Напольная акустика — DALI KORE

The KORE is a large passive floorstander from DALI, made at the company's factory in Norager, Denmark, and first shown to the public at the 2022 Munich High End exhibition. It succeeded the EPICON 8 and was priced at EUR 80,000 per pair at launch. Several of its technologies, including the EVO-K treble module and the second generation SMC motors, were later carried down into the EPIKORE range.

Key specs that matter

The maker calls the driver layout a 3.5 + 0.5-way arrangement. Two 11.5 inch woofers with dual voice coils handle the bass, a 7 inch driver covers the midrange, and the treble comes from a 35 mm soft dome paired with a 10 x 55 mm planar element. Crossover points sit at 390 Hz, 2,100 Hz and 12,000 Hz. Frequency range is 26 Hz to 34,000 Hz within 3 dB, sensitivity is 88 dB for 2.83 V at 1 m and nominal impedance is 4 ohm. Maximum output reaches 118 dB at 1 m, and the recommended amplifier power runs from 50 W up to 1,500 W. The complete speaker weighs 160 kg and stands roughly 1.7 m tall. The launch finish was Ammara Ebony, built up from six layers of clear high gloss lacquer.

Engineering and use context

DALI calls the woofer motor Balanced Drive SMC. Each bass unit carries two voice coils, and the magnet system uses the second generation of Soft Magnetic Composite, a material chosen to suppress uneven harmonic distortion. The cones are sandwich constructions of pulp reinforced with wood fibre. Each woofer has its own 72 litre reflex enclosure with angled ports that open to the rear, tuned to 22 Hz. The cabinet is a form-pressed laminate of birch 28 mm thick with heavy internal bracing, and cast aluminium, thermoset resin and cast composite parts are used in the structure. The precision-cast resin composite plinth alone weighs more than 34 kg and is non-magnetic. The crossover is split into two sections, with the bass filter mounted apart from the midrange and treble board. DALI states that it uses the first inductors made with low-loss SMC material, alongside air-wound coils and metallized polypropylene capacitors.

Pairing

The impedance reaches a minimum of 3.2 ohm at 72 Hz, which calls for a stable, high-current amplifier. The very wide power window means large stereo or mono power amplifiers with a separate preamplifier are the expected partners. Given the weight of each cabinet, delivery and installation need planning, and the speaker is intended for large rooms.

Alternatives

Within DALI's current floorstanding catalogue, the EPIKORE 11 is a tower of the series that inherited KORE technology.