If any one is condidering new speakers. The new B&W 604 S3's are crisp, clean, and efficient. Spent hours looking for new front 3. Listened to these for all of 5 minutes and took them home for test run. I drive them with a Denon 4802 and they take all I've got and beg for more. Best non-powered tower under $2k Check em' out!!!

For that price, you should have really listened to the CDM 7NT.

In my opinion, much better choice.
Free-mount Nautilus tweeter
Sloped top to reduce diffraction and create accurate time-alignment

And trust me, you CAN hear the improvements.


JJP

The 7NT's are nice but then we are comparing apples to oranges. The 7's are 2 1/2 way crossover design and lack in the complete seperation of mid and woofer. The 604 S3 offers nautilus technology with an internal tube mount tweeter enclosure and offers a 3 way crossover. The 9NT's would be the equivalent of the 604 S3 with 3 way crossover for twice the money for a very similar sound. The CDM series simply cuts the cabinet and partially exposes the nautilus design tube mounted tweeter. The 604's and an LCR 600 cost me $1672 - The 9NT's with the timbre matched CDM CNT would more than double the cost for the benefit of a "PARTIAL" exterior mounted tweeter and the CDM center offers only 1 mid/bass driver. The 604's are a much better buy at half the cost. The next step that makes sense would be the 800 series or even the Prestige (True complete nautilus technology) if you have a thick wallet my friend. The whole line, no doubt, is awsome! Listen and judge for yourself. Some people like a 2-way verses a 3-way speaker.

Trentster, it sounds like you believe in "the more drivers, the better". This is unfortunately not true, but I guess I'm overinterpreting your words.

Anyway, both speakers mentioned above are good - the benefits you get from spending double money might seems ridiculous to some people and well worth the money to others, so Trentster is so right in saying "Listen and judge for yourself".

/Allan

I don't believe more driver's are better. Ironically, I typically like 2 way setup's. Just simply stating the 7NT's incorporate a different crossover network.

Trentster - did you listen to the 603's and 602's as well? If so is there much difference? I really like the sound of the b&w's, and can get the 602's or 603's at a reasonable price, but havent had a chance to listen to the 604's yet. What do you think?

Cheers, Cammo

Cammo, i got the 603's as my front pair, they are fine, good clarity and deep bass. As a system the b&w's are really good with only the centre speakers being a bit of a let down, the CC3 & CC6 are a bit too small to handle the bass of a good DD & DTS system, better to go for the LCR6 which is slightly larger.
As far as rears go, most people use either the 602's or the 601's which are perfectly fine, but i've got two pairs of the DS6 THX dipole surrounds which give a better dispersed image.

Saying all that, the bass on the 603's is good, but i still need a couple of subs to get the system really moving.

Sluggy

This message was edited by SluggyJohnson on 01/29/02 11:49.03.

Cammo I couldn't agree more with Sluggy. The CC's are not enough to keep up with 600 series. The LCR 600 goes very well with my 604's.

I did listen to the 603's and I preferred the sound of the complete seperation of mid and bass. I was fortunate and had the ability to listen to them side by side. Both are incredible for the $.

I did not listen to the 602's. They do not reach frequency's below 50Hz and the 603's 44Hz. I like to turn off the sub when listening to music and the 604's go below 39Hz. But, if you leave your sub running for music and your cut-off preference is higher than 50Hz then the 603's or 602's would be the logical choice.

All depends on your use & preference & ear. Let me know what you decide. Hope I helped.

Thanks a lot for the replies - that definitely gives me a bit of food for thought. I think I would probably go for the 603's and use a sub, as I prefer the real deep bass for my music as well as HT.

Thanks again

Cammo

I recently bought B&Ws all around. 603 S2 for Front, LCR6 S2 for center and 601 S2 for surround. As teh S3s are out now, the S2 series can be found quite reasonably. That is why I went with the 603 vs teh 602, just not a lot of difference in price when on sale. I thought about the DS6, but my room is quite large, and I listen to a lot of music, so teh frequ. response of the DS6 concerned me. I would absolutely agree to avoid teh CC6 and go for teh LCR6 S2 or it's S3 replacement. It is a fabulous center speaker, and would even be great as a pair of fronts. Just my opinion, and it really does depend on your preferences. Listen before you buy.