Important Specs Overview
Speaker type: passive, 2-way, back ported
Continuous power handling: 30 W
Peak power handling: 100 W
Impedance: 8 ohms
Sensitivity: 89 dB/W/m
Frequency response range: 50 – 20k Hz (+/- 3dB)
Driver size: 5 in
Unit weight: 11.5 lbs
Cabinet dimensions: 8.5 x 9 x 13.5 in (width x depth x height)
Warranty: lifetime
Review And Discussion
The SX6 is Fluance’s cheaper entry level bookshelf speaker pair. The power specs are fairly modest and fairly on par with other passive bookshelf speakers in this price range. A ~30W speaker with an 89 efficiency rating is going to sound best in a near/mid-field desktop setting, but probably won’t cut it in a full sized home theater system.
The response range is pretty decent for a 2-way budget bookshelf speaker, and in an uncommonly refreshing act of transparency, the company actually publishes a response graph for the speaker, where you can actually see that it does indeed hold to the 3dB differential around the quoted 89 dB until it starts to drop off at around 50 Hz. Most 2-way bookshelf speakers really do need a subwoofer, but these appear to be one of the few that might actually sound complete as standalones.
They look pretty nice too. The elevated platform with chrome stands are a nice distinction from the normally plain box look of budget speakers, or some might find it tacky we suppose. Cabinet is a wood washed black MDF, pretty boilerplate. The exposed drivers look nice too in an understated way, or you can of course opt to cover them with the included front foam-grills. Size and weight wise they’re pretty middle of the road, and shouldn’t be too hard to place. They also come in a walnut color, shown to the right.
One thing that really distinguishes Fluance passive speakers, in addition to actually publishing frequency response graphs, is that, as of 2009, they’re backed by a lifetime warranty, which is pretty amazing. The only other company that we’ve seen do that is Klipsch with some of their all-weather speakers, but that has unfortunately been downgraded to a more standard 5 year warranty on newer products.
The tweeter is a soft dome polymer (we’d be inclined to use the covers for that reason), and the woofer is a plastic polymer. Pretty standard for budget bookshelf speakers. Might not get quite the performance that cloth/paper blend drivers would, but a company offering a lifetime warranty on such materials on non high-end speakers seems highly unlikely.
Our Overall Take, As Compared To The Competition
These speakers and the company behind them really do offer a lot, they look nice, and a lifetime warranty is really awesome. If that all appeals to you then they’re a solid choice, by all means.
That said, we do think that better deals still exist, either speakers that are more powerful for the price, cheaper, or that have superior 3-way design that’s really intended to perform standalone. But none of those will have a lifetime warranty, we will say that. Check out the links below for some such recommendations.
Get the SX6 bookshelf speakers on Amazon (affiliate link)
See our current picks for the overall best budget bookshelf speakers
