Dali Helicon 400 or Acoustic Zen Adagio?

Dcstep, this is not intended as some sort of challenge, but perhaps you're asking the Helicons to reproduce sounds they're not really designed to reproduce. Do you know the frequency you're focusing on?

If that frequency range is especially important to anyone, then unless they have a true full-range speaker, the would likely be well served by adding a subwoofer.

I too have been impressed with the Helicon 400s from top to bottom, though perhaps not quite bottom bottom...

Dcstep, you're a good sport, thanks.

My point was that every speaker design represents trade offs, especially those that are priced within reach of many listeners. For me, 30 hz would be nice, but it is never my principal focus; if that is especially important to you or anyone else, then you'd be better served looking elsewhere.

But to get those low lows--and to hold price constant--you'd trade away something else. For me, it is a speaker that gets the mids right -- vocals and guitar -- everything else is a little less important.

With a tube amp, the Helicons do the mids quite well (not perfectly by any means) and they excel in detail, soundstage, and imaging where I have found them as good as some excellent monitors. Their ribbon tweeter gives them a bit more air then typical, almost like an electrostat to some degree. Their lower mids can be a bit congested, but a change in speaker cables cleared that up for me.

All of that is to say that it's all about trade-offs and knowing what you're after. Like flavors of ice cream!