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These speakers do almost everything right, and their only errors are ones of subtraction. To my ears they give you about 95 percent of what you would get from a $2200 pair of Performa M22's for a little more than one-quarter of the price. I'll add that the M22's are the main speakers in my daughter's system, driven by a Cary SLA-70 Mk. II, SLP-74P, with sources from a Pioneer DV-47Ai universal player, Rotel 1084 HD tuner, and her iPod via an Apple docking station (there are no plans for a Krell, either). If you were wondering about pairing the power-hog M22's with the 30 wpc Cary, it works very nicely in my daughter's small room. While there isn't the ability to rattle the windows and peel the paint, sane volume levels with good dynamic reserve are easily within the system's capabilities.
But back to the speakers we're talking about, the 632-LR's. The 632-LR's were purchased as part of a system for a friend, and before I installed that system, both systems were at my house for about a month, so I had the chance for some interesting listening. In my friend's system, the 632-LR's are driven by a Rotel 1060 integrated amp (60 wpc), and sourced from a Cary CD-300 CD player and a Luxman T-117 tuner.
To spice things up a bit, I also swapped the speakers between the two systems. The bottom line is that both speakers were emminently listenable in both systems, but not without some differences. As expected, neither speaker produced the bottom octave-and-a-half of bass. The bass floors were similar, but the M22's had the edge in tautness and pitch definition--only slightly, though. The 632-LR's had just a tiny smidgen of mid-bass warmth, just enough to enhance their palpability, but still within the range of what most of us would consider normal. The mids were of almost indistinguishable high quality for both, although not in the league with a Quad 988.
Treble in the M22's had ever more slightly air and breathing room and sparkle, but neither had sizzle, splash, grain or hardness. Transients were fast without a hint of edginess.
Typical of most minimonitors, imaging was excellent, with good size, depth and specificity.
All in all, I'd recommend the 632-LR's highly, as I would the M22's. Yes, the M22's will give you more and subtract less, and if they're in your budget I highly recommend them. But if you want something within sonic spitting distance of the M22's, at a significantly lower price, then I strongly recommend you audition the 632-LR's. I feel you'll be happily surprised. |