Bowers & Wilkins 607 S2 Anniversary Edition Review

[Koeitje]

A million, but only of the 607s - that sounds plausible to me.

Probably a million 600-series, that is already a fuck ton of loudspeakers. You got to understand that these kinds of loudspeakers are not very common.

 

[Rottmannash]

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.

I believe the treble and bass switches on the back of F208s are what you're speaking of?

 

[uwotm8]

the sold a million? that's only 500.000 pair.That's not that much or am i wrong?

It's likely 100x more than all Revel speakers sold for last 20 years including outdoor plastic junkies

 

[richard12511]

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.

What do you use for switching between speakers? I'm assuming you have some custom thing you've built?

 

[respice finem]

I believe the treble and bass switches on the back of F208s are what you're speaking of?

Many esp. older designs have those switches - the linked ones were from German maufacturer Nubert https://www.nubert.de/nuline-34/p1112/?category=3 which has more such "oldschool" designs, also with more complex crossovers and more switches:
https://www.nubert.de/images/products/nuvero/nuvero-170-standlautsprecher-weiche.jpg
https://www.nubert.de/images/products/nuvero/nuvero-170-standlautsprecher-terminal.jpg

 

[thewas]

A million, but only of the 607s - that sounds plausible to me.

It seems its a total of a million products sold, which might sound few but I think is large in this market segment:

the famous brand is celebrating 25 years in the audio industry, six generations of engineering, and more than a million products sold. To signal the anniversary, B&W launched the new 600 Series Anniversary Edition, the seventh generation of 600 Series loudspeakers from Bowers & Wilkins.

Source: https://audioxpress.com/news/bowers...-600-series-anniversary-edition-speaker-range

Although the quote seems not to be fully correct as the 600 series is 25 years old, B&W as a company was founded in 1966 and is thus now more than 50 years old.

 

[welsh]

That has to be one of the weirdest statements I have read in a review.

My limited appreciation of Freudian theory would tend to suggest that ports are feminine. A directional microphone, on the other hand...

 

[respice finem]

My mic will never again enter an elevator with a ported speaker But seriously, you're up to something here, a sacred COW was slaughtered, allegedly, so...

 

[Rottmannash]

Many esp. older designs have those switches - the linked ones were from German maufacturer Nubert https://www.nubert.de/nuline-34/p1112/?category=3 which has more such "oldschool" designs, also with more complex crossovers and more switches:
https://www.nubert.de/images/products/nuvero/nuvero-170-standlautsprecher-weiche.jpg
https://www.nubert.de/images/products/nuvero/nuvero-170-standlautsprecher-terminal.jpg

Ah, I see! Little switches-that's very cool. don't the knobs on the back of the F208s do essentially the same thing?

 

[Pdxwayne]

@amirm , what would the freq chart looks like if you measure from 10 ft away, speakers 15 degrees off axis?

 

[welsh]

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

Indeed. My Chaise Longue is directly in front of my speakers. And of course the walls are covered with medieval tapestry.

 

[welsh]

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

Yes. I have a pair of Magnepan LRS (NOT Amir-approved).

 

[respice finem]

Ah, I see! Little switches-that's very cool. don't the knobs on the back of the F208s do essentially the same thing?

Yes https://6moons.com/audioreviews/revel2/4.png

 

[GWolfman]

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.

You bring up an interesting point. If anyone were to ask for speaker suggestions in the future, I'll additionally have to ask 1) their age, and 2) if they have or use EQ (to possibly compensate for any muted/dimmed highs).

 

[respice finem]

Not remotely as far-off as it might seem: https://www.deutsche-apotheker-zeitung.de/daz-az/2012/daz-45-2012/hoeren-im-alter (sorry German version but the diagram says it all) https://www.deutsche-apotheker-zeit...90c6/052_3000_cae_Bilharz-800x381-660x314.jpg
and treble hearing decreases even without excessive exposure... But we live in the 21st century, we have EQ/DSP.

 

[Rottmannash]

Yes https://6moons.com/audioreviews/revel2/4.png

Thanks. Sooooo off topic but, what exactly do those switches do? switch between capacitors?

 

[welsh]

Schadenfreude is the feeling i had when Trump contracted Covid-19 then i had to laugh a little.

Schadenfreude was my feeling about that cleric who claimed that the coronavirus was God’s revenge upon homosexuals. Then he contracted it.

 

[skyfly]

I don't understand why some people claim that old people want speaker with emphasized high.

Old people would want natural sound, I guess. They are hearing, with their aged ears, human voice and music in their lives. When they audition a loudspeaker, they will compare the speaker sound with unamplified sounds they are hearing in their lives.

 

[welsh]

I think such successful company makes these design choices 100% intentionally.
According to their UM, these speakers need to be used free-standing on dedicated stands.
So, all the reason I can imagine is that their target audience are primarily old (asian) consumers with HF hearing loss, off-axis LP and low SPL.
Distortion of drivers themselves is very nice, so it's not just engineering fault, sensitivity is what one'd expect from 5" woofer, low order crossover with mid-highs' dip is "acceptable solution" if it will not induce screaming distortion at normal levels. Also, it's cheaper due to low components count.
So, i'd say this is just small overpriced satellite, good for HT duties. On-wall gain will remove some strain from woofer and room correction will equalise anything higher...

In the ‘high end’ world, really expensive speakers tend to to be tilted up in the treble, because the target market is half-deaf.

 

[Pdxwayne]

I don't understand why some people claim that old people want speaker with emphasized high.

Old people would want natural sound, I guess. They are hearing, with their aged ears, human voice and music in their lives. When they audition a loudspeaker, they will compare the speaker sound with unamplified sounds they are hearing in their lives.

My 80 years old dad can't really sense much over 5khz naturally..... Don't think he only wants to hear what he can naturally hear now....