Good build quality. Solid and controlled bass and midrange.

Annoying high frequency "tizz" for those whose ears stretch that far.

The B&W 603s are well finished cosmetically and will blend into any room. In terms of audio quality, at first listening the speakers are warm, with a solid well controlled bass. Soon howver the "tizzy" top end makes its presence felt. For those whose ears have started to lose frequencies above 12KHz this may not be a problem, but in my case, once noticed the tizz was ever present. It is almost as if the tweeter cannot accurately follow the higher frequencies and instead reproduces a distorted or clipped waveform which fails to follow the music. Whilst speaker reviews are generally a matter of personal taste, of preferred tonal balance, or tradeoff between warmth and clarity, this is not the case with these B&Ws. The top end simply does not work.

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Monitor Audio Silver Arcaydis AK3

Clarity in Nautilus tweeters; good mid-range; deep, punchy, accurate, tight, non-boxy bass; beautiful cabinet; perfect size speaker

I am not able to observe or hear any weaknesses with this speaker. I was looking at the 604 and 605, which is the same speaker with an extra driver. I don't know that I would have been any happier. You'll find that these speakers will offer more than you could ever use or bear to listen to. I gave it 3 stars for value because it was a fair deal, and that's what 3 stars means. I spent a little more than if I would have purchased used Paradigms, for example, but I wanted to pay more to get a better speaker. If you're looking for a bargain - I think this speaker is a fair price, but it's no secret that you pay a little more for B&W, but that's okay - it's a little more of a speaker.

I looked at various speakers - Klipsch, Paradigm, and B&W. I spent much time researching the specs. on the various speakers. My musical tastes include classical, jazz, and rock. I was looking for a speaker with clarity in the mid and high frequencies, and I was looking for a deep and punchy bass in the lower frequencies. I mostly use my system (Adcom amp/preamp/tuner, Sony CD/DVD) for music. However, I will use it when playing a DVD. These speakers are phenomenal. I have seen some reviews suggesting that they may not have enough bass at low volume/impedance. I completely disagree. If you listen to classical, you will think that there is a violinst or an orchestra in your room (Nautilus tweeters are a big plus!). If you play jazz or something like Sade or Anita Baker, you'll love the smooth, deep, rich tones and the punch of the bass. If you listen to Nirvana or Pearl Jam or POD, you'll still love these speakers. I did not use the foam plugs, and I will be experimenting with bi-wiring and different cables. For now, they already sound perfect. When I have the volume knob only turned to 7:00 or 8:00, you lose no sound. I immediately noticed that even if the volume is low, and you may not think the lower frequencies are overly loud or boxy, you can literally feel the bass punch in the floor and even in the air. I believe that some of this is a product of my amp. However, shame on you if you buy these speakers and use a cheap amp with them. In my case, the combo of these speakers and the Adcom amp is wonderful. This is my first pair of B&W's (purchased to replace old Acoustic Research LST2's). I will not buy another brand of speaker. The Paradigm Monitor 11's were a respectable speaker, but the B&W's were better, I believe, or at least different. I am now hearing instruments that I never knew were present in various CD's. When I play a DVD, I still find the speakers more than adequate even without a subwoofer. I will end my rambling at this point, but I would highly recommend these speakers to anybody. Make sure you have a good amp so that you fully realize the speaker's potential. Otherwise, it would be akin to putting regular unleaded gas in a Porsche 911 or buying tires for the car from Pep Boys.

Similar Products Used:

Adcom GFA 545II (100wpc) amp Adcom GTP 500 tuner/preamp Sony CD/DVD - brand new - I forget the model #

these speakers need room behind them mine is pulled out about 39" away from the rear and side walls...once you do that, they sound very good. Vocals come alive and acoustic guitars, etc. become 'transparent'...I use the dense foam bungs for the front and the bass is nice and clean. been using them since 2001 and am still enjoying them almost every night. :)

detail, flat response, excellent transient response with proper amplification

mustbe set up properly to get decent imaging

I agree that speaker is not real efficient and does dip down to a pretty sizeable load. Found low volume listening was not ideal when powered by a low end receiver. These problems dissolve with proper amplification. The mids and highs are if anything forward and so not to everyone's liking. I don't like to give out 5 stars unless something is exceptional in the market it competes in. run with NAD C370 NAD C420 cdp

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lots

Home cinema scale, looks, construction.

Overtaking low-end, flat soundstage, boxy.

This speakers look the business but they sound boomy and flat.If all you want is bass than this is the speaker for you. However, i have to admit that i do not have them playing in the best conditions. My room is quite absorving with cork floor and seling but they are a bit jammed in and assimetrically surrounded by a short wall corner. So I bellieve "there`s" room for improving...

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Royd Minstrel, mission m73

Good low frequency range and response

missing mid to high end frequencies

I bought these 603 S2 as a phase out for the S3''s. This speaker is definitly a power hungry mongrel that must be running at medium to high levels. You will not enjoy it al low levels. It is completly missing the mids and vocals

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Infinity IL 40, Polk1000i

Great sound, great presence. Looks ace with the grill off too!

None really.

Just a note on the advice of leaving the connecting poles on the speakers when bi-wiring. If you did this you might as well not bi-wire. The whole point of bi-wiring is so that the bass drivers and tweeters each have their own signal feed. Placing the connecting poles merely connects the terminals together so they end up sharing the same signal. You probably notice better midrange because of the high and low frequencies are no longer controlled by separate signals.. The same effect is achieved just by not biwiring! It''s just physics.

None so far

Exagerated highs, muffled mids, not much bass extension.

I have had these speakers for one month now. When I took them out of the box I really didn''t like them. One month later I neither like nor dislike them. I went from B&W 602 to these series 2 603s. I found the 603s to be fake, exagerated highs, muffled middle and no bass extension. I''ve read all of the reviews and noticed that the people who have had these speakers longer like them a lot more than others like myself who are still breaking them in, so I write this review in hopes others who found themselves feeling as I do will tell me that they have come around and are of B&W sound we have all come to love. I agree they are a little power hungry but I have a Rotel RMB1095 with more than enough power to drive them. I have about 15-20 hours on them and yes I have noticed they are not as unmatched as the first day, bt I still find the highs too exagerated and I long for a little more bass.

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Series 1 302, 601s and 602s

Dynamics, transients, sound stage, imaging. What did I leave out?

Spike housings in base of speaker are loose. Small sweet spot.

This is a follow up to my original review from June ''01. These speakers rock!! Over the past 8 months I have spent a good deal of time looking into room acoustics and the part they play in your system. Luckily, I have a dedicated room over my garage to play with. My room is 12''x 21''x 7''(with that funky garage shaped ceiling). The speakers are on the long wall facing the couch, which is a foot off the back wall. They are at 70 degrees versus the recommended 60 in most publications. I''ve spent about $250 on DIY acoustic treatments---bass traps, absorptive/reflective panels....All I can say is that with the room out of the equation, these things sound so good I''d really be hard pressed to upgrade. The bass attack is so crisp that you can hear the sticks slap the drums and the fingers plucking the stand up bass. Transient response is phenomenal and the the virtually instant decay make my 80watt Yamaha sound like it''s damped like an amp 4 times the price. Strong and punchy down low and clear ultra clean mids and airy highs. My point is that by giving these speakers the opportunity to show what THEY do, you will be blown away. Also, my last post discussed how much volume it took to get them to "open up". Well it doesn''t anymore. 9 o''clock on the dial is all you need unless looking to really blast it. I have friends in the business of designing high end systems...Krell, Martin Logans, $10,000 a pair B&W''s, etc...and they are completely blown away. It''s almost not fair to these guys who sell the super expensive stuff to see what a budget system is capable of. These speakers kick butt. If anyone would like some details about how I squeezed every last dropof performance out of these puppies, I''d be glad to help. My 2 cent. Jay

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Yamaha, Klipsch, EPI, Advent....

Performs superb as stereo speakers and just as good in surround set up, stereo imaging is top notch, quality buildt, spikes, good binding posts+++

A little lower in the bass region would have been nice, but get a sub and everything is like the engineers at BW meant it to be :-)

For many years now have I been interested in music and movies. Last summer I therefore decided to invest in a home cinema surround set up. After a lot of listening and reading many reviews, I decided to go for four BW 603 S2 and a CC6 S2. After six months listening i am still thrilled by the sound from this gentle giants! They have the ability to make the instruments shine through, and the stereo imaging is in a leaugue of their own!(if you consider the price) Load them with Mark Knopler and you`ll not only hear but feel his passion for the guitar. Try them with Prodigy and they will kick you around the room :-) In home cinema they are just as good! The only drawback is that they should have gone a little lower in the bass region. But hey, that`s why we have products like BW ASW 1000 :-)