Audio Emporium
Newsletter
New B&W
600 Series Subs Arrive
In June B&W announced that it would be shipping its new 600 Series speakers. That was great news and the new models have impressed us! But, the new sealed subwoofers weren’t available in the first wave of new 600 models. We have just received two of the three models and they too are living up to advanced billing.
B&W ASW-608 $450: (10 1/4h, 10 1/4w, 13d) Black or Cherry
B&W’s new ASW-608 is the smallest sub they’ve ever made. In years past B&W made ASW-300 which housed an 8” driver. It was nice sub but the cabinet was larger than we would have liked for an 8 and it only had a 100w amp. ASW-608 has taken care of that. The cabinet is now almost a 10” cube as opposed to a 14” cube- huge difference. Also, instead of using a 100w amp, ASW-608 uses a 200w B&O/Rotel designed/built ICEPOWER amp. The woof is a new 8” Kevlar Pulp Fibre design.
608 certainly fills the bill of- I can’t believe it’s this big! It looks tiny but delivers a substantial amount of bass. No, it doesn’t have the thunder of its 10” brother, ASW-610, but for those of you who need a tiny sub that really does deliver, 608 may be your choice. You can even tuck it in one of the Salamander cabinet chambers!
B&W ASW-610 $600: (12 1/4h, 12 1/4w, 14
3/4d) Black or Cherry
ASW-610 is likely to become B&W’s all time best selling subwoofer! At just over a cubed foot, it still looks small. Yet it houses a new, potent 10” Kevlar Pulp Fibre sub and 200w B&O/Rotel designed/built ICEPOWER amp.
It has a good deal more kick than ASW-608. It’s well worth the extra $150 when performance is what you’re after.
Both these subs feature a good array of features that allow you to dial them in. In addition to the traditional controls of crossover point, phase and volume, both subs have A, B or C settings. Each setting provides a different level of bass extension.
Just In! Model 684 $1000pr
The best seller in the history of the 600 family over the years has been the 603- the three way tower for a grand. Model 684 is the direct replacement for it- and is a nice improvement!
684 uses the new tweeter and simpler crossover we’ve described in the past about the new 600s. But the biggest difference with 684 is that it is the first speaker B&W has ever used a Kevlar woofer in! Think of all the models over the last 30 years that have used Kevlar mids. Lots of em! But it has taken this long for B&W to feel they could dial in Kevlar to a woofer specific element. The sonic character of 684 is very taut in the bass- great for hearing stand up bass fiddles and the skin heads on drums!
683s Are Back in Stock!! $1400pr
When the new model 683 hit the stores it sold out immediately. B&W had made enough to get all of its dealers four pairs. The second wave has now landed and we finally have them in stock for customers to actually take home!
683 is a working man’s 804. It uses the same 1” alum Nautilus tweeter. It uses the same 6.5” Kevlar FST surroundless midrange driver. It uses two 6.5” aluminum/Kevlar/Pulp Fibre composite woofs.
This is B&W’s least expensive speaker to employ the innovative FST mid driver. It’s very fast and images precisely.
The bass is solid, down 3dB at 22Hz. There’s no boom to 683 either. 38 3/4h, 7 3/4w, 13 3/8d, 60 lbs. An ideal amp to drive the 683? Rotel’s RB-1072 at $900 is a great fit!