Best Buys – Audio & AV – July 2019

68 http://www.avhub.com.au

LOUDSPEAKERS

H

ere at Best Buys Audio & AV we have

been reviewing Bowers & Wilkins

loudspeakers for, literally, decades. In

all that time we’ve yet to be disap-

pointed by them. That continues with the new

B&W 600 Series, now up to its sixth generation.

EQUIPMENT

Just to put things in context, the B&W 600

Series is the company’s, well, ‘entry level’ series

of full-sized speakers. Of course, B&W also has

compact systems for a variety of purposes. Above

the 600 Series are three more expensive ranges:

the 700 Series, the 800 ‘Diamond’ Series, and the

legendary and unique Nautilus stereo speakers.

There is one set of floorstanding speakers

in the range, a centre channel, two bookshelf

speaker-sized models and three subwoofers. For

this review we listened to a package for surround

sound, which included the 603 floorstanders and

the HTM6 centre speaker at the front, with the

607 compact speakers for surround — they’re the

smaller of the two bookshelf-sized models — and

the ASW610XP subwoofer.

5.1-CHANNEL SPEAKER PACKAGE

BOWERS &

WILKINS

600 SERIES

That subwoofer is top of the three available

models, and it consumes nearly 30% of the total

cost of the system, so let’s start with that. In fact

there are two 10-inch models (plus an 8-inch

one): this ASW610XP and the ASW610. Both

are compact, with the ‘XP’ only a little larger

than the other one. But at over 18 kilograms, it’s

nearly 50% heavier, and with 500 watts on tap,

has 150% more power. We’re assuming that the

‘XP’ means ‘eXtra Power’, and that much of the

weight is due to a sturdier enclosure. It has both

line inputs and speaker-level inputs, and it has

The floorstanders and standmount designs in B&W’s 600 Series can be used on their own for great stereo,

but put them together and you have the makings of a serious 5.1-channel movie surround sound system.