I'd love for James to get his hands on these and see how they stack up. There's some stiff competition for $2500 and under budget towers. R700 and Arendal 1961 come to mind right away. Although if these are as treble forward as the previous gen they will certainly be for a different listener demographic, as B&W usually are.
$2,500/pair and they can't even afford to build an isolation chamber in the cabinet for the midrange??? How much did the save in production costs? Probably $5-$10 per speaker. As soon as I heard that I lost all interest in these speakers. I'm guessing the crossover parts are no better.
While I agree with you, one must remember that it is a game of capitalism at play. They (and every manufacturer of every product) need to leave a reason for people to want to upgrade to their more expensive models.
Not even $5 or 10, it will cost them about $1, these are entry-level, and ...sure that $2500 is a entry level 😂😂, I will feel sorry for people who will buy these speakers.
@@danmarjenka6361 well, if people do their research, there are numerous less expensive speakers that do not take such shortcuts and, as a result, probably sound better. It would be interesting to see some comparisons, both subjective and with objective test data.
I have the 685 s2 speakers I bought 7 years ago for 600.00 pair. I like them but can’t see spending money on these new ones. I’m sure they sound nice. I will stick to my vintage Polk Monitor speakers.
Same, paired with a good subwoofer they're plenty big for most listening spaces too. They are a little high-energy in the tweeter, but it's so clean so it's not as much of a problem as it could have been.
Uh oh, Gene. You likely shouldn't have knocked on the speakers while the guy was touting how much resonance this new version supposedly has reduced. LOL.
I've been running the DM603 S2, LCR6 S2 for front channels, and DM601 S2 for surrounds since they came out almost 20 years ago. Added CCM6 series ceiling pair for Center Rear Surrounds a few years later. Still have great sound.
I'm right there with you. I'm running seven LCR6 S2 speakers for the bed layer and recently added four CCM663's for overheads. It sounds awesome and I have zero reasons to upgrade!
Center channels need to be 3-ways to match towers and for better dialouge in movies and tv. Towers competitively priced for once. Still a bit stiff but will come down after they recoup the R&D costs 👍
As long as you sit within 15 deg from center, a horizontal MTM can still be fine if designed properly. www.audioholics.com/loudspeaker-design/center-channel-speaker
@@Audioholics yes! I would just do a third tower for center if I could but....space! Have long been interested in the SVS 3-way Center Currently have a big old huge Cerwin Vega 2 way.. it's good, but heavy bass! not enough vocals, wrong ideal position bc of size etc. With budget, until I can get a new receiver with Dirac, replacing stuff that works makes no sense.... stuck🙄
I think it's fair for B&W to assume a center would more often be paired with sub(s), so high-output bass-performance is less of an issue, especially for this "budget" range. I own their HTM61 S2, and would love if it was carried over to the newer series, but I can't imagine it was a big seller then, and wouldn't be now.
B&W is really good ONLY with the 8xx series…they keep it cheap and very low budget in lower series and of course SQ for the price asked is not worth at all. There are much better options out there if you don’t have the budget for 8xx series.👍🏻
This just pisses me off LOL. After 15 years I decided last year to upgrade to the 606 S2 and then they go off and upgrade to the best 600 series yet. That is just my dam luck. 😂
Gene, how do you feel about B&W maintaining the same old ASW-subs from more than 12 years ago? Audioholics tested the 610XP back in 2011, and prices have kept creeping up on these with no refreshes or improvements. That seems both lazy and greedy IMO
Sadly the prices are creeping up for all brands due to the worst inflation the world economy has seen in years. It's really sad to see this happening. I do agree it would be nice to see some updated subs from Bowers & Wilkins. The one we reviewed in 2011 was excellent for its form factor.
@@Audioholics, I'm not trying to diminish the impact of costs rising, but it seems to me, that the nominal price of the subs, considering the age of the designs and the lack of updates, has increased beyond what's reasonable, and mostly stems from prices of the 600-series creeping up in general. I do hope to see more B&W subs tested at Audioholics in the future, old and new
I own the 606 s2 anniversary edition and they sound great full of detail Partnering with neutral sound amplifier is a must so they don't sound too aggressive at the top frequency For me these are great speakers
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got these 2 weeks. Mind Blown . So good clarity and sound stage. I was sceptical about it working properly in small spaces but it is just perfect
I'd love for James to get his hands on these and see how they stack up. There's some stiff competition for $2500 and under budget towers. R700 and Arendal 1961 come to mind right away. Although if these are as treble forward as the previous gen they will certainly be for a different listener demographic, as B&W usually are.
$2,500/pair and they can't even afford to build an isolation chamber in the cabinet for the midrange??? How much did the save in production costs? Probably $5-$10 per speaker. As soon as I heard that I lost all interest in these speakers. I'm guessing the crossover parts are no better.
While I agree with you, one must remember that it is a game of capitalism at play. They (and every manufacturer of every product) need to leave a reason for people to want to upgrade to their more expensive models.
@@danmarjenka6361 so it’s worse than we originally thought.
Not even $5 or 10, it will cost them about $1, these are entry-level, and ...sure that $2500 is a entry level 😂😂, I will feel sorry for people who will buy these speakers.
Exactly lol. What a dumpster fire. These are for suckers.
@@danmarjenka6361 well, if people do their research, there are numerous less expensive speakers that do not take such shortcuts and, as a result, probably sound better. It would be interesting to see some comparisons, both subjective and with objective test data.
I have the 685 s2 speakers I bought 7 years ago for 600.00 pair. I like them but can’t see spending money on these new ones. I’m sure they sound nice. I will stick to my vintage Polk Monitor speakers.
I run 702 s2 and they both sound and look beautiful, very detailed highs,mids and clean bass
Same, paired with a good subwoofer they're plenty big for most listening spaces too. They are a little high-energy in the tweeter, but it's so clean so it's not as much of a problem as it could have been.
Uh oh, Gene. You likely shouldn't have knocked on the speakers while the guy was touting how much resonance this new version supposedly has reduced. LOL.
I've been running the DM603 S2, LCR6 S2 for front channels, and DM601 S2 for surrounds since they came out almost 20 years ago. Added CCM6 series ceiling pair for Center Rear Surrounds a few years later. Still have great sound.
I'm right there with you. I'm running seven LCR6 S2 speakers for the bed layer and recently added four CCM663's for overheads. It sounds awesome and I have zero reasons to upgrade!
Center channels need to be 3-ways to match towers and for better dialouge in movies and tv. Towers competitively priced for once. Still a bit stiff but will come down after they recoup the R&D costs 👍
As long as you sit within 15 deg from center, a horizontal MTM can still be fine if designed properly.
www.audioholics.com/loudspeaker-design/center-channel-speaker
@@Audioholics yes! I would just do a third tower for center if I could but....space! Have long been interested in the SVS 3-way Center Currently have a big old huge Cerwin Vega 2 way.. it's good, but heavy bass! not enough vocals, wrong ideal position bc of size etc. With budget, until I can get a new receiver with Dirac, replacing stuff that works makes no sense.... stuck🙄
I think it's fair for B&W to assume a center would more often be paired with sub(s), so high-output bass-performance is less of an issue, especially for this "budget" range. I own their HTM61 S2, and would love if it was carried over to the newer series, but I can't imagine it was a big seller then, and wouldn't be now.
B&W is really good ONLY with the 8xx series…they keep it cheap and very low budget in lower series and of course SQ for the price asked is not worth at all. There are much better options out there if you don’t have the budget for 8xx series.👍🏻
Let’s face it, in this instance an isolated chamber is more about segmentation / upselling than hitting a price point.
This just pisses me off LOL. After 15 years I decided last year to upgrade to the 606 S2 and then they go off and upgrade to the best 600 series yet. That is just my dam luck. 😂
Gene, how do you feel about B&W maintaining the same old ASW-subs from more than 12 years ago? Audioholics tested the 610XP back in 2011, and prices have kept creeping up on these with no refreshes or improvements. That seems both lazy and greedy IMO
Sadly the prices are creeping up for all brands due to the worst inflation the world economy has seen in years. It's really sad to see this happening. I do agree it would be nice to see some updated subs from Bowers & Wilkins. The one we reviewed in 2011 was excellent for its form factor.
@@Audioholics, I'm not trying to diminish the impact of costs rising, but it seems to me, that the nominal price of the subs, considering the age of the designs and the lack of updates, has increased beyond what's reasonable, and mostly stems from prices of the 600-series creeping up in general.
I do hope to see more B&W subs tested at Audioholics in the future, old and new
606 s3, 1100$??? I'll stick with my "old" 606 s2 that I paid almost half price!
I own the 606 s2 anniversary edition and they sound great full of detail
Partnering with neutral sound amplifier is a must so they don't sound too aggressive at the top frequency
For me these are great speakers
surprisingly these comments are full of people complaining. You usually don't see that on the Internet
2nd like 👍 1st comment... Gene keeps pouring salt in the wounds that are my budget 😂
Since 50 years Im into DIY speakers, i will never buy these speakers these are just waste of money ...for $ 2500 id rather go to Hawaii 😅.
Doesn’t sound as good as their older speakers, the highs are sharp bass not well defined.
Interesting, I felt that way about the other so these must be real ear shredders.
@@JamesWilliams-gf8gm the 700 series is the real deal, sounds way better.
@@Jacknjellify531.& cost twice as much!
The port is brilliant creating a turbulent layer allowing better air flow.
It looks cool too.