Bowers & Wilkins 606 S3

Sources split. Most hear a balanced, natural tone that leans slightly full or warm — fairaudio calls it cleverly balanced, L&B and Steve Guttenberg warm and full, Diapason tonally correct. A smaller group hears a forward, bright-leaning or V-shaped balance: WIRED calls it zippy, and cheapaudioman and M-Audiophile hear boosted bass and treble. The split tracks the treble (below), toe-in and how close the listener sits.

Widely praised for its size. AVForums, Audiophile.no, What Hi-Fi and Steve Guttenberg describe deep, punchy, controlled bass, and Andrew Robinson finds it more neutral and focused than the S2's. Most say a subwoofer is optional for music, but Robinson and a store owner want one for full-range playback. fairaudio and Hi-Fi Voice note there is no real deep bass, only a well-judged upper-bass lift; M-Audiophile found it lifeless up close; and one owner in a small room hears too little at the seat. In-room bass depends heavily on wall distance (see placement).

“Bassen fra B&W 606 S3 er utrolig flott, dyp og presis.”

Karl Erik Sylthe, Audiophile.no (Norwegian: 'the bass is incredibly fine, deep and precise'; ~1.3 m from the wall, in a room with a bass lift)

“the 606 S3's low end is more neutral compared to its predecessor”

Andrew Robinson (YouTube; Audiolab 7000A, 2 ft from the wall)

“The bass, despite my measurements shows, doesn't feel that present, especially at close distance listening.”

M-Audiophile (YouTube; NAD C320BEE, close listening)

Sources split. Most find voices clear, natural and free of colouration — fairaudio, What Hi-Fi, L&B and Steve Guttenberg among them, and Andrew Robinson hears the S2's mid-to-treble gap largely closed. Others hear the midrange as the weak link, though in opposite directions: WIRED and cheapaudioman hear a forward, peppery upper midrange, while Audiophile.no finds it reticent and cool and M-Audiophile calls it compressed next to the old 685 S1.

Sources split. Most reviewers find the new titanium tweeter clean, airy and highly resolving without biting — fairaudio, L&B, Audiophile.no and Diapason among them, and Andrew Robinson calls it energetic but no longer punishing. A minority hear it as too much: WIRED found sibilance and listening fatigue with some content, cheapaudioman hears boosted sibilance and blurred cymbals above 80 dB, Taps Das turns the treble down on his own pair, and M-Audiophile calls it the most boosted 606 yet. Partnering, toe-in and recording quality decide which camp a listener ends up in.

Broadly praised as big, open and deep. fairaudio calls it the reference at the price for detaching the sound from the boxes, and What Hi-Fi, Andrew Robinson and WIRED describe a wide, spacious stage. AVForums notes rivals such as the Q Acoustics 5020 vanish more completely, Hi-Fi Voice finds its depth a little shallower than its siblings', and M-Audiophile prefers older and rival speakers here.

“It offers a bigger, more open and spacious-sounding presentation, too, with plenty of room for songs to breathe and flourish.”

What Hi-Fi? (CXA81, PMC Cor, Naim Nait 50; 3×7 m room)

“Perspektiv er blant 606 S3 sine dyder, og blir traktert ganske imponerende.”

Karl Erik Sylthe, Audiophile.no (Norwegian: 'perspective is among the 606 S3's virtues, and it handles it quite impressively')

“The 606 S3 can’t match the Q Acoustics 5020’s skill at disappearing from a soundstage”

Ed Selley, AVForums

A clear strength. Reviewers describe a stable, well-focused centre and precise placement, with modest or no toe-in — cheapaudioman's centre image was locked with the speakers barely toed in, and fairaudio found it forgiving of rough positioning.

“with a clear and well-defined center image, plenty of instrumental separation, and broad stereo imaging”

Ryan Waniata, WIRED

“Für mich die Preisklassenreferenz im Bereich der Ablösung des Klangbilds von den Lautsprechern und der präzisen Ortbarkeit der Schallquellen in Breite wie Tiefe.”

fairaudio (German: 'for me the class reference for detaching the sound from the speakers and for precise placement of sources in width and depth')

“these speakers can image and image in all directions with terrific Focus throughout”

Andrew Robinson (YouTube; a few degrees of toe-in)

Highly resolving for the price, and nearly everyone agrees it is revealing rather than forgiving. What Hi-Fi, Audiophile.no and fairaudio praise the insight; the flip side, raised by fairaudio, Steve Guttenberg and cheapaudioman, is that tape hiss, compression and poor sources are laid bare. M-Audiophile hears it as hyped 'detail' rather than the real thing.

“Her er det derimot maksimal innsikt i musikkens mange parametere som er hovedfokus.”

Karl Erik Sylthe, Audiophile.no (Norwegian: 'here, maximum insight into the music's many parameters is the main focus')

“Bei schlechteren oder älteren Produktionen sind halt auch die Rauschteppiche deutlich hörbarer – darauf muss man vorbereitet sein.”

fairaudio (German: 'with poorer or older productions the hiss is clearly more audible too — you have to be prepared for that')

“it's not a forgiving speaker it's telling you what's in the recording”

Steve Guttenberg, Audiophiliac (YouTube)

Generally punchy and composed at normal-to-loud levels: What Hi-Fi reached party levels in a large room, Steve Guttenberg played rock at about 90 dB peaks without strain, and Diapason calls it lively. Several sources set a ceiling: Andrew Robinson hears it thin out and turn treble-forward above about 90 dB, cheapaudioman found some fatigue above 80 dB, and an owner on an AV receiver loses clarity at higher volumes. L&B and fairaudio find its large-scale dynamics only average for the class.

“Crank up the volume, and the speakers can reach party levels with ease and clarity that has little distortion to disrupt our enjoyment.”

What Hi-Fi? (3×7×4 m listening room)

“Maybe they could have more dynamic contrast, but you can’t have it all.”

L&B Tech Reviews (Hegel H190)

“if you like to listen at 90 DB or 85 DB and up this might not be the speaker for you”

cheapaudioman (YouTube; Emotiva XPA Gen 3, no subwoofer)

Placement guidance more than a verdict. The port fires backwards, so the speakers want stands and some space: L&B and FutureAudiophile warn of woolly or boomy bass near the back wall, WIRED tightened loose bass by moving them a few inches out, and Steve Guttenberg heard a clearly better speaker at 26 in from the wall than at 13 in. The supplied two-piece foam plugs rein the bass in when they must sit closer — an owner 30 cm from the wall is happy with the half plug in. Toe-in should be modest: cheapaudioman and Andrew Robinson used little, and Audiophile.no none at all to soften the treble. The cabinets are also deep — about 12 in without grilles, WIRED notes.

“Placing the speakers close to the back wall can result in abnormally loud and woolly bass. In this case, you should use the included foam plugs to dampen the ports.”

L&B Tech Reviews

“It sounded a little loose at first, but moving the speakers a few more inches from the wall zeroed things in brilliantly.”

Ryan Waniata, WIRED

“Alle høyttalerne ble avspilt helt uten Toe-in. Og ikke minst for testmodellene B&W 606 S3 sitt vedkommende oppleves det som en riktig vinkling, siden det demper diskanten litt.”

Karl Erik Sylthe, Audiophile.no (Norwegian: 'all the speakers were played with no toe-in at all — which feels right for the 606 S3 especially, since it softens the treble a little')

Not a hard load, but a picky one. Bowers & Wilkins recommends 30–120 W and quotes a 3.7-ohm minimum; AVForums calls that dip 'fairly stiff' yet found it sounded good even on a Bluesound Powernode Edge at moderate levels, and Hi-Fi Voice measured the impedance falling below 5 ohms only at the very top of the range. The recurring advice is about character more than watts: avoid bright or lean amplifiers (Hi-Fi Voice, cheapaudioman), and expect to use a treble tone control with some (Taps Das, Andrew Robinson).

“the 88dB sensitivity is fairly good but the 3.7 ohm minimum impedance is fairly stiff and might be a challenge for a few integrated devices”

Ed Selley, AVForums

“Kvůli oné civilnosti, hraničící se strohostí, byste neměli volit úplně ostřejší elektroniku a obecně budou 606 S3 rozkrývat víc, než je v dané třídě běžné.”

Daniel Březina, Hi-Fi Voice (Czech: 'because of that sobriety, bordering on austerity, you shouldn't pick sharper-sounding electronics; in general the 606 S3 will reveal more than is usual in its class')

“with my NAD 326 with the tone control engaged treble turn down a touch and the bass knob just bumped up a bit they are more palatable”

Taps Das (YouTube; owns a pair)

Well made and well finished for the price, with new side-by-side bi-wire terminals that reviewers single out and threaded inserts for the matching stand. The finish is a vinyl wrap rather than real veneer (Steve Guttenberg, Audiophile.no), and cheapaudioman thinks rivals with real-wood veneer offer more at $1,100. 7Review's reviewer finds the white finish less convincing than rivals'.

“Klassischer, wertiger B&W-Look, ausgezeichnete Verarbeitung.”

fairaudio (German: 'classic, high-quality B&W look, excellent workmanship')

“Objectively, they are undeniably fantastic in terms of build quality and design.”

M-Audiophile (YouTube)

“at $1,100 I think the build quality is not quite there especially on the finishing of the enclosure”

cheapaudioman (YouTube)

Mostly seen as strong value: What Hi-Fi gave it five stars and later called it the best standmount at its price, AVForums a Best Buy, Diapason a Diapason d'or, and Audiophile.no a 'little giant'. Critics point to the price rise over the S2 (fairaudio, Hi-Fi Voice) and to rivals they prefer: M-Audiophile docked half a star, Forensic Audio lists alternatives he prefers, and ASR members see it as no big step up from a Polk Reserve R100. UK and EU street prices are often well below the US list price.

“Bowers & Wilkins har konstruert en liten gigant med 606 S3.”

Karl Erik Sylthe, Audiophile.no (Norwegian: 'Bowers & Wilkins has built a little giant with the 606 S3')

“Dès lors difficiles à battre.”

Diapason (French: 'hard to beat, then'; Diapason d'or hi-fi 2025)

“The B&W are not in a different league from the Polk you have.”

kemmler3D, ASR forum (on the 606 S3 vs a Polk Reserve R100)