At this early stage — they have just been taken out of their proper packaging and are now being broken in — we cannot make any definitive statements about their sound characteristics. However, one thing can already be said: Even when not yet broken in, the Epicon 6 hints that we are dealing with a treasure here, one that is guaranteed to hit the perfect golden mean for some listeners. Even straight out of the box, the Epicon 6 and 8 impress with a very natural, independent, and unspectacular sound, and that applies to every genre of music.
Furthermore, the beautiful high-gloss Ruby Macassar finish is captivating; the craftsmanship is beyond reproach. The CNC-milled front panel creates more space between the seven mounting screws and ensures airflow behind the woofers. A detail that, according to Dali, demonstrates both the low-loss design and the efforts to achieve optimal timing.
Each side panel of the Epicon 6 consists of six individual layers of MDF boards glued together. These are firmly anchored to the 53 mm thick, multi-layered MDF cabinet back panel.
The 33 mm thick, two-layer front panel ensures that the energy mobilized by the drivers is acoustically utilized and not lost in the form of cabinet vibrations. The curved shape of the front panel also helps to provide an acoustic platform that is as stable and torsionally rigid as possible.
Inside, the Epicon 6 cabinet is divided into two equally sized chambers, providing each of the two woofers with an identical, but completely independent, volume. The two associated bass reflex ports are located on the rear of the cabinet in close proximity to the drivers. The reflex tubes are curved outwards at both ends to avoid disturbing turbulence.
At the bottom of the cabinet, the hardwired crossover is also fixed in its own enclosure – and is thus not exposed to the dynamic changes in air pressure within the bass reflex cabinet chambers.
Dali Epicon 6 during break-in procedure
The Epicon 6 is equipped with two 165 mm low-midrange drivers, referred to by Dali as the Linear Drive Magnet System. This is complemented by a hybrid tweeter, consisting of a fabric dome and a ribbon, optimized specifically for the Epicon series. In our opinion, this is an arguable, comprehensible, and intelligent fusion of both approaches. The ribbon takes over the highest frequencies only from 15 kilohertz. We surmise that this removes any impression of sharpness or harshness from the highest frequencies, without sacrificing definition and clarity. According to the manufacturer, the dome of the hybrid tweeter module handles between 95% and 99% of the high-frequency reproduction. Overall, the Epicon 6 operates as a 2½ + ½-way system. The manufacturer's suggested retail price is €4,449 per speaker.
Simply beautiful. The Dali Epicon 6.
0 comments