To celebrate 25 years of the 600 series, Bowers & Wilkins has launched an improved 600 Series Anniversary Edition offering two bookshelf speakers, a tower speaker, and a matching center channel.
Bowers & Wilkins 600 Series Anniversary Edition
The Bowers & Wilkins 600 Series Anniversary Edition includes proven drive units derived from the 800 Series Diamond. It partners those superior ingredients with carefully upgraded crossover components, resulting in even better resolution and superlative musicality. The 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 $6,000/pr and up speakers.
Bowers & Wilkins 600 Series Speaker Comparison
Bowers and Wilkins (B&W) 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. The 802 has been a coveted speaker for music lovers since its introduction over 30 years ago. B&W also spends more on R&D than any speaker company we know of with a huge facility in Stenning, England, home to a 50+ team of engineers and all kinds of exotic speaker measuring equipment.
The real beauty of Bowers & Wilkins for the vast majority of music lovers comes from their trickle-down technology. When they design a new $30,000+ speaker, the tech they come up with eventually makes its way into their less expensive models. If a speaker company never really pushes the limits, they don’t really invent new things and just use off-the-shelf generic components. B&W has developed more new types of materials to push speakers further than any company we know of. They pioneered the use of Kevlar, diamonds, and more in the speakers over the years.
The Bowers & Wilkins 600 series has actually been around in one form or another for decades. We have always felt this series was a great value, offering honest true sound for a modest price. B&W recently had a pretty serious update to their 600 series which is the subject of today’s article. The new series offers two bookshelf speakers, a tower speaker, and a matching center channel. The speaker components found in the 600 series have trickled-down from speakers costing $6,000/pr or more.
B&W has always had a top of the line 800 series. These are the speakers recording studios around the world use day in and day out. Every few years, B&W will update the lineup and incorporate all the new tech they have learned. This happened to the 800 series in the fall of 2015. It took a few years, but much of the new technology from the completely revamped 800 series has now made it into new models that start out at $600/pr, a tenth the price of entry into the 600 series!
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 price that is hard to beat.
Let’s dive in and learn more about the new speaker technologies that have made their way into the new 600 series.
Bowers & Wilkins 600 Series - Features and Tech
For decades, B&W had used Kevlar for its midrange 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 current Kevlar drivers. It took over eight years, but they finally came up with a new material called Continuum. Continuum was completely developed by the B&W team and is only found in their speakers. When we first heard it in the new 800 series, to say we were blown away would be an understatement! The improvement in midrange transparency was just stunning. Continuum, when used in a midrange driver, does not need the typical surround you need in most midrange speakers either, 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, you’ll see all kinds of lasers used to analyze speaker cone distortion, which they used in the development of Continuum.
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 shows up in the 600 series 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 break up occurs. The range actually goes out to 38khz which is twice as high as anyone under about 20 years old can even hear. The sonic improvement is a more open top end that is very smooth and sweet without even a hint of harshness.
B&W has always paid a great deal of attention to reducing cabinet resonance. Their engineers use laser systems to measure the cabinets and design ways to make their speaker cabinets as inert as possible. They don’t make a big deal about this in the new 600 series, but we have to say, the cabinets are extremely solid and dead. The front of the cabinet is a matte finish composite material about ½” thick. By mounting the speaker drivers to this material, then coupling it to the cabinet, resonance virtually goes away. When we wrap our knuckles on a new 600 series cabinet, it has that feeling we have learned to love when a designer gets the cabinet right! We also like the fact that B&W has upgraded the grill system to a hidden magnetic design.
Another technology found in all the new 600’s is B&W’s Flow Port system. Most speakers are vented in some way and 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 rear of all the speakers have very solid connections capable of either bi-wiring or single wiring. These types of connections are not very common on speakers in this price range and are normally found on models costing far more.
Another nice thing about all the models is the white color option. The 600 series have always just been a black finish with a pretty basic vinyl wrap. The new models have a much nicer finish with a choice of black or white. If you get the white finish, the grill will be a light grey color. B&W also took its current line of 600 series subwoofers and upgraded the exterior to complement the new 600 speakers, giving you a black or white choice there as well.
Bowers & Wilkins 600 Series Model Comparison
607 Standmount Speakers
The 607 is the smallest model in the new series. Here we have the Continuum driver material used for a combination midrange/bass driver that is 5” in diameter. The 607 is about 12” tall, by 6 ½” wide and about 8” deep. Amazingly the 6db down point for the bass is 40hz which is just astounding for a speaker this size. The port is on the rear, but if you put them on a typical 12” deep bookcase, you will be ok with the distance the port is off the back wall. For better performance, we recommend the STAV24 stands. This is a very solid stand from B&W that will put them at an ideal height and sells for $150/pair.
We do feel you need a decent amp to power the 607. Their efficiency rating is 84db, which is a tad low. A good amp like a Rotel or Cambridge Audio will do very nicely to bring them to life.
When we tested the 607, we found it to have a very extended, yet smooth top end. Bass was just 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 a trace of harshness. You’ll be able to pick out bass lines very easily too, as these never blur things together. Our 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.
606 Standmount Speakers
The 606 is one of the best sounding bookshelf speakers we have heard in years. Like the 607, it is a two-way design but steps up to a 6” Continuum midrange/bass driver. The cabinet is slightly larger at 13 ½” high, 7 ½” wide, and almost 12” deep. Their extra depth means you’ll need a bookcase about 16” deep for best bookshelf performance. Just like the 606, we think they will sound best on B&W’s STAV24 stands, pulled out away from the walls a little bit.
Efficiency is greatly increased on the 607 compared to the 606. We’d still like to see a good amp driving them as they really will come to life when you supply them with great power.
The sound is very similar to the 606 in terms of tonal quality, but 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 our opinion, makes them well worth the extra $200 for the pair. Heck, you’ll probably have them for 10-20 years so why not step up! 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.
Suggested Uses
- Main Speakers in Almost Any Sized Room
- Main Speakers Coupled with a B&W Sub for more low-end extension (we suggest ASW610)
- Left and Right Speakers in a Home Theater System if used with a Subwoofer
- Surround Speakers in a Complete 600 Series Home Theater
603 Floorstanding Speaker
The 603 is the only floorstanding speaker in the new 600 series. In previous years, B&W had a smaller floor stander, but after hearing how good the 606 sounds, we can see why they just opted for the big jump up to the 603.
While $1800 is not a small amount of money, we think the new 603 betters all of the speakers B&W has made in the previous CM and older 700 series, some of them costing $4000 a pair. The new materials used in this series really shines in the 603.
The Continuum driver is used in the midrange just as it is in the top of the line 800 series. With it not having to produce any bass, the jump up in sound quality is substantial. The top end is handled with the same tweeter used in the other two models. B&W adds two dual 6 ½” 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 ½” tall, but are about the same width and depth as the 606, which gives them a nice, slender look.
At Audio Advice, we love to test things to the limit, so we tried these out with the Cambridge Edge stack. Yes, at $7K for the stack, it is overkill, but boy did they really come to life and sound incredibly musical with the Cambridge rig. They are capable of revealing everything about the incoming signal and will get better and better as you improve the front end. However, they run just fine on a modest home theater receiver as they are fairly efficient at 88.5db.
When you sit down and listen to the 603 on a good set up, they will totally disappear and present a big, full sound that simply draws you in. The midrange on these is by far the best of the 600 series with an effortless sound that reminds us of the $17,000 B&W 802D3’s. Dynamics are fantastic, and the two dual woofers deliver tight, fast bass. We actually think B&W made these too good, as they are really close to the much more expensive 703S2- although the new 700 series do have a sweeter sounding tweeter. But there is no question, this is one of the best tower speakers we have in our stores right now for under $2,000 a pair.
Suggested Uses
- Main Speakers in Almost Any Sized Room
- Left and Right Speakers in a Home Theater System (sub is really optional, if you get one, go with an ASW610XP and two is even better)
Model HTM6 $599
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 dialog of a movie, the enjoyment is just not there. We 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 5” Continuum midrange/bass drivers. At only 10” deep it should fit easily into most systems, although it is pretty wide at 18” to hold that great driver complement.
When listening to movie soundtracks that pan from left to center to right, we felt it 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 midrange. If you set this upright, you will hear all kinds of subtle nuances in the dialog track. A movie really draws you in when you can sense the emotion in the performers' voices and the HTM6 shines in this regard. Those 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 is the best center speaker under $1200 we have heard from B&W.
Suggested Use
- Center Channel in a 600 Series Home Theater System.
Home Theater Options
We thought it would be fun to put together three home theater systems that offer what we feel is the best combination for your money. All three will also do a great job on music. For this case, we are just showing 5.1 systems, but bear in mind B&W makes a whole series of in ceiling and in wall speakers for full 11.4.4 Dolby Atmos systems.
If you want to pursue something even better, give us a call, pop into chat, or drop by one of our stores in Raleigh or Charlotte, NC.