Dayton Audio B652-AIR 6-1/2" 2-Way Bookshelf Speaker with AMT Tweeter Pair

I've been working with consumer and professional audio equipment for my entire life, so even though I only just received and set these speakers up in my living room tonight, I've already played a few songs, and HOLY CRAP were they a good investment!A little background here: for the past 17 years, I've been using a pair of Realistic Minimus 25's that my father gave me when I moved out to go to college. I'm not sure when he bought them, but I remember them being our main living room stereo speakers from at least the very early 90's. I've looked the 25's up, and the year I see mentioned most consistently is 1985, so they could very well be as old as I am. They still work! Don't get me wrong, I'm not abandoning them. I have plans for them. But I'm overhauling my home studio setup, and I wanted something that put out a more full sound.The one place the 25's are lacking is bass. They have 4.5-inch woofers and handle 25 watts RMS at 8 ohms, so I had to have the bass knob on my 2001 KLH amp (which is also getting replaced) turned up to 3 o'clock. The 652's have 6.5-inch woofers and handle 30 watts RMS at 8 ohms, so while the power handling is comparable, the bass response is MUCH more powerful! I swapped the 25's out for the 652's without making any changes, even though I knew they would be different. I actually had to TURN DOWN THE BASS, and you will almost NEVER hear me say that, EVER! When you're sitting right between a pair of what are essentially near-field monitors and the bass is too muddy instead of too hollow, that's a big change!The funny thing is, if you read some of the reviews here on Amazon, there are several people who complain that the bass from these 652's is weak. I knew these people had to be wrong, because... well, let's face it, it's Amazon; most of the reviewers have no clue what they're doing with audio equipment. But even despite that, I was going into this expecting that they WOULD be somewhat anemic on the low end. I was pleasantly surprised to find that they perform even better than I expected! The key -- as with any pair of stereo speakers -- is proper placement. You need a wall behind them to reflect the low frequencies back out from the rear of the cabinets, and you need to aim them to properly set the stereo field for where you'll be listening most often. Do that, and and you'll find that these babies push MORE than enough bass. You won't get Sensurround-style lows out of them (boy, am I dating myself with that reference or what?), but you won't be disappointed.The one issue I *do* find with them, however, is that there seems to be a bump in the high midrange that's a bit harsh, particularly on female vocals. They're definitely not flat like the 25's are. I get the feeling it's caused by the crossover in the speakers. These come with Dayton Audio's AMT tweeters (basically a pleated ribbon), which cover a wider upper band than traditional tweeters, allowing the woofer to focus more on the mids and lows, and requiring less power for the same SPL. That's probably boosting the gain in those frequencies. I can't rein it in on the KLH because that just has a basic pair of "bass" and "treble" knobs, but I have a 15-band graphic EQ on the way to pair up with the new amp (which is just an amp, nothing more), so it shouldn't take much to find the trouble frequencies and dial them down a bit once that arrives. You may want to do the same. Otherwise, those AMT's really sing! The highs are airy, not harsh... dynamic, not crushed... very pleasant to listen to!All in all, I'm glad I bought them! For $55, you'd be hard-pressed to find a better pair of brand new bookshelf speakers.

It’s true - this is the best speaker for the money - match it with a good DAC preamp amp and you’ve got a system that will give you sounds equal to up to 10x the price of name brands. I stream exclusively. I don’t own a cd player or a record player to get the cleanest signal IMHO. I use my iPad with Apple play, a Cambridge audio DAC magic plus, an nad preamp and an adcom 555 200 wpc amp and a BIC F12 sub. These little speakers are phenomenal, at any price. I’ve been on a jag for the last 6 months, ordering and listening and returning (banned from one company?!!!?). I’ve listened to B&W, elac, Martin Logan, Magnapan, klipsch, Yamaha, Sony, all in the $100-1000 range. I have a smallish listening room, 12x16 with rug and nice soft sofa/chair furniture and bookshelves. 8ft ceilings. It’s a soft and cozy listening room. My playlist is a mix, Dire Straights, Yes, Ry Cooder, Bela Fleck, Kings of Leon, Black Keys, Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, Stevie wonder, Michael Jackson, Jason Isbell, James Taylor, Bonnie Raitt, Joni Mitchell, Sade, Peabo Bryson, Jeffery Osborn, Sting, Lang Lang, Rachmaninov, Mozart, John Williams, Yo-yo Ma, Alison Krause, Vince Gill, Nickle Creek, Celine Dion, Oscar Peterson, Brubeck, Miles Davis, Monty Alexander, Luca Sricagnoli, Justin beiber, Taylor Swift, Adele, and Christine and the Queens. Some movie soundtracks. Some blues but not much metal cause my tinnitus won’t let me go there for long. So the little folded tweeter fits me for my long listens with little or no fatigue. I try to listen mostly at 80-85db when cranking. Yes and the Who and Kings of Leon at 90db. The little Dayton’s handle with aplomb in my smallish room. I listen 2-3 hours per day. They match nicely with the relatively inexpensive BIC sub, very smooth and musical transition. Most of the other speakers were good. Of the bunch I liked the elacs towers for their smooth and powerful presentation and the Maggie’s for detail and soundstage and realism. If you’re a rocker go for the klipsch. But for the price, this delivers just about everything you need. You may have to go to 2 grand to beat em? Except for the Maggie’s.Don’t turn up your nose til you’ve shelled out the $50 to try em. If nothing else, they are the perfect thing to wow your friends with “LISTEN TO THIS!!”I’ll keep the Maggie’s cause they are the King below $2,000, but these I have for that cute little thing that’s fun. Lots of fun! (and very easy on the ears)