I feel fortunate to live right up the road from Parts Express, as it’s my source for parts, tools, and some audio gear. Headquartered in Springboro, Ohio, Parts Express is also the parent company of Dayton Audio. I’ve reviewed many of Dayton Audio’s products here on SoundStage! Access, including the Classic B65 standmount loudspeaker, the little brother of the subject of this review, the Classic T65 floorstander. The B65 was available for US$69.98 per pair at the time of my review, which I considered a steal. It now costs US$79.98 per pair—still a steal. SoundStage! founder Doug Schneider had the B65 measured at Canada’s National Research Council in Ottawa, and he gave it a qualified “OK.” (His primary complaint was that it went into fairly high distortion at 85dB, but I rarely if ever listen that loud.) So when Shawn Behmer, social media manager at Parts Express, offered me a pair of Classic T65 floorstanders for review, I accepted with pleasure.
Description
Priced at US$229.98, CA$322.15, £174.59, or €197.83 per pair, the Classic T65 is of moderate size, measuring 39.4″H × 7.25″W × 7.8″D and weighing 18.5 pounds. It’s a two-way, front-ported design, with two 6.5″ poly woofers crossed over at 3kHz to a 1″ silk-dome tweeter.
There’s a good amount of damping material inside the cabinet, on the back and below the port. And there are two braces: one between the woofers and one below the port. One reason for the light weight of the speaker is that the cabinet is made from 3/8″ MDF. I expected the light construction would result in some cabinet resonances, but I didn’t notice any during my testing.
Nominal impedance is 6 ohms and sensitivity is 87dB (2.83V/m). Specified frequency response is 35Hz–20kHz (deviation not provided), maximum output level is 103dB, and recommended amplifier power is 15–100Wpc. The only items on the back panel are a manufacturer’s label and a pair of decent five-way binding posts. The T65 is designed in the US and built in China.
My review pair had a fairly attractive matte-black vinyl wrap; the T65 is also available in a “wood” vinyl finish that resembles teak, which I prefer. The T65 comes packed as a pair, and the package includes two pre-mounted speaker grilles, eight self-adhesive foam feet, two 10′ lengths of small-gauge speaker wire, and an owner’s manual. The manual allocates far more space to home-theater setups than to stereo hi‑fi, but it covers the basics.
Unpacking and setup
The two towers come in a single box that weighs just under 40 pounds. To relieve the speakers of their packaging, open the front of the outer and inner boxes and lift out the units. At the top and bottom, the two speakers are secured in foam forms. An envelope with the hook-up wire, foam feet, and owner’s manual will fall out with the speakers. Once the foam forms are removed, take off the plastic bags that cover the speakers. If you wish to do so, attach four of the foam feet on each of the towers and then move them into place. Given their light construction, I found it no trouble to position the T65s.
I set the T65s just inside my Acoustic Energy Radiance 3 floorstanders—about 6′ apart, about 3′ from the front wall, and ever-so-slightly toed-in toward my listening position. The speakers were connected to my NAD C 275BEE power amplifier with Nakamichi Excel 12-gauge OFC speaker cables. Feeding the NAD amplifier via Morrow Audio MA1 interconnects was my vintage Apt Holman preamplifier. Sources comprised a Technics SL‑100C turntable with a Goldring E4 cartridge and Pro‑Ject Connect it E cables; a Cambridge Audio Azur 650C CD player connected with Linn Silver interconnects; and my Akai GX‑620 reel-to-reel tape deck, which uses Akai interconnects. I ran the T65s in 12 hours a day for about two weeks before I began critical listening.
Listening
Could a speaker this affordable actually dig down to 35Hz, as the specs claim? To find out, I put on Camille Saint‑Saëns’s Symphony No. 3 in C minor, “Organ,” performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra under Eugene Ormandy, with organist Michael Murray (LP, Telarc DG‑10051). During the finale, the organ plays a low-C pedal note with a fundamental frequency of 16Hz. In a live performance, you don’t hear this note so much as feel it. It’s a low rumble that only your feet and chest perceive. There’s no way I expected the T65s to produce the fundamental, but if Dayton’s specs are accurate, I might hear the second harmonic at 32Hz. I hate to burst anyone’s bubble, but the lowest note from the organ was barely discernible, as were other low pedal notes. My guess is the T65 delivers reasonable output down to about 45–50Hz.
I played this recording more loudly than I usually do—my sound-pressure meter app indicated a maximum level of 82.2dB at my listening position. In orchestral passages that exceeded 75dB, the sound took on a somewhat harsh character. If I played the piece at a lower sound level, as I normally do, the T65s sounded quite nice. They had a slightly recessed high treble that kept the violins from sounding screechy. Very deep bass was not prominent, but the double basses sounded rich and full. In all, I thought the T65s sounded rather good on this demanding selection.
Monty Alexander has made quite a name for himself as one of the best jazz pianists around. After immigrating from Jamaica in 1961, one of his first gigs in the US was at Jilly’s Saloon, a New York City nightclub frequented by Frank Sinatra. Alexander became the house pianist and often had the opportunity to accompany the Chairman of the Board. He recreated that sound on his Echoes of Jilly’s (CD, Concord Jazz CCD‑4769), a compilation of Sinatra tunes. I chose one of my favorites, “Come Fly with Me,” in which Alexander is joined by bassist John Patitucci and drummer Troy Davis. Alexander is seated at the piano with his back to the studio mikes, so his instrument’s low notes are to the left and the highs are to the right. Davis is behind the end of the piano, to the left, while Patitucci is just off to the right. On the T65s, the soundstage was very well defined for the three instruments. I loved the reproduction of the piano; Alexander’s notes had immediate attacks and slower releases. Patitucci’s bass was full-bodied and quite tight. The speakers’ portrayal of Davis tapping his sticks on the edge of the snare made it seem like his drum kit was in my room. Altogether, a delightful performance!
For some harmony vocals, I selected Spanky’s Greatest Hits by Spanky and Our Gang (CD, Mercury 832 584‑2). As I was listening to the guys sing “And She’s Mine,” I thought I heard some distortion, especially from the tenor. My sound-pressure app showed an average level of about 75dB. So I went to the next cut, “Yesterday’s Rain,” which features Elaine “Spanky” McFarlane’s soprano voice. On that cut, where the men are pretty much in the background and McFarlane takes the lead, I heard no problems. Mercury always recorded “hot,” and I think that was the problem with the guys. In any event, on “Yesterday’s Rain,” McFarlane is out front while the four guys are well in back of her. All five have fabulous voices and sing tight harmonies. The timbres of their voices were wonderful through the T65s; very precise, with great presence. The T65’s voicing favors the upper midrange, so high-pitched tones really made their presence known. I ended up listening to the entire CD.
Steve Winwood was just 16 years old when he wrote and sang lead on The Spencer Davis Group’s “Gimme Some Lovin’.” By the time he was 20, he was a member of the supergroup Blind Faith. Winwood wrote and sang the band’s biggest hit, “Can’t Find My Way Home,” from its one-and-only, eponymous album, Blind Faith (LP, ATCO SD 33‑304B). The song begins with two nylon-strung acoustic guitars playing against each other. They were placed right in the middle, and sounded very natural through the T65s—the fingerpicking was spot-on. Winwood’s high-tenor voice—more like a falsetto, really—appeared just in front of the guitars. I was very impressed with the overall natural sound of the T65s on this track.
In my opinion, one of Bonnie Raitt’s best songs is “Something to Talk About,” from her album Luck of the Draw (CD, Capitol C2‑96111). The soundstage on the song is very narrow, with all the instruments—her slide guitar, the organ, drums, and bass—and the backing singers pretty much on top of each other. I noticed that on some of Raitt’s louder singing (registering over 80dB on my app), the T65s started to distort, giving her voice some harshness and hot sibilants. However, her guitar just smoked during her solo. In all, an adequate performance that would probably sound better at lower volumes.
Surveying my CD collection, I came across the perfect group to play through the T65s: ZZ Top. The band’s music can be played at threshold-of-pain levels and any additional distortion will fit right in. OK, I’m kidding a bit, but “Sharp Dressed Man” from Greatest Hits (CD, Warner Bros. 9 26846‑2) sounded terrific at an average of 79.5dB, with a peak of 84.6dB. There was nice depth, with the late Dusty Hill’s voice and bass up front, Billy Gibbons’s guitar just to Hill’s right and slightly behind, and Frank Beard’s drums a bit farther back still. Beard’s drum beats were really sharp; his cymbals shimmered, and Gibbons’s guitar had that singular ZZ Top fuzz sound! I’ve never understood how three guys could produce such a massive sound, but the wall of Marshall amps probably helped. But to reiterate, at either high or lower volumes, the T65s sounded great with ZZ Top’s music. They seemed made for each other.
November 10, 2025, was the 50th anniversary of the sinking of the freighter Edmund Fitzgerald in Lake Superior, with the loss of all 29 crewmembers. So on that day, I thought it appropriate to play Gordon Lightfoot’s great song, “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald,” from his 1976 album Summertime Dream (LP, Reprise MS 2246). This was another record the T65s were made for. Lightfoot’s 12-string guitar chords sounded very natural and had just the right timbre. The haunting, eerie electric-guitar solos just pierced my hearing, adding to the mournful spirit of the song. The drum beats were very taut, and the tom and kick drums had good slam. It was truly a moving experience.
Comparison
I know it’s a tough comparison, but I compared the T65s with my Acoustic Energy Radiance 3s, which are now discontinued, but cost US$3000 per pair back in 2010.
All of Earth, Wind & Fire’s recordings feature a fabulous soundstage, in both width and depth. “Let’s Groove,” from Their Ultimate Collection (LP, Columbia 19439951261), is a great example. The grouped voices extend from hard left to hard right. The voices and instruments are neatly layered from front to back: lead voices; female backup singers, The Emotions; the rhythm section; synthesized strings; and finally, well in back, the brass. All these elements came through perfectly on the T65s. The snap of the snare, the slam of the kick drum, and the fuzz bass all sounded exactly as they should. The “talk box” (made famous by Roger Troutman of Dayton funk group Zapp) was well centered in front, and really made a statement through the T65s. The speakers were quite good at producing the infectious beat of the song; my toes were tapping throughout.
On this track, the Radiance 3s exhibited a more open midrange, so that male voices were slightly more prominent. The width and depth of the soundstage were similar to those of the T65s, except that the Radiance 3s provided a bit more front-to-back layering. The overall sound was fuller and more extended through the Acoustic Energy speakers, likely due the difference in the midrange. The drum beats were also more precise. As much as I liked the T65s, the Radiance 3s were clearly better, as they should be at more than ten times the price.
Conclusion
I found the T65s’ tendency to get harsh at fairly high levels (80-plus decibels) disappointing. But if you’re like me and tend to play music at 60–70dB, I believe the T65 is an excellent option, especially for the price. During my listening, this pair of ultra-affordable floorstanders delivered decent bass (down to about 45–50Hz), a strong midrange, and slightly recessed highs that didn’t have a tendency to get screechy. The T65s conjured up a good soundstage if the recording had one, and their octave-to-octave balance was quite good. Their sound was bigger than that of their standmount siblings, the B65s, as would be expected. The T65s sounded really good with jazz and classical.
Overall, the Dayton Audio Classic T65 offers good performance at an outstanding price. I lived with my review pair for six weeks and never grew tired of their sound. I think Dayton Audio has another hit on its hands!
. . . Thom Moon
thom@soundstagenetwork.com
Associated Equipment
- Speakers: Acoustic Energy Radiance 3
- Subwoofer: Vera-Fi Vanguard Caldera 10
- Power amplifier: NAD C 275BEE
- Preamplifier: Apt Corporation Holman
- Analog source: Technics SL‑100C turntable with Goldring E4 cartridge
- Digital source: Cambridge Audio Azur 650C CD player
- Interconnects: Pro-Ject Connect it E (turntable), Linn Silver (CD player), Morrow Audio MA1 analog (preamp to power amp)
- Speaker cables: Nakamichi Excel 12-gauge OFC cable, terminated in banana plugs
Dayton Audio Classic T65 loudspeaker
Price: US$229.98, CA$322.15, £174.59, €197.83 per pair
Warranty: Five years, parts and labor
Dayton Audio / Parts Express
705 Pleasant Valley Drive
Springboro, OH 45066
Phone: (937) 743-8248
Website: daytonaudio.com
