Dali Ikon 6 Bass Opinion


Hey folks -
Relatively new lurker who decided to join up. I'm trying to set up a moderate HT setup with decent 2 ch performance. (Usage tilted towards music). I've been auditioning speakers for a bit now and have it down to Monitor Audio RS6 and Dali Ikon 6.

The Dalis blew me away with their holographic mids and highs but they always sound lean to me and by quite a bit more than I'm used to. I haven't seen any comments about this however in any online opinions or the magazine reviews and that bugs me! My 2 ch system (disabled presently) was B&W CDM speakers with Rotel. Am I that used to bass or are the Dalis that bright?

I thought it might be the amp (Arcam receiver), but asked to hear them with a Krell integrated and, while the amp was clearer and had more control, the low end freq response sounded about the same.

The store is a poor listening environment - a big strip-mall, rectangular box with 3 setups along one wall. My room is on the smaller side - maybe 16 x 13 or so.

Any thoughts from Dali owners or others?

Thanks,
Jim
pocilja
Jim, search for DALI here on A'gon and you'll find plenty of discussion, mostly by me, about that very topic.

I was disappointed in the low bass of the Helicon 400MkII that was very favorably reviewed by Michael Fremer in Stereophile. It also measured well, yet I heard it take on a one-note character below around 40hz.

I tried several amps and none fix it; however, I found that it preferred a lot of power.

Rethinking the issue I went back to the scene of the crime this week. The room where I was listening did have some bass corner treatments. I'll try to get by again next week with my test CDs to see if moving the bass traps out of the room doesn't fix things. (Strangely it doesn't seem to impact any of the other speakers in the room.)

I spoke with someone that almost went to work with DALI as a US representative. He says that they purposely use relative thin cabinet sides and that may make them more room sensitive than many other speakers. That's just a theory, but I WILL go back a third or fourth time to see if this issue can be be fixed or at explained.

Dave
I run Euphonia's with a Mcintosh MC402 and also use a REL subwoofer. Had the sub from my prior system so still use it. Bass is perfect for me.
Will the retailer let you bring both pairs home for a trial? That's you best bet - try them out and buy the ones you like. You will never know until you hear them in your own room.