Listening
Contents
The DALI sounds complete and remarkably nimble and airy. Now, it’s quite a bit of “overkill” to pair a Pass Labs pre and power amplifier with a 2000 Euro per pair speaker system, but it does show what these speakers are capable of. And that’s more than you think. In short: don’t underestimate solid, affordable systems!
Airy
One thing though: the low end is less ’round’ than you would expect from a speaker of this size. The low goes down to about 50 Hz according to the specifications and that is what we measure and hear. Now it is true that the air displacement and pressure is larger with a floorstanding speaker than with a bookshelf. After all: two units instead of one. But if we for example put the new Royksopp on, then we do not really hear that extremely deep rolling, booming undertone in the first track. But if we put that aside for a moment and start playing ‘normal music’, then this pair of speakers shows what a rich and detailed midrange it has.
Voices are presented in a solid way. And the placement is correct in height, width and depth. Very pleasant. Now DALI prides itself on the hybrid tweeter. And we understand that, because frankly: we do not hear the transition from the dome to the ribbon. And that is impressive. They are two totally different techniques. Each with their own advantages and disadvantages. A ribbon, for example, has a completely different radiation behavior than a dome (dome is a point source that radiates around, the ribbon is a flat and radiates mainly to the front). But the hybrid works: the high is nice and open and airy.
Now we hear and measure that the high range is slightly accentuated. But we must add that the behavior off-axis already becomes milder – so put them really straight ahead – and at the listening position there is a good chance that it normalizes. This does not alter the fact that this speaker is not completely neutral: the high is a bit more accentuated. And more manufacturers do that nowadays… We are not fans, but well: there is not much you can do about it. Fortunately, DALI still keeps it mild compared to its competitors. This is more perceptible “a pinch of salt and pepper” shall we say.
Balance
What a speaker is all about is balance. The bass, mids, treble, stereo image…. it has to be right. And this Opticon 6 MK2 certainly has a decent balance. DALI fortunately did not try to make a party speaker. A roaring bass box that, above all, must be able to go loud. The Opticon 6 MK2 is a speaker that can produce a surprising amount of detail and where the emphasis is on a light-hearted character. An airy presentation of your favorite music.
