kompromiss - Hi-Fi Klubben

usual sweet spot. It is rare indeed that you can sit far off to the side of the loudspeaker setup
and virtually see the stage between the loudspeakers. High frequency dispersion lives
up to its promise. The other surprise is dynamics of the brutal kind that almost beg for
tough challenges in a home theater. If the forthcoming center speaker has the same
qualities, then look out for some very powerful experiences.
At the same time, there is considerable refinement and nothing to suggest that the
speakers just muscle in without any sort of control. Response is tight, straightforward and
crystal clear.
The Experience
Roger Waters' “Amused to Death” is one the records I often use, not just for the music's
sake, but also for the fantastic Q-Sound that, once the system is properly set up, fills the
room with a perfect sonic image both to the sides and behind the listener. If you attempt to
listen to this recording with loudspeakers with phase problems or resonance issues, things
won't go well. The soundstage will collapse like a house of cards in a storm. Sounds that in
a perfect set-up appear to the sides and behind the listener will hardly move beyond the
outer limits of the loudspeaker set-up. The DALI's laid out an impressive 360 degree
soundstage with the various sonic elements precisely positioned and defined throughout
the soundstage. I can't recall having heard this done better!
Sound is also voices, so I put Mari Boines’ "Idjagiedas" in the CD player, partly because
we spent a lot of time with this recording when we tested IKON 6 and, of course, also
because it is lovely music. Not exactly toe-tapping rhythms, but more for the heart and
soul.
The first track sets the mood immediately, expanding in all directions with magic music
from ancient traditions pouring forth from the loudspeakers. Boines' voice is extremely
vivid, yet sharply focused and present in the room. It is at moments like this that you feel
yourself slipping into a trance where the music is all that matters. Stress and daily worries
fade away. A spa is a waste of money, buy hi-fi instead!
Good loudspeakers are quiet, which is to say that they are capable of shutting up between
transient attacks, so that music, consisting in equal measure of short or long pauses and
sound, is allowed to live and breathe by the loudspeaker.
This is exactly DALI MENTOR's strength in comparison to IKON: effortlessness,
coherence and control. Although it has been a while since I heard HELICON under
controlled conditions, MENTOR has some of HELICON's positive characteristics. While
HELICON is that little bit sharper in terms of dynamics and high frequencies, the question
is whether you will feel that the difference is worth the higher price. I doubt it.
Many will find MENTOR 6 somewhat more relaxed at high frequencies than HELICON and
therefore more suited for matching with less expensive amplifiers. MENTOR 6 is more
forgiving, if you were a bit stingy when shopping for amplification. This can be worthwhile
information when budgeting the total price of your system.
Get Yourself a MENTOR
It is very satisfying to see that manufacturers are still working flat out to bring us ever
better equipment at lower prices. DALI MENTOR 6 is one of those speakers that you take
an immediate liking to. Despite stunning build and technology, the speaker is amazingly
dynamic and lively, completely straightforward and entirely without oddities. Quite simply,
these loudspeakers sound fantastic at the price and do so with amplifiers that don't cost an