B & w dm601 s3

Hi-Fi Corner
1

Just been looking at a well-known auction site. Came across a pair of these speakers on there.

I was looking because I am still thinking about getting a decent pair of small speakers (hopefully under £500) for my 11 year old granddaughter. She currently has some of my legacy equipment : DVD5 as CD player, Naim AV2 as preamp, and Naim NAP 90.3 poweramp. These are driving a pair of Focal satellite speakers from 5.1 set.

I think she needs better speakers than that. The speakers will perforce be placed on wall brackets high up near the ceiling as that is where her dad installed the in-wall wiring for them. Her bedroom is about 12ft X 12ft, height 9ft (well that’s what I estimate looking at it - it’s a very large old house in Sutton Coldfield)

Think they’re worth getting?

2

In that position, one is not hearing a whole lot of what speakers can deliver. I’d submit that subtleties won’t really be heard from speakers well-off-axis up in a corner.

It might be possible and worth it to move the wires. If they go up, then can be brought back down.

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Thanks, but we’re living in the real world of pubescent young girls. I know this room very well - after all, I babysit the grandkids twice a week. There is no prospect of changing where the speakers go. The wires are actually buried in ducting within the plaster on the walls, so moving them would be a major undertaking, one I’m sure my son-in-law would not want to do.

The realities of the siting are that due to fitted wardrobes, shelving, windows etc, there is really nowhere to put them other than where they are already.

All I really want is an opinion on the likely sound balance of these speakers in her room. I know that near wall placement doesn’t work well for most speakers (that’s why I like Naim and Linn speakers), but I have figured out that infinite baffle or reflex with the port at the front or side are like likely to be the best options.

The B&Ws, which I have never heard, have front porting, and are the right size. I did consider the Linn Majik 109s for her, but their depth is greater, and would probably not be acceptable, cosmetically.

My own purchases of speakers over the years have been : Wharfedale Meltons, Spendor BC1, Linn Sara, Naim SBL, Royd Edens, Naim n-System (which I still own). I did have a B&W centre speaker at one time, chosen because it had a similar tonal balance to the Royd Edens.

You’d probably not like where my front nSats are situated, but again, the room size and window position dictated that. They work very well where they are situated, BTW.

So - any comments on the suitability of the B&Ws for the room placement?

4

Since you have the nsystem, can’t you bring the nsats to try? These are made for the AV2!

5

Can’t comment on the placement issue (apologies), but 601 s3 was my first pair of really ‘proper’ speakers and they sounded wonderful (on stands, in a similar sized room) with a wide variety of music and in my 5.1 system. They even sounded great when some young inquisitive fingers poked the tweeters in and then tipped them forwards off the stands onto a hardwood floor. Quite indestructible, IME.

Also IME, B&Ws respond very well to being biwired, as the manufacturers’ instructions suggest. Given that the opposite is true of Naim amps, you might want to try both ways and see. Mind you, with wiring chased into the walls, that may well be entirely moot.

Good luck, and I hope your granddaughter is grateful for a system I would have given my right nut for at that age (and for some time afterwards, if I’m honest),

Mark

6

Thank you for the info. I’m afraid I’ve always been what my wife would call “too soft” with my kids and grandkids. My daughter’s both had systems based around the Naim Nait by the age of 13. :+1:

I think I’ll just buy this pair of speakers for her. Probably will be her Christmas present this year.

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I have a set of bowers 501 s2 20 years old but only used sice 2011 nov. They are superb speakers if set up right. My concern is with the bass boom with being next to the wall. B and W reccommend .5m from the back and side wall and mine are nearer the side wall about 30 -40 cm and sound excelllent so i don’t think this distance is critical.
I’m gonna hopefully buy the new Bowers 606 which have a lot of high technology from the much higher range speakers in them and they always seem to get very, very good reviews.
Good luck!

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Well, I bought them, but won’t give them to my granddaughter until Christmas, although I think I’ll let my son-in-law connect them to is 52/250. Too much hassle to do it with mine. My front nSats are on brackets, so couldn’t really just swap them out, as wouldn’t be mounting them properly, although I suppose I could just put them on the windowsill for a short time while I check that they are not faulty.

Lots of hassle with fleby. First Pay Pal didn’t like my Visa Debit card, although I had already updated it on their website. Paid with a credit card eventually. I was planning to have them delivered direct to my daughter’s house, but the checkout didn’t give me any option to change the delivery address from my default. So now I’ve got to warn our neighbour that they may appear when we’re not her (impending holidays etc). Why can’t life ever be easy?

9

Yep, Paypal is difficult to deal with debit vards that way. I first had to delete all my old unused cards and then added a new one which worked. I still can’t make my mind up about the B and W’s or Fyne audio 500 standmounter which both are really superb performers butt which one to choose. Probably the Bowers as i’m told they sound very good even at low volume which is a requirment for me as i play games into the night sometimes.
Henry

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