Some audio speakers are made to stand out. That’s what Dali seems to be going for with its newly announced Opticon Series.
Opticon is an upcoming lineup of audio speakers, which will feature a total of seven models. That includes a little something for every room and every application, from a compact stand mount to ample floorstanding, a slim wall mount and a subwoofer.
Designed to replace the company’s existing Ikon MKII Series, Opticon features patented SMC magnet technology, with Dali’s Linear Drive System. “The result is measurable and audible reduction of third- and fifth-order harmonic distortion, improved clarity and coherence,” the company says.
Each Opticon also has a woofer cone that has a pulp mix of paper and wood fiber for low surface resonance, low mass and high rigidity. It also gives the cones a reddish color. All speakers also have a hybrid tweeter with Dali-designed dome and ribbon for high frequencies, as well as vertical and horizontal dispersion of high-frequency sounds. Rolled in above 10kHz, Dali says that this ribbon reaches its full contribution from 14kHz to well beyond 30kHz.
Other features across the Opticon lineup include rear chambers fitted with rigid bracing, hand-built crossovers, wrapped veneers to prevent air leaks, gold-plated binding posts, and a slick, slim-line design. The Opticon 1, 2, LCR and VOKAL are all designed for single wiring, with the other three options packing in bi-wiring terminals with a heavy power bridge (included) for single wiring. Expect the binding posts to accept banana, spade and cable.
The company also makes it a point of saying that Opticon speakers rely on the “bass reflex principle,” which basically means that the bass reflex port has been tuned to minimize distortion from the woofers, as well as control the time response of the bass system. Also worth mentioning is that the Opticon 8 floorstanding speaker has a midrange driver in its own sealed enclosure, in order to isolate it from the turbulence of the bass drivers—resulting in low-level detail and a better overall performance.
Dali prides itself on making as many speaker parts in-house as possible. That way, the company can keep an even tighter control over the quality.
Look for Dali to start shipping Opticon audio speakers sometime in September. Each model will be available in gloss black, walnut and gloss white (special order) finishes, with prices ranging from $995 to $3,795.
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