It’s been 25 years since Bowers & Wilkins launched its very first 600 Series loudspeakers and the company is celebrating with the release of the B&W 600 Series Anniversary Edition of its famous and much-loved budget range.
Differentiated with an 'S2' label, the Bowers & Wilkins 600 Series Anniversary Editions are for the three main speaker lines - the standmount 606 and 607s, the floorstanding 603s plus the HTM6 centre channel speaker as well. While these don’t represent big changes to the existing models, there are updates to the aesthetics as well as technical improvements.
To mark these speakers as part of the 25th celebrations, Bowers has added a brand new surround to the decoupled tweeter with anniversary lettering, available in a dark or light colour depending on the speaker finish choice. As well as the standard black and white, the series will come in an all-new oak finish for Europe and a red cherry for the Asian market, although the company has not ruled out bringing the red to the EU if there is demand.
The Continuum cone and decoupled tweeter dome drive units remain the same throughout the series but the crossover has been revamped with new components including key high and low frequency capacitors, as well as the introduction of the bypass capacitors from the 700 Series Signature range to improve transparency.
The Bowers & Wilkins 600 Series Anniversary Edition will replace the existing 600 Series. Manufacture is already fully underway and the speakers will ship in September.
The Bowers & Wilkins 606 S2 Anniversary Edition will cost £599 ($899/€749/AU$1299), the 607 S2s are £449 ($699/€599AU$999) and 603 S2s come in at £1,499 ($1,999/€1799/AU$2999). The HTM6 S2 centre is £449 ($799/€599/AU$899) and will also be available as part of the 600 Series Anniversary Edition Theatre home cinema package, based on the 603 S2, 607 S2 and the ASW610 subwoofer.
The Anniversary Edition represents the seventh incarnation of the 600 Series. Over one million pairs of these affordable speakers have been sold since 1995.
Aimed at anyone who loves music and wants more sound for their money, the last release of the 606, 607 and 603 speakers all received five-star What Hi-Fi? reviews. We look forward to listening to the Anniversary Editions in the coming weeks.
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