The rounded edges and rustic fabric of these new DALI front grilles add a lighter and more contemporary visual look to the OBERON series. This look is enhanced by the elegantly shaped aluminium base mounted on the two floor-standing models.
The iron pole piece of the OBERON woofer magnet is crowned by a patented SMC disk – minimizing the negative effects of the iron. The use of the SMC disk greatly reduces mechanical distortion, which lowers third-order distortion. This allows for a longer listening pleasure, a relaxed midrange and a surprising amount of detail for its price class.
The OBERON woofer features a wood fibre cone with a blend of fine grain paper pulp, reinforced with wood fibres, which creates a stiff, light-weight and well-behaving structure. In combination with a low-loss surround and spider suspension, this cone reproduces the micro details in the signal – unfiltered and with high accuracy.
The driver materials, crossover design and geometry applied in the OBERON series has been selected to achieve a wide dispersion pattern. This ensures a well-integrated sound, even when listening at a significant off-axis angle. An added benefit is seriously reduced harmonic distortion and diffractions causing frequency distortion. This is why all DALI speakers are not designed to be toed-in.
With the launch of the DALI OBERON loudspeaker series, we have picked the best elements from our current speakers and brought them together in a series that delivers on audio quality, looks and versatility.
This large floor-standing three-way OBERON 9 features one 7″ and two 9” wood fibre woofers – all three based on SMC. Supported by an oversized 29 mm ultra-lightweight soft dome tweeter.
This, combined with the large but elegant cabinet, delivers the very best in deep bass and large room performance. Despite its size, this speaker is surprisingly delicate and will impress with its ability to render any music style naturally and lifelike even at lower volumes. This makes the OBERON 9 perfect for any music or movie style.
Despite its size, we have made it easy to integrate the OBERON 9 into any room. Both the driver materials and geometry applied in the speaker has been selected to achieve a wide dispersion pattern in the listening area. The same principles have been applied in the design of the crossover.
As result, you will experience a well-integrated sound, even when listening at a significant off-axis angle. This is important as you are rarely seated directly in front of your loudspeakers when listening to music. An added benefit is seriously reduced harmonic distortion and diffractions causing frequency distortion, as these will always be stronger in an on-axis response. This is also the reason why all DALI speakers are not designed to be toed-in.
The OBERON 9 features a dedicated 7″ midrange woofer supported by twin 9″ woofers. All woofers are low-loss and optimised with a new wood fibre structured cone which is dedicated to reproducing the delicate midrange and bass frequency area – like every other driver made by DALI. It is constructed from a blend of fine-grain paper pulp and reinforced with wood fibres, which creates a stiff, light-weight and well-behaving structure. In combination with a low-loss surround and spider suspension, this cone reproduces the micro details in the signal – unfiltered and with high accuracy.
The pair of 9″ drivers have a combined membrane area that has a 12% larger dimension than a 12″ woofer. The larger cone area allows a lower voice coil excursion at the same sound pressure level compared to a smaller woofer. It also allows a higher maximum sound pressure level, which leads to an effortless reproduction of the dynamics in the music.
The membrane terminates in a rubber surround that is chosen for its soft and very flexible properties. This gives the membrane free movement with a very low dampening effect and leaves the magnet motor to control the membrane movement.
The use of SMC in the OBERON 9 greatly reduces mechanical distortion caused by hysteresis and eddy currents. These combined improvements in the magnet motor system result in a lowering of third-order distortion. This allows the OBERON 9 to present longer listening pleasure, a relaxed midrange and a surprising amount of detailing for the class.
The magnet motor itself consists of a large ferrite magnet that surrounds a pole piece made with a unique combination of iron and SMC. The iron ferrite forms the lower base of the pole cylinder, topped off with a 10 mm SMC disk to crown the pole piece. This combination minimizes the negative effects of the iron while placing the SMC disk right in the main working area of the 4-layer voice coil. This placement ensures the maximum effect from the SMC on the voice coils environment, resulting in a greatly improved constant flux field.
The brand new 29 mm ultra-light soft dome tweeter used in the OBERON 9 is manufactured by DALI and has been developed specifically for the OBERON series – combining well-proven technologies from our existing DALI ranges with new features.
The oversized 29 mm membrane is constructed based on an ultra-light wave weave fabric and is additionally optimised for a larger bandwidth in its lower frequency area. This ensures the optimal handover from the midrange woofer to the tweeter, creating a well-balanced, unforced and very coherent upper midrange. Compared to most soft dome tweeters in the market, the DALI dome material is less than half the weight (0.060 mg/mm2).
The large size of the membrane lets the tweeter generate higher sound pressure with less excursion, keeping the voice coil motion to a precise minimum.
The tweeter front plate near the dome has been designed with similar geometry as the OPTICON and RUBICON tweeters to create the optimal working conditions for the soft dome. The aim is to combine an extended frequency response with wide dispersion and low colouration.
The cabinet housing of the OBERON 9 is constructed from a high-density CNC machined MDF board – dressed in carefully selected high-grade vinyl. The cabinet employs a very rigid construction, with solid bracings across the inside of the cabinet for reinforcement. This contributes to the stiffness and practically eliminates resonance within the cabinet.
To optimise timing, the speakers are fitted with acoustic damping material internally along the sides, top and bottom. This creates a more direct contact between the woofer and bass port. The audible result is a more precise bass and increased ‘attack’ in the midrange.
The bass ports are placed on the rear of the OBERON 9, optimising room integration by utilising the wall for improved bass performance.
With the OBERON range, DALI introduces a brand new front grille design. The new rounded front grille adds a lighter and more contemporary visual look to the speaker series. ‘Shadow Black’ is the standard grille supplied with dark finishes Black Ash and Dark Walnut.
The elegantly shaped aluminium base gives the floor-standing OBERON 9 a lighter look.
