Dayton Audio B652 vs Ikea Symfonisk Bookshelf

The cabinet is simply too small for this size woofer. That means there's not enough air volume to allow the cone to move as it should. This hurts bass response and also low frequency volume. Since these are not ported, I decided to remedy that

The $179 Symfonisk Table Lamp doubles as a lamp, while the $99 Symfonisk WiFi Bookshelf Speaker, reviewed here, can be used as a wall shelf. Sonically, the speaker delivers a powerful punch for the price, including some impressive bass depth. It can also be incorporated into exisiting Sonos systems, making it the least expensive Sonos-compatible speaker available and earning our Editors' Choice.

That said, they do produce stereo sound so if your sound system currently consists of a sound bar, or something similar, you will definitely notice a night and day difference in sound quality because they will produce true stereo separation. In addition, the B652s may make excellent rear surrounds in a surround sound system but I have never used them in this manner. If you have never listened to better speakers and you have only used computer speakers or the cheap speakers that come with MP3 player docks in the past there is no reason you will not enjoy these speakers. Sound quality is up to the listener and the listener's experience is what often dictates what that person thinks about the quality of a pair of speakers

Those looking for really pounding low notes might be a bit disappointed but the frame sounds great with most music genres. The Sonos One still sounds a little better all-round but it is very close.

One small, but nice (and important) touch is the rubber de-coupling pads on the base of each speaker. Instead of felt pads or thin rubber stickies, they put decent thickness rubber pads on, which help to reduce sound transmission and reverberations (I usually use florist's clay or a square of dense camping mat to accomplish the same thing). For someone (me) who overspent on underdelivering speakers in the 70's, '80's, and early '90's, it's amazing the sound that comes out of these speakers. It goes to prove that careful design and consistent materials and manufacturing are about 85% of what it takes to produce musical speakers - the many "exotic materials" and "new technology" speakers that fell by the wayside just go to show that cost (in the past) doesn't guarantee better performance than mass-produced China-speakers from a parts company

I just got the Ikea symfonisk lamps as surrounds and they are awesome. They also are more living room friendly aesthetically.

Ultimately, as you could probably figure, they were returned because I did not feel like having a set of speakers sitting in a brown box in my attic. I give Amazon 5 stars for their customer service and return process. I am giving these two stars only because of the price and are suitable for many who want to start out cheap and work their way up as funds become available. Sorry for the ranting and raving but I had to get this off my chest

If you can push your budget by a C-note and a half≈, absolute top sound of the gods, hardware that will make your neighbours complain:

If size is of your concern, it might be worth looking into the Micca MB42, or soon to be released MB42X (with a proper crossover), for small desks and office uses. Otherwise these will do nicely on a bigger desk, or even nicely for a home theater set-up. All-in-all I'm greatly satisfied with the speakers. If there was only one major complaint, it would be that they are kinda big, but that's a tradeoff of having good sounding speakers

Assuming you're talking about the Symfonisk bookshelf speakers, bigger *is* better, and the Ones have a slightly bigger driver. But you're not going to notice any appreciable difference in surround for most movies and TV shows. You might notice a slight difference in music with surrounds set to full, but I doubt it. The Symfs' primary deficit relative to the Ones is slightly weaker bass response, and that's going to covered up by the Sub

I got my pair in, hooked them up and was sadly disappointed. They have NO bass response, and very muddy mids. These sound like an old cassette boom box

How does it sound?The Symfonisk range offers its own sound that's similar to the excellent $200 Sonos One smart speaker, with a few differences. The One has a slightly recessed midrange while the Symfonisk Bookshelf and Lamp are a little more open sounding, though less refined.As a single speaker I found that the Bookshelf is brighter than the One, and comparatively lacking in bass. The midrange is expressive though a little ragged with brighter recordings, but it sounds better than a wireless speaker at this price should