Great bookshelf speakers
Written: Mar 23 '01 (Updated May 02 '01)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
| Imaging: |
 |
|
| Overall Sound: |
|
|
|
Pros: Excellent sound.
Cons: Large, hard to find stands for them. Bass might not be strong enough for you.
The Bottom Line: If the bass meets your needs and you can find good stands or you are happy with putting them on shelves, these speakers will serve you well.
|
|
|
| marcman's Full Review: B&W DM602 S2 Main / Stereo Speaker |
I bought these speakers two years ago when I decided it was about time that I had a nice home stereo instead of a boombox. I bought these together with a NAD C340 integrated amplifier (see my epinion at http://www.epinions.com/content_14519406212). The salesperson sold me on expensive ($150) Transparent brand speaker cables. I don't know whether these cables make a difference or not, but I guess I can be reasonably sure they are not a weak link in my system. My CD player is a Sony ES 5-disc changer.
Stands or shelves?
These speakers are bookshelf speakers, but they are fairly tall. I would caution you that you should only buy these speakers if one of the following is true:
1) You have shelves to put them on and that doesn't bother you (this is not what audiophiles recommend because of vibration issues, but I have mine on shelves and they sound excellent).
2) You're willing to spend some time looking for sturdy, stable stands that can support these puppies and willing to possibly spend $100 or more on them. I tried a few different stands from Radio Shack, Ikea, and Good Guys and gave up before I could find any that could support the weight of these babies without toppling over. You could probably find some expensive stands to hold these or you could put them on a homemade stand of cinder blocks if you don't mind the aesthetics. Personally, I just put them on my bookshelves because it was easy and looked good.
The distinctive yellow kevlar cone woofer
These British speakers have two drivers: a distinctive B&W yellow kevlar cone woofer and a metal dome tweeter. The grills cover the yellow woofer, but you can remove the grills if you'd like to show off this distinctive aspect of these speakers.
Sound quality
Sound quality is excellent. Stereo imaging is really good and, driven by a NAD C340 amp, they can get louder than I can stand in my large room. I like listening to the Eagles' "Hell Freezes Over" CD on these speakers for two reasons. One, you can really hear the "airy" acoustic guitar on the studio recorded tracks. Two, on the live portion of the CD, the imaging and crowd noise really make you feel like you are at the concert. These speakers do a nice job on rock like Counting Crows, Better Than Ezra (see my epinions!), and the like. They also sound really smooth for jazz. Another favorite of mine is "Kind of Blue" by Miles Davis. If I close my eyes, I can almost imagine that Cannonball's saxophone is in the room with me. Another CD that I use to demo these speakers is Lyle Lovett's "Pontiac".
Bass
Bass is sufficient with this speaker, but not its strongest point. I add a little bass with the tone controls of my amplifier and I'm quite satisified, but most of my listening is rock. If you are into hip-hop, you might require more bass than these speakers can deliver. Of course, this is generally true of all bookshelf speakers. So if you're looking for huge bass, you'd probably want to abandon bookshelf speakers and look at towers instead. A tip: to improve the volume of bass produced by a speaker, place it closer to a wall.
Placement
For best sound, following the instructions and place the speakers such that the listener and the speaker approximate an equilateral triangle. That is, the distance between the speakers should approximately equal your distance from the speakers. Furthermore, a little "toe-in" (angling the speakers inwards toward the listener) helps the imaging.
Conclusion
Give these speakers a listen. They're probably not the best speakers you can find, but they were the best speakers I could find in this price range.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 550
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
marcman
|
|
Location: Santa Clara, CA, USA
Reviews written: 42
Trusted by: 33 members
About Me:
If I was writing for my dinner, I'd be a heck of a lot thinner.
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.