Floorstanding loudspeakers — DALI RUBICON 6

Within the Danish maker DALI's RUBICON line, the RUBICON 6 is the middle floorstander, placed between the single-woofer RUBICON 5 and the three-woofer RUBICON 8. DALI now files the model among its discontinued products and still lists a walnut veneer finish for it. The same cabinet and driver set was also used for the RUBICON 6 C, a version with built-in amplification and wireless reception that DALI sold alongside the passive speaker.

Key specs that matter

Two 6.5 inch woofers with wood fibre cones share the low and middle frequencies, and a hybrid treble module pairs a 29 mm soft dome with a 17 x 45 mm planar element. DALI names the topology 2½ + ½-way and sets the filter points at 800 Hz, 2,600 Hz and 14,000 Hz. The published range is 38 Hz to 34,000 Hz within 3 dB, sensitivity is 88.5 dB measured with 2.83 V at 1 m, and the nominal impedance is 4 ohm. Maximum level is given as 110 dB at 1 m, and DALI suggests amplifiers delivering between 40 and 200 W. Each speaker measures 990 mm in height, 200 mm in width and 380 mm in depth, and weighs 20.2 kg.

Engineering and use context

In the half-way arrangement only the upper woofer continues past the first filter point up to the dome, the lower one adding bass alone, and the planar element comes in at the top of the band. Both woofer cones have a light, stiff and irregular surface meant to scatter resonances, ride on soft rubber surrounds with low losses and sit in cast aluminium baskets shaped for free air movement. Their magnet systems use a patented Soft Magnetic Composite pole piece, which DALI uses to lower distortion generated in the motor. The hybrid tweeter module keeps dispersion wide from roughly 2.5 kHz upward. The MDF enclosure has a front baffle 25 mm thick, extra internal bracing and separate internal chambers for the midrange and bass sections, with twin reflex ports on the back, each sitting right behind its woofer. The drivers are screwed straight into the baffle, and the crossover board is mounted directly on the terminal plate.

Pairing

Gold-plated terminals are laid out for bi-wiring, and the split also allows two stereo amplifiers to drive the lower and upper sections separately. With its low nominal impedance and moderate efficiency the tower is easier to drive than the smaller model of the series, though a transistor amplifier that stays stable into low impedances remains the safer match, with a partner rated toward the middle of the suggested power window being enough for normal levels.

Alternatives

For a larger DALI floorstander from the same series, the RUBICON 8 adds a third woofer and a taller cabinet.