SPEAKERS
84 NOVEMBER 2019|COMPUTER SHOPPER|ISSUE 381
ŠHËESOÛEAESGNSfade intohistory,
others leave apermanent mark. The striking
yellow Kevlar drivers of Bowers &Wilkins’
601 speakers mark them as an example of
the latter,and now,two decades after they
were launched, the 600 series has grown up,
just as many 601 owners will have.
The 607 is the smallest and cheapest
speaker set in Bowers &Wilkins’ new 600
series family.Taking the place of the
previous 686 S2, the 607 sits alongside the
slightly larger 606 (£549) and the
floorstanding 603 (£1,249). There’s also a
matching centre speaker,the HTM6 (£399),
and atrio of active subwoofers foradding
the .1 speaker to home cinema systems.
HOLDTIGHT
The 607s are genuinely compact bookshelf
speakers. Theymeasure 30cm tall and a
sliver over 20cm deep,but they’re razor-
sharp performers in their weight class.
Bowers &Wilkins’ ‘Continuum’cone
technology has trickled down from the
top-ranking 800 Series Diamond range,and
features alongside anew,decoupled tweeter
design. The result is asupremely detailed,
incisive sound; it’s truly impressive how
much music flows from such little boxes.
The 607s are the very definition of
understatement. Housed in aplain,
monochrome box with sharp,clean
lines, you can take your pick of
black or white, depending on which
better suits your tastes.
Theymight not be as striking as
some of their rivals, but there is
something rather mature about the
new 600 Series. Gone are the garish
yellow Kevlar mid-range drivers of
yesteryear: the silver cone of a
130mm B&WContinuum driver now
takes centre stage,with arim of classy
brushed metal skirting the redesigned
tweeter above,and the reflex port has
been moved to the rear of the cabinet.
The tweeter is anew aluminium
double dome design. This is shielded
from prodding fingers by athick
metal mesh, and is physically decoupled
from the cabinet surrounding it.
It’s an ingenious piece of engineering:
the tweeter is suspended within a
rim of silicone rubber,and this
prevents vibration from the
BOWERS&
WILKINS 607
★★★★★
£399•From http://www.weybridge-
audio.co.uk
VERDICT
Bowers&Wilkinshasreimagineditsclassic
600Series,andthe607offerathrilling
sound profile
mid-range driver from travelling through
the cabinet and affecting its high-
frequency performance.
Other changes are merely aesthetic. B&W
has swapped the speaker grille pegs for
hidden magnets to give acleaner look when
the grilles are off.Atthe rear,apair of binding
posts allows you to use the 607s in single-
wired, bi-wired or bi-amped setups.
As with most of its speakers, Bowers &
Wilkins recommends the 607s are mounted
on stands, placed at least half ametre from
rear and side walls, and placed between
one-and-a-half and three metres apart.
That obviously won’t be practical in every
room, but the pair of port bungs in the box
make it possible to tune the bass response
to suit less-than-perfect positions. Those
bungs can be used to completely seal the rear
ports, or you can remove the central cylinder
of foam to partially block the port and subtly
reduce the bass output.
In our listening room, we got the
best results by leaving the ports wide
open and mounting both the 607
speakers on topofapair of heavy,
sand-filled Atacama stands about
two metres apart, toed-in slightly and
well awayfrom any walls.
CLEARLYDEFINED
To their credit, the 607 speakers remained
unfazed even by challenging tracks.
There obviously isn’t the chest-
compressing weight or dynamic slam
you’ll get from larger speakers, but the
soundstage is pleasingly deep and wide
and, what’s more,the tiny speakers do a
fantastic job of driving the pounding
rhythms forward while revealing every
detail and texture in recordings.
Listen longer and harder,however,
and it’s clear that the 607s are
not aforgiving pair of speakers.
The pronounced lift in the upper
treble unearths huge amounts of detail, even
at the low volumes that make them perfect
companions forlate-night listening, but it also
ruthlessly exposes bright or harsh recordings,
and bright-sounding ancillary equipment.
Partner the 607s with an in-your-face DAC,
amplifier or record player,and your ears may
not appreciatethe onslaught.
While this can have the positive effect of
teasing every whisper of detail from apop or
rock track, even conservatively produced
recordings can veer towards excessive
brightness at high volumes. The 607’s insight
intothe recordings is phenomenal, but it
comes at the expense of mid-range warmth.
Asimilar story unfolds across even the
best classical and jazz recordings. While most,
if not all, sound fantastic –the 607s’ pinpoint
detail, soundstage depth and imaging allows
instruments to live and breathe between the
speakers –the treble lift means that those
instruments also sound lightweight and thin.
The tonal imagery the 607 presents is
eye-popping in its clarity,but it’s the aural
equivalent of Photoshop.
CLASSICTASTE
When they’re in their element, however,the
607s are an intoxicating listen. Forpsychedelia
and electronic music in particular,the 607s’
enthusiasm has the knack of transporting the
listener intothe very heart of the recording.
While it could be expected that the 607s’
mature,monochrome aesthetic would be
partnered with an equally safe, sensible
character,the reality is that theyare anything
but. Forasmall pair of speakers, they’re both
incredibly exuberant and scalpel-precise,and
while that won’t be to everyone’s tastes –
especially when the QAcoustics 3010i sound
more than good enough forless than half the
price –their bold, unapologetic character
proves very compelling indeed.
