DALI Menuet: Top notch speakers from Denmark

The DALI Menuet speaker systems embody all the technical innovations of the high-end Mentor...

DALI Menuet
DALI Menuet

The DALI Menuet woofer diffuser is made of expensive long-fiber cellulose – a material with the best resonance characteristics. The tweeter with a 28-mm silk dome is the same as in the senior DALI models. The mass of the moving system is approximately a third less than that of other soft-dome emitters. The speaker bodies are made of solid wood and are equipped with a bass reflex, with the port located at the rear installed at an angle to the horizontal axis (this is less sensitive to internal box resonances). We should also note the high-class gold-plated terminals.

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The DALI Menuet features a 4.5-inch wood pulp woofer and a 28 mm soft dome tweeter made of fabric. The highs are transparent due to the low dome weight and the tweeter’s powerful magnetic system, which quickly responds to any changes in the music signal. The woofer is mounted in such a way as to reduce parasitic scattering of sound waves at the edges of the front panel and make the sound as open as possible. Although this model is not part of any DALI speaker series, it will go well with the Rubicon series speakers, forming a coordinated set, for example, for a home cinema. In the latter case, the speaker can be used both as rear and front channels. Any suitable shelf can be used to install the speaker system, but in most cases it may be more practical to place these speakers directly on the wall. For this purpose, there are screw holes in the rear panel of the case for mounting a wall bracket.

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Everything about the DALI Menuet acoustic systems is top notch. This applies to the finish (three options, including a very beautiful matte black lacquer finish), the filling, and the characteristics. According to the data, the small DALIs have an unusually wide range and reproduce bass from frequencies that not every floor system can handle. We ourselves did not believe it at first…

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From the first minutes of listening, it became clear why these monitors cost so much. They are the only ones that can clearly, distinctly and with sufficient force reproduce a large orchestral drum! Bass guitar and double bass are not a problem for them – they convey their sound dynamically, sharply, with a pleasant drive. But the ability to produce an “adult” low is not the most valuable quality of Mentor Menuet. I was captivated by the linearity in the midrange and the extraordinary tonal neutrality in the highs. If the systems are placed at a distance of at least a meter, then a complete illusion of expensive studio monitors with a calibrated frequency response arises. All harmonic nuances, microdynamic and spatial – as if in the palm of your hand.

Specifications DALI Menuet

Number of speakers 2
Cabinet type rear-facing bass reflex
Woofer 4.5 inches, wood particle diffuser
Tweeter 28 mm, soft dome
Frequency range 59 Hz – 25,000 Hz
Sound pressure 105 dB (maximum)
Sensitivity 86 dB
Cabinet MDF Filter
tuning frequency 3000 Hz
Impedance 4 Ohm
Recommended amplifier power 20 – 100 W
Dimensions (WxHxD) 150 x 250 x 230 mm
Weight 4.1 kg