DALI’s latest Oberon range features four pairs of passive speakers, two bookshelf speaker models and two floorstanders. Each pair is very well specified and includes a five year warranty as standard, single wire input for ease of use and basic initial setup, front grilles in deluxe style, and rubber feet for sturdy positioning.
Oberon 1
The base-level new speaker in Oberon’s range at £349 is the Oberon 1. This sets the benchmark for affordable speaker pairs that have the specifications to please even the most picky of listeners. Sound mids through to highs are well-handled by the light-weight 29mm soft dome tweeter made of a soft membrane, and paired with the wood fibre 5.25″ woofer (low-loss standard) to cover lower-range sound with precise bass coverage to match – all encased behind a metal grille, the speaker can speak for itself. Adding to its repertoire is a range in frequency of 51 – 26k Hz, as well as a crossover frequency of 2,800Hz.
At 274mm in height and a weight of 4.2kg, it can be purchased at Audio Affair in iterations of White, Light Oak, Black Ash and Dark Walnut. The speaker is visually appealing, versatile in where it can be placed within a setup, and consists of equally as lucrative interior components as its outside. Like most bookshelf speakers, Oberon 1 is best listened to when positioned on dedicated speaker stands.
Oberon 3
With a slightly larger 7″ woofer – a dimension that is larger by 15% – the larger Oberon 3 commands a raised price point (of £499) on comparison to the Oberon 1 model and naturally its larger size delivers better bass response. Each speaker weighs 6.3kg and is taller (350mm) and wider (200mm). The design is more textured and contrasted, with varying colour schemes of blacks, whites, oak effects and decorated woofers – adding to the feel of quality.
Aside from these improvements, both of the bookshelf speaker sets are highly suited to their purposes. How do they sound? Classic Dali – incredibly detailed, excellent soundstaging and are a clear upgrade over lower bookshelf models in the Dali hierarcy.
Oberon 5
Oberon 5 is the most compact floorstander in the range and won the highly coveted ‘Best Floorstander’ winner within the £500-£1000 range at What Hi-Fi’s 2018 awards. Weighty but compact and slim enough to fit into most living rooms each speaker is only 830mm in height. Their nimble stature does not restrict what they can achieve in terms of performance. Kitted-out with 5¼” woofers (dual; wood fibre-based), Dali’s trademark SMC technology, and their signature 5.25″ low-loss woofers (a pair; coned in shape and made of wood fibre for high accuracy). Enduring performance is heightened with a max. SPL of 108dB, range in frequency of 39-26k Hz, and a specially engineered magnet motor system design to reduce audio distortion.
Together, these specs are packaged in a robust, industrial-flecked casing – with robust fastenings (which assist in reducing sound resonance), available in the same four styles akin to the above sets of speakers. These are comfortably some of the best floorstanders Dali have ever released – a clear upgrade over the outgoing Zensor 5 and lower model Spektor 5 speakers and worth serious consideration if you’re looking for floorstanders in this price bracket.
Oberon 7
The flagship model in the range, Oberon 7 does everything the Oberon 5 does well simply with even more scale. Boasting larger 2x 7″ LF drivers compared to 2x 5.25″ units in the Oberon 5, the Oberon 7 are taller, wider and deeper, together allowing them to go deeper by an additional 3Hz. If you can accomodate their additional size, they are indeed some of the best sub-£1000 floorstanders we’ve heard.
To read more or to book a demonsration of one of these speakers, you can view the Oberon range on our website or view the entire Dali speaker range.