upgrade to b&w 601 (1 Viewer)

[Ronneil Camara]

hi everyone,

Am I doing the right decision of upgrading my fronts from Paradigm Atoms to B&W 601? Are these really good speakers?

Thanks,

Ronneil

 

[chris_bester]

Ronneil Camara

I have had Pardigms for years & I am upgrading to Paradigm Studio Line ASAP. Where are you from??....I am from Canada we get Paradigms for cheaper here

 

[Philip Hamm]

Yes, B&W 601s are fantastic speakers.

 

[Mark Dill]

If you are just doing HT, the 601 is fine (with a sub), but for music you will get a huge improvement stepping up to the 602.

 

[Ronneil Camara]

Any ideas how much the cost difference is between 601 and 602? How does 602 perform in HT?

 

[Philip Hamm]

The price difference whan I was shopping many years ago was about $150 for a pair. I have 602s as mains and they are spectacular. I have had 601s in the rear int he past, and have heard stereo 601s and I think they're just as good. I recommend listening for yourself.

 

[Seth--L]

Agreed.

 

[Ronneil Camara]

so this speaker will really blow my existing Atoms away huh?

 

[Mark C.]

Why not go find a place where you can listen for yourself. We can say this is better than that forever on end, but it's still your purchase. Go listen to them using music you're familiar with to decide if the sound is for you. I can tell that the 600 series has a tremendous following, but so do many speakers.

 

[Shannon S.]

I have the 601's as my mains with the 600's in the rear. With a decent sub it sounds really really good.

 

[Brian L]

In my 2CH system, I am in the process of comparing a pair of KEF Q10's, B&W 601's (series 1), and a new pair of NHT SB3's. All 3 are mated with a Klipsch SW-8 sub.

I have had the KEF's and B&W's each in the rig for about 1 week a piece. Of that pair, I prefer the B&W's because they seem to blend better with my sub, and I prefer the upper mids and highs on the B&W's better then than the KEF's.

I actually even had my B&W 604's in there for a few days too, just for kicks (no I do not have a closet full of unused speakers....I am swapping things in and out of my HT rig, which will eventually return to all B&W; 604, 601, CC6).

But there is a new kid in town.....

The NHT's just came home this afternoon, so no final judgements yet, but having just set them up, within minutes I had them positioned perfectly relative to my chair for imaging and a solid phantom center , and had the sub dialed in as well.

Its going to take a lot more listening, and a lot more music to come to a conclusion, but after 10 minutes of playing the SACD of Elton John's 1st LP, I am really, really liking what I am hearing. The bass weight on "Take Me to the Pilot" is the best I have heard for that track, indicating an outstanding blend, maybe the best I have had in the several weeks I have been experimenting.

And the mids and highs are very, very smooth and clean. The sub itself is good to about 30-35Hz, but I am really liking the blend into the mid bass that I appear to be getting with the NHT's. Very, very solid.

Its a shame that the B&W and the NHT can not occupy the same place at the same time....I would love to do a true A/B, but for now I will just isten to a lot of music on the NHT's and see how they stack up.

Side note...I did listen to the NHTs briefly at the showroom running full range. These are spec'd to be good to a legit 39Hz....and sound like it. Not bad for a bookshelf speaker. And while that is largely irrelevant since I will be running a sub, it could pay dividends with a bit better sub/sat integration.

But having said all that, maybe you can find a NHT dealer that will give you a listen? What I am hearing so far does make them seem to be a reasonable competitor for the 601's.

BGL