The $2,000-per-pair floorstanding loudspeaker category is one of the most key price points in the audiophile business. With today’s self-inflicted, tariff-based price increases here in the United States, perhaps that figure needs to be adjusted up a bit, as some of the key players in the market are now priced in the $2,500 range, with more price increases realistically on the horizon. With that buying pressure aired out, the idea of $2,500 speakers that can do it all is a very tempting place for audiophiles from all walks of life to invest in some serious loudspeakers.
The Bowers & Wilkins 603 S3 loudspeaker (buy at Crutchfield) is physically narrow, somewhat tall and easy on the eyes, from one of the industry’s most respected brands. With over 100 engineers in England and beyond-cutting-edge factories in China, these are fairly-priced floorstanding loudspeakers that can be at the center of a highly respectable audiophile system without spending the GDP of a small nation to get there. Trickle-down economics have been proven to not be a thing in the modern era; trickle-down technology is and the Bowers & Wilkins 603 S3s benefit from many of the meaningful advancements made in the Bowers & Wilkins 700 and reference 800 speakers. At home, I use the Bowers & Wilkins 802 D4 speakers (read my review) as my reference. In the studio, Abbey Road and Skywalker Ranch use 801s as their reference. How much of the much more expensive Bowers & Wilkins 802s or even 703s do you get for $2,500, and how does that value proposition look in the market today? That’s our task to discover in this review.
What Makes the Bowers & Wilkins 603 S3s So Special?
- The Bowers & Wilkins 603 S3 speakers are made in China, but are designed in England. Now matter how nationalistic one’s politics are, the fact is that, if you are looking for the best-valued and best-performance audiophile speakers, they are almost guaranteed to be made in China until you reach a certain higher price range. The level of refinement for not just the parts but the finishes on a speaker like the Bowers & Wilkins 603 S3 punch above their weight. They are a perfect form factor and pretty to look at, while also able to make some really resolved sound.
- Gone are the yellow Kevlar midrange drivers that visually differentiated Bowers & Wilkins speakers from others. The new Continuum Cone midrange is not yellow, but is capable of next-level performance as it was explained by Bowers & Wilkins engineers at a somewhat recent event at the parent’s company’s San Diego headquarters. The new driver technology is stiffer, thus more accurate. If you like that controlled (mid-) bass sound – that visceral effect – you are going to like the Bowers & Wilkins 603 S3s.
- You don’t get an external tweeter in the 600 Series of Bowers & Wilkins the way you do in the more expensive product lines, but you do get a new internal Titanium tweeter. I went gaga over the performance difference that you get in the 800 Series tweeter from D3 to D4. That praise is going to get dished out here, too, at a way lower price. If you think Bowers & Wilkins speakers are too etched or harsh from past experiences, I feel you. I encourage you to give their modern speakers a fresh listen. Do they have the same sonic signature as in the past? Yes, they are very resolved and detailed, but the S3 version of the Bowers & Wilkins 603s are much silkier and more open in the high frequencies. The 700 Series is a much bigger upgrade, but that comes with a major price increase.
- The Bowers & Wilkins 603 S3s are physically quite stable. I have a three-year-old at home, and even the best stand-mounted speakers can easily be toppled, leading to an audiophile disaster. The plinth that the Bowers & Wilkins 603 S3s sit on makes for a rock-solid foundation for speakers that are just not likely to tip over easily. There are E.U. standards and tests for tip-over, as I have been told, and these speakers are quite solid on their feet, despite their narrow, tall form factor.
- The Oak finish is one of the most gorgeous that I’ve seen in this price range. The black version of the Bowers & Wilkins 603 S3s look like every other good speaker in this price category. The all-white ones are pretty, too, but the Oak options blend a faux wood finish with the white coloring to make a contemporary look that is really appealing. Focal does something similar in some of their more expensive speakers, which are also gorgeous.
- There is a 30-day in-home trial offered. It might not be the longest trial (SVS is 45 days), but it is pretty generous. Shipping is included, too, and that’s something to factor in if you buy the speakers directly. They have a low-price guarantee, as well as a two-year warranty, which isn’t very long, but should cover you for a while.
- The Bowers & Wilkins 603 S3s are 90 dB efficient. They take to good electronics like any speaker in this class (I listened to them on a McIntosh integrated amp and some other familiar separates), but by no means do you need to worry about having monster monoblock audiophile amplifiers to drive a speaker like the Bowers & Wilkins 603 S3.
Why Should You Care About the Bowers & Wilkins 603 S3 Speakers?
Too many audiophile publications today make it seem like the only way to be in the club is to spend tens upon tens of thousands of dollars on each component of your system. That, respectfully, is total bullshit. The customer for the Bowers & Wilkins 603 S3s loves music and great sound. He or she wants a form factor that looks great in their living environment and performs well above average, but without breaking the bank. They likely have other things to spend tens of thousands of dollars on before loudspeakers at this stage in their life. Will they ever invest in bigger, more badass speakers? You bet they will, but when the time is right. The customer for the Bowers & Wilkins 603 S3s is looking for that balance of performance and value, comingled with tried and proven technology from an engineering-driven, lauded audiophile speaker company, and the Bowers & Wilkins 603 S3s deliver that at $2,500 a pair as well as any other speaker in this uber-competitive market.
Some Things You Might Not Like About the Bowers & Wilkins 603 S3 Speakers
- Rear-ported speakers can be tricky for placement, but the Bowers & Wilkins 603 S3s didn’t cause me much set-up grief. I was able to get my placement well away from the back wall, and that helped get me a rock-solid imaging situation with suitable bass. In the event that you need to place the speakers really close to the back wall, you might need to use some room correction to tone some of the lower and mid-bass frequencies down. In more extreme examples of real wall placement, you might want to avoid rear-ported speakers altogether.
- By no means do you need to use a subwoofer, but the Bowers & Wilkins 603 S3s took to a pairing with REL T/x9 (read my review) very nicely. You do not need to buy a subwoofer to go with 603s out of the gate, but it is a worthy consideration for down the road if you want an even more deep, rich and engaging sound. Upgrades are a big part of the hobby, and this is one that will put a smile on your face, without question.
Listening to the Bowers & Wilkins 603 S3 Loudspeakers …
I was able to listen to the Bowers & Wilkins 603 S3 speakers on a McIntosh MA5300 integrated amp (read my review), as well as a Bluesound Node 2024 (read my review) music streamer. Most of my listening was done without the REL T/x9 subwoofer in the loop, but I did like that sexy little sub in the mix when I could make it happen.
The level of layering and detail that I heard on “Lady (You Bring Me Up)” from The Commodores (QoBuz) was jaw-dropping. You’ve likely heard this song a million times on the radio, but have you ever really gotten to hear the details of the specific instruments? On my reference audiophile system at 10 to 15 times the cost, you can get this level of detail, but from a pair of $2,500 speakers? You have to be kidding. The space around the instruments and the effects on the bass guitar were amazing. The Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff-inspired strings were mixed back in the track, yet still audibly engaging. The snap to the bass was so groovy, you’d have to be dead not to be vibing on this track on the Bowers & Wilkins 603 S3s. I was very impressed with how much of the reference Bowers & Wilkins sonic experience you get for a small fraction of the investment.
One of the most brutal lessons of being a Music Industry major in college was realizing just how insanely good the actual Performance majors were at their instruments. We had a band called Ghetto Chicken that was not just terrible (‘80s covers that were always metal – regardless of the original song’s genre), but we knew a million ways from Sunday how and why and how we sucked. One of our more fun cover songs was “Dr. Feelgood” by Motley Crue (QoBuz and AIFF). The studio version of this song was another chance to show the ability of the Bowers & Wilkins to move some air with a track that rocks hard. The bass (without any subs in this case) wasn’t earth-shattering – nor should you expect that – but it was tight, controlled and musically engaging. I attribute this in part to the Continuum drivers, which have impressed me across the entire Bowers & Wilkins line. The digital sizzle of this late 1980s glam-metal track can be a little bit much on speakers with a hot tweeter, but on the Bowers & Wilkins 603 S3s, the track sounded lively but never shrill or overly bright – even at high levels.
There are a lot of albums that I relate to the golden age of stereo stores, but perhaps none more than Dire Straits’ Brothers in Arms. “Money For Nothing” is on the Mt. Rushmore of MTV videos, but “Walk of Life” is another big radio hit from the era, a great audiophile demo that will get your toe tapping. On the Bowers & Wilkins 603 S3s, I was impressed by the depth of imaging without a lot of physical toe-in. I could hear deep into the soundstage, which is always fascinating to hear. The walking bassline was energized yet tight. The snappy drums were lively but not bright. I kept making notes about how much “fun” the Bowers & Wilkins speakers are to hear.
Will the Bowers & Wilkins 603 S3 Speakers Hold Their Value?
The short answer is yes. The speakers are priced right from the start. They are sold at the best retailers in the world. They are also sold at Magnolia stores (learn more about Magnolia here) inside of Best Buy big-box retailers, so that there are lots and lots of people who’ve gotten a chance to hear (and be impressed) with the Bowers & Wilkins 603 S3s. The idea that tariffs might jack up the price of these Chinese made speakers make the value for people who bought them at pre-tariff prices look smart, like car leasers in the early days of the COVID pandemic.
What concerns me is how poor a job the parent company of Bowers & Wilkins has done in trying to find a buyer for the Bowers & Wilkins brand, as they’ve virtually divested themselves from the world of high-performance audio-video. Bowers & Wilkins is one of the best loudspeaker brands in the world, and there has to be a good buyer for it, but for more than a year, none has been found. Would this keep me from investing in Bowers & Wilkins 603 S3s? Not at all, but to not mention Masimo’s poor stewardship of brands like Denon, Marantz, Polk Audio and Definitive Technology, as well as Bowers & Wilkins, would be to ignore the elephant in the room.
What Is the Competition for the Bowers & Wilkins 603 S3s?
The $2,500 floorstanding speaker market is one of the most competitive in the entire business, regardless of product category. $400 wireless headphones, $4,000 preamps – there are others, but $2,500 speakers are loaded with options from some of the best brands.
The KEF Q11 Meta ($2,200 per pair – buy at Crutchfield) is another lauded U.K.-designed speaker from China that is a close comparable. The finish isn’t as luxurious on the KEF Q11 Meta speakers as it is on the Bowers & Wilkins 603 S3s, but you do get a very evolved Uni-Q tweeter. That technology puts the tweeter placed physically in the middle of the midrange driver and, while unique in its design, I greatly prefer the high-frequency performance of the Bowers & Wilkins 603 S3s over the KEF Q11 Meta speakers. Others might argue with me, and to each their own, but I know which pair of speakers I would put in my living room.
The Focal Vestia No. 2 ($2,000 per pair buy at Crutchfield) is a French-made speaker that delivers at many levels. My former reference speakers were some $22,000 Focal Sopra No. 2s (read my review), but those burned to a crisp in the recent January 2025 Palisades Fire in my previous home, which was leveled. Focals are smooth-sounding, gorgeous-looking and often very easy to drive. These speakers have more drivers than 603 S3s do in the midrange, and are a little less detailed on the high frequencies, which is a draw for many listeners. I miss my Focals, but I wouldn’t trade my Bowers & Wilkins 802 D4s for Sopra No. 2s at this point.
The MartinLogan ElectroMotion ESL speaker ($3,000 per pair – buy at Crutchfield) is about as different a speaker as you can find to compare to the Bowers & Wilkins 603 S3. It is a hybrid electrostatic design, meaning it has a curved, visually transparent screen that makes for incredibly open, engaging highs and mids. The lower frequencies come from a powered woofer below, which is just a whole other way of designing a speaker. I’ve owned my fair share of MartinLogan ESL speakers (read my review) and they, too, are a lot of fun. Perhaps a more reasonable comparison would be a speaker from MartinLogan’s Motion line, which uses an AMT tweeter that gets a lot of that ultra-unique sound of the ESL speaker from a more traditional rectangular speaker.
Final Thoughts on the Bowers & Wilkins 603 S3 Loudspeakers …
There are so many options for the modern audiophile to invest his or her loudspeaker dollars in and come out a hero at $2,500 per pair. I could have listed a dozen other options that are worthy of consideration in the Competition section above if we had the word count. The Bowers & Wilkins 602 S3s (buy at Crutchfield) don’t do any one detail so much better than any of the best competitors out there, so much as they deliver a total sonic package that is dynamic, coherent and a great value.
Perhaps more importantly, the Bowers & Wilkins 603 S3 loudspeakers are a lot of fun to hear. Detailed, open and airy music was riveting to listen to on the 603 S3s. Complex music was presented in a way that was easy on the ears and never sounded congested. The most important conclusion that I drew from my time with the Bowers & Wilkins 603 S3 loudspeakers was that they were just a blast. There was more toe-tapping and head-nodding going on with them than with other speakers in this price category of audiophile loudspeakers, and isn’t that what it is all about? If you are feeling the music, that might just be the speaker that you want to invest in, right?
