligned correctly with the box on BOTH of the speakers.

Good as my surrounds. Difinately not good for your "mains".

Similar Products Used:

Dyns Audience, Polk (cheaper, but much better build, though sounds worse)

excellent sounding monitors, exceptional soundstage,

None

I'm really very impressed by this bookshelf speaker from B&W. I auditioned several brands and it took me about a month and half to finally decide to get this set. Careful evaluation showed that these speakers really sound good especially for music. The highs are just right and crisp while the mids are exceptional. This monitors are just too good for it's price. It's highly recommended, Listen and compare the difference!

Similar Products Used:

JAMO 68

B & W quality, matrix build, excellent detail and clarity, inexpensive and they look great

obviously I shouldn't expect bass from these speakers.

I had originally had Infinity RS3s as my mains, then moved them to the back as my surrounds to make way for the B&W DM305s. The Infinities were awesome! Super deep bass and very clear. Unfortunately they didn't timbre match the DM305s (and I'm picky about stuff like that) so I sold them to a friend and purchased the DM302s. Although the soundstage isn't as large as the Infinity RS3s, they're also about half the size and weight with a smaller tweeter and bass driver. I couldn't be happier with the sound that comes from these little speakers. Awesome price too, albeit more expensive than the Infinity RS3s. But that's what you get when you buy a B&W.

And to clear things up with Calvin's comment about the rear panel not matching up in the back to the cabinet. There is a recessed groove on the back of all B&W speakers that contain the matrix box design (basically the 300 series line). This is NOT a quality defect, it is the way they are made. Don't be disappointed because they're supposed to be like this. Hope that clears up any confusion.

By the way if you're looking for a great receiver go for the Marantz SR7000 (absolutely hands-down, the best midpriced receiver in the market and I spent years researching my purchase)

And the CC3 by B&W is a sweetheart of a center channel!

Similar Products Used:

Infinity RS3s

Great budget speaker, great performance for price

Limited range, more appropriate as rear surround

ENOUGH SPEAKER?
B&W has a great reputation and I got these speakers with great anticipation. When the 302's arrived, I was surprised by their light weight and paper cone mid range. The flat black color was presentable, and the speakers had a modern appearance. Build quality looked good, but I was sceptical because of the low price.

To drive the 302s I was using my Yamaha 596 AV receiver, rated at 100 watts. The 596 is new to the market (see my review) but has gotten rave reviews. However, being a budget receiver, I was concerned about brightness in the high ranges. This is something Yamaha has been accused of in the past, so I was on extra alert.

DISMAY!
Imagine my dismay when, after booting up, my fears were confirmed. There was a thinness and reediness in the high ranges, especially on female vocals.
Let me backtrack and say that at $250 pair, the 302s were the best I've heard. Midrange was surprisingly strong, and the highs were respectable. Soundstaging was limited as might be expected. Bass was not an issue as I am using an independently powered subwoofer B&W SW1000 12inch (a superb unit by the way!).

WHERE'S THE TROUBLE?
So why the thinness? Additional research convinced me of the quality of the Yamaha 596. Yamaha engineers told me that brightness issues had been addressed.

THE ANSWER: SPEAKER UPGRADE
Back to my neighborhood Sound Advice I trudged. To the store's credit, they honored their trade up policy, and I moved up to he B&W 601's. (See my review under B&W 601s for the rest of the story!!)

302s ARE WORKING GREAT AS REAR SURROUNDS!

Conclusion: Great speakers for the price but you will probably need more for your mains. I recommend the 601s.

My system:
B&W 601s Mains B&W 302s Surrounds B&W cc6 Center
Yamaha 596 AV Receiver B&W AS1000 SUB
Toshiba V51 Monitor

Similar Products Used:

JBL, other B&W

Looks

Lack of bass

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 a "nice" sound, but not more than that. I bought them after buying the B&W 602 S2 (which I like a lot), and I expected the same B&W quality. Before that I used a 10 years old Sony speakers from a mini stereo system that I had.
First I replace one Sony speaker with the B&W 302 and I can tell you the truth: there is not much of a difference, if any. Call me a technology victim, but I expected that 10 years of technology would do something.

Anyway, my overall impression was OK minus. The only thing you will not say when you will hear them is WOW.

Crisp, detailed and highly engaging sound. A great budget speaker that will rival many at 2 or 3 times the price!!

At this price...nothing.

Looking at speakers in the $200 - $500 range can be quite a fatiguing experience, especially when you don't audition the speakers through the same gear. I listened to the speakers above in all sorts of price ranges and determined that the B&W CDM1SE was the best speaker under $2000.00.

I couldn't afford the 1SE's, but most speaker manufacturers have a "LIKE SOUND" throughout their line-up, and B&W is one such manufacturer. The 302s demonstrate the same tremendous mid to upper range accuracy, smooth detailed highs and a bottom end that is actually quite astonishing given their price. The CDM1SE is a much better speaker, but at five times the price they should be.

I listened to similarly priced models and found some interesting curiosities. The Castle Isis was strong when listening to strings and violins but had absolutely no impact with dance or rock music. I noticed this throughout their Stand Mount Line-up.

The Boston Acoustics, Energy and Polk models were all competant performers with rock and dance music but none could render female voices, Jazz or Classical music with the same finess and detail as the 302's.

The Tannoy and Mordaunt Short lacked headroom and base extension.
Wharfedale was to brite and Bose wasn't brite enough.
PSB was better but 4 times the price.

The B&W DM302s are a terrific buy that will not embaress themselves as main speakers in a budget system, or even an entry level Hi End system. Amazing!!


System: Cambridge Audio CD6
Arcam Delta 290 Integrated Amp
Tara Labs Cables

Similar Products Used:

Energy, Wharfedale, Castle, PSB, Mordaunt Short, Boston Acoustics, Bose, Tannoy and Polk.

When I first got these speakers they were bright, grainy, and irritating, yet sounded so good that they made me sell my Definitive Technology BP-8B's right away. Now that they have broken in fairly well, the top end has gotten a lot smoother and less harsh, the midrange got a lot more clear and the grain seems to have gone away, the grain was most likely do to the incredible detail of these speakers and was most likely caused by the recording. These little suckers throw a wide, deep soundstage with good imaging and focus when properly set up, mine are about 2 feet from the back wall and 2 feet from the side walls in a 10'x12' bedroom. The bass response of these speakers is VERY good for the size and seems well below the rated response. All in all I think these speakers are very good for the money and will most likely be kept for another room when I get my PSB Stratus Mini's which should be arriving soon, so...if you are looking for speakers $300 and under, or maybe even more, I highly recommend these little guys, at least give them a listen, and like they say "Listen and You'll See"
Associated Equipment:
Rotel RA-931 Integrated
Pioneer CLD-504 LD/CD Player
MIT Terminater 4 interconnects, Terminator 5 speaker cables

I'm not sure I understand all the comments about the bass being lacking in the 302..
I have a pair in my bedroom, which I drive with a Rega Planet CD Player, a Melos SHA-1 preamp/headphone amp, into an Adcom GFA 535 Mk II amp. Bass is plentiful. I continue to be amazed by this little speaker's abilities, and I continue to recommend them to anyone with $200-$250 to spend on speakers.. Might the NHT Super One/Zero with an SWP sub sound better? - of course, but you are now in another price range altogether. I like the 302 as a stand-alone mini-monitor for small rooms. In that category, given the price tag, and the fact that you can build a 5.1 system around the 302s from other B&W products that are well matched, I give them 5 stars.

Let's see: sound, price, looks, sound, highs, lows, mids, price, sound

They are a little light and don't do DEEP bass too well, also not bi-wireable

I will have to say that these are the best speakers ever made for under $500, maybe $750. The enjoyment to price ratio is obsenely high. For such a small speaker, the bass produced is amazing, but still not on the same level of larger non-bookshelf speakers. The highs are clean and defined, the mids uncolored, and the bass pure. Male vocals sound outstanding through my amp (NAD C350).

The only drawback to the prce is the weaker, lighter cabinet. Heavy guitar seems to overwhelm the speaker, making thin sounds out of thick recordings. This problem only occurs with loud, dirving music i.e. Metalica or Pantera. This is of really no concern to me, I rarely listen to such music.

Imaging and soundstage are amzing, far better than other brands at this price.

Basically, this is the best $250 I have ever spent.

Very good tonal balance. (for the price) Good imaging, for the price.

could use a little bit more bass. Can sound a little bright if not set up close enough to the wall.

If you listen to jazz or classical music and are looking for a speaker under $300 dollars this is the one for you. If you take the time to set them up right and invest some money in a good pair of stands the imaging is outstanding for the money. They can sound a little bright when compared to more expensive speakers but they are free from the tonal problems of a lot of speakers in this price range.