Bowers & Wilkins 607 S2 Anniversary Edition Review

[respice finem]

You can't help it was my point. I'm used to the Genelec sound now, but when I first got them, I didn't like them as much as my previous speakers. At least that's the way it is with me. I've purchased many speakers, but I've never found a pair that I've enjoyed more than its predecessor from day 1.

If you listen to a pair of speakers long enough, the brain adjusts to the sound and remembers it as the "right" sound, provided it's not too far "off the mark". Then, everything else you might try is initially perceived as more or less "wrong".

 

[ririt]

Yeah, yeah, sure sure. But how do I say it in Norwegian and Danish?

It can be like in french: it cannot be translated by using a single word. We have to use a verbal expression or the german word « schadenfreunde ».
May be a new thread in perspective to list in which language a single word can express such behavior...

 

[Mnyb]

I read a review of a KEF R3, from a mature experienced listener, and he complained about the dull highs. To paraphrase, he was aware that KEF follows the science in design, but felt that it was still a boring speaker.

Said person brought in a B&W and it “Hurray! Bring back the highs”

My guess is that many well heeled audiophiles were pub/club/rock concert tragics back in golden era of live music, and are now getting on into their 60s or 70s and really do have some high frequency hearing loss.

Certainly I remember back in the 90s, in a showroom, B&W immediately stood out, when auditioned against North American speakers such as those Mirage, Boston Acoustics and Paradigm, & Polk (which all used the NRC for research/design IIRC).

Even when you get to demo your own music, you get to hear “new details”. The salesperson would always remind you that these were “proper English” speakers, and that kinda made it different.

Certainly B&W had a special presence here in Australia, and several times the 6 series were partnered with entry level amplifiers like the NAD.

It got a lot of people into hifi, with subsequent itch/scratch for more bass, better mids, tweaking, swapping in and out sources and amps and cables and rooms and other “careful component matching” advocated by the hi-fi press that is all part of the fun and games of audiophilia /upgraditis.

Down the rabbit hole to the circle of confusion...

I mean, who wants an honest evergreen speaker that last decades?

And how do you sell new products if there’s no upgrade path?

consumerism and capitalism at its very best.

Boring is the best praise you can get from traditional reviewers , then you are on to something .
“boring” speakers works in the long run

 

[polmuaddib]

I had the N804 for a while and I couldn't listen to them on axis. I had to toe them out, almost perpendicular to back/front wall. That made listening better but not perfect.
I do believe that they can make flat speaker but choose not to.
But they do have followers. I am really susprised how some people love brands. It is insane.
Some brands like Dynaudio, Naim, B&W can do whatever they want and their fans will adore them.

 

[bluefuzz]

But how do I say it in Norwegian and Danish?

Skadefryd in Danish. Same word as German.

 

[respice finem]

...But they do have followers. I am really susprised how some people love brands. It is insane.

1997, in Poland after the fall of the old system, my first pair of B&W was so much better than what I've known until then... Sometimes this is what makes the "fanboys". That said, I've been buying other brands after them.

 

[CTRLM]

I don't know if my anecdote can be generalized, but when I worked near St Tropez, that guy who had every Apple gadget (including the watch) and a BMW Serie 1 also had some B&W floorstanders. That's basically my impression of the brand, now.

Aww sh*t! I'm typing this on an iMac with my iPhone and iPad close by, I have a 1 series BMW and B&W floor standers I haven't succumbed to an Apple watch though as I like my mechanicals

I regretfully bought the B&Ws 9 years ago and it didn't take me too long to realise that I actually didn't like the dull mids & hot treble they gave me. The only reasons I haven't sold them is:

1. The discovery of digital room correction - they actually sound pretty good with a sloping target curve.
2. Really good floor standing speakers like Revels are rare down here & bloody expensive.
3. I do a lot more headphone listening these days.
4. I'm just too lazy to go through the hassle of selling them.

The results in this thread are not surprising, I would never buy B&W again.

 

[respice finem]

Room correction "saves" many so-so speakers in home cinema applications. That's one of the reasons I still have my "ancient" CDM7, for a small 5.1.2 setup they're good enough "tamed" by Audyssey.

 

[Costas EAR]

Shame on you B&W for selling this level of performance in 2021..

Noone should never again buy B&W's.

 

[beefkabob]

I confess ignorance in not having the entire thread before proffering this answer:
the literal translation Norwegian = ondsinnet nytelse and for Danish = ondsindet fornøjelse
But I'm fairly sure you didn't really want that answer

Hurtful that you should think I don't have a specific Norweigian and a specific Dane to use the terms on. I'm not sure a literal translation works, though. In English, we say schadenfreude.

 

[tw99]

Shame on you B&W for selling this level of performance in 2021..

Noone should never again buy B&W's.

Bit strong based on one review ?

I'd say people should buy what they like, but it's also good to be aware of the technical performance. In a very heavily furnished room, these may be fine for example.

 

[restorer-john]

If you listen to a pair of speakers long enough, the brain adjusts to the sound and remembers it as the "right" sound, provided it's not too far "off the mark". Then, everything else you might try is initially perceived as more or less "wrong".

Your brain interpolates and error corrects for the speakers and their deficiencies. Then that sound becomes normalized and other speakers, like you said, sound a bit wrong.

Exactly the same thing happens with the listening space. Our brains listen through the room/space after a short time. If I was to play you a recording over speakers in my listening room, you'd pick it apart as too much reverb/echo, but that is normal to me. I don't hear it unless I play such a recording over headphones in a different space. It is immediately recognisable as my listening room, wherever I play it.

It's why single speaker in a system demos and comparisons that are not instantaneous (A-B) are utterly useless.

 

[restorer-john]

In a very heavily furnished room, these may be fine for example.

Like your rooms in the UK, huh? Lots of soft furnishings, rugs, and blankets to keep you warm...

 

[respice finem]

#112 Exactly. SOT: Another interesting effect: If you are used to your speakers and room and then use headphones, your brain will miss what it is acquainted to from the room, provoking you to turn up the volume of your headphones.

 

[adamjohari]

I have these speakers At least they look beautiful haha. Was going to get these or Genelec for my desktop setup... oh well. We make with what we have!

 

[respice finem]

...In a very heavily furnished room, these may be fine for example.

That may well be, but, having had moved house 4 times in my life, I wouldn't want to buy a new pair each time
For me, a loudspeaker should be as neutral as possible "out of the box", if I want or need to "bend" the sound to match the room, I still can do it. That said, the speaker tested has other problems than just FR, and those it shouldn't have in this price range. In fact, it loses compared to some monitors costing a fraction of it (and in the monitors, amps are inclusive). There are some passive speakers that will easily beat it at half the price, too.

 

[respice finem]

BTW: in the "analog era" it was relatively popular to have +/- 2-3dB switches changing the crossover characteristics, this might make such a speaker more versatile room-wise: https://www.nubert.de/images/products/nuline/nuline-34-cs-44-terminal.jpg
Today, you only need them if you have a truly old-fashioned system, and with simplified crossovers, these switches have become rare.

 

[beefkabob]

I have these speakers At least they look beautiful haha. Was going to get these or Genelec for my desktop setup... oh well. We make with what we have!

Betcha most of us have at least one good looking pair of speakers that measure terribly.

 

[respice finem]

I have these speakers At least they look beautiful haha. Was going to get these or Genelec for my desktop setup... oh well. We make with what we have!

I've decided to only buy gear I've seen measured (preferably by someone else than its manufacturer)... You might sell yours and get better ones, then again, at the desktop, if you don't do mixing and such, it may suffice to EQ them.

 

[JackFrost]

Would love to see the 606 S2 Anniversary test which I currently own. Planning in the future to test them against Elac Debut 6.2.
Marketing materials were all in for a bit tweaked tweeter and updated crossover but not sure if there are any differences comparing to "normal" 607's and 606's.
I have a theory they just slapped an Anniversary badge to sell them for more and indeed I had to pay more since normal 606's were not available in December 2020 for me.

Here is the graph from polish review of normal 607's for comparison:

https://audio.com.pl/testy/stereo/kolumny-glosnikowe/3064-606


Everybody was telling me the 607's are very bright and can be harsh but I like my setup. I would say that highs are direct and have resolutions but they are not fatiguing or unpleasant for me. It could be also that I am deaf