Bowers & Wilkins 607 S2 Anniversary Edition Review (video)

[DavidMcRoy]

Happy Anniversary, I guess?

 

[VintageFlanker]

The cool thing about YT is that it reachs a wider audience...

... For better or for worse.

 

[wrigglycheese]

This is a flippin fantastic video

 

[Hipster Doofus]

So informative….without being mean …and fun to understand the nuts and bolts
thank you.

 

[BigMiIke]

The problem with this forum and this guys videos and reviews - he doesn’t love anything.
He doesn’t offer alternatives or comparisons.

 

[VintageFlanker]

The problem with this forum and this guys videos and reviews - he doesn’t love anything

Problem? You mean... his biggest strength?

He doesn't love anything ≠ he loves nothing.

Think about it.

He doesn’t offer alternatives or comparisons

What kind of joke is that? You have acces to one of the biggest database in the Audio world. It is up to you to find alternatives by yourself using it.

 

[BigMiIke]

Problem? You mean... his biggest strength?

He doesn't love anything ≠ he loves nothing.

Think about it.

What kind of joke is that? You have acces to one of the biggest database in the Audio world. It is up to you to find alternatives by yourself using it.

If you’re going to shred a product-you need a VS scenario.

 

[Hipster Doofus]

Hi
I would not be too hard on folks looking for glowing reviews, after all that is how the industry works and how a lot of us grew up…

.a semi reasonable guy writes a review of something we already like and says how great it’s strong points are. Then mixes in some small wisdoms of what to look out for. Shares how much more experience he has with systems we can not afford and Voila….

then we look for a second review to confirm the fact that someone else may love or at least like it. By this time we are already sold that this piece is great and we repeat how good it is.

the only thing left is the salesman reconfirming how smart we are as we leave the showroom with said product.

TIME SHARE ANYONE?.

 

[VintageFlanker]

If you’re going to shred a product-you need a VS scenario.

You're completely missing the point. Nobody is "shredding" a product. The product shreds itself by its poor objective performance.

 

[BigMiIke]

You're completely missing the point. Nobody is "shredding" a product. The product shreds itself by its poor objective performance.

Hmm sound is subjective though… is it not ?
For instance I have a Bose Soundbar.. I update it every time a new one comes out .. It’s the perfect solution for this particular room - the sound is outstanding- the music from the system sounds better than many separates I’ve owned - the reviews of the 700 & 900 are stellar.
Now I’m well aware Bose is a joke in our community- I’m well aware Believe me - in fact imo Sonos is an even bigger joke because it sounds like shat.

So taste must be included . Do you to watch Avengers on a laid back system? Do you want to watch the Super Bowl on a perfectly accurate speaker with zero zest ?

I think B&W realizes this .. A friend has them and I watched Private Ryan on them with the center sub etc - scintillating.

Now I realize they have a sharpness up top and .two hours of music listening could fatigue .
However real world - are you sitting in front of them for two hours listening to Vitalogy?

 

[BigMiIke]

Yes sound preference is subjective

Some audiophiles will sit in front of an audiophile approved speaker that sounds like dry paint and try to convince themselves it’s great ! Just great .
I mean the measurements say it’s great so now I can Goto the forums and agree that what I’m hearing is great.

I’ve had countless audiophile approved bookshelves that are as dull as reading measurements.

 

[BigMiIke]

Absolutely not. Sound is 100% objective. Sound preference is subjective.


View attachment 177573

Welcome, anyway.

This is meant for you

 

[BigMiIke]

Lmfao - snowflake can’t have a discussion- wow

 

[anotherhobby]

I bought these speakers in early December 2021, based on the Steve Guttenberg review, whathifi, and whoever else said these were great. I got them for near field use on my office desk. My primary music system runs Focal Aria 936's, which are pretty fantastic. As soon as I hooked up the B&W's, I thought they sounded detailed, but holy cow they were bright. I listen all day while I work, but after just a couple of hours of listening, I was feeling agitated, and kept turning the volume down. I'd move my head a little left, right, back, or forth, and the sound was all over the place. The professional reviews said they were great, so it must be my room? I was confused. I then compared them to my Focals side by side, which really showed me that something was off.

Then I started searching for more detailed reviews, which brought me to the text version of this review. This really helped explain why these B&W's sounded so harsh to me. This speaker sounds as bad as the graph Amir posted would suggest. In the review summary, Amir mentions the Revel M105, which is about 2x the cost over the B&W, but I decided to check them out.

In the end I loved the Revels and decided to get a pair of M105's. I returned the B&W's to Best Buy. I listen to the M105's for probably 8 hours per day. They never get fatiguing, I don't feel assaulted by the tweeter, and since I managed to find them used (but pretty mint) for only $800, it wash= basically a wash in the end as far as money goes.

I for one found this review to be incredibly helpful, and I'm very thankful for the testing Amir does. It was this review, in fact, that made me decide to sign up and become a forum donor.

 

[BigMiIke]

I bought these speakers in early December 2021, based on the Steve Guttenberg review, whathifi, and whoever else said these were great. I got them for near field use on my office desk. My primary music system runs Focal Aria 936's, which are pretty fantastic. As soon as I hooked up the B&W's, I thought they sounded detailed, but holy cow they were bright. I listen all day while I work, but after just a couple of hours of listening, I was feeling agitated, and kept turning the volume down. I'd move my head a little left, right, back, or forth, and the sound was all over the place. The professional reviews said they were great, so it must be my room? I was confused. I then compared them to my Focals side by side, which really showed me that something was off.

Then I started searching for more detailed reviews, which brought me to the text version of this review. This really helped explain why these B&W's sounded so harsh to me. This speaker sounds as bad as the graph Amir posted would suggest. In the review summary, Amir mentions the Revel M105, which is about 2x the cost over the B&W, but I decided to check them out.

In the end I loved the Revels and decided to get a pair of M105's. I returned the B&W's to Best Buy. I listen to the M105's for probably 8 hours per day. They never get fatiguing, I don't feel assaulted by the tweeter, and since I managed to find them used (but pretty mint) for only $800, it wash= basically a wash in the end as far as money goes.

I for one found this review to be incredibly helpful, and I'm very thankful for the testing Amir does. It was this review, in fact, that made me decide to sign up and become a forum donor.

I respect his findings and the forum .

8 hours of listening is not real world concentrated listening.
Though that’s awesome you have the ability to do that.

Would you not agree - a 3 hour block - a 3 hour movie - a football game - channel surfing - 3 hours .
An Iron Maiden blue ray .
That the 603 will catch the eye - ear - interest of 90% of the average non 8 hour block listener ?

 

[BigMiIke]

I bought these speakers in early December 2021, based on the Steve Guttenberg review, whathifi, and whoever else said these were great. I got them for near field use on my office desk. My primary music system runs Focal Aria 936's, which are pretty fantastic. As soon as I hooked up the B&W's, I thought they sounded detailed, but holy cow they were bright. I listen all day while I work, but after just a couple of hours of listening, I was feeling agitated, and kept turning the volume down. I'd move my head a little left, right, back, or forth, and the sound was all over the place. The professional reviews said they were great, so it must be my room? I was confused. I then compared them to my Focals side by side, which really showed me that something was off.

Then I started searching for more detailed reviews, which brought me to the text version of this review. This really helped explain why these B&W's sounded so harsh to me. This speaker sounds as bad as the graph Amir posted would suggest. In the review summary, Amir mentions the Revel M105, which is about 2x the cost over the B&W, but I decided to check them out.

In the end I loved the Revels and decided to get a pair of M105's. I returned the B&W's to Best Buy. I listen to the M105's for probably 8 hours per day. They never get fatiguing, I don't feel assaulted by the tweeter, and since I managed to find them used (but pretty mint) for only $800, it wash= basically a wash in the end as far as money goes.

I for one found this review to be incredibly helpful, and I'm very thankful for the testing Amir does. It was this review, in fact, that made me decide to sign up and become a forum donor.

Those M1’s are killer in white but $900 more than I’d spend on a BS .
You got them for used ?? Wow

 

[caught gesture]

If you’re going to shred a product-you need a VS scenario.

He does a set of standardised tests for every speaker. Then he presents the data on graphs and charts, also in a standardised format. He does all of this so that we, the consumers, can make educated comparisons with every speaker he has tested. How much more of a VS do you require?

 

[anotherhobby]

I respect his findings and the forum .

8 hours of listening is not real world concentrated listening.
Though that’s awesome you have the ability to do that.

Would you not agree - a 3 hour block - a 3 hour movie - a football game - channel surfing - 3 hours .
An Iron Maiden blue ray .
That the 603 will catch the eye - ear - interest of 90% of the average non 8 hour block listener ?

When I'm working, I listen at a pretty modest volume. Definitely not concentrated, but moderate listening volumes should never get fatiguing. In the evenings, I'll frequently do concentrated listening sessions with quite a bit more volume for 1-2 hours. I agree, more than 3 hours of concentrated louder listening is not something I really ever do, as it does get fatiguing no matter how good the speakers are. That said, I immediately didn't like the sound of the B&W speakers at all. They were not enjoyable to me, and I would not enjoy them for a movie. They sound super treble hot to me. The Revel's reinforced this.

The B&W's might be more tolerable if you don't use them near field. I can't attest to that, as I only listened to them in my use case, which is 1M from my ears. The bad directivity of them also sucks for near field, as the sound constantly changes with minor head movements.

Those M1’s are killer in white but $900 more than I’d spend on a BS .
You got them for used ?? Wow

I got the Revel M105's in black for $800 off Audiogon in excellent shape. I felt pretty luck that once I decided to look for pair, I immediately found them for a reasonable price the first place I looked.