Bowers & Wilkins 606 & 607 S3
Bowers & Wilkins delivers a compact yet incredibly mighty home cinema speaker package
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We have reviewed both the Bowers & Wilkins 606 S3 and 607 S3 speakers as individual stereo pairs, but what happens when you throw a centre channel and a subwoofer into the mix? Yes, you’ve got yourself a surround-sound home cinema speaker package.
So that’s exactly what we have here, a set-up using the two pairs of five-star Bowers & Wilkins speakers as the front and surround channels. Considering this system comprises two pairs of five-star speakers, you probably won’t be surprised to find out that it sounds good. Really good.
The system we have consists of the 606 S3 speakers (£749) as our front left and right channels, the 607 S3 (£599) as our surround speakers, the HTM6 S3 centre channel (£649) and the ASW610 subwoofer (£700). In total that puts us at £2697. Bowers & Wilkins does now sell these speakers as a specific package, while it didn’t when we first put a home-made package together (and then gave it an Award…). You will need to bear in mind that the fronts and surrounds are standmount speakers, so you need to factor in the cost of stands.
Compact standmounters
Starting with the main players in this system we have the Bowers & Wilkins 606 S3 stereo speakers. Measuring 34 x 19 x 30cm (hwd), the 606 S3 are much more compact than many other home cinema speakers we have tested from the likes of Wharfedale and Fyne with their behemoth floorstanders. Comparatively, the B&Ws will dominate your room less – though don’t forget the stands.
The 606 S3 are a two-way vented design with a 25mm-dome tweeter and 16.5cm-cone driver. Titanium, (something you will see in all the speakers in this package) is the big news with the S3 series, with a new titanium dome tweeter and Continuum cone material used in the various mid/bass drivers. Bowers & Wilkins has traditionally used aluminium tweeters but is switching to titanium in order to ‘improve resolution and refinement in the high frequencies’.
The 607 S3 echo their bigger sibling’s design, although they are smaller across the board at 30 x 17 x 21cm (hwd). The 607 S3 features a similar internal arrangement as the 606 S3, although its Continuum mid/bass driver is smaller at 13cm.
Both the 606 and 607 speakers are well crafted, with robust wood cabinets and vinyl coverings that come in three f
