Questions about DM603 S3

[WillBrison]

Hello -

Yesterday I brought home a demo pair of B&W DM603 S3 speakers for an in-home audition. I have auditioned over eight brands of speakers in the US $700-$1,000 range in-store, and the 603's were the best sounding by far - a much more spacious, three-dimensional soundstage, and pinpoint imaging.

I do have a question regarding the frequency response of the 603 S3 -- the marketing literature for the 603 S3 claims an frequency response of 44Hz-22kHz +- 3dB, and a full-frequency range of 34Hz-44kHz -6dB (wow!), however the owner's manual accompanying the speakers lists a frequency response of 48Hz-20kHz +- 3dB, and a frequency range of 37Hz-30kHz -6dB. That seems like a significant discrepancy to me...

... Well, I may have just answered my own question -- the owner's manual on the B&W website for the Series 600 S3 is different from the one in the box with my demo speakers...the current PDF version posted on the website is "v1109024 issue 1", and the version in my hands is "1108710 issue 1". Sounds possibly like a spec revision to me. Hopefully that's all it was -- a spec change (I notice a disclaimer that B&W "reserves the right to amend details of the specification without notice in line with technical developments"), as opposed a change in components. In fact, the older specs above seem to be the exact specs for the 603 S2, so perhaps there was an error in the original user's manual. Has this been discussed before?

I do have one more question -- on this demo pair, the tweeter domes seem to have an opaque, whitish discoloration around the edges -- almost a tarnish or patina. I'm sure that there's no affect on the sound quality, but is this normal for tweeters in the 600 series? The reason I ask is that I probably will get the opportunity to buy this pair of floor models at a discount, and if this is an indication of mis-handling (e.g. overzealous use of Spray-N-Wipe by a salesperson), then I'll demand a new pair instead.

Thanks for your responses!

Will

[ironchef]

My 603s3s have no such discoloration. Paranoid thought - were the tweeters replaced at some point, and some epoxy/glue-like substance left over from the repair job?

I agree that the 603s have the best sound in their price class, and by a significant margin. I am still looking to upgrade at some point, and I'm a little shocked to find out how much I'm going to have to spend to surpass them...

[Sim reality]

Looks like you have a old manual... I just checked the manual that came with mine and it matches the marketing material (44Hz-22kHz +- 3dB).

Also my tweeters are clean... I was looking at the surround for the tweeter and it looks porous so I would definitely look at a new one (not that it would make much of a difference but you aren't on the immediate upgrade path why settle).

[WillBrison]

Thanks

Thanks for your replies. I've e-mailed B&W to confirm that it is just a documentation error, although this implies that these are pretty early 603 S3's, and have been in dealer stock for quite some time. The serial #'s are 0023999 and 0024001 if that helps anyone determine the manufacturing date.

I think the tweeter dust cap discoloration is something benign, but I may write B&W just to make sure.

WB