Our First Test of Dali's Fazon 2 speaker package scored the full five stars, with the satellite speakers winning acclaim for their 'rich, refined' sound.
The only criticism was levelled at the Fazon 2 subwoofer, which we deemed 'a tad tubby'. Well, the satellite speakers are back, now accompanied by the much smaller Fazon 1 subwoofer and with a useful £300 shaved off the price.
The visual effect is as pleasing as ever. The curvy aluminium speakers look glossy, feel weighty and are impeccably finished, while the new subwoofer is about as discreet as they get. Lined up against similarly priced rivals, the Fazon 1 package looks worth every penny of the price.
That impression is only reinforced when you hear the Dali package in action. The speakers are endlessly listenable, and most unlike the compact style speaker norm in that they're solidly punchy, tonally even and don't overplay their hand at the top of the frequency range.
The Dalis aren't short of verve or dynamic potency, but in the long term it's their detail retrieval, spacious presentation and deft adaptability that makes them as good as any comparable rival and better than most.
Solid display from the new subwoofer
In this incarnation, the subwoofer is nearly all help and hardly any hindrance. A 150 Watt box packing a 17cm driver is never going to pop your double-glazing from its frames, but the Fazon 1 punches manfully, delves deep and offers genuine solidity.
Some rival 5.1 packages offer greater extension, low-frequency dynamics and outright scale, but where straight-edged timing and sweet integration with the satellites is concerned, the Dali package has nothing to make excuses for.
These characteristics hold just as true for multichannel music as they do for movie soundtracks: the overall delivery is nimble, eloquent and profusely detailed.
So it behoves anyone with this sort of money to spend on a stylish, discreet multichannel speaker package to give the Dali Fazon 1 a long and critical listen. Unless 'prodigious low-frequency presence' is the beginning and end of your wish list, you'll find this set-up to be as well realised as anything else around.
