BLAUPUNKT GT POWER 65.2c

78 Blaupunkt
GT Power 65.2c
component speakers
AUDITION
One of the issues with
mentioning the word ‘cheap’
in everyday dialogue is that it
often conjures up thoughts of the ‘and nasty’
which usually accompanies the first word.
However, this doesn’t always have to be
the case. For example; if you take one very
experienced German electronics manufacturer
like Blaupunkt and watch how it develops its
products, you’ll actually find that it keeps costs
down via a couple of smart methods. The first
is that the materials used are not as exotic
as some other brands of speakers, while the
second is in the design technologies.
While it’s
true Blaupunkt
undertakes
titanic amounts
of research and
development
in-house, it is also
cunning in learning
from the mistakes
made by other
manufacturers.
This actually means
you’re effectively
paying only a
portion of the
development costs for the technology being
utilised in your speakers, while someone else
foots the bill for the mistakes – that might
sound a little unfair but experienced design
companies tend to be ones not afraid to watch
and learn. The new GT Power range are a stark
example of this and despite them being the
top of the range you won’t get charged a mint
for a set.
Power to the people
The GT Power is the forerunner of Blaupunkt’s
four speaker ranges and is quite extensive
containing both coaxial speakers and component sets in an array of different shapes and
sizes. So you’re almost guaranteed a solution
for just about any situation (unless you own
something like a 1964 Buick Wildcat with 4x10inch dash speakers). In what is smart thinking
on Blaupunkt’s part is that when it came to
covering the most common sizes of speakers,
it not only produces a 6.5-inch component
set in the GT Power 66.2c, but also a 6.0-inch
variant which many Japanese cars, especially
Hondas, come from the factory equipped with.
Seeing as these slightly smaller components
are not very often manufactured let alone
reviewed, we thought we’d concentrate on
this exact set – the GT Power 65.2c.
As was the case with most Blaupunkt
components I’ve reviewed over the years,
the GT Power 65.2c also come packaged in
an absolute ton of cardboard featuring the
trademark Blaupunkt blue colour scheme (remember Blaupunkt is German for Blue Point).
Opening the box you have the two 6-inch
(159mm) midrange drivers including their black
plastic grilles and a separate small box which
contains two tweeters, two small crossovers,
plenty of wiring and various other mounting
hardware required to hold the components
securely in your car.
In regards to the midrange driver; as
mentioned above, the materials used are not
overly exotic but this doesn’t mean they’re
nasty. The bulk of the basket is made from
stamped steel that has been painted flat black
and this alone is strong enough to hold everything in place. However, if you have a closer
look at the frame, you’ll actually discover that
while it’s stamped it actually has plenty of
additional webs and gussets built-in which
serve to strengthen it immensely against
any physical distortion. The basket is of the
quad web design which we see regularly, this
design not only allowing for superior air flow
but also less aerodynamic cone hindrance
due to back waves. In what’s becoming a
SIGNIFICANT OTHERS
Reviewer: Marty Price
Raising standards
not budgets.
The CP-CM60 splits from Fusion are
on a slightly higher bracket at $149
Also at the slightly higher price
point of $149 are the Orion
Cobalt CO652 splits
Moving across to the tweeter and again,
it’s similar to the midrange in that it’s a bare
bones design that is well thought through
from a staging perspective, despite it not
being overly complex in design. It’s a three
part arrangement with the tweeter itself being
clamped between a top securing plate and
bottom locking cup. I was unable to identify
the dome material itself, save for that it’s hard
and has four dispersion fingers over the top of
it, directly under a mesh protective grille. The
dome itself measures approximately 15mm
and the tweeter itself can swivel within its cradle meaning you can get the staging just right
in your car regardless of where the diminutive
speakers are mounted. Looking at the back of
the tweeter you’re greeted with a small rear
chamber laced with a whole heap of silicone.
Blaupunkt don’t reveal too much more information about the motor itself but again having
a stab in the dark I’d say neodymium magnet,
Kapton former and ferro-fluid cooled motor.
Small is big
Last and almost least are the crossovers but
despite their physical size being somewhat diminutive they’re actually a little more complex
than many other crossovers twice their size.
Measuring only 30mm x 45mm, they’re in-line
components (as opposed to stand alone
boxes) and you could be forgiven for thinking
they might contain just a simple cap for the
tweeter given their size. However stuffed
within that tiny box are two capacitors, two
iron core coils and a resistor which gives them
a 12dB roll-off. Although not necessarily true
in one hundred percent of cases, a 12dB slope
does tend to offer a better response where
the two speakers share their crossover point.
That said if you really want the best response
possible you might want to do a little tweaking
and this could be as simple as changing out a
cap and coil or two. There is a lack of attenuation though which is a shame for a flagship
set of components so if you’re mounting the
tweeters up high you might need to knock
yourself up a set of L-pads to bleed off some
of the volume.
With the look and feel out of the way it
was time to get the ears busy. But rather than
installing them into my usual test car where
they would sit among some unrealisticallypriced equivalent component, I instead looked
at their asking price of $129 and decided to
run them with a car we have on-site that
contains components they’re much more
likely to sit among. The system starts with an
Eclipse CD5030 at the front, with an ARC Audio
KS125.2Mini amplifier running the components
and a Focal BUS25 active under-seat subwoofer filling out the bottom octave. After leaving
the car on the power supply here running pink
noise through them overnight, the GT Power
65.2c were run in and ready for a serious
audition. Using the parametric EQ I tuned the
speakers to the response curve I desired, set
the time alignment for a centre image and
headed out with a mix of music that included
everything from heavy metal to classical. The
sound produced from the component set is
quite nice although they’re a little thin so far
as bass goes. This wouldn’t normally be such
an issue except in my current situation where
the small under-seat subwoofer doesn’t add
as much bass as a full-sized enclosure would
have done. Therefore much more of the bass
duties need to be handled by the midrange.
It’s not to say that the GT Power 65.2c aren’t
adequate so far as detail and accuracy are
concerned, they’re just not very powerful
speakers. Even giving them more power just
resulted in the suspension struggling more to
keep everything concentric so heaven knows
what would happen if you were to feed them
the 260 watts they’re claimed to handle.
The tweeters play clear upper midrange
and treble tones but again if you start to really
push them they suffer from road-rage where
they turn ugly and try to rip your head off.
Overall response and the relationship between
the two drivers are good though so it’s a big
tick for the crossover design.
79
Conclusion
Overall if you’re looking to upgrade your
factory speakers beyond the ‘basic upgrade’
level then definitely give the GT Power 65.2c
a thorough listening to. Sure they might not
be overly complex nor be up there with some
manufactures’ fiscal behemoths but being
Blaupunkt you can rest assured there is plenty
of experience and know-how to compensate
for the lack of four syllable words in their
materials list.
Blaupunkt
GT Power 65.2c
split speakers
Type: 6-inch 2-way component set
Bass: 160mm polypropylene cone,
stamped steel basket, rubber surround
and flat cotton spider
Tweeter: 15mm diaphragm
Crossover: 12dB octave
Power handling: 62 watts
continuous, 260 watts maximum
Sensitivity: 92dB
Frequency response: 40Hz –
22000Hz
Impedance: 3-ohms
Cost: $99
contact: Audioxtra on 02 8841 9000
Web: www.audioxtra.com.au
• Good build quality at the price
• Good sonic performance
• Superb value
• A tad bass light
TECH SPECS
somewhat concerning trait; Blaupunkt neglect
to tell us any real technical information about
the motor design but if I had to put forth a
supposition I’d say it’s a copper or aluminium
voice coil wound on a 1-inch Kapton former
– based on its efficiency of 92dB. However the
coil is wound for 3-ohms so bear that in mind
if you’re planning on running them via your
factory head unit as the low impedance could
cause problems.
The bum is a clean but basic design with
the strontium magnet left bare and without
covering. Terminals are riveted onto the side
with fiberglass terminal plates holding them
away from the frame. On the rear is a sticker
which surrounds the half inch pole vent
– about the only evidence that cooling the
speaker was even thought about. This is quite
peculiar given the 3-ohms coil as it will draw
more current which equals more heat. Despite
this the motor can handle 62 watts continuous
and around 260 watts maximum, although
with no perimeter expulsion vents, you
won’t be feeding it 260 watts for long – I’ll
give you the tip.
Moving to the top end of the driver; it
possesses an extremely strong (and extremely
blue) cone which is constructed from thick
injection-molded polypropylene peppered
with small teardrop patterns. These etchings
don’t appear to do much but they actually
give the cone increased strength. Located in
the centre of the cone is a small black hard
dust cap which aids in dispersion and has the
Blaupunkt logo printed on it and around the
top is the butyl rubber surround that forms the
top half of the suspension. A fabric flat spider
forms the bottom half.
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