The Sound of Silver

THERE ARE quite literally hundreds of small, two-way loudspeakers you can buy priced from under $100 to well north of $10,000 per pair.

- Daniel Kumin

To this throng British stalwart speaker manufacturer, Bowers & Wilkins now adds the 607 S2 Anniversary Edition (the anniversary commemorated is the company’s launch of its first 600 Series designs 25 years ago). Whether or not the world desperately needs another small two-way may be up for debate, but B&W’s authority to add one is not: the ranks of fine speakers emerging from the UK's south coast over the past half-century has been illustrious.

The 607 S2, then, is the latest of a familiar pattern: 5-inch woofer, 1-inch tweeter, vented enclosure; the simplest expression of the loudspeaker designer's art. Or science. The woofer in the new model uses proprietary “Continuum” woven material, a feature migrated down from the company’s flagship 800 Series Diamond models that’s said to improve upon the yellow Kevlar cones that were long a brand hallmark for stiffness and internal damping. The aluminum-dome tweeter exploits the company’s “decoupled-dome” topology, said to push the first breakup mode to 38 kHz, well beyond the highest audible octave.

Unboxed, the 607 S2 exudes attention to detail. The cabinetry is first-rate (our samples were light-oak vinyl woodgrain; all-black and all-white are also available), with sharp corners and a gorgeous satin white baffle into which the drivers are elegantly set. Around the back are the bridged bi-wiring terminals de rigor for higher-end speakers these days and the company’s trademark dimpled port aperture said to reduce turbulence noise. In short, the 607 S2 is a nicely made little speaker that’s very nicely finished, and very nice to look at.

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