KaiserSoze
Addicted to Fun and Learning
- Joined
- Jun 8, 2020
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Dude, sorry but what? Have you heard the Debut 2 series? Just no. It's a Debut 1 edited to appeal to reviewers who found the original too dark, despite that being completely untrue. It's actually worse.
The Debut Reference is just a better speaker with better drivers.
That said yeah, what's the point of the floorstander? If the bookshelf could use one thing it's more surface for better bass punch. But this thing not only crosses at 90Hz where this doesn't really help,it also only gains a single dB of efficieny and 2 Hz in bass spec.
Seriously, just a 2.5 way with a 2nd 6.1/2 incher crossed in like 250Hz or so and that would be excellent.
As it is, that floorstander seems like a total waste of money.
Dude,
Please rest assured that I was able to decipher your valley-girl-speak without inordinate difficulty. I have certainly heard the Debut 2.0 series, both the bookshelf versions and the DF62 floorstander. To my ear they all sounded quite good except that small bookshelf speakers don't ever really sound good to me unless augmented by a subwoofer (or else by way of comparison with other small bookshelf speakers).
Presumably there are differences in the drivers (for the Debut 2.0 vs. the Reference) as you suggest, but even if so this does not necessarily translate to a significant difference in sound quality. Your main argument is that the apparently better bass capability of the DF62 is moot because the crossover point is 90 Hz where it "doesn't really help". I will argue otherwise, but first there is a point that I need to make more clear. My dismissal of the potential advantage of the floorstanding Debut Reference speaker vs. the bookshelf Debut Reference speaker was driven primarily by the fact that the combined swept volume of the two 5.25" woofers in the floorstanding Debut Reference speaker is not better than the swept volume of the single 6.5" woofer in the bookshelf Debut Reference speaker. Let us be careful not to confuse this with what we see when comparing the Debut 2.0 DF62 to either of the Debut Reference speakers. The combined swept volume of the two woofers in DF62 is twice the swept volume for either of the two Debut Reference speakers. (Of course this applies only at the bass frequencies where it applies, which in the truest sense is through most the bass region reaching into the upper bass notwithstanding that the crossover point is 90 Hz.)
You say that the implied advantage is moot because the crossover point is 90 Hz, where "it doesn't really help". The argument you make assumes (indisputably) that a subwoofer will be used. For some people this assumption is perfectly reasonable; for other people it is not reasonable. A lot of people who buy a subwoofer eventually want to get rid of it and wish they had bought speakers that didn't require a subwoofer. There is also this: the prospect of being content with the DF62 without spending another $500 on a subwoofer is a significantly better prospect vs. the prospect of being content with the Reference bookshelf speaker (or the Reference floorstander) without spending the extra $500. With respect to value, this is a very meaningful difference.
And even when a subwoofer is used the advantages do not completely vanish. The dual woofers crossed over at 90 Hz make a significant contribution to sound power well above 90 Hz, with or without a subwoofer. And the integration with the subwoofer will be better even if you don't think that there is any imperfection in the subwoofer integration with the pair of small bookshelf speakers that are spatially distant from the subwoofer. The advantage includes the ability to set the subwoofer crossover point lower by at least an octave than you would with the DBR62. (With the bookshelf speakers I would probably set the crossover point above 150 Hz if the subwoofer or the receiver will permit.)
That's all I've got to say about it. You may have the final word.