Supertest No. 322
AV speaker kits £800-£1400
★
B&W DM 603 S3, LCR60 S3
and DM600 S3
bass driver. This much power each speaker to your room’s size
WHAT’S IT GOT?
Sensitivity 88 to 90dB/W/m
Impedance 8ohms
needs a substantial partner, but and acoustics. However, these
the LCR60 S3 centre is up to the speakers still need plenty of
job: it’s an oversized ‘left, centre, space to work at their best:
right’ speaker (hence LCR) that they’ve got bags of low-end
can be used as a complete ‘front- presence, so much so that you
three’ array if you wish. So far, so could be forgiven for asking
big, but the reverse is true of the ‘where’s the sub?’, at least with
surround speakers: the new DM music listening. The forceful
600 S3s are baby versions of the low-end on Nickelback’s driving
standard DM601 S3s, using com- rock sounds great, and the bal-
£1000
For Super build, finish and styling;
very capable all-round performance
Against Mighty front speakers
Verdict ★★★★★
Biwirable Yes
Subwoofer B&W models optional
Drive units:
Treble 25mm;
Superb, although not quite as
flexible as some similarly priced
systems that include a subwoofer
Mid/Bass 13cm and 16.5cm;
Bass 16.5cm
OK, so looks don’t count for pact 13cm mid/bass drivers, and ance has all the expected B&W The Mexican’s pumping music
much in technical terms, but for simple wall-hanging brackets. virtues of precise imaging, clean score, while the dialogue from
all that, you simply cannot fail to Setting up the B&Ws is made vocal presence and spectacular The Man Who Wasn’t There is
be blown away by the tactile easier because of optional foam detail with Lambchop’s subtle exemplary in both its clarity and
and visual appeal of B&W’s DM inserts for both the front and the sounds. Switch to multichannel, its natural, being-there timbre.
600 S3 range. It’s built to a stan- rear ports of the large DM 603 and that same power provides
So this system is beautiful and
dard that, in this test, no-one else S3s, which can be used to ‘tune’ ample energy and force with sounds great – where’s the
comes even close to matching.
But B&W’s audio engineering
matches the quality of its manu-
facturing. The DM 603 S3
floorstanders form this package’s
front end, and they offer a fine
blend of standard 600-series
virtues – focus, clarity, precision
and agility – coupled to bags of
bass from a dedicated 16.5cm
catch? There isn’t really one,
although for the average
living room you might find that
the DM 603 S3s are a little too
much, foam or no foam, and
unlike an active subwoofer, they
don’t have a direct volume con-
trol. But if you have the space,
these B&W speakers certainly
have the quality.
REPRINTED FROM July 2002
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