New B&W 6th Generation 600 Series Announced!

[speakerman39]

B&W just announced the 6th generation of its 600 Series of loudspeakers. Of particular interest is that B&W has ditched the kevlar drivers in favor for the continuum drivers instead. Thus, the continuum material is borrowed from the 700 Series and is a significant( albeit no more yellow cones) change for B&W. Never before has such advanced materials been available in the 600 Series! Here is a link:


https://www.cnet.com/news/bowers-and-wilkins-ditches-kevlar-with-new-600-series-speakers/


The new 606's are very appealing to me. Finishes are said to be in matte black OR gloss white. Nice!


Cheers,

Phil

 

[speakerman39]

I see there is no love here for the new B&W's. Just find it hard to fathom that B&W is actually moving away from the yellow kevlar drivers that they are well known for. Given that the continuum material was initially used in the 800 Series, I find this move rather significant. While the 685 S2's held their own very well, I venture to say that the all new 606's will do even better. Can't wait for some formal reviews. Love the glass white too!


Cheers,

Phil

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Only 6th Gen?

I'm waiting for the 26th Gen since I'm sure it will sound 26 times better.

 

[shadyJ]

I see there is no love here for the new B&W's. Just find it hard to fathom that B&W is actually moving away from the yellow kevlar drivers that they are well known for. Given that the continuum material was initially used in the 800 Series, I find this move rather significant. While the 685 S2's held their own very well, I venture to say that the all new 606's will do even better. Can't wait for some formal reviews. Love the glass white too!


Cheers,

Phil

New speaker technologies are always nice, but does it actually improve performance? I would want to see proof before I get excited.

 

[slipperybidness]

New speaker technologies are always nice, but does it actually improve performance? I would want to see proof before I get excited.

Not like the outgoing series set the bar very high.

 

[speakerman39]

Well given that the continuum material is derived from the 800 Series that trickled down into the 700 Series would have to be an improvement. My guess is that due to the economies of scale that B&W is now able to bring the continuum material to the new 600 Series.

Personally, I am very excited about it. Unfortunately, it is short lived though b/c I can't buy any new gear right now even if I wanted to. However, the time will come when I can buy again. Just not now.


Cheers,

Phil

 

[TechHDS]

What’s is this “continuum“ stuff?

 

[gene]

B&W just announced the 6th generation of its 600 Series of loudspeakers. Of particular interest is that B&W has ditched the kevlar drivers in favor for the continuum drivers instead. Thus, the continuum material is borrowed from the 700 Series and is a significant( albeit no more yellow cones) change for B&W. Never before has such advanced materials been available in the 600 Series! Here is a link:


https://www.cnet.com/news/bowers-and-wilkins-ditches-kevlar-with-new-600-series-speakers/


The new 606's are very appealing to me. Finishes are said to be in matte black OR gloss white. Nice!


Cheers,

Phil

You know we also have coverage of the new 600 series on our homepage too:
New Bowers & Wilkins 600 Series Loudspeakers

 

[everettT]

Not to knock, but there has never been a good 6 series. I'd be flat out amazed if the midrange isnt hot. Even before the DM series, they were voiced warm.

 

[gene]

I see there is no love here for the new B&W's. Just find it hard to fathom that B&W is actually moving away from the yellow kevlar drivers that they are well known for. Given that the continuum material was initially used in the 800 Series, I find this move rather significant. While the 685 S2's held their own very well, I venture to say that the all new 606's will do even better. Can't wait for some formal reviews. Love the glass white too!


Cheers,

Phil

I'm glad they aren't using the Kevlar drivers anymore. I've always found them to sound somewhat colored and nasally. I heard the continuum driver tech on their new 700 and 800 series over the last 2 years and really liked the sonic improvements in both series as a result.

 

[speakerman39]

You know we also have coverage of the new 600 series on our homepage too:
New Bowers & Wilkins 600 Series Loudspeakers

Nice article Gene. I find it very informative and very interesting. Looking forward to seeing how well the new 600 Series does. Of course, my focus is on both the 606's and the 607's. The use of continuum throughout the line may be a game changer for B&W. Only time will tell.


Cheers,

Phil

 

[speakerman39]

I'm glad they aren't using the Kevlar drivers anymore. I've always found them to sound somewhat colored and nasally. I heard the continuum driver tech on their new 700 and 800 series over the last 2 years and really liked the sonic improvements in both series as a result.

That is very good to hear that perhaps B&W made a smart move ditching the Yellow Kevlar drivers in favor of the continuum drivers. I still think that the 685 S2's were excellent speakers and held their own very well. Had a chance not too long ago to get a set at cost, but decided not to. Now, I am am so glad that I did.


Cheers,

Phil

 

[speakerman39]

What’s is this “continuum“ stuff?

Mike, here is a short read/video* explaining a bit more about continuum and what is does:

http://blog.bowers-wilkins.com/music/industry-firsts-continuum-cone/

Hope this helps to answer your question.


Cheers,

Phil

 

[TLS Guy]

New speaker technologies are always nice, but does it actually improve performance? I would want to see proof before I get excited.

Judging by the huge improvement if the new 800 series I would say yes. Those new woven cones of what I suspect is some type of carbon fiber sound very good to me. I never liked Kevlar as a cone material. I think B & W are about the last to abandon it.

I will admit to a preference for metal cones. Sure they have a prominent breakup mode as a rule, that make them difficult to deign for. However it is much easier to get consistency of manufacture and consistent performance over time. Also the break up mode tends to be at one point and in general behavior below breakup is on the whole exemplary.

I really like my SEAS EXCEL drivers.

 

[TechHDS]

Mike, here is a short read/video* explaining a bit more about continuum and what is does:

http://blog.bowers-wilkins.com/music/industry-firsts-continuum-cone/

Hope this helps to answer your question.


Cheers,

Phil

Thx Phil for the link good read.

Mike

 

[speakerman39]

Thx Phil for the link good read.

Mike

No worries Mike. Just hope that helped to answer your question. Trust me when I say, I am not a B&W expert. But, I do love and respect what they bring to the table. The new 606's are certainly on my radar now. Eventually, I will be able to buy again. Right now not so much.


Cheers,

Phil

 

[TechHDS]

No worries Mike. Just hope that helped to answer your question. Trust me when I say, I am not a B&W expert. But, I do love and respect what they bring to the table. The new 606's are certainly on my radar now. Eventually, I will be able to buy again. Right now not so much.


Cheers,

Phil

Same here Phil, so many sales going on right now. Sure hope they stay going till October.

Mike

 

[speakerman39]

Same here Phil, so many sales going on right now. Sure hope they stay going till October.

Mike

Yeah, it seems sales are always going on when my funds are low. Cost me a bit more than I anticipated during this move to my new place. Got most of my debt paid down and certainly not going to run it up again. As such, it is a kind of a wait and see thing. However, eventually I will make my next move. Unfortunately, it may be a good while before I can.


Cheers,

Phil

 

[TechHDS]

Yeah, it seems sales are always going on when my funds are low. Cost me a bit more than I anticipated during this move to my new place. Got most of my debt paid down and certainly not going to run it up again. As such, it is a kind of a wait and see thing. However, eventually I will make my next move. Unfortunately, it may be a good while before I can.


Cheers,

Phil

Yep, will be paying off some loans myself in October. How you liking your new place?

Mike

 

[TLS Guy]

Thx Phil for the link good read.

Mike

Not much information in that video, except the claim there new weave cone makes a better bend driver than the Kevlar ones.

The point is that a larger woofer or mid cone no matter what it is made of, will break up. So two options are to cross before break up, and this usually results in a pretty low crossover well in the speech discrimination band. The other option is to manufactures a cone with precise and controlled break up with no or very well controlled break up modes. This results in a much wider band driver. The crossover can then be above the speech discrimination band. These types of drivers are very hard to engineer. The JW aluminum tactrix cone was one such driver that I was involved with, I think it was the best full range driver made. No unpleasant peaks out to 20 KHz.

With rigid metal cones you can push the break up mode pretty high. But when it does break you get a horrendous break up mode. For my Excel drivers it is 4 KHz, so you can cross at 2.5 KHz which towards the top end of the speech discrimination band. So it all comes down to how you want your poison.

The real point is that good wide band drivers are not plentiful. I think continuously improving wide band bend drivers is the best avenue to pursue, as difficult and bumpy as that road may be.