Dali Epicon 2 Bookshelf Loudspeaker

description

The extremely elegant bookshelf loudspeaker EPICON 2 impresses with a fantastic sound quality. Don't let the speaker's size fool you - even if it's the smallest of the EPICON family.

Ideally, the EPICON 2 should play on the custom-made stand that is available as an accessory - then the loudspeaker offers an amazingly spatial and precise three-dimensional sound image that meets even the highest requirements of demanding audiophile music listeners.

The two-way loudspeaker works with a 165 mm bass-midrange driver and a fabric tweeter. The technological innovations of the larger EPICON models contribute to being able to offer a loudspeaker with the EPICON 2 that sounds far better than its compact dimensions would suggest.

The EPICON 2 perfectly demonstrates the essence of this new series: minimal loss of signal reproduction... or to put it bluntly: transparency and richness of detail at a level never before achieved!

This speaker has an extremely linear and consistent frequency response and is perfect for use in small to medium-sized rooms. The transmission range of the woofer tapers off gently at the bottom, and the speaker also reproduces very low frequencies. In most constellations, the EPICON 2 should therefore sound like a much larger box.

Within its transmission range, the EPICON 2 achieves the same reproduction quality as its larger sisters, the EPICON 6 and 8. It is the new compact loudspeaker for purists with the highest sound standards.

Linear drive magnet system

One of the technological highlights of the EPICON series is the linear drive magnet system. It is used in all woofers and mid-range drivers and is based on the powdery magnetic material SMC ('Soft Magnetic Compound'). The use of SMC brings many advantages, but above all the distortions in the magnetic drive caused by mechanical losses are reduced considerably. SMC's unique ability to combine high magnetic conductivity with very low electrical conductivity (1/10,000th of iron) enabled the development of an excellent loudspeaker drive without the disadvantages previously accepted. The distortions and thus the discolorations in the sound reproduction could be significantly reduced.

The technical information on the EPICON series, the white paper, explains in detail how the properties of a loudspeaker in terms of hysteresis, current linearity and voice coil inductance can be optimized with SMC. You can download the whitepaper further down on this page in the download area.

tweeter

The EPICON 2 has a tweeter with a 29 mm large, particularly light fabric dome. It is very well protected against any interference from the inside of the housing thanks to a stable base plate made of die-cast aluminum and its own housing chamber.

Thanks to an ultra-thin magnetic fluid for cooling, the dome has a very high saturation limit, which significantly increases its resilience. At the same time - especially at very high sound pressure levels - the voice coil movement is excellently controlled. The dome material itself is very light and so thin that the coating contributes a large part to the structural rigidity of the cone.

woofer

A 165 mm woofer provides a profound bass foundation for the EPICON 2. It works so powerfully that a separate subwoofer is not required even in small to medium-sized rooms.

The latest generation of wood fiber membranes has a new impregnation with a special coating that takes place after assembly. Wood fibers stiffen the cone membranes, which are made of very light cellulose. This structural reinforcement has excellent properties in every respect and also reduces the so-called bursting of the membranes, which causes disruptive partial vibrations.

In order to be able to carry out this process - like the entire production in general - within very narrow tolerances, the introduction of in-house production of loudspeaker chassis was an important step. The woofers of the DALI EPICON series were not only developed in the Danish DALI company headquarters, they are also manufactured there!

Multi-layer housing

Each side panel of the EPICON 2 consists of six individual layers of MDF boards glued together. These are firmly anchored to a 53 mm thick, multi-layered MDF rear panel. CNC milling is used to create the ultra-precise recesses and bores for the bass reflex openings and connection panels on the back of the housing.

The 33 mm thick two-layer front wall ensures that the energy mobilized by the drivers is also used acoustically and is not lost in the form of cabinet vibrations. The curved shape of the front wall also contributes to providing the most stable and torsionally rigid acoustic platform possible.

The corresponding bass reflex opening can be found on the back of the housing in close proximity to the woofer. The reflex tube is curved outwards at both ends to avoid disturbing turbulence. The hard-wired crossover is also fixed in its own housing on the bottom of the housing - and is therefore not exposed to the dynamic changes in air pressure within the bass reflex housing chamber.

The precisely calculated housing volume contributes just as much to the unique sound experience of the EPICON 2 as the carefully positioned housing braces or the consideration of the DALI principle of ensuring optimal timing and unhindered airflow in every respect.

The housing surface consists of real wood veneer, which has been varnished a total of ten times. Each individual layer is hand-polished between work steps to achieve a deep, high-gloss and elegant surface. A tenfold coating with a thickness of around 2 mm also ensures a particularly hard-wearing finish. The openings for drivers, reflex openings and connection terminals are cut out after the painting process to ensure a precise assembly.