Studio 40's or 602 S3's...... (1 Viewer)

[ReggieW]

I am enjoying Lee Daza experiments with the Studio 40 and Axiom M22, that I thought it would be nice to compare the B and W 602 S3 at 600.00/pair and the 900.00/pair Studio 40. Many seemed to perfer the 40's over the Axiom M22's, but I would expect the competition to be much more fierce between the 602 S3 and the Studio 40. I have been looking to find the best bang for the buck, but the Studio 40's are too expensive and most posts I've read while doing a search seem to like the 602's nearly as much. I would appreciate thoughts from owners of either speaker and those who have tested both.

Thanks,

Reg

 

[Paul Chalk]

I'll throw in my comments about the 20's as well since I tried them at the same time as the 40's and 602's. They were all very close in price. (20-$800, 602-$900, 40-$1100, Canadian prices) They were being powered by a Rotel RSX-1065 receiver and an RVD-1080 DVD player was used to play CDs.

I found all three to have a revealing high end, mainly from their metal tweeters. However, I found the Paradigms to be overly bright and my ears started to fatigue only after a few minutes with both models. My ears never fatigued with the 602's. The 40's midrange was clearer than the 20's, but the 602's had the strongest midrange out of the three. Bass response from all three were great. The 40's extended down the lowest, with the 602's trailing not far behind. Lastly, all three speakers seemed rather 2-dimensional when it came to sound stage, they weren't very deep. But all three did create a wide sound stage. The 602's produced a slightly larger sound stage than both of the Paradigms.

In the end, I found the 602's to be the clear winner. I have since purchased the 602's and haven't regretted it.

But you should really compare the speakers yourself so you can form your own opinion.

 

[James Bergeron]

Ok here's my experience. I listened to the Studio 40's and loved the sound, then went and demoed the 602's since they are in the same price range. I found the 602's to sound great but felt they were missing the bass end ALOT. I was actually going to purchase the 602's and did A LOT of listening to them. They definetely extend pretty low (I demoed Toy Story 2 with no sub). I got a great deal on the Studio 40's (less than the 602's would cost) so I purchased them instead.

I would say they are fairly equal with the edge to bass going to the 40's. The midrange as Paul said may be a little smoother in the B&W's. I have read that Paradigm adds a little bass boost because people enjoy that sound (I apparently do) so this may mud up the Mid a tiny bit. As a result the 602 seemed very dull after listening to the 40's.

I didn't hear much difference in the high end, I wouldn't say the 40's were that much brighter. I never got to hear them side by side though, that I wouldn't mind doing and if you can that will really tell the difference. As I could hear MAJOR differences between the 303's 601's and 602's on side by side comparisons.

 

[John A. Casler]

Just sold my pair of QSO626 (VMPS) or else you could have come over and listened to them (I'm in LA too)
I still have one as a center but that doesn't help. I can tell you that they sound great and I have heard both of the other speakers in question and prefer them.
They list for about $700 but are easily available for Mid $500s and are unbeleivable.
The imaging and Soundscape when properly set up are mindboggling. If mated with a quality sub they will match any thing up to the high end big boys. (Sonus Faber/Revel/etc)
All by themselves they plum 40 Hz with authority. They come with the seas tweeter but can be upgraded to the Focal (usually found on $5000 pr monitors) hard dome.
They weigh 38# each and play louder, lower and as accuratley as both the Paradigm or B&W.
Just another contender, wish I still had a pair for you to drop by and listen to.
(still have the center )
Anyhow you might want to put them in the ring too.
Best regards,
John