Dayton Audio M6 Powered Desktop Loudspeaker Review

S

shadyJ

Speaker of the House
Staff member
M6 pair22.jpg
Dayton Audio has a range of speakers available, but, as far as I know, they haven’t had a powered loudspeaker specifically intended for desktop systems. However, their new M6 powered speaker system changes that. There are a lot of powered desktop speaker systems out there, but I took special note of an offering from Dayton Audio in this arena since they tend to put a lot more attention on acoustic engineering than is typical. The M6 does make some departures from the norm in this space in terms of acoustic engineering. Firstly, it uses a somewhat larger woofer than normal for a desktop speaker system. Second, it is a sealed design, hence the need for a larger woofer. A sealed loudspeaker can be an optimal design for a smaller space, such as a desktop environment. This piqued my interest, so I asked Dayton if they would be interested in a review of the M6, and that brings us here. In for review today is Dayton Audio’s M6 Powered Desktop loudspeaker system. How well does Dayton Audio’s unique approach work for a desktop environment, and how does it fare among other speakers in its class? Read our full review to find out…

READ: Dayton Audio M6 Powered Desktop Loudspeaker Review
 
G

Golfx

Senior Audioholic
Thank you James for another well reviewed and measured speaker.
 
everettT

everettT

Audioholic Spartan
Pretty nice little nearfield speaker in the $400 price range.
 
M

MrBoat

Audioholic Ninja
Great and thorough review as always. It's noce to see bigger speakers for that purpose. I hope it catches on more. I think this would satisfy s lot more people who don't want to commit to a whole room, who think that's the only way to get life-sized, audio performance.

The term "desktop" is adhered to a bit too literally so, everyone thinks that's where the speakers need to go if you get near a desk with them. The last speakers to live on my actual desktop were Harman Kardon Soundsticksii. Each satellite speaker had four, 1" drivers and generally sounded excellent along with the provided subwoofer and they fit there easily. Still, they weren't quite loud enough. I tried Logitech speakers after those died and they just weren't exciting and neither was anything else, at least that fit practically on a computer desk top. Every place I have ever had a desktop had at least some room on either side, including one I had in a bedroom.

I'll never go back to speakers 'on' the desk. Had the 8 inchers in the photo there for awhile and bring them back occasionally, but the 12s hiding behind them in this photo and a pair of subs is what the 'desk' speakers are usually. They work for whole room performance as well. Best of all the worlds, for my use.

 
BoredSysAdmin

BoredSysAdmin

Audioholic Slumlord
Back in 2011, I bought a pair of JBL LSR2325p monitors for $330 and a $100 USB DAC (Behringer UMC404HD)
Adjusted for inflation (a total of $630 in 2025 dollars), these Dayton speakers appear to be a great value in comparison. The only feature I'd miss is the headphone port.
 
S

shadyJ

Speaker of the House
Staff member
Great and thorough review as always. It's noce to see bigger speakers for that purpose. I hope it catches on more. I think this would satisfy s lot more people who don't want to commit to a whole room, who think that's the only way to get life-sized, audio performance.

The term "desktop" is adhered to a bit too literally so, everyone thinks that's where the speakers need to go if you get near a desk with them. The last speakers to live on my actual desktop were Harman Kardon Soundsticksii. Each satellite speaker had four, 1" drivers and generally sounded excellent along with the provided subwoofer and they fit there easily. Still, they weren't quite loud enough. I tried Logitech speakers after those died and they just weren't exciting and neither was anything else, at least that fit practically on a computer desk top. Every place I have ever had a desktop had at least some room on either side, including one I had in a bedroom.

I'll never go back to speakers 'on' the desk. Had the 8 inchers in the photo there for awhile and bring them back occasionally, but the 12s hiding behind them in this photo and a pair of subs is what the 'desk' speakers are usually. They work for whole room performance as well. Best of all the worlds, for my use.
I agree that if you have the space to move the speakers off the desk, then you should certainly try that. Unfortunately, many people do not have that option.
Back in 2011, I bought a pair of JBL LSR2325p monitors for $330 and a $100 USB DAC (Behringer UMC404HD)
Adjusted for inflation (a total of $630 in 2025 dollars), these Dayton speakers appear to be a great value in comparison. The only feature I'd miss is the headphone port.
That era of JBL LSR was very good. The LSR6332s, in particular, were ones I lusted over and would still be world-class speakers in a modern system. I have to imagine that DAC would be pretty noisy as a combo with the amp in the LSR2325p, at least for near-field application.
 
BoredSysAdmin

BoredSysAdmin

Audioholic Slumlord
That era of JBL LSR was very good. The LSR6332s, in particular, were ones I lusted over and would still be world-class speakers in a modern system. I have to imagine that DAC would be pretty noisy as a combo with the amp in the LSR2325p, at least for near-field application.
Yes, I expect that if LSRs had a built-in DAC, it might have been noisy. I had to use balanced cables to eliminate most (but not all) of the hiss I had with unbalanced cables.
 

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