bowers and wilkins is one of the most
world-renowned speaker companies
on the planet you'll find their speakers
in recording studios
and mixing facilities around the world
the bbc
abbey road and skywalker ranch are just
a few of the places that rely on their
truthful sound
b&w also spends more on r and d than any
speaker company we know of
with a huge facility in stenning england
home to a big team of engineers
and all kinds of exotic speaker measuring
equipment
the real beauty of b&w for the vast
majority of music lovers
comes from their trickle-down technology
from their 30 thousand dollar plus
speakers now let's get started with
today's review
of bowers and wilkins brand new 600
series anniversary edition
the 600 series from b&w has actually
been around in one form or another
for decades we've always felt this
series was one heck of a great value
offering honest true sound for a modest
price
this new and improved anniversary series
celebrates 25 years
of the 600 series line this new 600
series anniversary edition
offers two bookshelf speakers a tower
speaker
and a matching center channel all of
these employ technology
in the speaker components that just a
few years ago could only be found in
their $6000 and up pair of speakers similar to the new
700 s2 series
with the new 600 anniversary series
edition b&w has added even more
trickle-down tech
from their top of the line 800 series
with the most serious improvements
to the crossovers you can now get even
more of the similar technology from the
800 series speakers
starting at $700 a pair almost one-tenth
the price
of where the 800 series starts while you
don't get the beautiful matching wood
veneer
curved cabinets of the 800 series that
take almost
100 hours to create you do get superb
sound quality for a great price which is
where the 600 series
is squarely positioned first
let's talk about some of the great
speaker technologies all of the new 600
series anniversary edition models share
b&w had used kevlar for decades in its
mid-range speaker drivers
in the 800 series their engineering team
was given the task of inventing a better
material
that would offer significant
improvements over their kevlar drivers
it took over eight years but they came
up with a new material called continuum
continuum was totally developed by b&w
and is
only found in their speakers when i
first heard it in the new 800 series
i was super impressed the improvement in
mid-range transparency was stunning
continuum when used in a mid-range
driver does not need the typical
surround you see in most mid-range
speakers
which contributes a lot to this new
level of openness
another factor is a great reduction in
distortion
if you ever get a chance to visit their
r d facility in stenning england
you'll see all kinds of lasers used to
analyze speaker cone distortion
they use this high tech in the
development of continuum which is now
part
of the 600 series many years ago b&w
invented a tapered tube that sits behind
the tweeter
in the original 800 models it sits
proudly on top of the speaker
as years have passed this design has
been refined
and in the 600 anniversary edition it
shows up as their decoupled
double dome if you were to take the
tweeter apart
you would see this is a very accurate
description of the tweeter
the combination of the decoupled dome
and the tapered tweeter tube
for the rear wave of the tweeter result
in a tweeter that can extend out far
beyond most
tweeters on the market before any
distortion or breakup occurs
the range actually goes out to 38
kilohertz which is twice as high as
anyone can even hear
the sonic improvement is a more open top
end that is very smooth
and sweet with never a hint of harshness
okay so i want to break out here for a
second and just show you a couple of
cool things about the speaker itself
so first they've got great hidden
magnetic
grill covers here so you literally don't
see anything attaching it
which gives you the ability to obviously
have a really nice you know look with
the grille on
take the grille off my own prefer
preference here is this one um a couple
other little things about it
they really worked hard to make inert
cabinets here so if you go over to
stenning england they spend a lot of
time with laser measurements and
everything else
trying to figure out how do we make a
really dead box so if you wrap on this
thing
it is incredibly solid for the money
this is about a half inch composite
material that they use with a sort of
matte finish on it
and you'll see actually if you look
really really closely
it actually says anniversary edition
on the bezel going around the tweeter
here
so i want to show you a couple other
small little things i'm going to spin
this around here
and let's look at the back for a second
two things i want to talk about here one
is in terms of bass
if you're getting too much bass out of
them these speakers actually come with
two different pieces of foam for each
speaker you can literally
if you've got a little bit too much bass
coming out in the room put in the first
ring version
if it's still too much they have another
insert that can go in there as well to
fully cover that up
the other thing you get with this is two
different sets of binding posts which is
really cool because what it means is
that you can actually
bi-wire these suckers and you can take
these binding posts off
bi-wire them or leave the binding posts
on and have them
single wired which is pretty great as
well
in the new 600 series anniversary
speakers the crossover boards
have been upgraded to a multi-layer much
higher quality circuit board from the
previous version
the capacitors have also been changed
from stock models
to a special bevendi metallized
polypropylene film capacitor
much much better the crossover is
somewhat like the conductor of an
orchestra
as it decides which frequencies go where
and how loud they play it is an
invisible part of any speaker but
super super critical the upgrades to the
new 600 series filter down directly from
the crossovers developed for the 700
s2 signature series b&w recently
released
another technology found in all the new
600s is b&w's flowport system
the way the air escapes the speaker
cabinet can have a pretty big impact on
the sound and how you must position the
speaker for best performance
b&w has been addressing this for years
by analyzing designs to come up with the
type of port
that gives you the best performance the
port used in the 600 series
uses their patented flow port system
which just like continuum
was originally designed for their 800
series
the 600 series anniversary edition
offers three beautiful cabinet finishes
you get black the matte white i've got
here which
comes with a gray grill and oak which
also comes with a gray grill
b&w has stepped up the quality of the
cabinet finish on the new
anniversary series versus the prior 600s
the oak finish is especially stunning
if you have a contemporary home the
matte white you see here will look
fantastic
in that environment now i want to walk
you through the difference in the
speakers in the lineup
the 607 s2 anniversary edition is the
smallest model in the new series
here we have the continuum driver
material used for a combination
mid-range bass driver that is five inch
in diameter
the 607 is about 12 inches tall by six
and a half
wide and about eight inches deep
amazingly the six db
down point for the base is 40 hertz
which is astounding for a speaker this
size
the port is on the rear but if you put
them on a typical 12-inch deep bookcase
you will be okay with the distance the
port is off the back wall
for better performance i recommend using
the stav24 stands
this is a very solid stand from b&w that
will put them in an
ideal height and sells for about 150
bucks a pair
their efficiency rating is 84 db which
is a tad low
a good amp like a rotel or cambridge
will do very nicely to bring them to
life
if you're not sure if your amp has
enough power for these go to
audioadvice.com and chat or call us or
stop by one of our showrooms
the 607 has a very extended yet smooth
top end
bass is stunning for the size and if you
position them properly
they will throw out a huge image it's
really interesting how you can hear
every nuance of the treble with never a
sense of harshness
you'll be able to pick out bass lines
very easily too
as these never blur things together my
only complaint is in the area of
dynamics while the
sound is beautiful it does not come to
life on big dynamic swings
like the next step up the 606.
so i've actually got the 606s here with
me now as you can see
i was actually doing some listening
tests on them with a mark levinson stack
and i've got to tell you
um these are some of the best bookshelf
speakers in this price point i've ever
heard in my life i mean they are
really quite amazing i actually listened
to them with the b&w
signature playlist on qobuz so if you're
looking for a cool playlist
to test your music or just hear great
music on go over to qobuz
listen to the b&w signature series
playlist but i will tell you just
listening and tests if you've got a
decent amp
on them these 606s really rock
like the 607 the 606 is a two-way design
but steps up to a six-inch continuum
mid-range
bass driver the cabinet is slightly
larger at 13 and a half inches high
seven and a half wide and almost 12
inches deep
just like the 607s they will sound best
on b&w's stav24 stands
and pulled out a little bit from the
wall and toed in a little bit
efficiency is greatly increased on the
606 compared to the 607
i still like to see a good amp driving
them as they will really come to life
when you supply them with great power
the sound is very similar to the 607 in
terms of tonal quality
with an extended lower end what you get
though
in dynamic improvement is not subtle the
sound explodes
into the room on big passages drawing
you further into the music
the combination of the extended bass and
improved dynamics
in my opinion makes them well worth the
extra 200
for the pair having the extra low end
also makes them sound
even smoother and sweeter across the
musical spectrum
and just like the 607 if you spend some
time positioning them
you'll get a big three dimensional image
the 603 s2 anniversary edition is the
floor standing speaker in the new 600
series
while two thousand dollars is not a
small amount of money
we think the new 603 betters all of the
speakers b&w has made in the past
in the previous cm and older 700 series
some of them costing four thousand
dollars a pair or more the new materials
used in this series
really shines in the 603 the continuum
driver is used in the mid range
just as it is in the top of the line 800
series
with it not having to produce any bass
the jump up and sound quality
is substantial the top end is handled
with the same tweeter used in the other
two models
b&w adds two dual six and a half inch
woofers for outstanding deep bass
we love the plinth included with the 603
this is a large base you attach to the
bottom of the speaker
that greatly increases its stability on
the plinth they stand about 41.5 inches
tall
but are about the same width and depth
as the 606
at audio advice we love to test things
to the limit
so if you put these on a great amp like
the mcintosh
ma5300 integrated amp they will shine
they are capable of revealing everything
about the incoming signal
and will get better and better as you
improve the front end
however you can run them very well on a
modest home theater receiver
as they're fairly efficient at 88.5 db
when you sit down and listen to the 603s
on a good setup
they will totally disappear and present
a big full sound that simply draws you
in the mid-range on these is by far the
best of the new 600 series
with an effortless sound that reminds me
of the $17,000 b&w 802 d3s dynamics are fantastic
and these two dual woofers deliver tight
fast bass i actually think b&w made
these
too good as they are really close to the
much more expensive
703 s2 although the new 700 series does
have a sweeter tweeter
but there is no question this is one of
the best
tower speakers you can get for two
thousand dollars a pair besting
many more expensive speakers the htm6
is the matching center channel speaker
for the new 600 series
in home theater by far and away the most
important speaker is the center channel
if you cannot understand the dialogue of
a movie the enjoyment is just
not there i love the way b&w used
perfectly matched speaker drivers for
the htm6
it has the same tweeters used in all the
models
and two of the five inch continuum
mid-range bass drivers
at only 10 inch deep it should fit
easily into most systems
although it is pretty wide at 18 inches
to hold that great driver compliment
when listening to movie soundtracks that
pan from left
to center to right it is perfectly
matched up with the other 600 speakers
which is exactly what a center channel
should do but the big win comes in the
continuum driver used for the mid-range
if you set this up right you will hear
all kinds of subtle nuances in the
dialogue track
a movie really draws you in when you can
sense the emotion in the performers
voices
and the htm6 shines in this regard
the new continuum drivers do a
remarkable job on the human voice
it also has the ability to handle those
center channel explosions
without showing signs of straining the
htm6 anniversary edition
is the best under $1200 center speaker
ever from b&w
if you are getting these for home
theater be sure to jump over
to the videos and review section at
audioadvice.com
where we've got a great article on
setting up your center channel
correctly for maximum performance along
with hundreds of other buyer's guides
setup videos and reviews or if you're
designing your theater
you can go to our home theater section
and see where you would put
each speaker in the audio advice
interactive
3d home theater design tool that will
show you
the exact location of every speaker for
best acoustic performance
if you want more information on the new
600 series anniversary edition
click on the link in the description to
see our written review
which also includes good better and best
home theater setups with this series
if you have any questions about the new
600 series or whether they are right
for your situation give us a call or
chat with us at audioadvice.com
or stop by our raleigh or charlotte
showrooms
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we'll see you next time
