any comments on the B&W 600 Series Speakrs.

[nak45z]

I want to replace my Acoustic Research Phantom Series Speakers to the B&W 600 Series Speakers. any comments on the B&W speakers that would help me decide on the change.

 

[BabelFish]

Have you auditioned any other speakers other than the B&Ws? I listened to them but ended up going with the Paradigm's instead.

 

[Joe Schmoe]

You should probably start by identifying what you don't like about your current speakers so that you know what you want to improve. I cannot recommend buying any speakers you haven't heard, so definitely audition the B&Ws (and others) before deciding. Beyond that, the 600 series are excellent for their price range.

 

[nak45z]

I do like the way my Acoustic Research Phantom 8.3 sound with the 6.2's rear, but i certain movies the speakers do shake and make a vibing sound because of their metal construction. so i would like to move from the thin metal enclosure to a tower looking speaker. I went back and looked for my wall mount for those phantom's and can't find them. the stands and the speakers make the vibing sound. I went to a home theater sound and heard the 600 series from the b&w, and loved the way they sounded, but i am probably not going to get the same sound because of the acoustics, and the receiver it had.....

 

[BabelFish]

Have you tried any other speakers (just to cover your bases)??

there are:
Paradigm,
Klipsh,
Canton,
BA,
B&W (as you know),
AV123,
ummm.. I know I must be missing some..

(these are in no particular order)

 

[Joe Schmoe]

I went to a home theater sound and heard the 600 series from the b&w, and loved the way they sounded, but i am probably not going to get the same sound because of the acoustics, and the receiver it had.....

Speakers that sound great to you in one room can be made to sound great in another, as long as you are willing to experiment a bit with placement and a few simple room treatments. The 600 series are designed to be an easy load to drive, so the receiver is not going to be much of a factor.

 

[kay]

The (now old) DM603 S3s are great HT speakers, and decent with stereo too. I have a pair driven by a pretty basic Denon receiver and they sound great to me. That said, you should definitely not limit your choices - the Monitor Audio Silver RS models in particular are supposedly the bomb in that price range at the moment.

 

[tbewick]

I used to own a pair of DM601's which were nice. I've currently got a 800 series centre speaker. B&W have quite a sharp sound but I think they're meant to be quite accurate. I think the cabinets of the 600 series are fairly lively. Stereophile does nice pictures of the off-axis and on-axis frequency response of the 600's so you might want to look at that. They can sound a bit sharp for pop music so you might need to turn the treble down. This is probably true for movies as well.

 

[ParadigmDawg]

Paradigm studio series
Warefedale Evo series
PSB Image series
KEF IQ series
Monitor Audio RS series
Ascend CMT-340
AV123 Rockets
Aperion Intimus 633

 

[mike c]

I've only heard the 600 series 3, and they sound pretty good to me ... the 602 s3 is about 95% as good as a paradigm studio 40 v2 to me.

make sure to check out the new 600 series 4 as well. and demo as many speakers as you can, people's tastes in speakers vary extremely

 

[Joe Schmoe]

Something else to consider: I have recently been using my Def Tech BP8Bs for stereo again. At $800/pr they fall within the 600 series price range. While I am aware of a couple of minor technical limitations, I actually find them more enjoyable in some ways than my $1500/pr B&Ws. The huge soundstage and bottomless bass are especially nice.

 

[Pheaton]

Hi,
I recently auditioned both the B&W 603's and the Monitor Audio RS8 and GS60 towers. To my ears the both series of the Monitor Audio speakers sounded more clear. Better separation between instruments and I was able to understand the voice of the singer better. But I will say that the B&W speakers sounded good, and the dealer told me that B&W is redesigning the 600 line of speakers. He was willing to give a great price on their demo pair to make room for the new models. So if you listened to the old 600 series and you liked them, you might be able to get them for a great price.

Pheaton

 

[nak45z]

I got a price of $2600 for front pair of B&W front 600 Series, Center Channel 600 Series, and a set of in ceiling B&W in ceiling enclosed 8" with tweeter

 

[emorphien]

Go audition. I'm not a big fan of the 600 series, I think you can do better for less money but it's up to your ears. If you have any other shops around hear every other brand you can like Paradigm, Focal, Era, PSB, etc. You name it, if they have it give it a shot!

As others have said though, how they sound in the store doesn't tell you everything about how they'll sound when you get them home so make sure you purchase from someplace that has a good return policy or even better will let you audition them at home.

 

[dem beats]

Go audition. I'm not a big fan of the 600 series, I think you can do better for less money but it's up to your ears. If you have any other shops around hear every other brand you can like Paradigm, Focal, Era, PSB, etc. You name it, if they have it give it a shot!

As others have said though, how they sound in the store doesn't tell you everything about how they'll sound when you get them home so make sure you purchase from someplace that has a good return policy or even better will let you audition them at home.

I would agree I was not "in love" with the 600 series. I would rather go with 705's all the way around and omit the towers.

I really listened to the b & w line up as the 800's made me wet myself and I was in love, and i heard they incorporate the same tech down the line... But I wasn't as impressed. I got an energy RC set up.... I'm a fan boy of the RC's. Even the little rc 10's get people turning around durring movies and are like "..really, out of that little thing?" I was limited greatly by price though and I truely fell in love when I heard the RC's in an HT set up.

I also liked the classic 3's from NHT which were incredably musical for that price with imaging out of this world.

EDIT....

I didn't state why I fealt this way. I was more impressed with the depth of the 705's and how clear the sound was produced even more than the 684. The 684 got louder though. It was auditioned on a rotel.

 

[emorphien]

I would agree I was not "in love" with the 600 series. I would rather go with 705's all the way around and omit the towers.

I think I dislike the 705 more! haha

 

[audioaddict]

I just did a fairly extensive search and ended up with the new 600 series 4, a pair of 683s a hm61 center and a pair of the seriers 3 dipole surrounds. I absolutely love the 683s. I had originaly been sold on the CM7s, liking them better than even the 703 towers which I found too sharp and forward, though the soundstage was fantastic. The day I went in to buy the cm7s, my dealer had the 683s. They have the FST midrange and nautilus loaded tweeter. To me they wew a perfect ballance between the cm7 and 703. Give them a try.