DALI Spektor 2 Compact Speakers - Black Ash (Pair)

I bought these along with a pair of Wharfedale Diamond 220s and Wharfedale Dentons and spent about two weeks comparing all three of them. In the past I have been very happy with Wharfedale having owned the Diamond 210s (Happily on desk as the office), Diamond 10.7s (Sold) and Reva 4s (Currently in my theater setup). I wanted desktop monitors for a new room in my house that I would use for listening to music, mixing down old recordings, drinking whiskey... A sort of man cave.The Shootout:The Diamond 220s were a pretty balanced speaker top to bottom, but lacked excitement for me. The highs extended well past the Dentons, but not as high as the Specktors. This was not an issue for me because I already own the 210s and am very happy with them. It was the bottom end especially that disappointed me with the 220s. I have never liked their plinth port design (Also Featured on the Reva 4 which I also own, but absent on my 210s). It just sucks the life out of the bass of the speaker. It may make placement easier in a room, but what you are left with is a speaker with a lack in punch and presence in the low end. They have no authority. Kick drums are found bouncing around the room in every direction rather than slapping you in the chest. No.The Dentons were very warm and subtle. The bass was strong and very present. Mid range was excellent, and overall they were very smooth warm from top to bottom. They thrive with certain recordings and definitely prefer more natural analog material. Their notorious "Veiled" top end isn't so much veiled, the high details are certainly there, but you just have to find them. They don't jump out at you. I also must mention that to my surprise the Dentons did not image well. There was no wide sound stage to be found here. They were closed up and revealed no exciting center activity. All in all these speakers happened to be extremely well tamed and neutral, which for some professional and amateur engineers might be perfect. But I like to hear every detail in my recordings. I want every tiny mistake to be mine to find and correct, not the person down the road that happens to pick up a pair of the last speakers on my list and get a glimpse of what is really behind the "Veil".The Specktors are an exciting speaker. Their new tweeter that features an unusually thin and lightweight soft dome material was what originally drew me to them. I read about their new "Thin and light" approach on their website and thought "This sounds like a great design strategy. I need this.". Their woofer design also had me sold before I even submitted my order. I read that they are crafted from a mix of fine grained paper and wood fibre pulp. "F***, sign me up." I thought. I like my highs to be detailed, extended and transparent. Thin and light sounds like the way to get there. I like my lows to be warm and full and natural. Paper/Wood fibers sounds like the way to get there too. I was excited.When they arrived they were pretty much what I expected. The cabinets were unimpressive, which for me is usually a big problem. I consider myself a decent craftsmen and build furniture from time to time. I always appreciate a beautifully finished real wood veneer (like my old Monitor audio Silver 6s), but I was not aiming towards beauty for this room, so they were fine.As soon as I hooked them up I was impressed. I drive them through a modest Teac UD-301 and Adcom GFA-535ii straight from my Mac and they sing beautifully. Full and present bottom end with a real good punch. Crisp, clean and incredibly transparent highs. Great imaging. Honest and humble mid range. I am very happy with their performance. But I feel that their greatest strength, especially as this price point, is their ability to bring you right into the music. Their is no veil, there is no space whatsoever between you and the music. The vocals are right there. You can reach out and touch them. They are dead center and sound as if you might feel the wind from their breath. I believe it is this accuracy at the highest of highs of our very limited hearing spectrum that brings these vocal and instrumental details to the forefront. I and I believe that "thin and lightweight" were the building blocks of that strength.

I should say Outstanding tiny speakers, I was surprised how small they are. I have small Klipsch and medium Cerwin Vega speakers and I think these are equal. The only thing is they are not as loud when paired with larger speakers but by themselves that wouldn't be a problem. Or get 2 pair for A and B. Rock and jazz

The Dali Spektor 2 is an amazing little speaker. Sweet, transparent, detailed highs without any hint of harshness. Warm, inviting mid-range and decent bass for a 5 1/4 inch woofer. It sounds bigger than its size would indicate. I've owned a lot loudspeakers over the years: JVC, Polk, Klipsch, Pioneer, Bose, KEF, and Ascend, but I think these Dalis are probably my favorite. They provide a wide sound stage with a lot of detail without being too clinical or sterile like some reference studio monitors. The cabinet and craftsmanship is about what you would expect in this price range for speakers made in China, not horrible, but nothing to brag about either. Sensitivity is on the low side, at about 85 dB/m/W, so you will want a beefy amp to drive these. Currently, I'm using my old Denon AVR-X5200W (140wpc stereo into 8 ohm loads), but I'll pick up separates at some point. I listen to classic rock, grunge, acoustic, instrumental jazz, classical, and movie soundtracks, everything sounds great on these speakers. I like these so much that I'm going to pick up some Zensors and possibly Opticons down the road. I only wish that Dali had more distributors in the U.S., as their speakers are tough to find and the prices are a bit high even with the current exchange rates for the USD.

In a small to medium sized room you will get the best sound from these if your receiver can cut down the lowest frequencies. Use an AV receiver, set small speaker then set subwoofer YES even if you don't have one hooked up. For any 5" driver doing mid-frequencies and low frequencies together is a bad idea, for reasons of distortion. You will notice the difference when you try my suggestion versus running them to their full range.Also, do not use them with the Fosi class D amp as I did on and off. That amp is grainy sounding. My other amp used with the Spektor 2 speakers is the Marantz NR1508 AV receiver and with that amp the speakers are superb sounding. I'm a former member of the Bay Area Audiophile Society (and renamed San Francisco Audiophile Society) and say these things above with much listening experiences. The Spektor 2 speakers are worth it.

I had read some excellent reviews on the Dali Spektor. So, I gave them a try. I have to say they are an excellent value for a small bookshelf speaker. I'm using them as desktop speakers connected to a Sony UDA-1 DAC/AMP. The UDA-1 is rated at only 23watts into 4 ohms (the spektors are 8 ohms). Even though the sensitivity is rated at 87db for these, the Sony UDA-1 drives them fine. I never have to apply more than 25% volume to get to a fairly loud level.My initial impression of the sound (they haven't been broken in yet) is one that is very detailed and clear. The bass is about as strong as you can expect from a small speaker - but it is a tight and controlled bass. The mids are excellent. Vocals are front and center with an excellent soundstage. These are a bit bright though. Not hugely so, but I noticed some songs were bordering on sibilance where they weren't when played back on my other systems.Overall, I'm very satisfied with this purchase.