Bowers & Wilkins 600 Series Loudspeakers Preview

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Audioholics Robot
Staff member
Bowers & Wilkins is at it again with a refresh of their bread and butter 600 series of loudspeakers. The new lineup naturally offers several technical advancements over their predecessors, as well as a slimmed down appearance to improve spousal acceptance. With prices ranging from $1,650/pair to $550/pair, B&W is hoping the improved aesthetics and sonic qualities will draw buyers in a hotly contested market. Keep on reading to see what the new line brings to the table.


Discuss "Bowers & Wilkins 600 Series Loudspeakers Preview" here. Read the article.
 
AcuDefTechGuy

AcuDefTechGuy

Audioholic Jedi
Maybe they can make these "cheaper" speakers with flat frequency responses and smooth off-axis responses to compete with the likes of the Infinity, Pioneer, NHT, Aperion, etc. :D

They already have $25K speakers that have curvy FR and rough off-axis.

They need to change it up a little. :D
 
R

road_tripper

Audiophyte
Frequency response

The 684, with dual 5" mid/woofers, goes down to only 72 Hz; but the 686, with a single 5" driver and a much smaller cabinet, goes down to 62 Hz? Does this sound right?

I've posted this on other forums as well, but am yet to receive a response. Please correct me if I'm thinking incorrectly.
 
Steve81

Steve81

Audioholics Five-0
The 684, with dual 5" mid/woofers, goes down to only 72 Hz; but the 686, with a single 5" driver and a much smaller cabinet, goes down to 62 Hz? Does this sound right?
It can happen depending on how the enclosure is tuned. I'd also note that the 684 still has the lower -6dB point (30Hz vs 54Hz).
 
Swerd

Swerd

Audioholic Warlord
The 684, with dual 5" mid/woofers, goes down to only 72 Hz; but the 686, with a single 5" driver and a much smaller cabinet, goes down to 62 Hz? Does this sound right?
As they presented those specs, it is confusing.

684 dual 5" drivers in a floor standing cabinet
Frequency range -6 dB at 30 Hz and at 50 kHz
Frequency 72 Hz – 22 kHz ±3 dB on reference axis
Sensitivity 87 dB

686 single 5" driver in stand mount cabinet
Frequency range -6 dB at 54 Hz and at 50 kHz
Frequency 62 Hz – 22 kHz ±3 dB on reference axis
Sensitivity (84) 85 dB

The 684 is more sensitive, and should sound like it produces more bass than the 686. Both are likely to be bass shy without a subwoofer.

This would be much simpler to understand if they provided a frequency vs. loudness graph.

A much bigger potential problem is their use of a 4 kHz crossover point between the kevlar mid woofers and the tweeter. In previous B&W 600 series models this has been known to cause audible problems of harshness in the lower treble range and listener fatigue, depending on the musical material. I don't know if these new models deal with that successfully.
 
zieglj01

zieglj01

Audioholic Spartan
The new models do not look that optimistic
 
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Swerd

Swerd

Audioholic Warlord
The new models do not look that optimistic
I really couldn't say for sure without hearing them, or seeing a frequency response curve done by a reliable 3rd party.

There are plenty of other speakers in that same price range, and quite a few of them are known to sound good.
 
Patrick Butler

Patrick Butler

Junior Audioholic
Anti-Resonance Plug

One of the things that changes in the #new 600 series is the addition of an Anti-Resonance Plug, first developed for the PM1. The Anti-Resonance Plug deals with the tendency for the voice coil to go out of round (adding distortion) at the top of the operating range for the midrange/midbass drivers in the new 600 series. This raises the breakup point of the driver and results in more pistonic behavior with less distortion. You can read more about the Anti-Resonance Plug here: Bowers & Wilkins - Anti-Resonance plug

Regards,

Patrick Butler
B&W Group North America
 
Morgan Audio

Morgan Audio

Audioholic
I have some of the 684's in my bedroom and their pretty good. They do start to bother my ears after about an hour or so but that's kind of a normal listening I think, so shouldn't be a problem. Some of the high's are not to impressive, seem a little constrained or like covered by a light sheet and the bass is just slightly weak for what you would expect. Like all though, it's just one persons opinion.
 

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