My system in Hegel H390 integrated amp, 2.1 channel (Dali Rubicon 6 speakers, one REL Tx9 sub), Innuous Zenith streamer. Speakers and sub well positioned--after a lot of listening and experimenting I have the speakers 25" from back wall and 9' apart, sub in right room corner point to cattycorner room corner a few inches away from corner for clarity and texture without boom. Gear occupies a little more than one quadrant of a 28' x 28' carpeted finished open walkout basement with modest acoustic treatment. Great clear balanced sound--anything well produced sound terrific, and imperfections in source (old recordings, etc) readily revealed! I have auditioned a second sub and like it--that will be added eventually--and in the mean time the single sub does a great job--nicely integrated with the speakers. The system is plenty warm--not at all thin, sharp or fatiguing. Deep and wide, precise sound stage.
Before getting the Dali's I was enamored with reviews on the Sonetto V's, but it was impossible to demo them in my area and I went with the Dali's. So I have always wondered what I was missing, if anything. The Sonetto V's just became available in my area and in the next month or so I will do the AB comparison with the Dali's.
In the meantime, I was wondering if anyone had an informed opinion (that is, their own AB comparison, not just reading reviews) of how these models in the Dali and SF line compare. Your comments will give me additional nuances to listen for in my own homework--and I can share my impressions when I have done my own comparison. I am not trying to dis either speaker here--rather, I am genuinely interested in constructive comparisons to help inform my own evolving expertise and tastes. My music interests run the gamut--but common examples of the gamut are pretty much anything with Diana Krall (thinking excellent production and balance, in jazz quartet instruments), newish Taylor Swift (eg, Delicate--great use of full dynamic range from high frequency echos to sub base spectrum)--otherwise tons of country, folk, rock and classical guilty pleasures. If I can get sound stage precision and clarity that I can "walk around in" and still have connectedness and musicality, I am in heaven--which is pretty much what I have now--but can any of us leave well enough alone?!
I know I could listen to a lot of other speakers in and above this price point--but I have really enjoyed learning in bits and pieces in this hobby--and have the impression that having a great amp and streamer (source) is much of the battle, and for now will stay with speakers in this price range, beginning with these models. But feel free to suggest a favored speaker you think would meld well with my system. [aside: I have a relatively inexpensive turntable--I enjoy vinyl source, but most of what I listen to is streamed or burned into the Zenith from CDs--turntable choices will come later. I seldom can't find a streamed or CD source I don't like as much as teh vinyl track as long as I listen of several streamed (prefer burned CD) tracks and pick the best.]
Thanks very much in advance for any comment out there.
Steve
