The Sound of Silver

or so of casual music and TV sound I assign to cover any break-in concerns. (For the record, what little science exists suggests that a minute or less of high-level pink noise will loosen driver suspensions and “cook” voice-coils to their long-term states.)

Suitable time having passed, I settled in for the serious listening, and my initial impressions were all positive. The little 607 S2s made a lot of bass for their size, and their overall tonal balance was close to spot-on my notion of accurate with no obvious colorations, vocal sibilances, or top-octaves fizz or splash. They also formed an agreeably solid and detailed stereo image. Longer-term listening reinforced these impressions, with my notes repeatedly referring to fine midrange detail and “depth,” and solid, musical output to well below 50 Hz— pretty impressive for so bantam a design. A track from Diana Krall’s From This Moment On, “Come Dance With Me” (24-bit/96khz FLAC, Qobuz), evidenced plenty of weight and pitch-definition to the bass, and honest thud and impact to the kick-drum accents, as well as nice shimmer from the horns. Krall’s rich, naturalistic alto also sounded clear, articulate, and immediate.

Pulling focus tighter still, I turned to comparisons with my long-term reference, an active design a good bit larger and about thrice as costly as the 607 S2s. This made for interesting listening. The two matched unexpectedly closely through all but the lowest octave—the little B&WS could not quite match my powered (and DSP EQ’D) monitors’ solidity on the lowest bass notes. That, and the fact that Krall’s voice was slightly but noticeably more forward, with subtly greater breathiness and attack to her vocals; hi-hat “ping” had a bit more sparkle, too. All of this suggests a slight advantage through the two-plus khz range, at least as compared with my everydays, which I know to be very smooth and honest, but slightly (and agreeably, to me) down-tilting over the top-most octaves. None of these differences amounted to coloration—the 607 S2s remained neutral-balance-sounding on everything I sent their way— but they are worth noting.

Like many ported speakers these days, the 607 S2s come supplied with optional foam “bungs” to plug their cabinet vents, effectively changing them from vented to sealed-box performers, with a resultant reduction in peak bass output but slower rolloff and thus slightly greater extension.

Unlike most such, however, these bungs are concentrically cut, with center plugs about 3/4-inch in diameter that you can extract, yielding a total of three options. To experiment, I pushed my stands much closer to the wall than I know to be optimal, bringing the speakers’ back panels within about a foot, and cued up “‘Deed I Do” from Ms. Krall’s Live in Paris album— one of the better-sounding live records you’ll encounter. The highly natural voice, delicate drum brushwork, and elegant hall-sound were all there as I expected, but John Clayton’s fairly prominent (and likely amplified) stand-up bass sound was a bit blousier than I know it to be, almost tubby. Release the bungs! Now the tub was utterly gone, but so was a modest slice of the bass foundation tones and thus some measure of musical excitement. I removed the center plugs, leaving the larger bungs— now rings—in place. I don’t know what alignment this qualifies as, exactly, but the result was salubrious: bass bottom was restored, and most of the tubbiness was still quelled. Pulling the stands out another 10 inches or so resulted in a near-ideal balance, for a decidedly full-range, “bigsounding” presentation. Useful feature? I’ll say.

A few random notes. The 607 S2s excelled at the rich, dense vibrations of massed strings. A quick survey of quartet and orchestral passages uncovered no tendencies toward edginess or screech, but plenty of bit and zing when bows really dug in. Same deal with brass attack: crisp and shiny but not cutting. High-volume rock fared well, too. Little Feat’s Waiting for Columbus still qualifies as one of the great live recordings, and the B&WS rendered the opening of “Fat Man in a Bathtub” with impressive impact. Not at fully live concert levels, of course, but not so far off: loud enough to convey the general idea and to get your head bobbing. Pushed harder still I heard no overt sounds of driver distress or obvious distortion, but the overall sound coarsened and lost detail.

The ample top octaves of the 607 S2s meant that recordings erring on the bright/hard side did not find much refuge. The Police’s Synchronicity has always struck me as not all that

At a Glance

Good bass extension Excellent midrange balance and accuracy Pluggable port yields flexible placement and performance

Impressive fit and finish Slightly bright sound with some recordings

$700/pair bowerswilkins.com far short of unpleasantly bright, and while it remained perfectly listenable at moderately loud levels, pushing things further did the recording no favors. However, raising the speakers up about 7 inches via my audiophile-approved height modules (hardcover-bound dictionaries) to put the tweeters above my seated ear level smoothed things out discernibly, and I would recommend you do the same. Putting on the understated gray grilles might’ve helped just a tetch, too, but the little speakers look so good without them, I’d hate to do so permanently.

CONCLUSION

Overall, good stuff sounded uniformly great with the Bowers & Wilkins 607 S2 Anniversary Edition. This is a very fine, intelligently balanced small two-way. Of course, it’s a densely crowded field, so you won’t have far to look to find plenty of worthy competitors of similar size and price. That said, the

607 S2 Anniversary Edition can line up with any of them, with the added support of elegant looks and a storied pedigree.