B&W 603 Series 3 vs Axiom M60's

F

freesey

Guest
Has anyone auditioned both or either of these speakers? I would appreciate any insight you have on the sound that either of them produce - I've heard Axiom makes excellent speakers for the price, but Ive fallen in love with the look of the B&W; in the end the look wont sway me the sound will, but I have to admit I do love the way the 603's look. Thanks for any responses.
 
603's sound very big and bold with loads of bass. Beware if you have a small room or wooden floors as they can boom. Don't know the other brand, I'm afraid.
 
I've got a pair of the 602's and I've nver suffered from the booming bass that you often read about with this model.

It might be to do with the distance from the walls I've got them and the accoustics of the room etc.

However, if you do suffer from the 'boom' you can put in two foam bungs into the bass ports which apparently stops the problem.

And yes, they do look really cool, but I dare not admit that this was a big part of my decision to get a pair !
 
My listening room is about 12 feet wide and 24 feet long with some heavy berber (burber?) carpeting; would this be adequate in your opinion to dampen the bass? Im planning on purchasing a Denon or Rotel receiver depending on how my funds look. Also what centre channel do you use? If I did purchase the 603's I would probably end up buying a B&W center. One last thing; its trivial but I was wondering what the textured surface is made of on the front of the speaker, it appears to be as rubber :) Thanks for your patience, and any response.
 
Originally posted by freesey
My listening room is about 12 feet wide and 24 feet long with some heavy berber (burber?) carpeting; would this be adequate in your opinion to dampen the bass?

That's a nice large room and should be fine. One thing I notice with boomy speakers is that the rear wall can cause bass reflections from the fronts (with any front speakers actually) if it is a completely blank wall. Try pictures, bookcase, cd racks or plants to break up the standing waves.

This may be a controversial post, but IMO (and a few magazines too :rolleyes: ) the new S3 range of B&W floorstanders are not as good as the S2 range, particularly with bass. They are a bit slow....both bookshelf S3 models are cracking speakers tho'.

If you get B&W speakers and have the space, apparently the bigger centre speaker is the one to go for. It produces a fuller, better sound than the baby, so they say.

The Denon 3802 is a good amp for taming bass-heavy speakers as it has a slightly brighter sound with more top-end. The again, the B&W's use metal tweeters which may be bright too. Go demo!!!

I don't know what the front baffle is covered with, but agree it is v.nice. Try the B&W website?
 
I am by no means an expert, but your room is of similar dimensions to mine and I also have allot of upholstery. Sometimes I even have to crank the bass up with bass boost button or by switching on the eq. What nobber said is right about placing the speaker next to a wall. One of my speakers is standing close to a wall while the other is on front of a bay window, and there is a definite difference between the two. I use the levels setting to increase the volume of the window one.

Not sure which part you mean by front baffle (not up on the jargon), but the speaker is kevlar, which is surrounded by rubber and the front grill is cloth (obviously !)
 
I think that the front baffle is made of mica filled polypropylene.
Damn good speakers in my opinion.
 
I have recently auditioned the 603, 602 & 601 models with my mate "rowbos" at Audio T. Their demo room is about 12 x 20 and we used the Denon 3802 & Denon 2800MkII. Like you, I love the look of these (sorrento) which certainly helps.

We have auditioned many other speakers but the 600 series produced the best sound for my ears. I quite fancied a pair of 603s but found that the 602s (to my surprise) sounded slightly better. The bass and midrange didn't seem as clear with the 603s. Strongly recommend you try the 602s alongside the 603s to hear the difference. I bought the 602s and Denons and they are now run in and sounding great.

I have only noticed the booming bass once whilst playing Skunk Anansie (Paranoid & Sunburnt). I tried the foam bungs, but no difference. Mind you it was VERY loud, and until my house move completes they are in my study which is only 10 x 6 - so there's no choice but to have them in the corners.

Not long to wait till the move, when I'll be trying the 600/601s, LCR60/600 and their subs. Christmas should be great.

Happy Auditioning.
 
Thank you all for your advice an opinions! If I do get the 603 S3's I will definetely purchase the larger center speaker to run along with the floorstanders. Before I do that Im now going to audition the Series 2 as well - Thanks for that bit of info; hopefully they are cheaper than the series 3 too. Thanks again everyone!
 

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