Zensor 1 or RX1?

[Pagmed]

Hello. Looking for a pair of Bookshelf speakers for Marantz 6004 combo. Audition the MA RX1's

Paired with a Yamaha AS500 and was impressed. The DALI Z1's caught my attention based on

Reviews but can't audition them. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[jerry klinger]

I heard the small Dalis at a show last year and was very impressed! Seemed the sort of sound you could listen to for a long time. Scandinavians seem very good at getting that balance in speakers (we used to be good at it too...)

I don't know about the MAs though.

 

[Cypher]

I'm not a fan of the RX series so I would go for the Zensors. Great speakers for little money.

I have the Monitor Audio BX2 speakers. Also a great option and better than the RX series IMO.

 

[danrv]

The Zensors and the the Marantz combo would work well together. I have the Lektor 2s and they sound fantastic with my Roksans.I don't think you can go far wrong with Zensors or the Lektors as long as they're not partnered with bright kit.

I also had the RX1's for a while. Very good speakers with smooth,tight sound and deep bass. Exceptional build quality also. With the Marantz combo they might sound too rounded off in the treble. I was using mine with CA 640C and Rotel RA1 which is a fairly bright pairing and I found the treble just slightly lacking.

Care is also needed with placement of the RX1's as the bass can be too much if speakers are in room corners. I spent hours trying to tame the bass experimenting with postitioning,port bungs and filling stands.Sold them eventually.

Marantz PM/CD6004 and MA BX2 is also a good pairing. Cheaper too.

 

[fpeepingtom]

I've been using RX1's for around 6 months now and been very pleased with their performance. Although they're only around 18" from the side walls (recommended 3'), I've yet to experience the bass problems many people seem to associate with these speakers. However, I do listen to music at fairly modest volumes, the volume control on my Brio-R generally just below the 9 o'clock position.

One thing I've learnt with these speakers is that, from my experiance at least, you do need them at least 6' apart. I've changed my listening space around and now have these speakers firing down the room almost 7' apart and they sound excellent. At under 6' I found the soundstage severely compromised along with a distinct lack of detail, which I guess is to be expected.

Hope the above waffle helps and good luck with it all.

 

[Pagmed]

Thanks to all for the insight. The room where the system will be is a large room, but with sub-optimal acoustics. The speakers can only be 6 feet apart, and from some comments in this post, the RX1 need a tad more for addequate soundstage. It is a lively room where highs are augmented. The Zensors being so easy listening could be the ones for me. I've already tried bookshelf speakers vs my BX5's and even being a large room the bookshelfs sound better, maybe because small speakers deliver a more " focused "sound. I really wish I could audition the Zensors. By the way I have the opportunity to buy the RX1 at the same price of the Zensor.

 

[Sizzers]

Mr P’s review on the Dali's here might be helpful (unless you've already read it, of course).

 

[Anonymous]

I actually have Mr Ps' Zensors which i'm listening to right now!

I've tried them on a monitor shelf and on stands 5ft apart and they sound much better on stands, quite shy on bass but i add a little eq to the low end but i am in a big room as well. However imo they need some volume to really fill the room i'm in, if your a bass head you might want to add a sub which i am considering but they can go surprisingly loud for their size. But nice mids with good stereo and phantom imaging. I had an issue with them being a bit harsh when i got them but i recently upgraded to some Van Damme lc-ofc cable

They're very good speakers but if you can audition some, if for no other reason than our tastes are different! One speaker i was really impressed with was the Cambridge Audio S30 which i was gonna buy until i spotted the Dali's, i'd love to go back and do a comparison. I auditioned the MA BX1s at the time but didn't like them, too bright so it's possible you might not like the Z1s or prefer the RX1s.

 

[Anonymous]

One thing worth mentioning is the response of the Z1s is excellent, they handle everything i throw at them from dubstep to acid jazz. I even use them as nearfield monitors cause their ability to reproduce transients is so good.