Dali Opticon 8 ?

[Blacksabbath25]

Have you got your speakers yet ? Let us know what you think

 

[krish123]

Have you got your speakers yet ? Let us know what you think

hi bud,

not yet, there due into the hifi shop tomorrow or thurs, so either getting them on friday or monday i would have thought.

Started with the basics first by measuring distances from side walls (1m im going for), they will be 24CM from rear wall, hope this will be enough.

Iv added some egg crate foam underneath the square carpet piece im going to place the speakers on.

Next will be to get the speakers into position and then use a mirror to establish the first and side side wall reflections and put some more foam behind canvas pictures and get these up on the wall.

I want to get all this in place before i try the speakers so they have the best chance to shine.

 

[krish123]

also do you think its worth biwiring these speakers? What speaker cables do you use with yours?

 

[Blacksabbath25]

also do you think its worth biwiring these speakers? What speaker cables do you use with yours?

yes if your got the spare cable kicking around but if you have not its not worth paying out on the extra cable just to do bi wiring there is no differences in sound if you bi wired . Your get spikes with this speakers and little rubber stick on feet if you did not want to use the spikes but the rubber feet are rubbish . Are your speakers going on carpet or a wooden floor ? If you do use the spikes I recommend spike shoes you can buy them of eBay I got myself some good ones for £30 set they have rubber under the shoes they are very good quality and make a big difference too and the speaker cable I am using is atles speaker cable it's about £12.50 a meter it's a copper core it good stuff I would not buy a silver core cables because I think it can make the treble a little bright . I bet your excited !

 

[krish123]

also do you think its worth biwiring these speakers? What speaker cables do you use with yours?

yes if your got the spare cable kicking around but if you have not its not worth paying out on the extra cable just to do bi wiring there is no differences in sound if you bi wired . Your get spikes with this speakers and little rubber stick on feet if you did not want to use the spikes but the rubber feet are rubbish . Are your speakers going on carpet or a wooden floor ? If you do use the spikes I recommend spike shoes you can buy them of eBay I got myself some good ones for £30 set they have rubber under the shoes they are very good quality and make a big difference too and the speaker cable I am using is atles speaker cable it's about £12.50 a meter it's a copper core it good stuff I would not buy a silver core cables because I think it can make the treble a little bright . I bet your excited !

iv got some decent musical fidelity speaker cable that came with my 550K power amps, thick stuff all copper il be using this.

Also got Atlas equator 2 speaker cable aswell so may biwire.

Well the floor is wooden but i have 2 square carpet pieces where i place the speakers, under this i have placed some foam but just need to make sure the speakers sit nice n stable on there, with there weight i think it should be fine.

I am exicited just want to get the room right! done a bit more soundproofing today, adding egg crate foam to cheeky little areas you cant see. Next will be to do the side walls for side wall reflections.

I also have a large wooden top which goes over the snooker table which is on the rear wall, im going to place foam behind this piece of wood too and some underneath the snooker table itself, it all sound help in absorbing some sound as the room is very bare and almost Echo like.

Dont think the speakers came in today though so doubt il have them for the wkend

 

[krish123]

Also later down the line im thinking about matching my marantz NA-S11 with the integrated PM11-S3 amp, do you think this would be a wise move? im guessing the synergy will be better but how will this amp compare to my pre/power setup i have now?

 

[Blacksabbath25]

Marantz stuff is we'll suited with Dali speakers I still kept my marantz pm8005 which I can not bear to part with but anyway sounds to me your got a good setup already but wait till the speakers come first before buying a new amp let your Dalis run -in a bit get used to them first . I do think you should buy some spike shoes as you have got a wooden floor it saves scratching the floor with the spikes as this speakers will be heavy to move around and also it looks better then having carpet under each speaker which I did myself when I first got mine but then leaned on here about spike shoes which I now have . . You will find out things on here about different things it's a good site to learn things about Hifi and there's lots of people on here that will help if you get stuck with anything I am always learning new stuff on here . What I would advise is when you get your speakers you will have to bolt the legs on the bottoms of each speaker so the spikes attach to this legs you will need to turn the speaker upside down to do this I would use a big towel and place each one on the towel this will stop you scratching the tops when your putting the legs on as the worst thing you could do is scratch brand new speakers which I would be gutted if that happened to me . Try just single wiring first and see how you get on its not worth the extra money doing bi wiring you will hear no difference in sound if you do this its just a wast of money .

 

[emperor's new clothes]

Hi Krish123,

Congrats on the new speakers. Heard them briefly when auditioning the 6s and they were very impressive indeed. With your mighty power amps, you might be triangulated by seismologists*biggrin*

Concur with Blacksabbaths advice re: cabling. I use QED Ruby Evo with Airlocks. I bi-wired for 20 years with previous system but read that Dali recommend single wiring. Dynaudio don't even give you the option.

Would try to give them at least the recommended 30cms if at all possible. Mine are 80cms in an awkward 7.5 x5m upstairs room. Downstairs, my Ikons are at 28cm, but the bass port is front firing. There was still a hint of the dreaded boom at 25cms, but obviously every room is different. I use accoustic foam bass traps behind the Opticons. Your room preparations are well worth the effort, as biggest potential detriment to SQ, IMHO. I used a Isoteck setup CD and found small tweeks worth the effort. Started with firing straight ahead as recomended, but ended up with slight toe in. Tweeters 2m apart and seating at 2.5m which a USA tester found best for the Rubicon 6s in his room. As you know, the ribbons have very wide dispersion, so not as critical as some, but there is marked vertical attenuation so ears at tweeter height again pays dividends.

As you can see, I'm a big fan of Marantz and the 11 is a beast of an amp. Heard it with some big Focals. Whether better than Hegals, etc at the price point is another discussion for later. Rightly or wrongly, I've always gone for one-make electronics, Meridian, Cyrus and B&O in the past and there are often synergies other than aesthetic.

Prep work wise as I guess at 35kgs a piece, you won't want to move them arround too much. Happy listening and look forward to your thoughts. Although impressive "out of the box" after 100 hours will be better still.

 

[Blacksabbath25]

Have you got your speakers yet ?

 

[krish123]

Have you got your speakers yet ?

recieved them saturday, was so excited got round to unpackaging them saw the lovely gloss black finish and the huge port holes at the back.... and then the huge damage that had been done to the speakers in multiple areas of the speakers!

gutted! going to take a while to sort this now, the packaging was very poor i must say for such heavy speakers, no protection at the sides which is where there all the damage was.

So gonna be a bit more time until i can listen to these , was really looking forward to getting them setup aswell!

 

[Blacksabbath25]

Have you got your speakers yet ?

recieved them saturday, was so excited got round to unpackaging them saw the lovely gloss black finish and the huge port holes at the back.... and then the huge damage that had been done to the speakers in multiple areas of the speakers!

gutted! going to take a while to sort this now, the packaging was very poor i must say for such heavy speakers, no protection at the sides which is where there all the damage was.

So gonna be a bit more time until i can listen to these , was really looking forward to getting them setup aswell!

sorry to hear about your speakers i bet your gutted just hope this gets sorted out fast thats bad

 

[Andrewjvt]

A real let down sorry to hear this

 

[krish123]

hi all,

Finally got my Speakers yesterday, arrived this time undamaged!

Only had a brief listen so far but impressed, greater clarity and detail in the mids and highs, larger soundstage and better defined base.

Still need to get everything setup correctly but first impressions are good.

one thing i have noticed is that there is a slight humming noise/Buzz coming from the left speaker only in the tweeter/mid range driver area, is this something to worry about?

Its only audible when putting your ear close to the speaker but will this be an issue. the right speaker this doesnt happen.

Im not sure whether to report this to the shop?

 

[philpot1001]

just make sure there isnt any speaker wire shorting out on the left speakers, check at the amp and the speaker terminals

 

[Blacksabbath25]

hi all,

Finally got my Speakers yesterday, arrived this time undamaged!

Only had a brief listen so far but impressed, greater clarity and detail in the mids and highs, larger soundstage and better defined base.

Still need to get everything setup correctly but first impressions are good.

one thing i have noticed is that there is a slight humming noise/Buzz coming from the left speaker only in the tweeter/mid range driver area, is this something to worry about?

Its only audible when putting your ear close to the speaker but will this be an issue. the right speaker this doesnt happen.

Im not sure whether to report this to the shop?

so glad you have got your speakers safe this time round I told you they would be good anyway have you tried switching speakers to rule out an issue with the amplifier channels try the other speaker that's making the buzzing sound on the good side and see if it still makes a buzz sound if does not make a buzz sound then check the speaker cables are connected ok and make sure that none of the speaker cables are touching mains cables as this sometimes may do this but if you have ruled out the amp then yes talk to the shop were your got them from but this would be very bad luck if there is an issue with new speakers as Dali are good with quality control

 

[Freemomusic]

I did the same setting up a 2nd system, the dual tweaters on the Dali's sounded so good, bring to life to music esp with a Sax and female vocals. I stay up late listenning, just dont want to turn it off.

 

[krish123]

hi all,

Finally got my Speakers yesterday, arrived this time undamaged!

Only had a brief listen so far but impressed, greater clarity and detail in the mids and highs, larger soundstage and better defined base.

Still need to get everything setup correctly but first impressions are good.

one thing i have noticed is that there is a slight humming noise/Buzz coming from the left speaker only in the tweeter/mid range driver area, is this something to worry about?

Its only audible when putting your ear close to the speaker but will this be an issue. the right speaker this doesnt happen.

Im not sure whether to report this to the shop?

so glad you have got your speakers safe this time round I told you they would be good anyway have you tried switching speakers to rule out an issue with the amplifier channels try the other speaker that's making the buzzing sound on the good side and see if it still makes a buzz sound if does not make a buzz sound then check the speaker cables are connected ok and make sure that none of the speaker cables are touching mains cables as this sometimes may do this but if you have ruled out the amp then yes talk to the shop were your got them from but this would be very bad luck if there is an issue with new speakers as Dali are good with quality control

I will do this to rule out the amplifier being a problem. Also with this monobloc amplifier its connected through a extension mains plug, i may try plugging the amp directly into the wall to see if that fixes it.

Im going to be very fustrated if i have to send these speakers back again!

Is a hum like this normal or does it show a sign of a issue?

 

[Blacksabbath25]

hi all,

Finally got my Speakers yesterday, arrived this time undamaged!

Only had a brief listen so far but impressed, greater clarity and detail in the mids and highs, larger soundstage and better defined base.

Still need to get everything setup correctly but first impressions are good.

one thing i have noticed is that there is a slight humming noise/Buzz coming from the left speaker only in the tweeter/mid range driver area, is this something to worry about?

Its only audible when putting your ear close to the speaker but will this be an issue. the right speaker this doesnt happen.

Im not sure whether to report this to the shop?

so glad you have got your speakers safe this time round I told you they would be good anyway have you tried switching speakers to rule out an issue with the amplifier channels try the other speaker that's making the buzzing sound on the good side and see if it still makes a buzz sound if does not make a buzz sound then check the speaker cables are connected ok and make sure that none of the speaker cables are touching mains cables as this sometimes may do this but if you have ruled out the amp then yes talk to the shop were your got them from but this would be very bad luck if there is an issue with new speakers as Dali are good with quality control

I will do this to rule out the amplifier being a problem. Also with this monobloc amplifier its connected through a extension mains plug, i may try plugging the amp directly into the wall to see if that fixes it.

Im going to be very fustrated if i have to send these speakers back again!

Is a hum like this normal or does it show a sign of a issue?

no not normally this speakers should not make any hum sound but I have never used mono blocks before but someone on here with a bit more understanding then me of mono blocks would help you more then me but what I do know is sometimes it can be one of the power supplies in a amplifier that can be noisy but like I say I am not the best person to ask about this I will see if I can get someone who will know

 

[Al ears]

Did your RS6 speakers have any hum in your set up before you got the Dalis?

 

[krish123]

Did your RS6 speakers have any hum in your set up before you got the Dalis?

Good question, No i never noticed any hum from them so i believe this is a speaker issue. will double check tonight.

 

[wilro15]

Hum is likely from the amps, they do that sometimes. Your new speakers may just be more revealing of it.

 

[Al ears]

Hum is likely from the amps, they do that sometimes. Your new speakers may just be more revealing of it.

It is indeed possible that the new speakers are more sensitive to whatever is inducing the hum but I would still find it rather annoying and want to find exactly what's causing it. Possibly try a third pair of speakers.

 

[Blacksabbath25]

Hum is likely from the amps, they do that sometimes. Your new speakers may just be more revealing of it.

It is indeed possible that the new speakers are more sensitive to whatever is inducing the hum but I would still find it rather annoying and want to find exactly what's causing it. Possibly try a third pair of speakers.

this is his second set of Dali opticon 8s he has had as the first set that he ordered arrived damaged which had taken nearly 2 weeks to come so it was very disappointing for him and now he is on his second set now so hoping that there is not an issue with this set but my thinking was one of the mono block amps making this hum sound more then it would be his new speakers as I have said before Dali have very good quality control as they test everything before it leaves the factory . Not sure if this makes any difference but this are 4 ohm speakers so are this mono blocks having to work harder then with his old speakers ?

 

[Al ears]

Hum is likely from the amps, they do that sometimes. Your new speakers may just be more revealing of it.

It is indeed possible that the new speakers are more sensitive to whatever is inducing the hum but I would still find it rather annoying and want to find exactly what's causing it. Possibly try a third pair of speakers.

this is his second set of Dali opticon 8s he has had as the first set that he ordered arrived damaged which had taken nearly 2 weeks to come so it was very disappointing for him and now he is on his second set now so hoping that there is not an issue with this set but my thinking was one of the mono block amps making this hum sound more then it would be his new speakers as I have said before Dali have very good quality control as they test everything before it leaves the factory . Not sure if this makes any difference but this are 4 ohm speakers so are this mono blocks having to work harder then with his old speakers ?

Which were 6 ohm so, although I cannot find which monoblocks he is using, I doubt they'd notice much of a difference. Having said that anything is possible. Perhaps he could borrow another amp and see if that still creates the hum.

 

[Blacksabbath25]

He is using 2 musical fidelity 550k mono blocks with pre amp I looked up the mono blocks and they are very powerful can go upto 750watts each so not an issue there . The online manual says it's a cable issue or phono lead not pushed in proper or speaker cable or a cable that is not shield it's strange I know but that's what it says in the problem section of the manual . So check all of your cables and leads make sure they are all in the right places and pushed in you can look up your manual up on line it says about hum in the problem section of the manual so the problem will be with the side that's making the hum . Ps your got one hell of a setup I bet your Hifi sounds lovely with the opticons