Speakerlab DAS 2 Speaker System Review

Speakerlab entered the market, years ago, by developing a broad line of speaker kits that were sold both by mail and directly from the company’s Seattle headquarters. Much more than a packager of raw speakers in wooden boxes, Speakerlab also designed and built many of its own drivers, and all of its products soon earned a reputation for quality and value.

The company reorganized a few years ago, and now it manufactures a full line of handsomely finished speakers with prices ranging from $220 to $1,798 a pair. We recently auditioned an impressive array of Speakerlab products, ranging in size from very small to quite large. We were impressed not only because they sounded very good, but also because of their very similar sound character. In fact, we found it nearly impossible to guess which model was playing, since even the smallest, the DAS 2, had the sonic balance of a much larger speaker.

The Speakerlab DAS 2, a true minispeaker, measures 13 inches high, 7 inches wide, and 8-1/2 inches deep and weighs 13 pounds. The wooden speakerboard behind the removable, sculptured brown cloth grille matches the rest of the cabinet, which is actually finished on all six surfaces. The DAS 2 is a two-way system, with a 5-1/4-inch woofer and a 3/4-inch dome tweeter. The crossover frequency is 2,500 Hz. The woofer enclosure is vented by a ducted port in the rear of the cabinet. Somewhat unconventionally, the woofer is located above the tweeter.

The DAS 2 has a rated impedance of 8 ohms and a sensitivity of 91 dB sound-pressure level (SPL) at 1 meter when it is driven at a 1-watt level. Its frequency response is specified as 50 to 21,000 Hz ± 3 dB. The minimum and maximum recommended amplifier power ratings are 5 and 75 watts per channel respectively. Price: $198 to $220 per pair depending on finish.

Lab Tests

The averaged room-response curve from the left and right speakers was extremely flat from 500 to 20,000 Hz, with a broad rise of about 3 dB between 12,000 and 20,000 Hz and a peak of about the same amplitude from 1,000 to 1,300 Hz. Elsewhere, the curve was nearly ruler-flat, indicating excellent horizontal dispersion; it was confirmed by FFT measurements of the speaker’s response on-axis and 45 degrees off-axis, which differed by no more than 6 dB up to 20,000 Hz.

The close-miked woofer response, combined with that of its port, showed an overall variation of 4 dB from 36 to 420 Hz. The composite response curve, formed by splicing the woofer curve to the overall room curve, produced an overall response variation of 7.5 dB from 29 to 20,000 Hz. The on-axis FFT response measurement, at 1 meter distance, was flat within 6 dB from 180 to 20,000 Hz. The speaker’s excellent phase linearity was demonstrated by its group-delay variation of only 0.2 millisecond from 2,500 to 20,000 Hz.

The impedance curve of the DAS 2 had two low-frequency peaks (characteristic of ported enclosures), at 38 and 110 Hz, with amplitudes of 18 and 24 ohms. The minimum impedance, at 250 Hz, was about 6.5 ohms, and it remained between 10 and 16 ohms from 600 to 20,000 Hz. The measured sensitivity of the speaker was lower than rated, with an 85-dB SPL at 1 meter when we drove it with 2.83 volts of pink noise.

To reach the 90-dB SPL we use for our bass-distortion measurements, we had to drive the speaker with a 5-volt signal. As would be expected from such a small-diameter woofer, the distortion was fairly high at this level, between 5 and 6 percent from 100 to 70 Hz and rising sharply to 25 percent at 50 Hz. The effective crossover to the port takes place at 60 Hz, and below this frequency the high air velocity in the small port (1% inches in diameter) resulted in some turbulence and air noise at high drive levels. Our peak-power handling tests also revealed the limited, but quite respectable, low-frequency power capacity of the tiny woofer, which “bottomed” audibly with 190 watts into its 17-ohm impedance at 100 Hz. At 1,000 Hz, however, where the woofer cone’s excursion was much smaller, it did not distort up to the clipping point of our amplifier, 510 watts into 13 ohms. And the tweeter, at 10,000 Hz, showed no distress before the amplifier clipped at 1,050 watts into 10 ohms.

Comments

The Speakerlab DAS 2 speakers sounded just as good in our own listening room as they had during Speakerlab’s demonstrations. We tried them placed against the wall as well as on stands a couple of feet away from any wall. Both positions gave excellent results, although we preferred the stand mounting.

The sound was so superbly balanced and smooth that no one would suspect that it came from these little speakers, especially with larger ones highly visible nearby. They could be played at surprisingly high levels without sounds of distress, although we did not treat them as roughly as we sometimes do larger speakers. Not only is the 5-1/4-inch woofer relatively fragile, but the ported enclosure effectively unloads the speaker at very low frequencies. With an amplifier capable of hundreds of watts of output down to the infrasonic range, a single careless move could vaporize these speakers.

Compared with some larger—and far more expensive—speakers, the Speakerlab DAS 2 holds its own remarkably well. It has a slightly warm sound, balanced by a sweet, extended high end, with never a hint of harshness or stridency. The bass content sounds like more than it really is, but the illusion is very convincing.

The Speakerlab DAS 2 is not a miracle speaker, and in a battle of decibels it would surely come off second to most larger speakers (especially if the low bass is involved in the comparison). Nevertheless, it can play loud enough to discourage conversation in a good-sized living room, without driving the listeners out of the room. Finally, its finish and general workmanship are uncommonly attractive (our samples were finished in a golden walnut-grain lacquer). All things considered, you won’t find many speakers at its price that will match it.

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