B&W DM303

I purchased the B&W DM303s just a few months after they came out, which was when all the HiFi mags were going crazy over them. I had them up against a pair of £300 Missions (the model escapes me) and I wasn't expecting much, after hearing the Mission, which sounded incredible. But the guy in the HiFi shop persuaded me to listen to these. I could tell as soon as they were on just how much better they were than the Missions. The depth of the imaging field is amazing and the overall 'grown up' sound speakers usually lack in this price range was obvious. The treble is crisp, but never harsh unless cranked right up to a literally silly volume, and even then, most audiophiles would struggle to hear the slight coloration induced. The midrange is worryingly real for a speaker of this price and actually sounds better than the 600 series. The bass has incredible extension (on a -6 dB measurement they go down to 23 Hz!!!) and depth, although it can at times be slow, especially with synthesized bass, such as on Stevie Wonder's 'I Wish', but with fretless and double bass the sound is remarkable.

The build quality is just B&W. They feel very expensive and there is not a blemish on the speakers anywhere (even after owning them for however many years). It is a shame they aren't BiWiriable, as this would lend the speakers to even better sound, but this doesnt stop them. I have them mounted on Sound Style stands and I drive them with a NAD C300 25w amplifier, which never struggles.

For me, these are the best £350 speakers on the market.

I purchased the B&W DM303 on the basis of other reviews - and I was not disappointed. I drive them from an old Sugden amp and QED silver anniversary cables with Airlok connectors.

I've tried all sorts of music with them, including jazz, organ, Choral, Classical, solo popular, as well as speech - from CD and DAB radio. In all categories these units shine. I can't speak highly enough of them. And to cap it all, I managed to pick up a pair of lightly soiled ex-display units for half price!!

After purchasing these B&amp W DM303 speakers, I took them out of the box and drooled over the lovely curves and the glistening titanium drivers.

After recovering I set them on my Partington Focus stands and carefully wired them up with my QED silver plated speaker wire to my Rotel RA-931 Mk2 Integrated Amplifier. For supplying the music to the amplifier I am using my NAD C521i CD Player with a Studio Reference cable.

My first impressions were of joy over the crystal clarity of the music I was listening to. I now am faced with situation of having to listen to every CD I own as each one sounds completely different to before. I have found the sound quality at low volume to be excellent (which is the reason I bought these speakers due to super hearing neighbours). None of the sound quality is lost at low volume, still hearing the plectrum hitting the strings of the Eagles.

I would say that these DM303's are a close rival to Dynaudio BM5's. I would advise anyone putting together a budget studio editing system to seriously consider these speakers as they are £300 less than the BM's. Using these speakers as near field monitors or as a hifi speaker will be money they have spent.

Reviewed By: Milkie & Jesse