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Dali OBERON 9 – The new flagship of the Dali OBERON Series

Audiophile speaker systems for everyone, with this intention Dali Speaker A/S presented the Dali OBERON Series. This product line is now being expanded to include the new Dali OBERON 9 floorstanding loudspeaker system, which thus takes on the role of the new flagship of the product line.


The Danish company Dali Speaker A/S has an extraordinary product line with the Dali OBERON Series. Not only did they start in 2019 to offer audiophile loudspeaker systems for everyone, as Dali Speaker A/S itself puts it, but they also offer an especially wide range of products, which are designed for both HiFi and Home Cinema. The Dali OBERON Series has so far been presented with a total of six loudspeaker systems, starting with the Dali OBERON 7 and Dali OBERON 5 floorstanding loudspeaker systems, two bookshelf loudspeaker systems in the form of the Dali OBERON 3 and Dali OBERON 1, and of course the Dali OBERON VOCAL is also available as a centre speaker. The only thing missing is a loudspeaker system to make up the six units described above, and here the developers at Dali Speaker A/S have come up with a particularly compact solution for wall mounting, which has been given the appropriate name, namely Dali OBERON ON-WALL.

As if that wasn’t enough, only recently Dali Speaker A/S chose the Dali OBERON Series to present the latest active loudspeaker systems, namely the Dali OBERON C Series, consisting of the models Dali OBERON 1 C, Dali OBERON 7 C and Dali OBERON ON-WALL C. Now the passive models will be presented again and the Dali OBERON Series will be extended by a further loudspeaker system, the new Dali OBERON 9.

With the new Dali OBERON 9 the Dali OBERON Series is extended upwards, the new speaker system from Denmark is the new flagship of the product line. The new top model presents itself as quite powerful in sound, but still comparatively slim floorstanding speaker designed as a three-way system. Dali Speaker A/S promises to offer a solution with a bass reproduction and dynamics that in this price range could only be achieved with an additional subwoofer. This makes the new Dali OBERON 9 particularly suitable for larger rooms, regardless of whether it is to be used as a stand-alone loudspeaker system for the front channels of a home cinema or as a classic stereo system.

In order to achieve the stated goal of audiophile speaker systems at a very attractive price, the developers at Dali Speaker A/S naturally rely on technology developed for speaker systems from the higher-rated product lines in the Dali OBERON series. Thus Dali Speaker A/S has succeeded in setting new standards in the entry-level segment with this product series. It goes without saying that the new flagship of the Dali OBERON Series, the Dali OBERON 9, is a perfect example of this.

The new Dali OBERON 9 is equipped with drivers that rely on the SMC patented by Dali Speaker A/S. This is known to be a very special drive. The pole piece of the magnet system of the low-mid drivers is made of a very special alloy, namely the combination of iron and the SMC magnetic material. This guarantees a significant reduction of third-order distortion and thus ensures a longer relaxed listening experience with a particularly natural, therefore unobtrusive midrange and a remarkable wealth of detail. It is not really necessary to mention that the bass and mid-range drivers use a membrane consisting of a special mixture of cellulose and wood fibres, which gives them the red-brown colour tone that has long been typical for Dali Speaker A/S.

The tweeters used in the entire Dali OBERON Series, and thus of course also in the new flagship Dali OBERON 9, are also outstanding. With a diameter of 29 mm they achieve a significantly higher sound pressure level with smaller and therefore more controlled excursion than other solutions. The precision thus achieved is of course directly reflected in the precision of the imaging, especially since the fabric dome is a construction with a particularly light membrane. In addition, the larger diameter allows for a higher bandwidth, thus also providing an optimal connection to the midrange and bass drivers for a seamless transition. The tweeter’s magnet system is cooled with ferrofluid to provide greater power handling, perfect damping and support for absolutely centred voice coil excursion, the manufacturer promises. An essential detail of the tweeters is of course their integration into the baffle, using a design from the Dali OPTICON Series and Dali RUBICON Series. This is to provide the tweeter with optimal conditions for best possible results and to ensure an even, wide-angle dispersion into the room.

This wide-angle dispersion is essential for another feature that is intended to distinguish all Dali OBERON Series loudspeaker systems, including the new flagship. Dali Speaker A/S states that they have placed great emphasis on a particularly flexible, uncritical installation, so that the Dali OBERON Series solutions can be integrated into any living environment in a versatile way.

In order to guarantee this, the company has chosen a particularly slim and timelessly elegant design. This starts with rounded corners, continues with modern designs in various wood veneers and lacquers, and ends with coarse-meshed textured fabrics for the covering of the loudspeaker grill and an elegant stand made of aluminium.

As already mentioned, the new Dali OBERON 9 is designed as a three-way bass reflex system. Two 230 mm bass drivers are used here, which are combined with a 175 mm midrange driver and a 29 mm tweeter in the form of a fabric dome tweeter. This allows a frequency range between 35 Hz and 26 kHz to be covered. The crossover network is set at 780 Hz and 3.4 kHz, the bass reflex system of the Dali OBERON 9 is tuned to 31 Hz. With a sensitivity of a remarkable 90.5 dB and an impedance of 4 ohms, the Dali OBERON 9 develops a sound pressure level of up to 113 dB and is designed for amplifiers with a power output between 50 and 400 watts.

  • Dali OBERON 9 06
  • Dali OBERON 9 07
  • Dali OBERON 9 09
  • Dali OBERON Series 08

The loudspeaker system measures 1,172 mm in height, 260 mm in width, and 406 mm in depth. The Dali OBERON 9 weighs an impressive 37.1 kg.

The recommended placement should also be emphasised, because according to the manufacturer, a wall distance of only 20 to 80 cm is sufficient.

While the previously available Dali OBERON Series loudspeaker systems are available in black, light oak, walnut and white, the new Dali OBERON 9 is initially available in black ash and dark walnut. In both versions, the loudspeaker grill is always in anthracite, which perfectly matches the baffle of the speaker, which is also always dark.

The scope of delivery of course includes not only spikes for the aluminium stand, but also rubber feet.

The new Dali OBERON 9 will soon be available in specialist shops. The recommended retail price is stated by the manufacturer as € 799,- per piece.

Getting to the point

With the new Dali OBERON 9 the Dali OBERON Series is extended upwards, the new loudspeaker system from Denmark is the new flagship of the product line. The new top model presents itself as quite powerful in sound, but still comparatively slim floorstanding speaker designed as a three-way system. Dali Speaker A/S promises to offer a solution with a bass reproduction and dynamics that in this price range could only be achieved with an additional subwoofer. This makes the new Dali OBERON 9 particularly suitable for larger rooms, regardless of whether it is to be used as a stand-alone loudspeaker system for the front channels of a home cinema or as a classic stereo system.

Manufacturer:Dali Speaker A/S
Distribution:Dali Deutschland GmbH
Price:€ 799,- per piece
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Michael Holzinger

Michael Holzinger, founder and editor-in-chief of HiFi BLOG and sempre-audio.at, has been working for years as a journalist in the fields of IT, photography, telecommunications and consumer electronics.

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One Comment

  1. Love all your reviews guys. I thoroughly enjoy how detailed and easy to understand they are. I work in a Hi-Fi shop and the amount of people that come in with more confusion than knowledge because of other “reputable” Hi-Fi magazines and websites it’s insane. Well done to you!

    Also, just a quick note. In one of the pictures used when talking about the tweeters, you used a picture of a speaker that is called RUBICON 6.

    Not sure if it was intentional but I thought I’d point it out.
    Thanks!

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