I was in the market for a speaker upgrade from my original Elac B6's. I wanted something with a little bit more soundstage, instrument separation, and cleaner bass. I also wanted a pair that was listeneable at lower volumes so I didn't bother anyone sleeping in the house, the B6's require a lot of power/volume to sound balanced due to the rolled off treble. I'll likely be moving to an apartment soon so having something that plays well without a subwoofer was also important to me.
I have a friend that has the B6.2's that he brought over for comparison with my B6 to see if it was worth getting a pair. One huge thing I noticed was the original B6's had a LOT of bass (of course being rear ported helps) with rolled off treble, while the new B6.2's have a flatter sound signature with leaner bass. I thought it wasn't a big enough difference to justify spending $280 on. Listening to "The Great Gig in the Sky" the vocals were actually a little sibilant (my friend agreed) on the B6.2, but with better imaging, while the B6 played her voice perfectly but imaging took a little hit.
I also tried the following from Crutchfield:
Klipsch Reference Premiere RP-600M
KEF Q150 (Black)
Wharfedale Diamond 11.1
I own JBL LSR305's for my computer setup in my computer room.
Funny enough my friend (he's a bit of a newbie) with the B6.2 bought the Klipsch reference and thought they were less harsh than the 6.2 and loves them. I didn't, so that really shows that people's ears truly differ. I ended up keeping the DBR62's. Although they can be a little sparkly with some tracks, I found it hard to even want to return these. It's been around 5 months now. I'm a little treble sensitive, but these are much less fatiguing than any of the other bookshelf speakers I've tried.
The Klipsch's had a lot of depth and height to the image but they were just too fatiguing and exciting after listening for more than an hour. I kept telling myself I wanted to return them the same day I got them. Kept them for a week but still couldn't get used to it. A little metallic and shouty sounding to me still despite people saying they "fixed" this issue with their newer speakers. I had a pair of R15M's which got me intereseted in their higher end speakers. Just not a fan of Klipsch for music for long listening periods (except maybe DSOTM
). Electric guitars and brass instruments really shine on these. Mids seemed a bit lacking in weight with vocals, I always found myself turning them up higher because I wanted a little bit more mids, but then the treble would get in the way. The Klipsch's needed to calm down, and I was skipping a lot of my favorite tracks because they just didn't sound great on these.
Then I ordered the KEF Q150, compared to the Klipsch. I liked them. Best imaging I've ever heard, images similar to the LSR305 except the soundstage was even more pinpoint and wide. Sounds great a medium to low volumes. Kept them for a week, though sibilance was a bit of an issue for me. Also found myself wanting to raise the volume but couldn't due to the treble. More bass than I thought they would have, I was very surprised. Very detailed as well. I think metallic tweeters are just not for me. This was the first concentric speaker I've tried; I was blown away how they sounded the same regardless of where you are in the room. I wish I could have kept these because they sound unique but I already hoard speakers so maybe I should stop.
Was curious about Wharfedale's since I always heard good things about them, silk dome. Meh. They were good, I can see how people like them, the midrange had some sort of smooth quality to it but they didn't wow me and I felt they weren't worth the asking price. It was a sidegrade to what I currently had; a different flavor. The treble seemed a little uneven though and didn't work well with all of my music. Returned the Wharfdales.
Ordered the DBR62's and tested them again the Q150's side by side on my Pioneer SC-61. Wow do vocals sound incredibly smooth and full with the majority of recordings. I felt vocals were most convincing on these. Upon the first hour I thought, okay the Q150's are going back. Their imaging is nowhere near as good as the Q150's- but it isn't horrible either- it could be better. I tried different placements but enoyed the DBR62 most when they were looking straight on rather than toed in. It plays well with all genres of music, although I can see why people don't like them for rock as they can be a little laid back. I'd rather have a speaker that can play everything well than some things great and some things not at all. They are a little revealing sometimes, and it seems that there's a little treble spike somewhere that can make them a bit sparkly. My partner would listen to them and say they've never heard depth in their music like this before, but I did notice that when I upped the volume they asked me to turn it down a little- which I assumed was due to the little treble spike that can sometimes stick out. With a decent recording though, it's insane how lifelike and smooth they can sound.
They are the most laid back sounding compared to the other speakers I tried though. Sounds best at medium volumes for me, but if it's really good recording you can crank these pretty loud without fatigue. My B6's and LSR305's are less fatiguing for me overall but of course they can't do some of the technicalities that the DRBR62 can do. I would say my favorite speakers are the DBR62's and LSR305's still (although the lsr's are near field active speakers so I'm not sure if they can really be compared to passives). They both provide a fun, less fatiguing than most speakers listening experience, but of course the DBR62's just keep up with everything you throw at them while the LSR's are a little limited when tracks get complicated. The tonality of the LSR305's are where they shine and imaging. The DBR62's sound closer to studio monitors than the other bookshelves I've tried. Both the LSR305's and DBR62 provide a very musical experience to me- I still don't understand how JBL made such a cheap speaker sound so good. I got mine for $99 a speaker, although they hover around $119 nowadays.
I was tempted to run LSR306's in my room, so I went to pay a visit to Guitar Center to try their studio monitors and see if I liked something better than the DBR62. Thought about the LSR306's, Adam T7V, Kali Audio 6 inch or 8 inch.
So before buying another pair, I took my LSR305 to test in my bedroom by hooking them up to an Alexa (I know, not ideal, but it's all I have at the moment), but my SUB1200 would make a low buzzing sound when I had it plugged in. This happened with the Alexa, my laptop, and also persisted when not plugged into anything. I tried another cable (but it was the same brand), same issue. I've used the SUB1200 before in another room, and didn't have this issue when plugged into my computer. Maybe the amp is going bad or there's some sort of interference in my room? It's strange but for the life of me I could not fix it. I guess I could have tried a different branded quality cable.
So basically the wiring was:
LSR305 > TRS > 3.5mm > Alexa with an audio splitter
SUB1200 > RCA to 3.5mm > Alexa with an audio splitter
Buzzing bothered me too much, so unfotunately I gave up on trying to use actives in my room. Maybe in the future with a proper setup and different sub? Oh well. I still can't bring myself to part with the B6's yet, I feel like there's no other speaker on the market that sounds quite like them.
Well, I'll try to rate the speakers I tried the most from memory:
Instrument Separation: Klipsch > DBR62 tied with Q150
Soundstage: Klipsch > Q150 > DBR62
Bass Clarity: Klipsch > DBR62 > Q150
Bass Output: DBR62 > Q150 > Klipsch
Musicality: DBR62 > Q150 > Klipsch
I would describe their sound signatures close to:
Slightly V Shaped: Klipsch, Q150
Near flat: DBR62, LSR305, Wharfdale, B6.2
Bassy with midrange emphasis: B6
I'd love to hear anyone's thoughts and I hope these speakers get more attention!