I was searching for a good set of speaker to be part of my home theater system. What I received was a great set of speakers. I shoped for about 6 months listening to the same CD's and DVD's on over a dozen different speakers. I needed a speakers that would reproduce audio to my satisfaction as well as excel in home theater. I kept coming back to the B&W DM 604's. For the price, I was unable to beat them. My specific price range was $800 - $2000 for front loudspeakers. I listend to PSB, Theil, Definitive Technology, Infinity, Klipsch, MB Quart, Martin Logan, DCM's, Mirage, and Paradigm's. Of all of these speakers I liked the PSB Century series and Definitive's BP-2002. The B&W's were very smooth. The tweeters were crisp and percise and didn't fatigue me as some of the other had done. The midrange and mid base were very responsive and tight while the bass response was accurate. There wasn't any BOOM like the BP-2002. I was so impressed that I purchased the 603's as surrounds!

The dealer I was working with was working hard to show the difference of a good set of speaker with quality equipment. The 604's were hooked up to a Krell amp and played my music. They sounded incredible. Then on the flip side he hooked them up to a Pioneer receiver. You can guess what happened. They sounded pretty damn good but not nearly to the extent of the Krell. When I did this test to other speakers, they just didn't sound quite like the B&W's did.
For only $1600 a pair, they were definitely work every cent.

I am currently running a Harman/Kardon Signature 2.0 Signal Porcessor/Tuner, Harman/Kardon Signature 2.1 Amp, B&W DM-604's up front, B&W DM-603's for surrounds, B&W CC6 for center channel, and B&W ASP-2000 sub.

I have compared this product side by side with: PSB Stratus Gold, Vandersteen 2Ce, Mirage M-7Si before I finally purchased it.It has the best and most details midrange (esp. vocal). It does not have the solid bass in large room compare to PSB gold. A bit shy on hi (>15KHz).
For $1300/pair, it is the best for music.

I compared the 604's to Tannoy's and KEF's. The the B&W's are not as full range as the KEF's but for the money I think they are great. Wonderful mid range and hi, bass not as killer as I usuall like but they still get the job done. They seem to handle the power of a large MAC pretty well with hi output levels. Friends are constantly amazed at the clarity.

I own a pair of B&W DM604's and I must admit they sound great. Plently of bass clear treble and it just sounds good with the music I like. mostly rock.In this price range it's the best speaker you can buy. I noticed that most people love the DM604, only a view people really hated them. I use them with a denon PMA-1500R amp and a Denon DCD1550AR cd-player and it sound super!

I'm must correct a comment made by GDS below. GDS says "I can't understand how people get tricked into buying a pair of $1600 speakers that have 2 passive woofers in each cabinet. That is a joke !!!!". That statement is incorrect. The DM604 has a 7" Cobex Bass driver, a 7" Kevlar Midrange driver, and a 1" metal dome tweeter (straight from the manufacturer's specs). It's the DM603 which has the 7" passive radiator (the other is a 7" Kevlar bass/mid driver).
I've listened to the whole lineup of DM600 series speakers, and find them all quite satifactory for the price. They can all be had retail for at least 20% off list. Not done searching for a new set of speakers, but they're on the short list.

Correction to previous post: The DM604 has two 7" Cobex bass drivers, not one, in addition to the 7" Kevlar mid-range and 1" metal dome tweeter. Sorry for the mistype.

I listened to almost 50 speaker systems, end I finally got to the conclusion that I preffered the B&W 603 and there was nothing that even came near. Later I listened to the B&W DM604 and compared them with DM603, they sounded even better! I admit, you shouldn't buy these speakers for their tweeters, but the woofers make up for this. These speakers give the best bass sound I ever heard!They are perfect for the music I listen most: House. I don't my subwoofer with build-in amplifier(185 Watt) anymore.

B&W DM 604.....wow! amazing and cool looking speakers!!!!that's what I said when I first hooked the speakers to my YAMAHA reciver and listened to the songs from a CD I put on my Marantz CD67SE....deep bass, cool and great treble...but, don't you think the "hiss" sound from the dome metal tweteer should be further analyzed by B&W engineers...? anyway, the sound produced is exceptional...great and deep bass....doom...daammm...doommm....get to listen to my DM 604s......:)

In the market to upgrade my main front speakers, I decided to purchase a set of Infinity 2000.6 since the price was pretty good through a mail order company. Once I received them I was very anxious to set them up in my home theater/audio room which is 12 by 14 feet in diameter. At first I was impressed by the clarity of these Infinity's but was somewhat dissappointed by their lack of bass. My old Realistic towers with a 10in woofer put out better bass than the Infinity's! I then began to further more inspect the craftsmanship of these and found that it was not the best. I was somewhat dissapointed, thinking that by buying an american made product I would be getting something that had been put together with a little more care and pride. this was not the case. Both of the speakers enclosures had noticeble flaws which should of been cought by Infinity's QC department ( if they use one, which any good company does and should!), the 6.5in mid/woofers that their company says are put together with a process which they claim does not use adhesive to mate the surround with the cone had visible clear glue which had been gooped on so thick in several places that it had oozed out and dripped down the speaker cone! Very cheaply made. I was not happy, so I decided to go to my local audio stores and check out what other choices I had. I went to the only local audio store that carried somewhat decent equipment. It was here that I first came upon the new B&W 600 line of speakers. I brought some of my test cd's and auditioned the entire line. I was blown away with their natural sound and left the store thinking to myself, what am I doing with those Infinity's! The Infinity's sounded too bright and "in your face" to my ears. I wanted the type of sound I heard from the B&W. The best way to describe this is a natural, smooth, uncolored sound. I then decide to audition some other sounds like Paradigm, Definitive Technology, and Polk. Although, these all had excellent individual characteristics, none had the sound I was looking for. I decided I would be going with the B&W line. Now, I had to see which setup I could afford with the budget I had to work with. I wanted to start with a set of fronts and a matched center channel. I concluded that I could get a pair of DM602's and their cc6 center for about $800.00 out the door. I then came upon a person who was selling a new set of DM604's right here in audioreview's web site classifieds. They were asking $950.00 and they were claiming that they were in mint condition. To make a long story, they were in mint condition, only four months old!, with all documentation and boxes. Now they reside in my audio room driven by an older Yamaha receiver, an R9. this receiver mated perfectly with the 604's. The sound is excellent. I don't even have to use my tone controls to get the sound I was looking for! My Yamaha R9 uses a high current amplifier stage and also has the capability to put out pure class A power at lower volume settings. For music, I now switch my class A on, turn the volume 1/4 way up and slip into a audio panacea! I am discovering sounds from my records and cd's which I had never heard before! the clarity of the 604's is amazing, clean and natural. The high frequencies are crisp but not so bright that they hurt your ears. The bass response is tight and deep. I have never heard speakers sound this good. They dissapear and it sounds as if you were listening to a live performance. I highly recommend anyone to listen to B&W louspeakers and decide for themselves. All speakers manufacturers seem to focus on a type of sound and then set out to make their lines sound like they want. B&W makes speakers that sound natural, not as "up front and in your face" as some other manufacturers and their specifications are very realistic. Unlike other manufacturers that "fudge" theirs to make their product seem better than they are. In my opinion, B&W makes excellent loudspeakers and I highly recommend them.

Mid-Range/Imaging/Clarity

Bass rolls off harshly at low end

I have owned my speakers now for almost 2 years and I am still thrilled to listen to my CD's. I auditioned many speakers when I was in my search of great quality sound. Mainly I looked at NHT/Mirage/PSB and I felt that the B&W was a much more "warmer" sound. Which I needed since this will be coupled with a Yamaha DSP-2092 receiver. Its too bad we get jokers on this thread that tear into B&W and place a 1 star in here. These aren't the greatest speakers to buy but for the mid-range market you would be hard pressed to match or beat these bad boys. I have been very happy with my purchase, again and again I come back to the local Hi-Fi store and listen to comparible speakers and I am still pleased with my purchase. I reccommend these speakers highly!

T

Similar Products Used:

NHT/Mirage/PSB