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 The Kicker SS56.2 not only look great, they come packed in a spiffy carrying case. |
Kicker SS56.2
Kicker has built their SS series component speakers for the high-end market — believe it, with a price tag of nearly $800 for a set! What do you get for your money? A lot of cool construction details, for sure, like ferro-fluid cooled Tetoron dome tweeters with dual neo magnets and copper clad aluminum voice coils, and woven carbon poly woofers with butyl rubber surrounds and aluminum ribbon voice coils. Kicker claims that these elements allow the SS56.2 to play louder, with less distortion and very accurate sound. The external two-way crossover networks feature super-sharp 24 dB/octave high-pass filters and 12 dB/octave low-pass filters with tweeter attenuation circuits adjustable for 0 dB, +1.5 dB, and +3 dB. For our test we left the circuits at 0 dB. Specs wise, the speakers have a frequency range from 50 to 22,000 Hz, and an RMS power rating of 90 watts RMS.
Our crew had mixed feelings about Kicker's SS56.2 component speakers. A common comment was that the highs tended to be too crunchy or edgy. Ralph found the highs "too crisp," with "lots of edge" on The Mooney Suzuki's "Alive & Amplified." Dave seconded Ralph's concern, citing a "closed down top end" in Tom Wait's "Step Right Up." On the other hand, Charlie was a big fan. Among other things, he loved the brightness of the cymbal sound on Art Blakey's "Moanin'" and the natural sound he thought they captured.
 Crutchfield web editor Charlie Pastorfield was most impressed with the Kickers. "They sounded very natural and open to me, and they really brought out the little details in a nice way." |
The roundtable was pretty much in concert on the strengths of the Kickers. Almost all agreed that the speakers did an excellent job in separation and imaging. Typical was Tim's reaction to Lucinda Williams' "Metal Firecracker" — he was impressed by the "distinct and realistic" instrumental sounds. A common compliment also was the tightness of the bass, particularly on Murcof's "Mir." Charlie liked the "percussive" quality of the bass, which Ralph described as "crisp and responsive." The Kickers also scored high in dynamic control with the roundtable, particularly on "Moanin'." Almost all the panelists appreciated their ability to capture the excitement of the rising and falling dynamic interplay between Lee Morgan's brassily fat trumpet and Benny Golson's reedy tenor sax in this classic jazz recording.
As a group, we agreed that these speakers were well suited to music that requires a very precise playback. They excelled on electronica and jazz but did less well with more "lo-fi" cuts, like Mooney Suzuki or Tom Waits. While the bass reproduction is tight and accurate, it sometimes lacked the low-end extension we were looking for — it's probably best to use these in conjunction with a subwoofer for the best results.
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