The Dali Epicon 8 Speakers’ Test

The Dali Epicon 8 Speakers’ Test

Most recently, our company was invited into the attic apartment of a condominium in Zugló, Budapest, to test a pair of Dali Epicon 8 speakers. The 35-square-meter living room featured classic elegance, with furniture and other home accessories complementing the sophisticated taste of the owners. The lovely couple, Péter Molnár and his wife are real classical music fans. The acoustics of the room were not yet perfect, but the first steps have already been taken to optimise the sound of the room. The floor was covered with a beautiful beige thick and densely woven acoustic rug, and some printed sound-absorbing panels depicting musical instruments were mounted on the walls. To further improve the acoustics, some more diffusers were to be installed, the exact location of which had been determined by acoustic measuring.

Dali Epicon 8 – the Danish high-end speaker

The Dali Epicon 8, the largest speaker of the Danish company (Dali-Danish Audiophile Loudspeaker Industries) so far, despite its height of 126 cm and weight of about 50 kg, still does not look large, so it is not only recommended for larger rooms, it easily fits into 25-30 square meters rooms without taking up too much space.

Elegant and delicate look

Danish developers have paid a lot of attention to develop the speaker’s box. The beautiful, evenly varnished, curved MDF panels show the trace of careful and expert hands. An aesthetic accessory for any style of interior. The speaker baskets are grey in colour, and the speakers have been given a burgundy colour, which can be considered as the hallmark of the Dali company.

The 33 mm thick, double-layer front panel is responsible for damping the vibration of the speaker housing. The recesses for the bass reflex openings and connectors were made by CNC milling. There are two bas-reflex openings on the back of the speaker, as close as possible to the subwoofers. The ends of the reflex tubes are conical, the crossover is housed in its own closed box, thus eliminating pressure differences in the speaker housing.

Dual tweeter, SMC

The hybrid tweeter unit consists of a silk dome and a ribbon speaker. The wood fiber reinforced membrane provides optimal sound in the deep and middle ranges. The lower frequency limit of the 2 20-inch speakers 35 Hertz guarantees intense and precise depths, excellent dynamics.

The SMC magnet system is responsible for flawless sound. This magnetic system was first used by Dali in speaker manufacturing.

Specs

-Frequency transmission from 30 to 30,000 Hz

-Cross-switching frequency: 550/3100/15000 Hz

-Impedance: 5 Ohms

-Sensitivity: 89 dB

-Recommended amplifier power: 50-500 Watts

-10-layer varnishing, hand-polished, 6-layer MDF boards

Let’s get started!

Dali speakers were first tested with classical music. We listened to Mozart’s serenade entitled Little Night Music. The speakers conveyed a piece of music performed with stringed instruments worthy of the talent of the wonderful composer. The sound was as real as if we were listening to this classic piece in the immediate vicinity of the orchestra. We had a detailed, spacious and clear sound experience.

Listening to the piano version of Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake, we were immersed in the waves of intoxicating music. The keys on the piano sounded clear and sharp.

After the classical music, we switched to a slightly lighter style, but even this time we put on a more classic pop rock or even retro hit. Listening to Bon Jovi Livin’in a Prayer hit from 1986, everyone got into a party mood. The guitar sounded the way a guitar should! The spacious, lively rhythms, the music that pervaded our whole body convinced us that Danish engineers understand their maths! We did not experience any distortion even at high volumes. We also tried the Dali Epicon 8 with a weaker and a more muscular amp. We had a pleasant surprise, as it sounded almost flawless even with a 12 Watt amplifier per channel!

We didn’t forget about the movies either. We screened John Wick’s action thriller 3 – Parabellum. The exciting story with lots and lots of action scenes ensures that gut reactions will keep anyone awake. Dali’s speakers also conveyed the sound effects, soundtracks and dialogues of the scenes in a truly lifelike manner. Soundtrack, sound effects and speaches were distinguished in a very professional way. We traveled back in time to 1939 with the romantic war movie Gone with the Wind starring Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh. The speakers realistically transmitted the true sounds of the movie, and we had a real time travel and felt like being part of the American Civil War.

Is it worth the price?

While the Dali Epicon 8 isn’t a cheap speaker, it outperforms some much more expensive speakers in terms of performance as it features broad spectrum of sounds, dynamics, strength, pure highs and definite deep sounds. Founded in 1983, the Danish audio company focuses on perfection, and with its developments and revolutionary innovations, they have managed to create an excellent product in all respects.

G.H.