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B&W DM604 S2 worthy upgrade from DM603 ?

Hi all,

I have an opportunity to pick up a pair of B&W DM604 S2 speakers and I'm not sure whether it's worth the investment or not.

My current setup is a 5.1 consisting of DM603 for front left and right, a CC6 for center and DM601 bookshelf speakers on stands for the rears. I also have a Velodyne subwoofer.

If I pick up the new DM604 S2 speakers, the configuration would be: DM604S2 for front, DM603 for rear, CC6 center, Velodyne sub. The bookshelf speakers would be repurposed elsewhere in the house since I don't have a room configuration that lends itself to upgrading to 7.1.

I could also pick up a CC6 S2, but I'm not sure just the "S2" is a big enough difference to matter over my Series 1 CC6. Opinions on this would be appreciated as well.

I've never been at all unhappy with my current configuration, and I'm wondering - will I likely notice a big enough difference to justify the upgrade?

Thanks!
smhyde
smhyde OP
12 posts
 
Thanks Bcgator,

The speakers seem to sound find, but one thing I did notice that has me a little nervous about them - there appears to be an ever so slight amount of rust on the bolts that hold the speakers in the cabinet. In my area that could be an indication that they were in a waterfront home and subjected to a salty environment. If it's just a tiny bit of surface rust on those bolts, I suppose I could live with that, but I just wonder if that's a warning sign that I should move on for possible other reasons.

Other than that, they appear to be in good condition. I'm sure there are no boxes. I don't know about the carpet spikes and rubber feet.

I don't recall my DM603s coming with spikes - or maybe I have them in storage and have forgotten about them.
bombaywalla's avatar
bombaywalla
1,958 posts
 
Smhyde,
Tls49 has been very helpful here re. info & pricing. I just wanted to add my 2 cents re. pricing: I bought my DM604S2 back in 2001 brand new from the retail store for less than $800/speaker. They always went for a discount. I.E. the street price for brand new speakers was always less than $1600/pair. I believe I paid something like $1400/pair. Today we are in 2014, 13 years later. if you can help it, I would say that you should pay less than $600/pair today after 13 years & a little bit of rust on the bolts holding the drivers in the cabinet.
Given the info provided by Tls49, I agree that the DM604S2 would be a very nice upgrade for you for (hopefully) not too much money.
Of course, my opinion, FWIW. thanks.
tls49's avatar
tls49
1,351 posts
 

Smhyde, if you determine that the rust is due to a salty environment, keep in mind that the internals of the speaker have been exposed to that same environment because this is a ported speaker. The same would not be true for a sealed cabinet speaker.

Tough call, but if this is due to a salty environment, IMHO, I would probably pass on them, unless you can get them extremely cheap.
smhyde OP
12 posts
 
Tls49 - that's my precise concern... I'd almost want to remove one speaker to look inside. I don't know if they would let me do that (or if it's really as easy as unbolting it).
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