The strength of the B652 is its reproduction of voices. Male singers sound really good through this speaker, without overt tonal coloration. Some female singers, though, start to get that tweeter going, which can give them a harsh overtone. When I played “Corcovado” from the classic Getz/Gilberto CD, Astrud Gilberto’s voice sounded a little edgy, and there’s no way that Astrud Gilberto should sound edgy. You’ve heard her on that famous version of “Girl From Ipanema” a million times. You know what I’m talking about.
Instrumental jazz sounded surprisingly pleasant through the B652. Yeah, I could hear the edginess of that tweeter on Jeff “Tain” Watts’ cymbals when I played saxophonist Kenny Garrett’s Songbook, but the piano and sax sounded pretty good. As did the bass: There’s enough low end here to give you reasonably full sound without a subwoofer. (But if Dayton Audio comes out with a matching powered subwoofer for $34.50, definitely check that sucker out.)
