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The Oberon 5 floor-standing speaker is a beautiful and affordable introduction to DALI's aesthetic. From the oversized soft-dome tweeter, to the wood-fiber woofers, and even the crossover, DALI's goals are low coloration and wide dispersion. The first is important because you want to hear your music the way it's supposed to sound, and the second because you're not always sitting in the sweet spot.
In fact, DALI is so committed to their wide-dispersion approach, the company recommends that you don't "toe-in" these speakers toward your listening position. You'll get clearer, less-distorted sound, they explain, with the speakers firing straight ahead, and their cabinets parallel to the wall behind them.
Slender and less than 3 feet tall atop its elegant aluminum base, the Oberon 5 doesn't take up much space. But while it's designed to make itself at home in a smaller room, its sound is anything but small. A pair of 5s can deliver a fluid and robust soundstage, even in a much larger rooms, and do so in a convincing, organic way.
DALI also carefully designed these speakers for a seamless handoff between the drivers. The woofers' stiff, lightweight construction — a blend of fine-grain paper pulp reinforced with wood fibers — has an inviting sonic signature. And the 1-1/8" tweeter also reproduces relatively low frequencies — for a tweeter — so that it overlaps with the woofers in the most musical manner.
The iron pole pieces of the woofer's magnets are capped with patented SMC (soft magnetic compound) disks that minimizes the negative effects of the iron. This reduces mechanical distortion, and helps create a relaxed, uncolored midrange. You'll hear a surprising amount of detail, without fatiguing your ears.
DALI — Danish Audiophile Loudspeaker Industries — has been making high-end speakers since 1983. The Oberon is their entry-level line, but we think it offers great bang for your buck. Tight vinyl-dressed, high-density MDF cabinets, with internal bracing and acoustic damping material throughout, all but eliminate resonance. This helps the speaker "disappear," and the music come alive.