B&W S2 vs S3 (1 Viewer)

[Mikey N]

Greetings,
Was wondering what everyone's opinion about the 602S2 vs the S3. E-bay seems to be selling more S2, but is the sound difference that much different than the S3. I'll probably be getting be getting one of them soon to replace my Paradigm's up front.
Gracias.

 

[ChrisWiggles]

Which Paradigms? And have you compared them head-to-head? the 602s are what... $600? I was auditioning the 601s, and paradigm mini-monitors, and i was quite dissappointed with the 601s in fact. They were more expensive, yet the mini-monitors were much smoother, and just much better. The 601s felt like titans, excellent, but fatiguing, and not up to snuff with their price tag. I hope the 602s are better, but audition audition audition.

 

[Mark C.]

Don't ask for other peoples' opinions because you just might get them. Listen for yourself. I can tell you that I've owned the 601 S2s for three years. I use them as my rear surrounds and have felt no urge to replace them. They are well made and a pleasure to listen to.

I guess this is where I'm supposed to trash Paradigms, but I'll pass.

 

[ChrisWiggles]

sry, didn't mean to come off so hostile I was just saying the 601s, which of course should be significantly different than the 602s were dissapointing. In fact, I was talking myself into buying the 601s based on reviews, and B&W quality, until i heard them. Don't get me wrong, B&W is an awesome company, and the 601s ARE good speakers, but they don't pass the muster IMHO, compared to the much cheaper minis. I guess I should actually listen to the 602s, though. Ah well. And i think 601s would be more than excellent for surrounds, but for fronts, they do have their downside. They are very well made though, perhaps moreso than the paradigms. And they look WAY cooler Wow, its late, and i forgot the whole point of this post so i will just randomly stop midsentence

 

[Mikey N]

Thanks guys for the advice.

My Paradigms are Titans (condo is currently pretty small, but moving to a bigger place soon). I love these speakers, but looking to upgrade to some B&W's.

I guess the crux of my question is are the Series 3 speakers that much "better" than the Series 2 B&W speakers? I've listened to the S3's in the stores, but haven't heard the S2's in comparison. I'm currently running driving my system with a Rotel 1055 receiver.

I think this forum is great and appreciate everyone's help.

Michael

 

[GarySI]

Chris, you are right, you should audition the 602's before making any statements, I have the 602S2's and for the money I didn't hear anything better. I listen to music 70% of the time but added the 601's and CC6 and the Dickason TitanicII sub later. The only thing I plan on near term is upgrading from my Sony 985 to something with a warmer sound.
The thing about the 602's and up is that they are very unforgiving. They definitely show the flaws in bad source material.
The Series 3 had a bit warmer mid and a bit of roll off in the extreme top end.
Mikey, go and audition both if you can. Auditon a few brands if possible, and don't forget to bring some source material you're familiar with. I would bring a few favorite CD's.

 

[Gil D]

B&W made some significant changes to the 601-S3 - take a look at their website for the details. I was impressed by the amount of detail out of the little 601-S3. I quickly listened to the 602-s3 and while they had a little more bass the gap has narrowed between the two models in the Series3.

Paradigm MiniMonitors are good speakers for the money with more bass but no match for B&W 600 series when it comes to stereo imaging and detail IMO. Paradigm Reference is a better comparison.

Make sure you audition the B&W's properly setup. Bookshelf speakers lined up on a shelf aginst the wall rarely sound good.

BTw, if your budget is around $600 then take a good look at PolK LSi-9.

 

[ChrisWiggles]

Same goes with pretty much all of them, but I did some brief listening, you know with all the speakers lined up smushed together on a shelf. sounded bad. So, I made an appointment, went in a nice large private room, closed the door, they set me up with nice stands, and a nice musical fidelity system, and we listened, and then switched speakers, and listened some more, then switched back. This is REALLY the way to do it. Bring a couple other pairs of ears too (friends, family whatever). They can help decide too, and sometimes there will be big disagreements too. Speakers will always be different, and sometimes better. And of course the cliche, let your ears decide. Of course that mantra is SOO true (yet sadly underused... e.g. bose)

 

[RobertSchaez]

If you REALLY want to do a fair comparison, see if you can get the dealer to let you take home his demo pair of 602s for an overnight trial. Many dealers will let you do this (I did my own in-home face off between B&W 603s2 and Paradigm Studio 60s)so you can see how the speakers sound with your equipment in your room setup. Puls, you won't feel any pressure of a salesperson watching while you take your time to kick back and listen.