Neutral loudspeaker,good bass-Diffusori neutri e precisi

none (maybe the price)-nessuno per la categoria,forse un po' care

You give them warm music and they give you back warm music,you give them hard rock music and they give you back hard rock ...etc-Riproducono esattamente cio' che gli viene fornito.
System:
Integrated amplifier Arcam alpha
Cd player Pioneer Pd7100 as transport
Dac Cambridge audio S700
Loudspeaker B&W 603 S2

Clear mid-range, excellent bass. Build quality. Good Looks.

None.

These speakers just sound superb wether on 2 channel stereo or movies. I would highly recommend them.

Similar Products Used:

Kef Q55, B&W CDM1NT.

crystal clear response, mids are not too flat has depth, nice tight bass response

none that i have noticed

I have reviewed these speakers for almost a year comparing them to others in its price range.
When I review a speaker, A/V rec, or an amplifier i ALWAYS bring four types of music a Latin Jazz cd like Poncho Sanchez (Chile con soul)to hear how it handles percussions and highs, a Classical cd like Gidon Kremer's (Tracing Astor) or Philippe Herreweghe (MOzart Requiem) to hear the horns, strings, and deep bass responses, and a cd with vocals like Diana Krall to hear here sweet relaxed voice and finally a Heavy Metal cd like Tool (Undertow) cd :) to hear how they handle it's high volume responses and impacts. I do this so that i can determine how they respond to these different types of music. Not too many speakers, amps, a/v rec., can make all these types of music sound the way they should.

The Klipsh which someone had recommended sounded way too brite but there bass response was very good. It was connected to a Denon A/V Rec.
All of the B&Ws sounded excellent except for the cm4's these speakers in my opinion sounded very good but it sounds as if it were compressing the music, wasn't open.
Now i don't know if it was that they weren't broken yet or what but that how they sound in my opinion.
The Def Techs sound very good but i didn't like the way it handled jazz the main music i listen to.
The Paradigms monitor 9s didn't give off a good mid range response, and the studio 60s sound really good but out of my price range.
It was really close Between the Paradigm Monitor 7s and the B&W 603s2 the reason i chose the 603s2 was because the Monitor 7s mids were too flat and the bass response wasn't as deep. Don't get me wrong the Paradigms performed very well and I came very close to purchasing them but when we compared it with the 603s2 side by side it was clear that the 603s2 was what I was looking for.
So i saved the extra cash and ordered them but now they tell me they're not making the series 2 anymore they're making the series 3. Fortunately I was able to order them for the same price. :) I just hope they sound just as good if not better.
I will post my review on them in about 8 months from now. so see you guys in September.

Similar Products Used:

Paradigm monitor 7s, 9s, and studio 60s, Klipsch ref 3, Def Tech, B&W cdm7nt, 605s2,604s2, and cm4

Clear sparkling Highs, Bright Mids, Stereo Imaging

If not carfully positioned Bass can be muddy & booming
especially for Heavy Bass music (R&B, Dance etc.) but for "normal" pop, rock & classical bass is good.

Excellent!
Had these for 6 months now, still very happy with them allthough I had some booming Bass problems at first.

Solved the Bass problem by carefull positioning & using the heavy plugs inserted in the reflex ports, and buying some rugs for my bare-concrete floor ;)

My room is large (about 50 square meters) but these speakers fill it, even at reduced volumes. They sound very natural and balanced, and generally I would recommend them.

Amp: Arcam Alpha 1
CD-player : Some old flakey Sony.

Similar Products Used:

Listened to Mission, Dryade, Bose etc.
Mission sounded faked out, Dryade thinner (but were much smaller) Bose sounded fake.

Clarity, mid-section (thank God I got it back!), bass

None

Many thanks to Eric, Audio Enthusiast from Sudbury, Ontario, Canada who mentioned that the poles need to be left on when bi-wired. This solved the problem I had: sound was ok but too extensive bass, almost irritating. No mid-section at all! At a certain stage I really hated the sound coming from the 603's. I wondered if it was because of the newly purchased Onkyo amp. If it wasn't that I read Eric's review I'd probably had returned this piece of equipment! Again, thanks Eric for getting the mid-section back. Now the sound is really outstanding!

Similar Products Used:

B&W 500 Series

Clarity, good clear PUNCHY bass response, low-end frequency range very suitable considering price (48Hz), midrange, especially in the field of vocalization and stringed instruments...just about everything

high-end frequency may prevail to be a bit bright. nevertheless, this can be avoided with the use of good, warm-sounding speaker cable

What more needs to be said? These speakers produce high quality sound that is absolutely gorgeous. The bass is nothing short of tight, punchy, and in abundance, however not overloaded to the point of disgust. I, personally, was considering a purchasing a sub, in the event that i bought the bass-deprived, hard-working 602's. However, I have now reconsidered and have decided that this will definitely work. The vocals are so lifelike, it was as if someone was singing from 5 feet away. The design is also a major optimistic aspect. Basically, these speakers fit the bill inside and out. A better floorstanding speaker with this kind of quality, especially the bass, could not be purchased. Plus I got a very nice deal on these.

My system is as follows:

B&W 603 s2's
Cambridge Audio A500 Integrated Amp
Cambridge Audio D300 CD Player
Sony Walkman (we have terrible stations)
MIT Terminator 4 speaker cables
Monster Cable interconnects (CDP)
------------------------------------------
Sony 27" Trinitron TV
Sony SLV-N50 VCR (do not buy)
Panasonic DVD-RP31K DVD Player
Monster Cable S-Video cable
*generic interconnects (DVDP)

Similar Products Used:

B&W 302's, Sony,...japanese garbage

very clear at all volumes and quite fast

none detected

Great speaker!

I first heared them at a friends house and really liked em so i planned on buying them.
When i first got them out of the box i was really disapointed.
They really didn't sounded as good as i excpeted but still gave em a chance.
I left them playing for a day and when i came back from work the sound changed quite a lot.
I could follow all the instruments and the stereo image was ok.

It's going to take you about 2 weeks of playing tunes before the speakers really open up and give all that they got but when they do they are absolutely brilliant!
The clearity is amazing and the bass is very controled and can handle all kinds of music.
Throw in The Prodigy (Breathe) and you'll see excactly what i mean.

They are also perfectly capable of playing Lounge music,Jazz,R&B what ever you let them play the amaze you again and again.
To get the full potential of the speaker you should Bi-Amp them, it really makes a lot of difference much more open and direct.

My Setup is :
Musical Fidelity XA-1 (used to power the Mid/High)
Musical Fidelity XA-S100 (used to power the Mid/Low)
Musical Fidelity X-Ray (CD Player)
B&W 603 S2
QED Silver aneversary Bi-Wire (speaker cable)
Henley Interconnects

Similar Products Used:

JBL Ti600
Quadral Shogun

For the price they are a good buy!

None

I have to agreed that you will get the most potential from these speakers if you push them with a good powerful amp.
They open up when I turn them up to a good listening level.
If I had the chance to return these speakers I would probably purchase the 604 S2 Just because I like my music
loud and the 604 S2 can crank. It also was a tough decison to make between the studio 60 and the 603 S2 but I just enjoyed the crisp highs of the 602 S2

Similar Products Used:

Paradigm Studio 60 NHT 2.5

Clear & soft bass, very good digital tweeter, nice style Hi-End

NA

I spent almost two solid months researching my home theater / music room purchase. I bought AR PS 328 and the center owner sugested me this speaker, and he allowed me to bring them home for trying. Man, when I heard its sound, It seems to be that I was in the music heaven, well the sound I couldnot received from the bose 301, IV or PS328 before
For their size, these are impressive speakers! I auditioned many different makes / models in all sizes and price range, but was impressed with the B&Ws for the size and value for the price.

I agree that they needed to be broken in - was very unimpressed after initial set-up. However, within a week they warmed up nicely.

Sound & Vision recommended them as the "living room set-up (paraphrasing)" in a recent article.

Similar Products Used:

Bose 301, seri IV, AR PS 328

Soundstage, bass, midrange (when bi-wired with poles interconnected)

Poles need to be left on when bi-wired, this should be in the instruction manual. Wood veneer would be nice :)

I must say my opinion of these speakers has changed quite dramatically in the last few days... It's taken about two weeks of tweaking to get these optimized.

The most influential change I made was putting the manufacturer supplied jumpers back on. Initially I believed that bi-wiring alone would give me the best possible results. This was a logical assumption based on the fact that it was written in the instruction manual... In any case, I called the stereo shop tonight and the owner told me that he had reconnected the poles on his Nautilus 802's and the midrange filled up and the imagery increased substantially. So I did the same on the 603's and they were cured :)

Now I can listen to a whole song and EVEN a whole album comfortably without tiring my ears. My next idea is to use copper wiring to connect the poles and raising them a few inches off the ground to tighten up the bass (will keep you posted). For now I'm just rediscovering all the cd's I've bought in the last month.

Gave a value rating of 4 because I'd like to see wood veneer on these. It's very important with these speakers to have quality components. I am using interconnects that are 'airy' and a little bright. Using 'darker' sounding interconnect would make these sound even more inviting.

N.B. I use these exclusively for 2 channel audio. I listen mostly to Jazz and Classical radio shows on my Magnum Dynalab and the odd Jazz album on my NAD 541 CD player.


The System:

Musical Fidelity A3 Integrated Amplifier
NAD 541 CD Player
Magnum Dynalab FT-11 Tuner
1 m Audioquest Ruby Interconnects with WBT ends
12' Audioquest Speaker cables

The Listener:

I'm in my 3rd year at U of Waterloo doing Molecular Biology. My uncle got me into HIFI at the beginning of this termm, he recommended that I purchase the Musical Fidelity A3 Integrated Amplifier. Initially, I made the mistake of buying one of those 5 channel systems. Anyhow, I fell in love with the sound the MF produced (especially at 1500 CDN) I stopped listening to rock and techno and got into Miles Davis and Classical and Opera (love the details...)

Hope the review and needless jabbering helped you out :)

Eric

ps Email me if you have any questions or tips on how to make the 603's sound better.

Similar Products Used:

B&W 601 S2, Paradigm