The Dali Epicon series is the result of almost 30 years of research, development and production experience, as well as experimentation with new and established technologies. The Epicon series demonstrates how far Dali has come in its quest for authentic sound reproduction. With an exclusive and simple design, these speakers are designed for the most demanding audio and home cinema enthusiasts. With the signature Dali sound, they go one step further and aim to not only satisfy. We have exceeded.
The speakers for the Dali Epicon are not only designed, but also manufactured in the Dali factory in Denmark! The cabinet is made from 6 layers of MDF glued together to create a rigid structure that suppresses resonances. The smoothly curved shapes almost completely eliminate standing waves. The innovative linear magnet system based on SMC eliminates the four main causes of distortion in speakers – eddy currents, hysteresis, variations in magnetic flux and changes in the inductance of the voice coil. The advanced Soft Magnetic Compound (SMC) eliminates variations in magnetic flux in the gap. This solution reduces distortion to a minimum compared to conventional speakers. A new generation of wood fiber reinforced cones with a new impregnation and outer coating process.
Description DALI Epicon 6
For a long time, DALI has been developing its own speakers, thanks to which we have long been familiar with the branded paper midrange/low-frequency diffusers reinforced with cellulose fibers. However, until recently, all DALI speakers were manufactured at the production facilities of another well-known Danish company – ScanSpeak. Now DALI has its own production, and the midrange/low-frequency speaker installed in the EPICON 2 acoustics was not only developed, but also manufactured in-house. Obviously, in the future we should expect new original DALI emitters, because now there is literally one step from development to production.
The suspension of the midrange/low-frequency speaker is soft, the stroke is free and quite large. The outer coating of the speaker flange and the suspension are one piece, which looks very unusual and reduces local diffraction distortions. The diffuser is extremely rigid, smooth to the touch, without the roughness and texture inherent in ordinary paper. The driver is secured with seven screws, which makes the fixation more reliable and minimizes structural resonances.
The improved magnetic system with the most linear magnetic field Linear Drive Magnet System deserves special mention. The essence of the technology is the use of a special soft magnetic compound (CMS), which is located in close proximity to the voice coil and minimizes magnetic field fluctuations in this area. In addition, this material has highly linear magnetic properties at different frequencies, which eliminates the occurrence of phase distortions. With the help of aluminum rings, the induction of the coil is aligned, which also tends to be linear regardless of the speaker operating mode. In general, this provides extremely precise conversion of electrical energy into sound vibrations, which means that the sound is extremely clean and precise.
If you pay attention to the high-frequency emitter, you can see that this is far from a standard inch dome. The diameter of this emitter is 29 mm, which has an extremely positive effect on the fullness and naturalness of the reproduction of high frequencies. The flange of the high-frequency emitter has a small recess – a waveguide that regulates dispersion, and a ribbed rubber ring that disperses the inevitable reflections from the front panel. The
crossover frequency is quite high – 3100 Hz, due to which a significant spectrum of musical instruments and the vocal range are reproduced by one midrange / low-frequency speaker. This allows the DALI EPICON 2 acoustics to demonstrate the best qualities of broadband speakers – perfectly smooth seamless sound with an undistorted phase response. In general, when developing the acoustics, a lot of attention was paid to the phase response, as well as to minimizing distortion of the crossover electrical circuit as a whole.
The company is especially proud of its enclosures, and they are truly excellent in every sense. The design is well thought out and implemented in terms of minimizing distortion and resonance. There are no parallel walls, half of the surfaces are not even planes. The side walls are made of six layers of MDF glued together to form an extremely rigid array 53 mm thick, and the special two-layer design of the 33 mm front wall perfectly absorbs the speakers’ output without transmitting vibrations to the enclosure. The phase inverter is installed on the milled plane of the rear surface and secured with five screws. The shape of the phase inverter and the enclosure itself provides uniform air flow without turbulence and overtones.
Connection is made using two pairs of powerful and extremely convenient terminals. For single-cable switching, proprietary jumpers of complex shape are offered to close the corresponding pairs of contacts, which are not only convenient and reliable to install, but also look very impressive.
In terms of build quality and design, the cases also look very impressive, stylish rounded shapes give the acoustics an unusual and very neat look, while masking quite solid real dimensions. Natural veneer is hidden under a multi-layer transparent varnish more than a millimeter thick. The varnish is quite dense, resistant to micro-scratches. The quality of varnish application, as well as the quality of the acoustics as a whole, is simply excellent – it is impossible to detect a single, even the slightest flaw. As an additional package, branded stands are offered, perfectly matching in design and optimized in their sound properties. The acoustics are securely attached to them, ultimately forming a solid mechanical structure.
The sound of DALI EPICON 2 is very beautiful, sublime, transparent. The middle is delivered richly, saturated, with excellent transmission of timbres and long after-sounds. The top is neat, clean, without a hint of harshness or any distortion. The sound of cymbals and percussion is transmitted very realistically – a direct merit of the increased HF emitter. Low frequencies are ideally focused on the middle and upper bass, but at the lowest frequencies they lose a little controllability, becoming boomy. If you plug the ports of the phase inverters, the situation is immediately corrected, the bass is picked up and at the same time becomes clearer, focused. The amount of bass in both cases is sufficient for a small room, and in a medium-sized and large room, most likely, you will need the support of a subwoofer.
Another feature of DALI EPICON 2, which says a lot, is that absolutely any music can be listened to for as long as you like and at any volume. But listening to this acoustics in the background is almost impossible – it draws you in, involves you, does not allow you to switch your attention from music to extraneous matters. The EPICON 2 model is an absolutely worthy representative of the flagship series of DALI acoustic systems and, without a doubt, is the highest point of the current range of branded bookshelf speakers. In the High End segment, it is somehow not customary to discuss the price/quality ratio, however, listening to EPICON 2, for some reason I want to say that they sound like they cost much more than they cost.
Specifications DALI Epicon 2
Frequency range 47 Hz – 30,000 Hz (+/- 3 dB)
Woofer 6.5 inch Tweeter
29 mm
Impedance 4 ohms
Crossover frequency 3100 Hz
Sensitivity 87 dB
Recommended power input 30-200 W
Dimensions (W x H x D) 214 x 386 x 366 mm
Weight 10.3 kg
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