Bowers & Wilkins 607 S3
B&W’s newest, smallest entry-level speakers are a delight
Passive speakers View online review whf.cm/607_S3
Bowers & Wilkins’ entry-level 600 series has a slew of five-star reviews and What Hi-Fi? Award wins to its name, with B&W hitting upon just the right formula of great sound and affordable price tag to deliver real crowd-pleasers.
The smallest and most affordable of the range are these, the 2023 What Hi-Fi? Award-winning 607 S3. While we would hesitate to call the speakers truly ‘budget’, these are still B&W’s entry-level pair and pack in more than enough punch to justify their outlay.
Bowers & Wilkins is a brand with a strong history of trickling down tech and concepts from its premium ranges into even its most entry-level products, and accordingly the 607 S3 is filled to the brim with updates on its predecessor, the talented 607 S2 Anniversary Edition.
First and foremost is the use of titanium in the 25mm decoupled double-dome tweeter assembly for the first time. The tweeter’s two-part design uses a thin 25-micron main dome reinforced by a 30-micron ring – both made with titanium. B&W has traditionally used aluminium in the 600 series, while diamond is used in the high-end 800 speakers. B&W says the switch to titanium should allow for sweeter, more refined and better detail in the high frequencies than that which the aluminium material offered. The 13cm Continuum mid/bass driver is backed by a more powerful motor assembly inspired by the step-up 700 S3 range, and the crossover has been updated with higher-quality components to aid transparency. The tweeter and mid/bass units are now mounted closer together, the surrounding rings on each driver overlapping slightly in order to improve integration.
Clarity and refinement
It’s clear that a sizeable amount of work has been done throughout, then. But the real question is, how do the new 607 S3 sound? The short answer is, incredibly fun. There’s clarity and refinement to a really admirable level, but we are struck by just how entertaining, zippy and musical this new pair sounds right from the start. Instead of sacrificing dynamic expression and pure enjoyment for a more sophisticated and open sound, B&W has managed to meld these elements together into a capable package that is simply hugely entertaining to listen to.
Songs we know well and play every time during reviewing, such as Alt-J’s Breezeblocks, Bruce Springsteen’s Terry’s Songand John Williams’ Jurassic Park theme, a
