Dali Zensor 1 vs Lektor 1

[ivavcr]

Both speakers are within my price range and I would like to hear your suggestions and reasoning behind it. The room is 3X5 meters and the speakers will have to sit on top of a shelf with their backs around 20cm (8") from the rear wall. The amp is NAD C326BEE and should have ample power for both.

I tend to believe that the Lektor, being front ported, would be a better soulution. At the same time, I am a bit confused that the Zensor can be wall mounted. What determins if a rear ported speaker can be placed relatively close to the rear wall without overall sound degradation?

Lektor has been discontinued and had a limited press and forums coverage. At the same time Zensor had a number of stellar reviews. I really need your help to make a right decision!

Do you have any other suggestion within the same price range?

 

[Blackdawn]

Hi, if you have large shelves and can have 20cm from the rear wall then it doesn't really matter. If i were you i would go for the lektor 2's which are excellent.

 

[BREEKO1963]

I had the lektor 1 for a few years and they had a really sweet and expressive midrange. I only replaced them because I moved the hi-fi into a bigger room and wanted a larger speaker. If you listen to a lot of vocal music then they have an ability to convey voices really well and with my limited experience, but having listened to a few other speakers, the lektors are a special speaker if you don't require lots of bass. It had more than enough for me though. If you have a small room ( yours is small enough) then they are great.

 

[ivavcr]

Thank you for your responses guys!

I used the same shelf with my Diamonds 10.1. They were great sounding speakers in a show room. They were well away from all the walls and they sounded balanced and open. All that changed when they were placed on the shelf. There was an unpleasant bass boost masking the highs and mids. Among other things, I am trying to understand what is the rule of thumb for rear ported speakers. Some can supposedly be hanged on a wall (Zensor 1, Mentor Mnuet) and some have to stay clear from the walls.

Thank you again.

 

[BREEKO1963]

I had my lektors on a shelf for the first year I had them and they were also stuck in a corner. Both speakers were on different surfaces but I found using the rubber feet that comes with them helps isolate them well and I had no issues with any boom or vibration. They are fine for this type of scenario.

 

[davedotco]

Thank you for your responses guys!

I used the same shelf with my Diamonds 10.1. They were great sounding speakers in a show room. They were well away from all the walls and they sounded balanced and open. All that changed when they were placed on the shelf. There was an unpleasant bass boost masking the highs and mids. Among other things, I am trying to understand what is the rule of thumb for rear ported speakers. Some can supposedly be hanged on a wall (Zensor 1, Mentor Mnuet) and some have to stay clear from the walls.

Thank you again.

Putting speakers onto a shelf or other furniture is never a good thing, the sound will be degraded significantly, the best that you can do is try and minimise the damage.

The position of the port is really not relevant with regard to placement unless you get it so close to a boundary as to restrict airflow. In general, ported speakers do not like to be close to a wall, unless specifically designed to work in that way. The best example at the budget end of the spectrum is the Neat Iota.

 

[Regisss]

Putting speakers onto a shelf or other furniture is never a good thing, the sound will be degraded significantly, the best that you can do is try and minimise the damage.

Why it is so? about puting speakers on shelf...

 

[ivavcr]

I understand why furniture / shelves are enemy of a good sound. On quality speakers great effort is made in a cabinet design to reduce unwanted resonances. If you do not decouple or isolate the speaker from a shelf or another piece of furniture, you will have the whole shelf singing along and that is clearly not good. Last few years I'v been using sorbothane feet (DIY) on all my speakers and they appear to be quite effective.

I was under a general impression that close to the back wall placement is a big no no for rear ported speakers.

This topic took a surprising turn! While trying to figure where from to order one of the Dalis, I came across Martin Logan LX 16 - same as ML 15. They offer free shipping in the USA and I am just 50 km from the border (Vancouver, BC) for USD 480 for the pair. With all the taxes that should be GBP 348.

I had a chance to listen to the ML 15 and they sound really nice, so the choice was simple. They should arrive to their US destination in a next few days.

Thank you all!