Dayton Audio B652 6-1/2-Inch 2-Way Bookshelf Speaker Pair

by Dayton Audio

Product Features

• Small size, profound performance
• Black ebony pica vinyl cabinet finish
• Removable grille
• Excellent clarity and detail

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 6.4 x 7.1 x 11.8 inches ; 11.6 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 14 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• Shipping Advisory: This item must be shipped separately from other items in your order. Additional shipping charges will not apply.
• ASIN: B002RMPHMU
• Item model number: B652
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (208 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,238 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)
  • #7 in Electronics > Home Audio & Theater > Stereo Components > Speakers > Bookshelf Speakers
• Date first available at Amazon.com: December 12, 2009

Product Description

Dayton Audio's B652 2-way bookshelf speaker is perfect for offices, dorm rooms, apartments, or any other living area. Measuring under 12-Inch tall, these small but mighty speakers will never overwhelm the decor in any room. The B652's two-way design features a 6-1/2-Inch polypropylene cone woofer and a 5/8-Inch polycarbonate ferrofluid cooled dome tweeter to accurately reproduce audio from 70 to 20,000 Hz. Installation features include quick connect speaker terminals and key-hole hanger. Removable grill. These small, powerful speakers make a great addition to any living space. Packaged and sold in pairs. Includes two 9-1/2 foot long 20 AWG speaker cables. Specifications: ; Woofer: 6-1/2-Inch polypropylene ; Tweeter: 5/8-Inch polycarbonate ferrofluid cooled ; Power handling: 40 watts RMS/75 watts max ; Impedance: 8 ohms ; Frequency response: 70-20,000 Hz ; Sensitivity: 87 dB 1W/1m ; Dimensions: 11-13/16-Inch (H) x 7-1/16-Inch (W) x 6-7/16-Inch (D) ; Sold in pairs.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

196 of 215 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent speakers, actual video review January 19, 2012

By Phillip

Amazon Verified Purchase

Length: 5:20 Mins

Here's a video I made of the actual product. I hope that this video was helpful for you. :)

[...]

28 of 29 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Not the original. Very disappointed. May 20, 2013

By Jolly Roger

Amazon Verified Purchase

This is the most disappointing purchase I have ever made. There was so much hype going into these that it actually affected the way they sound at first, but once the confirmation bias wore off I knew something was wrong. When going from these speakers to listening to music in my car, the music got better even though it was playing through factory speakers on my aging car. I tested other cheap and worn out speakers around my house with the same results. Some 20-year-old radio shack speakers and some cheap KLH speakers both sounded better than the B652s; in fact, the only speakers worse were the ones in my tv. The tweeter in the B652s is practically nonexistent at the high end, is harsh and inaccurate for cymbals and electronic music, and it gets lost in the midranges coming from the woofer. I spent extra time breaking these in to no avail. I felt like I was listening to a completely different speaker than the ones that others had purchased in the past, and it turns out I was. I searched for information on the crossover and found out it doesn't really have one, but the originals didn't either. The woofer is wired straight from the spring terminal and then to the tweeter in parallel. (I also don't think these can be 8 ohms as the label claims.) The tweeter then has a single inline capacitor that is now 50v instead of the 100v capacitor on the original. This shouldn't necessarily change the sound, but it's inferior nonetheless. A review on budgetphile.com showed pictures of some of the differences in the new model, and comments on reddit noted similar concerns.... The screws are now hex instead of philips, the wall hanger is an oval instead of a rectangle, and after I opened one of mine up, I can confirm that the capacitor is the new 50v version and that there's an apparent problem with glue spilling at the factory. I've already exchanged one pair that was sent because they were covered in stray glue, and I wish I had gotten a refund instead. I bought these based on reviews (such as stereophile's) of what would have been a very decent original model for what I paid, but by being sold the inferior B652 for the same price (or more), I'm now the victim of a bait-and-switch.
Links:
http://www.reddit.com/r/audiophile/comments/1bckzx/stop_buying_the_dayton_b652s/
http://www.budgetphile.com/2013/03/review-dayton-b652.html Read more ›

51 of 59 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Really Fine Sounding Speakers - And Well-Reviewed in STEREOPHILE!! December 23, 2009

By Lawrence H. Bulk TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

I received these Dayton B652 6-1/2" 2-Way Bookshelf Speaker Pair speakers recently and I have played them for many hours. The amplifier I used mostly is the Dayton DTA-1 Class T Digital Amplifier 15 WPC which works beautifully with them; this versatile and excellent amplifier can be powered by AC or by batteries. (I can also highly recommend the Dayton Audio DTA-100a Class-T Digital Amplifier 50 WPC, which, though somewhat more expensive, is more powerful - no battery operation though.)

I am currently using this Stanton S.300 Tabletop CD Player with MP3 Compatibility as my source and I have played a large number of classical CDs.

The sound is quite amazing for such inexpensive speakers. It would be amazing if the cost were four times their low price. No kidding!

They do seem to work best in a near-field arrangement but they also easily fill up my bedroom with fine sound. I have them placed on these Dayton SSMB24 24" Speaker Stand Pair Square Steel Base, about six feet apart, and four feet from the rear wall (and more than that from the side walls).

The bass is not going to "knock your socks off" - but it is certainly not lacking either. I am pretty picky when it comes to my audio equipment and, believe me, this entire system, which cost less than $235.00 (or $289.00) all told, is amazing in quality and value....

It's quite a sound system!

If you want absolute top quality equipment and sound, you must be willing to pay commensurate prices. But this small system, which could not function nearly as well without these speakers and still cost so little, is all most people need for normal-sized rooms. In my opinion, the sound quality from these speakers is very smooth and very pleasant. Listening for several hours induced no "listener fatigue" whatsoever.

These speakers, along with the other components I mentioned, would also be an ideal choice for a child's first sound system. He/she will appreciate the sound quality and, in fact, the fortunate child who is given a pair of these speakers will never "outgrow" them. Even if the child obtains "better" speakers some year down the road, that child will ALWAYS find a place for these.

At their current price, I give them my highest recommendation - and I also recommend the other components I mention; this is an excellent small sound system, one of which anyone would be proud.

===============================================================================================================================================

Update: December 20, 2012

This speaker has just been reviewed in the January 2013 issue of STEREOPHILE. It is the least costly speaker they have ever reviewed. (In the same issue they review a pair of Wilson Audio speakers which sell for $200,000.00!) The review of these Dayton speakers, by Stephen Mejias, and the technical measurements, by John Atkinson, show just how good this speaker is. I think that they were both very surprised. This one can easily compare with speakers four times its price and even some which are SEVEN times its price. I suggest that anyone interested read this review and the measurements in STEREOPHILE for themselves.

And then just order a pair! Read more ›

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Don't Buy The New Version Of This Speaker Until They've Fixed All The Problems May 27, 2013

By Jerry Hewett

Amazon Verified Purchase

I've bought four pairs of these speakers in the past couple of years, and the last set that I purchased (14MAR13) are twice as expensive as the first pair I bought, and they sound hideously awful. Dayton Audio decided to go with a cheaper manufacturer in China, and boy, does it show.

You can (literally!) hear how bad the new version of this speaker is by going to YouTube and searching for all the reviews by "ZE0SPantera" containing the word "B652". He has more than a few A / B comparisons between the old and the new version of this speaker, and the difference between the two is pretty dramatic -- you can even hear it over the cheap built-in speakers on a laptop.

Seriously, do the research, and believe all of the negative reviews you're seeing here on Amazon. Dayton Audio had a really nice thing going with the B652, before greed and poor quality control got in the way. The old version of this speaker was a bargain and a half. The new version isn't even good enough to use as a door stop.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Do not buy these.. at least for the current revision (2013) May 23, 2013

By Ec

The new revision (late 2012-2013) of these speakers makes them a total crap. I never tried the original ones but these i got now are very bad, there is no bass, treble roll off, the sound is far far from being accurate or clear even at the $40 price tag. Everything sounds THIN AND UNNATURAL!. My very old creative 2.1 computer system did better, or even my Lenovo Y580 JBL laptop speakers are at the very least as good as these Dayton B625. I am going to return them.

Just a side note. Coming from a Sennheiser HD800 and Stax, to my ears these speakers sound worse than $1 ear-bud. Head-fiers should definitely stay away from any sub $100 speakers system or get ready for huge disappointment.