Bowers & Wilkins CM6 S2

Excellent sense of spaciousness Open, clear treble Tight, controlled bass Luxurious appearance and finish

Lacking low-level dynamics Not the most communicative sound

The B&W CM6 S2s are good speakers. They’re built to impress and they sound impressive on a number of different levels. They just struggle to communicate dynamics and subtlety, and it’s these missing links that stop us from completely falling for them....

The B&W CM6 S2s have exceptionally accurate imaging, far above their price class ; These speakers have classic B&W neutrality, but with a little more fun ; Their wide dispersion characteristics make for a very big sweet spot

The speaker's moderately low sensitivity combined with a low minimum impedance means you need to carefully select your amplification ; A subwoofer is required to get truly chest-slamming bass

I would put the B&W CM6 S2s in the same class as the very best bookshelf speakers out there. For a lot more money, you can get speakers that sound as good in the midrange and up while giving you more bass detail, more bass output, and more dynamic...

B&W should need little introduction in these pages. The British loudspeaker—maker has been a force in serious audio repro practically since Noah’s flood (1965, actually), and here in the States have for two decades and more occupied an enviable market...