In this review, we will be comparing Navis ARF-51 and BW 603, two Floor-standing speakers from ELAC and Bowers Wilkins. The main difference between these two speakers is that the ELAC Navis ARF-51 is a Powered speaker which means that it has a built-in amplifier inside the speaker body so you don't need an external power amp or an integrated amp whereas the B&W 603 is a Passive speaker so has to be matched with an amplifier to get any sound from it. Let's have a brief look at the main features
of ELAC Navis ARF-51 and B&W 603 first before getting into our more
detailed comparison.
In the following sections, we will get into more detail in order to better understand how the ELAC Navis ARF-51 and B&W 603 compare and hopefully end up with enough arguments to decide which one of these loudspeakers is the better choice for you.
Drivers
Both Navis ARF-51 and BW 603 are 3-way speakers.
| Driver |
ELAC Navis ARF-51 |
B&W 603 |
|
Driver Setup
|
3-way
|
3-way
|
|
Tweeter
|
1-inch
|
1-inch
|
|
Midrange
|
1 x 4-inch |
1 x 6-inch |
|
Woofer
|
1 x 5.25-inch
|
2 x 6.5-inch
|
Navis ARF-51 features a 1" Fabric Soft-Dome Tweeter , a 4" Midrange and 1 x 5.25" Aluminum Woofer . On the other hand, the BW 603 features a 1" Tweeter , a 6" Midrange and 2 x 6.5" Paper Woofer .
Frequency Response
Navis ARF-51 has a frequency range of whereas BW 603 has a frequency range of 48-28k Hz. With a minimum frequency of Hz, the Navis ARF-51 can go significantly deeper on the low side and provide stronger bass compared to the BW 603's min frequency of 48Hz.
Below graphs depict how these two speakers compare with the max, min and average values of the Min and Max Frequencies of other speakers in the Floor-standing class in our database.
Both Navis ARF-51 and BW 603 have rear firing ports. Rear ported speakers generally need more room between the backside of the speaker and the wall compared to sealed and front/bottom ported speakers. Placing the speakers too close to the walls may cause the bass to sound boomy.
Size of a speaker can sometimes become an important decision factor due to space constraints or in some cases purely for esthetic reasons. In this section, we are going to compare ELAC Navis ARF-51's and B&W 603's external dimensions. ELAC Navis ARF-51 has external dimensions of 1070.0 x 247.0 x 294.0mm ( 42.125 x 9.6875 x 11.5625inch) whereas B&W 603 has external dimensions of 985.0 x 190.0 x 340.0mm ( 38.7 x 7.4 x 13.3inch) .
B&W 603 is 57mm narrower and 85mm shorter than ELAC Navis ARF-51 but it is also 46mm deeper.
Base Surface Area Comparison
Base surface area of a loudspeaker may become a determining factor when the space in your room or desk is limited.
The base surface area of the ELAC Navis ARF-51 is approximately 726.2cm2 / 112.6inch2 and base area of the B&W 603 is approximately 646.0cm2 / 100.1inch2. The Navis ARF-51 requires 12% more surface area than the BW 603 which gives it a small disadvantage on placement in tight spaces.
Speaker Type 
Low Frequency Response 
RCA Connection 
XLR Connection 
High Frequency Response 
Height 
Base Surface Area