kompromiss - Hi-Fi Klubben

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Translation of review of DALI MENTOR 6 published in Hjemmekino (Home Cinema), Norway, no.10, December, 2006 Danish Super-Sound The Perfect Compromise Back in the late summer, we had a demo of the new DALI MENTOR loudspeakers. Even though there were many new products and lots of other exciting things to see, these speakers were what everyone was talking about over a beer that evening. We could hardly wait to review them. <strong>Fi</strong>nally, the wait is over. MENTOR 6 is here. I can still remember a time when real hi-fi enthusiasts were ashamed to admit that they had a pair of DALI's in their living room. Now, the Danes are a sign of merit and have given many competitors a few extra grey hairs. If you want to compete with DALI at their current pace, then you had better get used to getting up early in the morning. Seriously Put Together In order for a loudspeaker to perform at a reasonably acceptable level, there are some fundamental things that must be dealt with. The cabinet must be relatively free from resonances, must be optimally damped internally, especially the front baffle, and must be properly tuned. The drivers must be of good quality and the crossover, in addition to being built with good components, must be fine-tuned to perfection. A nice little task that takes at least a year with a full staff of specialists, even if you have all the tools in the world at your disposal. Did I hear somebody say Do-It-Yourself? MENTOR 6 is a medium-sized floorstanding loudspeaker cloaked in real veneer and mounted on an integral base for spikes or other vibration control devices. The enclosure itself actually curves towards the front, but because of the extra front baffle mounted with special resonance-damping adhesive, it is flat in front, making driver installation much easier. New Drivers A large part of the secret behind the new MENTOR 6 lies in knowledge of drivers and how to build them for best possible sound quality, while at the same time reducing the demands they make on the crossover. While the drivers in the IKON, HELICON and EUPHONIA series bear a close family resemblance to one another at first glance, every one of them is specially designed for each series. If you're building no-compromise loudspeakers, then the sky's the limit on the price of drivers, but when building to a specific price, you have to think smart. Thus, the challenge was apparently to build a loudspeaker that is clearly better than IKON (which is
exceptionally fine at the price) without moving too far in the direction of HELICON pricewise. To achieve this goal, all drivers had to be developed from scratch, while at the same time balancing production costs very carefully. The result is very impressive with new bass/midrange units with extremely rigid aluminum chassis and an aerodynamic form that allows free air flow at the rear of the cone. Large magnets and very lightweight cones of paper/wood fiber lend all the speed and dynamics one could desire from a loudspeaker in this price range. The wood fibers also provide outstanding damping of the cones. Still, the most unique thing about MENTOR 6 is the newly developed tweeter module, if we can call a driver “unique” after it has already been employed in a large handful of loudspeakers in recent years. In any case, the step up from IKON is readily apparent. The chassis is aluminum and the level of precision in every aspect of this design is greatly improved. One of the earlier arguments against this type of solution has been that it creates a need for more filtering in the crossover, but in the case of DALI, there is no crossover at all. The special ribbon driver simply takes over of its own accord right where the more conventional dome tweeter begins to roll off. This means that they don't overlap, but in fact supplement each other perfectly. The Listening Sessions I have fallen a little behind on the music scene recently. Not bought much. The reason is somewhat unusual, at least for a multi-channel guy like me. I have finally hooked up my record player again! So now I have a home theater in the basement with a record player. The kids wondered what this ancient mechanical monster was and what the strange black discs were for. "Sound," dad explained, "wonderful, warm, lovely sound!" Specifications • Bass reflex principle • Hybrid tweeter - 28 mm softdome/45 mm ribbon • Bass/midrange: 2 x16.5 cm • Frequency Response: 36 - 34,000 Hz • Sensitivity: 89.5 dB • Nominal Impedance: 6 Ohms • Dimensions (HxWxD): 103 x 20 x 39 cm • Weight: 25.5 kg • <strong>Fi</strong>nish: Cherry or Black They believed me and politely closed the door. There was listening to be done. In addition to LP's, a number of SACD's were used to determine if there really is any good reason to reproduce frequencies well above the audible range. Jokes abound about how sounds above 20 kHz are strictly for dogs, but the jokes obviously come from people with serious hearing impairments well down into the midrange. It is easy to hear what chief engineer Lars Worre wanted to achieve with this loudspeaker. It is a clear upgrade of IKON, with a much more refined sonic signature and a far more controlled and relaxed musical presentation. It seems much quieter, yet at the same time, even more dynamic and open. In addition, there is no escaping the upgraded tweeter module which surprises in many ways. Among other things, MENTOR 6 has a lot to offer, even if you sit well outside the
Page 1 and 2: Hifi DALI MENTOR erfekt 6 kompromis
Page 3: DALI MENTOR 6 De trodde meg og lukk
Page 7: arm and a leg. Of course, there's n

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