Speaker Asylum: REVIEW: Dali Dali Suite 2.8 Speakers by twest820

Model:	Dali Suite 2.8
Category:	Speakers
Suggested Retail Price:	$1250
Description:	2 1/2 way floorstanders
Manufacturer URL:	Dali
Manufacturer URL:	Dali

Review by twest820 ( A ) on January 13, 2005 at 21:55:42
IP Address: 4.5.84.154

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for the Dali Suite 2.8

In 1997, I decided to invest $2k in a proper stereo. Initial listening failed to turn up anything I felt was enough of an improvement over the nice but hardly exceptional powered speakers I already had to be worth the investment. Over the next few years I'd periodically wander into an audio store when I had the time and listen to what they had but never really came across anything which stood out enough to seem worthwhile. In late 2004, I decided to try some more comprehensive listening and ended up at Speakerlab ( http://www.speakerlab.com ) listening to Dali's Suite, Evidence, and Helicon lines. At their respective price points, these all stomp the competition with the thoroughness of their design and sound quality. Finally, I'd found worthwhile sound.
Specifically, what I was looking for was a speaker with space filling sound with consistent performance across all generes, frequencies, and volumes. My musical taste mainly centers on talent, so I switch back and forth between metal, rock, pop, techno, classical, jazz, new age, and a few other things depending on which artists I'm in the mood for. This range means a speaker has to be consistently good across the board to play my collection well. Nearly all speakers in the sub $1.5k range have significant weak spots, and many higher end ones still have difficulty handling a wide gamut of generes well. Additionally, I wanted not to be constrained a specific listener position since much of the time I have to listen is when I'm also doing other things, so a broad sweet spot and relatively little loss of sound quality outside of it was also important. Dali is the only company I've listened to whose designs manage to do all this without some annoying weak spot turning up a particular listening position, volume, favorite track, or the like.
I'm not overly impressed by Dali's smaller speakers, including the Suite 1.7s and Evidence 750 bookshelfs. However, the Suite 2.8s, floorstanding Evidences, and Helicons really stand out in my listening experience for the precision and consistency of their sound and how even the presentation is throughout the room. The only speakers I've found which are even sort of comparable are DefTech's BP10Bs which, while having a similar kind of sound, are noticeably sloppier in their rendition than even the Suite 1.7s. The Martin Logans I've listened to---admittedly in stores with less than ideal environments---have a somewhat similar open sound, but tend to have a much tighter sweet spot and seem to struggle with unusual music combinations like heavy grunge bass and a fiddler. Most other speakers just don't speak to me; they either need more power to overcome their drivers' mass and therefore don't play well at lower volume levels or don't maintain good phase control at the crossovers, resulting in noticeable weak spots in the sound or imbalanced speakers which are relatively bass or trebel heavy. Dali's design emphasis on low mass, low loss drivers and well controlled response pays off well.
I had the opportunity do extensive comparison between the Suite 1.7s, Suite 2.8s, Evidence 470s, Evidence 870s, and Helicon 800s. While biwiring is controversial, all of these Dalis respond very well to biwiring, with much cleaner upper mid and high frequency sound, a considerable increase in openness, and generally improved precision and clarity. The curved cabinets of the Suite and Helicon lines (and, by extension, the Euphonias) really work well; they're probably the primary advantage Dali has over competing speakers. Both series are outstanding when compared to comparably priced speakers, while the Evidences are less notable. The 470s upper frequency section is more precise than the 2.8s, but the speakers are less well balanced than the 2.8s. The 870s rectify this, but underperform for their price relative to the 2.8s or Helicons. The precision and transient response in the Helicon 800s is easily the best I've heard in any speaker ever. I've not listened to the Helicon 400s as much as I would like.
I ended up with the Suite 2.8s because their bass is front ported, rather than the back ports on the Evidence and Helicon floorstanders. Placement of front ported speakers is easier since much less space needs to be left to the sides and rear of the speaker than is needed to avoid excessive bass reinforcement with a back ported speaker. In practical terms, this had the considerable advantage of not having to demolish my couch as well as staying within my original budget. The Helicons are worth their price, but the financial distance between them and the Suites is large and I didn't quite find the Evidences to be a compelling intermediate step. It's a minor point, but the Suites have much better connectors than the Evidences.
Setup details: Suite 2.8s ($1250), two 8 foot Kimber 8VS cable runs ($96), refurb NAD C352 ($450), NAD C541 from eBay ($200 including shipping!), comes in right on budget at $2k. Each 8VS has 16 wires, 8 for red and 8 for black. I'm running a 3/5 biwire (3 wires to the upper section and 5 to the lower section) and am planning to try 2/6.
Test music: Tempest, Queensryche, Joe Satriani, Eurythmics, Swing Out Sister, Information Society, Tangerine Dream, Dave Brubeck, Callum McKinnon, Johann Sibelius, and a few things.

Product Weakness: None at this price point. Slight congestion or stiffness at bass resonance frequency of 217Hz on a few tracks, improved considerably during break in.
Product Strengths: Space filling sound, broad soundstage, clear placement of instruments and voices. Consistent performance across all listening levels, biwire well. Quite precise sound for this price point. Front porting allows flexible placement.

Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier:	NAD C352
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	(integrated amp)
Sources (CDP/Turntable):	NAD C541
Speakers:	Dali Suite 2.8
Cables/Interconnects:	Kimber 8VS
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	classical to metal, see review for specifics
Room Size (LxWxH):	18 x 12 x 9
Room Comments/Treatments:	semi-walled off living part of great room. Dimensions in feet.
Time Period/Length of Audition:	owned for about a month
Type of Audition/Review:	Product Owner

Product Weakness:	None at this price point. Slight congestion or stiffness at bass resonance frequency of 217Hz on a few tracks, improved considerably during break in.
Product Strengths:	Space filling sound, broad soundstage, clear placement of instruments and voices. Consistent performance across all listening levels, biwire well. Quite precise sound for this price point. Front porting allows flexible placement.