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Review 2 of 2
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After giving the 632’s a full 150+ hours of break-in time I sat down to give them a serious listen. Fortunately, I had 4 amps in house while reviewing the 632’s, all of very different character. I listened to the 632’s on the Krell kav400xi, the PrimaLuna Prologue Two, the Cambridge Audio Azur340a and the HarmanKardon AVR-230.
The 632’s had a warm, full (for a monitor), if slightly soft sound to them. They were a forgiving speaker, both in the upper registers and across the board in regard to musical genre and song selection. They demonstrated a great balance from the top to their bottom end with a smooth midrange. To put it simply - they were musically enjoyable.
Paired with the Krell kav400xi, it simply seemed to be a match made in heaven. With Jane Monheit’s ‘Over the Rainbow’ - where my Totems had me grabbing for the remote to turn it down, the slightly rolled off highs of the 632’s were welcomed to this listener. I found the 632’s gave up a little detail, leading to a less analytical, musically satisfying listening experience.
With Ben Harper’s ‘Picture of Jesus’ featuring Ladysmith Black Mambazo the vocals were warm and rich and simply inviting. Male vocals are rich and fully fleshed out. Imaging was good, with a tight central focus, becoming slightly blurred as you move out from the central image towards the outside edges of the soundstage - which extended to the outside edge of the speaker.
My Forests add more punch in the bass while offering greater transparency and a fuller sound (this should be obvious when comparing a monitor to a floor stander). However, the 632’s had me swapping the Totems in and out, track after track, wondering ‘what am I missing with the 632’s?’ The 632’s were so satisfying in this pairing, I was really wondering what more could be had?
The Krell/632 pairing was very musically satisfying, if your wallet (or your wife) won’t let you spring for a speaker in the $3k range, you could live happily ever after with this combo. At least I could. Bass junkies may want to add a sub, and I’m sure the parent 633 floor standers would mate equally as well while giving a fuller presentation.
Next up was the PrimaLuna Prologue Two. It seemed evident here that the 632 prefers solid state power to that of tubes, and it emphasized the importance of system synergy. The more gear I listen to and have the opportunity to pair together in different systems the more I appreciate this all-to-often overlooked ‘component’ of a system – synergy. The Krell/632 has it, the PrimaLuna/632 was nice, but not in the same league.
A second round of listening occurred in my living room system where I replaced the residing 422’s with the 632’s. I listened here with the Harman/Kardon avr230 & Cambridge Audio Azur 340a using a Panasonic EH50 as the source – components more in line with the price of the monitors.
While many of the same speaker characteristics were there, these source components provided less precise imaging and were a little off on tonality. The 632’s still offered good separation and central imaging, with slightly less precise imaging for off center instruments/vocals. The HK quickly found its limits in ability to bring the 632’s to high levels while still sounding as sweet. The Cambridge offered a nice presentation, but again I think the 632’s benefit from a bit more juice. The one thing I quickly learned was that I should have started from the bottom up, in regards to amplification. With the beauty of the Krell pairing still ringing in the back of my ear, everything else was overshadowed. Lesson learned!
final thoughts
I found the 632’s to be a warm, forgiving speaker that I could easily live with. They provided adequate bass for their size (large monitors), their extension going deep without too much bloat. The highs were gentle, offering easy listening while still retrieving high end details. Where they really shone, was in the midrange - vocals, both male and female were excellent. They are a very musical speaker, the best offering in that regard that I have heard from Aperion.
My recommendations, don’t shy away from upscale components with lots of solid state power, the 632’s, while retaining all the same basic characteristics on lesser gear, really seem to eat up that power and open up to become something else entirely on higher end gear. They also hold their own in this regard. If building a high quality system, and you wanted to skimp on price while not sacrificing quality, I would look right here. Paired with the Krell, the music was simply there! I would highly recommend giving these fine speakers a listen. In their price class, they are a real contender. Strengths:
Value for your dollar!
Smooth midrange
Great blend from top to bottom
Easy to listen to and forgiving
Musical! Weaknesses:
Can be sensitive to placement
Bass junkies will want to add a sub Similar Products Used:
Aperion 522
Aperion 422
Polk Rt55i
Polk Rt25i
Polk Rt35i
Titus 202ex
Kirksaeter Silverline60
Totem Tabu
Heybrook HB2
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