Напольная акустика — DALI EPICON 8

The EPICON 8 is the top floorstanding model of the EPICON series from DALI, the Danish loudspeaker company, placed above the EPICON 6 tower and the EPICON 2 stand-mount. The KORE succeeded it in 2022, and DALI has since discontinued it. The German list price was EUR 13,998 per pair, and production took place in Denmark.

Key specs that matter

DALI describes the layout as 3 + 0.5-way. Two 8 inch woofers and a 6.5 inch midrange, all with wood fibre cones, work with a hybrid module that pairs a 29 mm soft textile dome with a 10 x 55 mm ribbon. Crossover points are 550 Hz, 3,100 Hz and 15,000 Hz. The rated range is 35 Hz to 30,000 Hz within 3 dB, sensitivity is 89 dB for 2.83 V at 1 m, nominal impedance is 4 ohm, and maximum output is 112 dB at 1 m. Recommended amplification spans 50 to 500 W. The cabinet body is 1225 x 264 x 485 mm, growing to 1262 x 353 x 497 mm with base and grille, and each speaker weighs 47.5 kg. Finishes were black, walnut and Ruby Macassar, all in high gloss lacquer.

Engineering and use context

Each side wall is built from six layers of MDF glued together and anchored to a 63 mm multi-layer MDF backbone, 10 mm thicker than the backbone of the smaller EPICON models. The curved front baffle is a dual-layer panel 33 mm thick. Inside, two chambers of identical size hold the woofers so each can be tuned independently, a third chamber isolates the midrange, and the hardwired crossover sits in its own compartment at the bottom, away from the pressure changes in the reflex volumes. Two rear ports, placed close to the woofers and tapered at both ends to reduce turbulence, are tuned to 28 Hz. The woofer motor is called Linear Drive and uses the patented SMC magnet system, which pairs high magnetic conductivity with very low electrical conductivity to reduce distortion. The dome tweeter reaches down to about 2.5 kHz, and the ribbon handles the top octaves. The veneer is covered with ten coats of lacquer.

Pairing

The low nominal impedance makes a solid-state amplifier comfortable with low loads the sensible match. The terminals support bi-wiring as well as bi-amping with an active crossover. DALI advises keeping the cabinets more than 35 cm from the wall, and the box ships with a base, M10 spikes, rubber pads and terminal links.

Alternatives

A smaller tower from the same generation is the DALI EPICON 6, which uses two 6.5 inch woofers in place of the larger pair.