Loudspeaker bigwig Bowers & Wilkins is promising better quality sounds for your cash, with the launch of the heavily revamped 600 Series speaker range - the company's entry-level offering.
The 10 model line-up has extensively borrowed technology from company's flagship Nautilus as well as its 800 Series sibling. This represents, in B&W's words, "a huge leap forward in performance and offers levels of technology that have previously not been attainable at this price level."
In practice the 600 Series gets new Kevlar bass/mid-range and mid-range FST speaker drive units with a new open-profile chassis and a fixed-phase plug that minimises air noise. The drive units also have a new surround profile and a copper clad pole piece that improves integration with the tweeter.
The Nautilus aluminium dome tweeter is "the most technologically advanced that B&W has ever offered in an entry-level product".
The 600 Series range stacks up like this:
Main
686 - 2-way standmount speaker (pair) £279
685 - 2-way standmount speaker (pair) £379
684 - 2.5-way floorstanding speaker (pair) £699
683 - 3-way floorstanding speaker (pair) £899
Centre
HTM62 - 2-way centre channel (single) £249
HTM61 - 2-way centre channel (single) £399
Subwoofer
ASW608 - 200W 8-inch driver active subwoofer (single) £299
ASW610 - 200W 10-inch driver active subwoofer (single) £399
ASW610XP - 400W 10-inch driver active subwoofer (single) £699
Surround
DS3 - Dipole/Monopole surround speaker (1pair) £549
