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Dali Helicon 800. What components match with it?

An audiophile I met invited me over to hear his system. He recently bought Helicon 800 speakers. He had considered the Helicon 400 that Absolute Sound raved about, but in comparing the two, he said the 800 won, hands down.

I thought they sounded great in every way. Great bass, clarity, imaging, with a natural sound. The combination of a soft dome tweeter crossed high to a ribbon gives an open, airy quality. Plus the woodworking and finish are stunning. If you get a chance to see one in person, do so, as photos don't do them total justice.

He did find though that the Dali's made him hear that his amp was too bright, so he changed amps from an older Parasound to an Audio Research transistor. He also made cabling changes that he said made a tremendous difference.

Anyone had experience with this speaker? Does it require careful matching of associated equipment? How does it compare to the Helicon 400?
audiosoul
jamnesta
151 posts
 
This from Dali when I was looking to power my Euphonia MS5's, close enough, no?; I went from SS to tubes as recommended and consequently just fell in love with what tube amplification did for my speakers. My amp is the McIntosh MC2102 w/ 100 or so watts per ch., and as they say at Bentley "power is sufficient".

John:

The MS 5's perform best with tubes (IMHO). The flat impedance curve of the MS 5's, and virtually zero impedance phase shift, provides an extremely fat, easy curve for the amplifier to drive.

As a result, tubes power the MS 5's effortlessly, and the sonic performance is outstanding.

Best of all, due to the high speed of the DALI low-loss drivers, very little is sacrificed in terms of mid to low-end speed in exchange for the sweet bloom of the tubes.

A perfect match!!

Best wishes,

Ben
Ben Gosvig
National Sales Manager
DALI USA
3957 Irongate Road
Bellingham, WA 98226
tel: 360-733-4446
fax: 360-733-0080
website: www.dali-usa.com
email: beg@dali.dk
buda
46 posts
 
Jamnesta,

Thanks for the feeback. "A perfect match" - I could not agree with Ben more! I can see where people would be confused on what to use to drive the 400s and 800s (and MS5s). Of the 2 local dealers selling Dali, one pushes high output Mcintosh SS amps (and says they need lots and lots of power) and the other sells Cary tube amps and demonstrates with 50wpc SET amps (my preference). Both are dynamic and great sounding but the realism of the tubes is for me.

Thanks,

Bud
drseid
201 posts
 
I have always liked the sound of the 800s powered by Macintosh gear. Very good match there, IMO.

---Dave
drseid
201 posts
 
Whoops... that should have read "Mcintosh"... not the Mac computers. ;-)

Doh!

Sorry,

---Dave
buda
46 posts
 
Dave,

How much power are you driving the Dalis with? Do they seem efficient and easy to drive with SS amps? One local dealer swears by Mcintosh. I have only heard the combo a couple of times but it sounded very good. It's hard to judge the sound in a small show room. Especially the larger Dalis.

Thanks,

Bud
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