STEREO SPEAKERS
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▪ B&W 606
£549
Featuring a typically smart design, the perfect medium-sized speaker form and delivering an exciting, engaging and perfectly poised sound, the Bowers & Wilkins 606s are the best-value stereo speakers we’ve tested this year.
The 600 series is the most affordable range in B&W’s exalted hi-fi family and the 606s are the larger of the two standmount models.
The iconic yellow Kevlar of previous generations is replaced by B&W’s latest Continuum cone technology, as seen on the company’s more expensive models. A silver 16.5cm bass/midrange driver is joined by a 25mm decoupled double-dome aluminium tweeter. Decoupling the tweeter from the front panel reduces the degrading effects of vibrations generated by the mid/bass unit. At the back of the speaker you’ll see B&W’s Flowport bass reflex vent and a pair of twin banana-plug terminals for bi-wiring.
With the magnetic grilles removed, the speakers look incredibly sharp, but it is their sonic output that has them way ahead of any other stereo speakers in this price bracket.
Balance across the spectrum
From Hans Zimmer to house, Debussy to Dr Dre, these speakers don’t miss a beat. Fully run in, the 606s settle on a spot-on balance of which Simone Biles would be proud. The crisp clarity in the treble, and across the spectrum, gives the performance real energy and drive.
Entertainment is key, with notes stopping and starting with snappy precision. Listening to Loyle Carner’s Ain’t Nothing Changed, there’s real body and detail to the rasping saxophone hook, soon joined by pleasantly weighty drums and a smooth, deep bass line.
The 606s sound tighter and more insightful than even last year’s Award winners, the KEF Q350s, delivering a better-balanced sonic spectrum.
This is brought home by Massive Attack’s timeless , which sounds every bit as ominous and brooding as it should, while still capable of flapping your trouser legs at high volume. In fact, the 606s are adept at high and low volume, losing little of their dynamic reach and overall detail when played at
