BIC DV-62 and Klipsch RB-15

The BIC DV-62 is the largest speaker in the shoot out with measurements of 14 ¾- inches tall x 8 7/8- inches wide x 9 1/8 舑 inches deep. The speaker is a 2-way vented bass reflex design and incorporates a ¾-inch poly dome tweeter and a 6-inch poly woofer. The speaker has a claimed frequency response of 43hz-20Khz. Efficiency is rated at 90dB. The BIC DV-62 has a nominal impedance of 8 ohms and has a maximum power handling of 150 watts.

The BIC DV-62 has a 7 year limited warranty; this was the longest warranty in the shootout by 2 years. The speaker is a rectangular shaped with angled front corners. The enclosure is solid but I did detect some hollowness when rapping on the side of it.

The vinyl finish is good, but I was able to see four seams on the top corners of the speaker where the vinyl came together. The drivers on the BIC DV-62 are all surface mounted; this is not a very good approach and will cause diffraction issues.

The grill is secured to the front baffle with rubber grommets and is high quality. On the back of the speaker there are plastic 5-way binding posts that are made of nickel. Audibly there is probably not a significant difference between nickel and gold plated. However, a speaker with an MSRP of $275 should have gold plated biding posts. The port opening is located directly below the speaker input terminal. Standard speaker finishes are black, ash, and oak.

Removing the drivers, we found that the enclosure was constructed of 5/8 舡 MDF. This is the thinnest speaker enclosure in the shoot out. I suspect that is why the enclosure had a slight hollow sound when rapped. Once the drivers were removed, we found very little poly fill and no internal shelf bracing. We found 18 AWG wire from the crossover to the drivers. The tapered port is made from thin wall plastic. Small blocking is used where the enclosure is joined. We were a little less than impressed with this speaker's over all build quality, fit, and finish. The drivers were flush mounted, the vinyl finish is below average, the use of nickel-plated binding posts, no internal bracing, and less than adequate poly fill, placed this speaker well below our expectations with respect to build quality and overall design competency.

The drivers in the BIC DV-62 appear to be of good quality and the ¾-inch tweeter is a heavy-duty high power-handling model that is fluid cooled. The poly woofer is magnetically shielded and has a stamped steel basket with heavy-duty spider and motor structure. Tapping on the metal basket I did hear significant ringing; this is because the basket assembly is stamped from light duty steel. There is, however, a fix for this and I will explain it later in the shoot out.

The Klipsch RB-15 is the most expensive speaker in the shootout; it's also the smallest measuring 11 inches tall x 6.5 inches wide x 7.75 inches deep. The speaker is a 2-way vented bass reflex design that incorporates a 1-inch titanium compression dome tweeter and a 5.25-inch Cerametallic cone woofer. The speaker has a claimed frequency response of 70hz-20khz. Efficiency is rated at 93dB, making it the most efficient speaker in the shootout.

The Klipsch RB-15 has a nominal impedance of 8 ohms and a maximum power handling capability of 300 watts. The RB-15 has a 5 year limited warranty. The speaker is a basic rectangular shape. Rapping on the side of the enclosure, I found this speaker to be rock solid. The vinyl finish is tastefully done and there are no obvious seams or distortions. The drivers are recessed into a custom molded baffle that minimizes diffraction. The grill is very high quality and is held in place with very strong magnets.

On the back of the speaker you find dual plastic gold plated multi-way binding posts This is the only speaker in the shoot out that can be bi-amped. Note, I did not say bi-wired because we believe the benefits of bi-wiring are unsubstantiated unless you have very long speaker wire runs. Directly below the binding posts is the port opening and directly above it is a keyhole-mounting block. Standard finishes are black and light cherry.

Removing the drivers on the RB-15 was a very difficult task due to the custom molded front baffle. Once removed, all I could say was "Wow". Klipsch went to extraordinary lengths to ensure build quality on this little speaker. The enclosure is constructed of ¾- inch MDF. The inside of the enclosure is lined with open cellos foam and there is a shelf brace in the center of the cabinet. We found 16AWG wire from the crossover to the drivers.

The port is constructed of medium thickness plastic and there is a thick front baffle gasket to seal the front baffle housing to the enclosure. We were extremely impressed with the RB-15's build quality, fit, and finish. The drivers in the RB-15 are of very high quality. The 1-inch titanium compression dome tweeter is a very high power-handling model. The 5.25-inch Cerametallic woofer is small, but has a very large motor structure and spider. The woofer is magnetically shielded. The basket frame is constructed of heavy gauge cast polymer. Of course, this made the entire woofer frame assembly inert and there was no ringing when we tapped on the side of the basket.