Pros: Excellent sound, solid construction, easier to install than component models, power handling
Cons: Not the cheapest, slightly harsh treble
The Bottom Line: The JBL P652 is a very good speaker. It sounds great, has solid construction and can improve the sound of your stock audio dramatically. With lower price...
dkozin's Full Review: JBL Power P652 Coaxial Car Speaker
I have installed the JBL P650c component system into my 2004 Infiniti G35 (as a replacement for my stock front speakers), and the JBL P652 2-way coaxial speakers in the rear doors.
The motivation to replace speakers was based on the following. I was underwhelmed by the performance of my stock speakers. The stock speakers of my Infiniti G35 were annoying me every day I used them. So I decided to get some decent speakers and went with JBL P650c Power Series component speakers (front) and JBL P652 2-way coaxial speakers (rear).
The Existing System
The stock speakers I had in my G35 sounded fuzzy and slightly muffled, lacked bass and midrange as well as upper treble. I am happy that I haven’t gotten the Bose sound system (a $900 option), which sounded even worse with over-accentuated upper bass and lower treble. In any case, the aftermarket speakers were bound to improve the situation.
The car features a 160-Watt OEM audio (by Clarion) and the existing speakers were components in front, 6.5-inch full range in the rear. The front components had no crossover and consisted of a 6.5-inch paper cone Panasonic 4-Ohm speaker with a paper whizzer cone and a tweeter. The wire came directly from the head unit to the full-range Panasonic and was connected in parallel to the tweeter, which also had a capacitor (I assume that acted as a high-pass filter).
Even worse, the rear doors had the same Panasonic speakers with paper cones, treated cloth surrounds and whizzer paper cones with no crossover or low-pass filter and were fed full-range signal. Feeding treble to a 6.5-inch full-range speaker, especially with not very rigid paper cone, is sacrilege.
There were several problems with the OEM setup in the rear: 1. Lack of crossover or low-pass filter made 6.5-inch speakers try to reproduce full sound spectrum, including treble. 2. Construction of the woofers, e.g. paper cones, treated cloth surrounds, light magnets, etc. 3. My ears commanded my brain to utilize my right hand to turn the rears off by shifting bias all the way forward. Unfortunately it did not bring relief as the front speakers were of the same nature.
Once again, both front and rear, the sound was mediocre: muffled, lacked definition, had uneven frequency response, had poor instrument separation. And since I decided to replace the fronts with JBL components, it was a logical conclusion to also get JBL speakers of the similar construction in the rear. The 6.5-inch openings accepted the P652 2-way coaxials, which have the same cone material and similar overall construction to the front P650c.
The JBL P652 System
The P652 is a 2-way coaxial speaker system that consists of two 6.5-inch HCL (honeycomb laminate) woven fiberglass woofers with Nomex core and rubber surrounds, two rotating edge-driven pure titanium tweeters and two separate outboard crossovers.
They appear to be very similar to P650c, aside from the fact that the tweeter is mounted coaxially and not separately.
The system came with good-looking speaker grilles and variety of mounting hardware, which I did not use.
The speakers feature solid construction. The woofers have heavy magnets and rigid cones, the crossovers are large as are the tweeters. The tweeters rotate for good positioning.
Some Specs
The speakers are rated to have frequency response of 45 Hz-23 kHz. The power handling (RMS) is 5-75 W and 225 W of peak power. The mounting depth (top) is 2.125 inches. The impedance is 4 Ohms and the sensitivity is 90dB.
They sell for $149, but I got them for $45 (don’t ask where, they are sold out).
The specs look almost exactly like the ones for the component P650c, aside from slightly lower power handling.
Sound
I was not sure what to expect from a simple speaker swap while keeping the OEM head unit. And how good can the speakers sound mounted in the same openings as stock? All the numbers and technical jargon matter only as much as the sound they can produce. I do not play music super-loud and do not like super-accentuated bass or treble. I always use 0 setting for bass and treble adjustment on any good sound-reproducing equipment.
I have Athena F1 speakers and an Athena subwoofer at home driven by Panasonic digital receiver. Although I did not expect these JBL speakers (coupled with component JBL P650c in front) to rival my home setup (which is no high end, but very good sounding), I hoped that JBL speakers would improve the sound dramatically comparing to the accounting consideration-driven OEM setup. The installation tech doubted that,
The Clarion 160-Watt head unit was not replaced and there was no extra sound insulation installed. The speakers were installed in the stock locations and by the time I went to pick up my car I didn’t know what to expect.
Well, the tech was very wrong. Even without burn-in (whether you believe in burn-in or not is your own decision), the speakers sounded very, very good. There is no comparison with the stock setup. The treble quality is much better, the dynamic range is excellent and the audible spectrum is much wider than stock. I sat in front and in the back to see how the components compare with these coaxials and the difference was minimal. There was a bit more treble in the P652, which is probably because they were directed to the passengers better than the tweeters of the P650c in front door glass corners.
The instrument separation is great. No longer you have to strain to try to hear different instruments in upper bass and lower midrange area. Cliché, but I have to say I can hear instruments that you would never know were in the recording, have you used the OEM setup.
I was lucky that the stock head unit is actually decent with flat frequency response and power reserves that I never use (I don't generally blast music). Be aware, however, that if you have Bose setup, the sound is heavily equalized with bumps in some areas and valleys in others. I listened to Bose in the 2005-2006 G35s and it is crap. I would actually pay to get rid of Bose speakers and amp if I had them. And you can quote me.
But getting back to these P652 speakers (do not confuse them with the P652s, which is a different speaker for shallow mounting with lower power handling, etc.). They are not without vices. Although bass might improve with burn-in, so far it does not seem to be reaching to 45 Hz as advertised. Maybe 80 Hz, but not 45. Might improve with burn-in and it does not bother me anyway.
Also, the frequency response is good, but not super-flat. There seem to be spike somewhere in the lower treble range, with treble being slightly harsh and causing listening fatigue on some music.
In any case, am happy. I have to check out Mark Levinson in Lexus cars and maybe the new Studio On Wheels by Bose in the new Infiniti G35 to see how good they sound, but for $370 installed (these coaxials were super-cheap at $120 installed), my car's sound went from barely tolerable to very good.
I am glad that instead of paying $900 extra for mediocre Bose system (that sounds worse than standard one), I could spend $370 and get much better sound. The only regret I have is that I have not done this swap sooner. Well, you live, you learn. And I have learned my lesson so next time I get a car, a speaker swap is something I will look into.
Durability
As of 03/2009, the speakers have been durable. No issues so far at 1.5 years of use.
Bottom Line
The JBL P652 is a very good speaker. It sounds great, has solid construction and can improve the sound of your stock audio dramatically. With lower price and lower installation price/complexity than component setup, it is a very good replacement even for a component OEM setup. The only reservation I have is related to the slightly harsh treble, which can cause listening fatigue on some material.
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