I happened to be in the area of my local B&W dealer yesterday and stopped in to look around. As usual I first headed back to the used/demo equipment area to see if there was anything of interest. They did have a lot of 2007 Rotel gear they were moving out, but it was all priced beyond what you could pickup the same gear for on Ebay or elsewhere. One thing however did catch my eye, a pair of B&W DM602 S3 bookshelf speakers. With my main 2ch. system eventually being moved to my listening room I knew I would need a pair of speakers for my home office. I will admit that I have dreamed of something more than these DM602 S3s, or perhaps even a DIY project. However, in the short- to mid-term I have other priorities. So considering that they were on sale for about $100 less than the going rate on Ebay, I grabbed them.

My initial impressions are positive. I already own a few pairs of the original DM602s and a pair of DM601 S3s, so I wasn't expecting a surprising new revelation. Nonetheless they are an improvement over both of these speakers. They provide a more natural detailed sound than the DM602s, while providing more energy and higher output than the smaller DM601 S3s. They are no match for my Infinity RS 9 Kappas, which provide more detail, balance, and dynamics (especially in the low-end). This was also no surprise. The 9 Kappas are a large floorstanding speaker, which when new would have cost $5500 in 2008 dollars. The DM602 S3s are a small 2-way bookshelf speaker which costs only $600 new. So while a comparision of the small B&Ws against the large Infinities isn't a fair fight, it does demonstrate the gap between these two ranges of the performance spectrum.

My home office system is important to me. I will always do most of my listening in my home office as I am in there working most of the day. My goals for this system are what one would call in German, "klein aber fein". Which means, small but high quality. I will undoubtedly be happy with the DM602 S3s in my home office for a while, but already suspect that they will eventually be replaced. At the price I paid, I think they offer good value, if not absolute top-end performance. It is that value that impresses, and the fact that I will be able to easily recoup most, if not all, of my investment when the upgrade bug eventually hits.

Rob

They are one the best seller B&W speakers of all time. Great speakers.
Congrats and enjoy.

I agree with you, Rob, hard to beat for the money.

They can´t compete with the likes of Sonus Faber, just to name one, but then they cost only a fraction.

I´ve set up a couple of my non audio-crazy friends with 601´s fed by NAd electronics and they couldn´t be happier.

Very nice...I have B&W 610i's in my home office...