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Supertest No. 322
✯
AV speaker kits £800-£1400
B&W DM 603 S3, LCR60 S3
and DM600 S3
£1000
For
Super build, finish and styling;
very capable all-round performance
Against
Verdict
Superb, although not quite as
flexible as some similarly priced
systems that include a subwoofer
OK, so looks don’t count for
much in technical terms, but for
all that, you simply cannot fail to
be blown away by the tactile
and visual appeal of B&W’s DM
600 S3 range. It’s built to a standard that, in this test, no-one else
comes even close to matching.
matches the quality of its manufacturing. The DM 603 S3
floorstanders form this package’s
front end, and they offer a fine
blend of standard 600-series
virtues – focus, clarity, precision
and agility – coupled to bags of
bass from a dedicated 16.5cm
Mighty front speakers
★★★★★
But B&W’s audio engineering
bass driver. This much power
needs a substantial partner, but
the LCR60 S3 centre is up to the
job: it’s an oversized ‘left, centre,
right’ speaker (hence LCR) that
can be used as a complete ‘frontthree’ array if you wish. So far, so
big, but the reverse is true of the
surround speakers: the new DM
600 S3s are baby versions of the
standard DM601 S3s, using compact 13cm mid/bass drivers, and
simple wall-hanging brackets.
Setting up the B&Ws is made
easier because of optional foam
inserts for both the front and the
rear ports of the large DM 603
S3s, which can be used to ‘tune’
each speaker to your room’s size
and acoustics. However, these
speakers still need plenty of
space to work at their best:
they’ve got bags of low-end
presence, so much so that you
could be forgiven for asking
‘where’s the sub?’, at least with
music listening. The forceful
low-end on Nickelback’s driving
rock sounds great, and the balance has all the expected B&W
virtues of precise imaging, clean
vocal presence and spectacular
detail with Lambchop’s subtle
sounds. Switch to multichannel,
and that same power provides
ample energy and force with
WHAT’S IT GOT?
Sensitivity 88 to 90dB/W/m
Impedance 8ohms
Biwirable Yes
Subwoofer B&W models optional
Drive units:
Treble 25mm;
Mid/Bass 13cm and 16.5cm;
Bass 16.5cm
The Mexican’s pumping music
score, while the dialogue from
The Man Who Wasn’t There is
exemplary in both its clarity and
its natural, being-there timbre.
So this system is beautiful and
sounds great – where’s the
catch? There isn’t really one,
although for the average
living room you might find that
the DM 603 S3s are a little too
much, foam or no foam, and
unlike an active subwoofer, they
don’t have a direct volume control. But if you have the space,
these B&W speakers certainly
have the quality.
REPRINTED FROM July 2002
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