What Hi-Fi? Verdict
Elegant, potent and exceptional, this remarkable system is an almost ideal all-rounder
Pros
- +
Superlative sonic integration and a big, cohesive soundfield
- +
lucid and insightful presentation
- +
meaty dynamics
Cons
- -
Needs space to work at its best
- -
that’s it
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We like Dali's Ikon 6 floorstanders: these elegant towers' full-bodied, beautifully cohesive sound plays all types of music well. It should follow, then, that a surround sound package based around such outstanding core components ought to at least have a fighting chance.
So it proves – and then some. This Dali system isn't just capable, or even merely good: it's outstanding in every regard, and a real treat for the ears.
The balance is delightfully even-handed, delivering everything from intense action-movie dynamics to barely audible surround effects with equal aplomb, while musically (as you'd expect) we've no complaints.
Every speaker in the Ikon package – the 6 floorstanders, the Vokal 2 centre channel and the On Wall surround speakers – employs a dual-tweeter array, featuring a conventional 28mm soft-dome design augmented by a ribbon tweeter.
This unusual set-up is designed to provide wider dispersion and better high-frequency insight when compared to conventional speakers, and in this application, it works to perfection: all five Dali speakers boast superlative reach, together creating a surround soundfield of improbable size and remarkable realism.
Plenty of power
The Ikon 6s are big speakers, able to reach down to a claimed 37Hz – but in this package, their low-frequency efforts are further reinforced by the aptly named SUB, a 250 watt active subwoofer with a forward-firing 30cm bass driver.
Although a ported design, the SUB has sufficient speed to keep pace with its urgent, articulate siblings: the result, when teamed with the powerful fronts, is a healthy level of sofa-shaking urge with V For Vendetta's excesses.
Weaknesses? Just one: this is a big system (save for the neat wall-hanging On Wall rears), and it needs room to breathe. We'd imagine that shouldn't be an issue in context: if you can find this kind of money for speakers, you'll likely have a big enough house to cope.
This is yet another Ikon success story.
