Danish Audiophile Loud-speaker Industries (DALI) has quite a track record of producing loudspeakers that deliver great sound at sensible prices. Its $1595 IKON 6, reviewed by Robert E. Greene in Issue 164, won our Affordable Loud-speaker of the Year Award in Issue 168. The company’s $4300 Helicon 400 (reviewed by Neil Gader in Issue 155) quickly became the speaker to beat for the money. And if price is no object, DALI’s $42k Megaline produced “the most convincing repro-duction of orchestral music” that Robert Greene has encountered (Issue 146).This consistency in sound quality was apparent during an unusual demo I attended at DALI’s Danish factory.
I listened to the same piece of music played on every model in the line, starting with the tiny budget Concept Series all the way to the ribbon-based Megaline, and heard a re-markable similarity in tonal balance, soundstaging, timbral purity, and other qualities. This experience suggested to me that the design team not only has a singular vision of what a loudspeaker should do, but also possesses the en-gineering chops to realize that vision across a huge range of products and price points.
Now DALI has brought to the U.S. the new Mentor Series, a line of just two models positioned midway between the IKON and the Helicon lines. Priced at $3500 per pair, the Mentor 6 is a four-way floorstanding speaker employing two 6.5″ mid/bass drivers coupled to DALI’s hybrid tweeter module. (The module, which mates a 1″ dome driver to a ribbon tweeter, is a corner-stone technology of DALI.) The stand-mounted $2300 Mentor 2 is essentially the top 40% of the Mentor 6—a three-way system employing a single 6.5″ mid/bass driver mated to the custom hybrid tweeter module. (See Technology sidebar for design details.)
Both the Mentor 2 and 6 are finished in genuine cherry-wood veneer and feature two pairs of binding posts for bi-wiring.
Listening to the mentor 6
I auditioned the Mentor 2 and Mentor 6 in two different systems (see Associated Equipment below), with the Mentor 2s mounted on Sound Anchor stands. DALI rec-ommends positioning both models facing straight ahead, with no toe-in.
The Mentor 6 reminded me in many ways of my reference loudspeaker, the Wilson MAXX 2, but scaled down. The two loudspeakers share qualities that are rare in loudspeakers of any price, including a transient fidelity and dynamic coherence that allow the speakers to speak with one voice dynamically over the entire spectrum. In many loudspeakers the bottom-end doesn’t quite match the midrange and treble in quickness, speed, and agility, a phenomenon that usually isn’t perceived directly, but contributes to a sense of sluggishness and dilution of musical energy. It would be one thing if the Mentor 6’s bottom end had only to keep up dy-namically with a midrange and treble with conventional transient response. It’s quite another when that midrange and treble are as extraordi-narily clean, fast, and detailed as the Mentor 6’s. In fact, the ribbon sets the performance bar for quickness, with the rest of the spectrum, astonish-ingly, keeping up. There’s no discontinuity in the steepness of leading edges or in decays. From the bottom end to the top, the Mentor 6 starts and stops on a dime.
Looking at bass performance in more detail, I was surprised by the Mentor 6’s sense of slam and dynamic impact, coupled with its resolution of bottom-end nuances. I didn’t think that two 6.5″ drivers could go so low and play so loudly, or that a ported cabinet could exhibit such quickness, freedom from overhang, and absence of port-induced artifacts. I’ve long held reservations about bass-reflex enclo-sures, but recent experience suggests that designers are capitalizing on the advantages of ported cabinets and engineering out the drawbacks. The MAXX 2 and Mentor 6 are prime examples of bass-reflex designs that don’t trade away transient performance for a port’s intrinsic advantages in extension.
The Mentor 6’s bass was tuneful and articulate, with outstanding resolution of pitch and small-scale dynamics. This quality made it easy to hear nuances of expression by great bass players, from Eddie Gomez’ terrific playing on the eponymous disc from the group Steps Ahead to Stanley Clarke on The Rite of Strings. In addition, the Mentor 6’s bass integrated very well and very easily in my room, with a neutral overall bass balance and seamless integration with the midrange.
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The Mentor 6’s sound was also char-acterized by an “alive” immediacy which, when coupled with the outstanding midrange and treble resolution, beautiful-ly resolved interplay between musicians. A good example is the joyful (and joyous) performance by Stephan Grappelli, David Grisman, Mike Marshall, Mark O’Conner, and Rob Wasserman on the LP simply called Live. The Mentor 6 resolved not only the transient and tonal qualities of the various stringed instruments (violin, mandolins, guitars, acoustic bass) but, more importantly, conveyed the feeling of spontaneous creation by these great musicians.
I found the Mentor 6’s overall tonal balance a bit on the lively side, with the treble having a full measure of energy and detail. Cymbals took on a slight prominence in the mix, and the sense of air and openness in the top end was also increased. The tambourine in “Jupiter” from Holst’s The Planets (Mehta conduct-ing the L.A. Philharmonic on London), for example, took on an added musical and sonic emphasis. Although a slightly forward treble balance can be a deal-breaker with many loudspeakers, the Mentor 6’s complete freedom from treble grain and edge allowed the top end to be open and detailed without inducing listening fatigue.
Finally, the Mentor 6 played surpris-ingly loudly without strain or dynamic compression. This quality was apparent on a wide range of music, from rock to full-scale orchestral music. Many moder-ately sized loudspeakers tend to congeal at high levels, with instrumental timbres hardening into a synthetic roar and image outlines fusing into a confused mess. To its credit, the Mentor 6 kept its composure well into lease-breaking volume levels.
Listening to the mentor 2
The Mentor 2 is essentially a stand-mounted version of the Mentor 6, with a single 6.5″ driver and a smaller enclosure. Not sur-prisingly, the two loudspeakers shared many characteristics, particularly at low-to-moderate volume levels. The Mentor 2 doesn’t have the depth and dynamic impact in the bass of its big brother, yet retains the same midbass articulation and dynamic coherence across the spectrum. I thought the Mentor 2 had a bit better ability to disappear into the soundstage, with a slightly greater sense of space. As with the 6, the Mentor 2 had an extremely quick, clean, and detailed midrange and treble pre-sentation, with no grain or edge.
If you are forced into bookshelf mounting, the Mentor 2 is an outstanding choice. But if you plan to position your loudspeakers on the floor on stands, the Mentor 6 is a better alternative. First, in addition to its deeper extension and more dynamic presentation, the Mentor 6 is 3dB more sensitive than the Mentor 2. This means you’ll need half the amplifier power with the 6 to achieve the same playback level. Second, by the time you buy quality stands, the Mentor 2’s price will approach the price of the 6. In my view, it’s better to put the money into a larger enclosure and additional driver than into stands. With either speaker, however, you get the same dynamic coherence, extremely detailed and resolved midrange and treble, and tremendous clarity.
Conclusion
The new DALI Mentor 2 and Mentor 6 loudspeakers extend the brand’s reputa-tion for sound quality and value. They deliver outstanding musical performance, and are remarkable for their dynamic agility, bottom-end weight and impact, grain-free reproduction of timbre, and, particularly, for their clarity and resolu-tion. In addition, both these speakers feature intelligent engineering and excellent build-quality. The addition of the Mentor line gives music lovers even more choices from this superb loud-speaker manufacturer.
Specifications
Mentor 2
Frequency response: 39Hz–34kHz ±3dB
Sensitivity: 86.5dB (2.83V/1m)
Impedance: 6 ohms
Maximum Spl: 108dB
Recommended amplifier power: 40–180W
Crossover frequencies: 3.4kHz, 12kHz
Loading: Bass-reflex
Driver complement: One 6.5″ mid/bass unit, one hybrid tweeter module (one 28mm soft-dome tweeter, one 17 x 45mm ribbon)
Dimensions: 7.7″ x 17.3″ x 13.8″
Weight: 22.2 lbs.
Finish: Cherry wood veneer
Price: $2300
Mentor 6
Frequency response: 36Hz–34kHz ±3dB
Sensitivity: 89.5dB (2.83V/1m)
Impedance: 6 ohms
Maximum Spl: 111dB
Recommended amplifier power: 40–200W
Crossover frequencies: 800Hz, 3kHz, 12kHz
Loading: Bass-reflexdriver complement: Two 6.5″ mid/bass unit, one hybrid tweeter module (one 28mm soft-dome tweeter, one 17 x 45mm ribbon)
Dimensions: 7.7″ x 40.4″ x 15.4″
Weight: 56.5 lbs.
Finish: Cherry wood veneer
Price: $3500
Source: dali-usa.com
