A Review of the Dayton B652 AIR speaker

Hi Lavane,

My living room system is now the Audioengine B1 Bluetooth unit controlled by my iPad, Yamaha A-S201 receiver and Grace Ditigal FM/internet tuner. The iPad works great with the B1 and the Grace, I found a great radio tuner app and I never have to leave my recliner! The Dayton speakers are surprisingly nice sounding.:music:
 
Update: Feb 20 2017

I decided to try using the Dayton Airs without their grill covers and removed them today. The difference was very subtle but certainly improved with a more open sound. These speakers still amaze me!
 
Poultrygeist,

I have to mention that I went to the Fleawatt site you had the link to and was very impressed! I would love to experiment with a TPA3110 amp and the Dayton Airs for a low cost system. Thanks for the link!
 
I picked up a pair of the B652-AIR bookshelf speakers when they were on sale for $49 a few months ago and am extremely pleased with them. The AMT tweeter produces very clear and open high frequencies without causing hearing fatigue. These are easily the best sounding pair of inexpensive speakers I've ever owned. I did mod them slightly by installing uxcell 2 way crossovers I found on Amazon for $12/pair... that has further enhanced their sound quality.

I'm using them for my desktop computer audio setup. Foobar is the media player I use, bitstreaming via USB into a NuPrime uDSD DAC, through a Little Bear P3 6N3+6Z4 three tube preamp, then into a Breeze Audio TPA3116 for the B652-AIRs and another TPA3116 mono active subwoofer amp (which powers a Pioneer 10" car sub under my desk). I can vouch for how good the TPA3116 amp sounds through the Daytons - especially with that tube preamp.... simply amazing! Awesome low buck system.
 
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Another satisfied user!

Definitely! The AIRs are fantastic.

I also own a pair of the standard B652 speakers.... they were on sale for only $29 a pair a couple of months ago so I couldn't resist. Again, for the money they sound pretty darn good.

I installed the same uxcell 2 way crossovers I used for the AIRs and that helped clean up the sound of the standard B652 quite a bit.

Then I found these really nice sounding silk dome tweeters on AliExpress that are an easy drop in replacement for the stock mylar hard domes - these have made a huge improvement to my standard B652's

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/2PC...32686197042.html?spm=2114.13010608.0.0.lkKD1g

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Upside down!?:dunno:

Yes, they are upside down in this near field setup because they are a couple of feet above me, sitting on top of my desk's hutch

In order to have the tweeter closer to my ear level, they are upside down. Sounds better that way when seated at my desk. Pretty common thing to do in a situation like that.

If these were on tall speaker stands, quite a bit higher than a room's seating level, placing them upside down results in the tweeter being closer to ear level... which in some cases may sound better.

High frequency sounds travel in a more directional, linear manner than mid and low frequencies do, so tweeters being positioned somewhat in line with (or aimed at) ear level is generally desirable.
 
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x107TSi100C-f.jpeg


Polk sells these TSi100s "upside down," too.
 
I would audition speakers like this by vertically shifting my position to hear where and if the drivers would become "coincident" at anything near a normal listening position. They should all be audibly nearly in phase at crossover freq to sound "right".
 
Yes, they are upside down in this near field setup because they are a couple of feet above me, sitting on top of my desk's hutch

In order to have the tweeter closer to my ear level, they are upside down. Sounds better that way when seated at my desk. Pretty common thing to do in a situation like that.

If these were on tall speaker stands, quite a bit higher than a room's seating level, placing them upside down results in the tweeter being closer to ear level... which in some cases may sound better.

High frequency sounds travel in a more directional, linear manner than mid and low frequencies do, so tweeters being positioned somewhat in line with (or aimed at) ear level is generally desirable.

From the supplied picture it's rather difficult to tell how high they are mounted. You're preaching to the choir about listening to tweeters on axis.
 
Just to bring things up to date, The Dayton B652 AIRS are now in my study working with my
RS-201 receiver. Internet is handled with the Grace Internet tuner and Audiomachine B1 Bluetooth receiver.

I was able to adjust the shelving in the living room credenza to fit my KEF Q300 speakers and they are mounted above the Yamaha RN402 internet capable receiver.

Both systems sound excellent with the KEF system having a deeper bass response and the Dayton system having beautiful high frequency imaging.

I have a feeling that the new Dayton T652 AIRS would give me the best of both worlds, we'll just have to see how they are reviewed.
 
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Have owned the AIRs with upgraded woofers, increased cabinet dampening material, and reversed polarity AM tweeters for almost a year. They continue to impress, best low budget speaker I've ever used. I did mate them with a powered sub to pick up the low's, otherwise I cannot find any issue with them (and I've tried to find reasons to spend money). Once again, with polarity reversed using their simple x-over, I have become an AMT convert.
 
That polarity swap is very interesting. I heard that Dayton now has changed the wiring on the AMT and the phase is better now, but I don’t know if this a fact or when the change was made.
 
That polarity swap is very interesting. I heard that Dayton now has changed the wiring on the AMT and the phase is better now, but I don’t know if this a fact or when the change was made.

Without test equipment I wonder how you'd determine if PE reversed the tweeter polarity (ears I guess)?
 
With the home modified tweeters it was obvious because the leads are colored and you can see the swap. I guess a call to Dayton might give you a serial number point for the changed units, if indeed they DID make the change!
 
IMG_0429.JPG Hi all. I ordered a set of AIRs just to have some fun with em. Well, actually I was given an old Onkyo TX-84 receiver in need of a new protection relay, but low-hours with original remote.

Let me tell you, it pushes the living bejeesus out of these speakers. Have it breaking in at my tv workshop, attached a pic. And, check these dirt cheap stands I ordered for them--- Instant garage system, which I'll likely gift to a friend who only has a Sonos mini and wants to play his CD collection.

All in all, they are a decent little speaker in my opinion. Can't beat the price.

I temporarily hooked them into my secondary system just for the hell of it, but even with AMT tweeters, the Polks' Peerless dome tweeters squashed em. Still...

IMG_0433.JPG
 
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