DALI SPEKTOR 2 Bookshelf Speakers - Walnut, Pair
Category: other
DALI Built Its Cheapest Speaker Its Own Way
Most companies fill the bottom of the range with drivers bought from a catalog. DALI did not. The Spektor 2 uses the same wood fiber cone and soft dome tweeter thinking as the Danish company’s dearer speakers, scaled down to a cabinet under 12 inches tall.
It is a two-way standmount with a 5.25-inch wood fiber woofer and a 1-inch soft textile dome tweeter, in a rear-ported cabinet. DALI asks for 25 to 100 watts into a nominal 6 ohm load, which covers most amplifiers and receivers sold at this end of the market.
Small Enough for a Shelf, Happier on a Stand
Each cabinet measures 11.5 by 6.7 by 9.4 inches and weighs a little over 9 pounds. We offer it in Walnut and White, both wood-grain vinyl with gloss trim rings on the baffle. One pair of terminals per speaker, and they are sold as a pair.
Why the Crossover Barely Has to Work
The woofer cone is a mix of fine-grained paper and wood fiber pulp. The wood fibers leave the surface deliberately uneven, which is how DALI breaks up resonances in the cone itself. The result is light and stiff at the same time, on a low-loss rubber surround.
The tweeter is a 25 mm soft textile dome. DALI says its dome material "is less than half the weight" of most rivals’, and low moving mass means the dome can start and stop quickly. Both drivers are linear enough that the crossover at 2,600 Hz mostly just divides the signal.
Where the Bass Stops, and Why
Frequency range is quoted at 54 Hz to 26 kHz within 3 dB. Maximum output is 105 dB and sensitivity is 84.5 dB at 2.83 volts. A 5.25-inch woofer in a cabinet this small has limits, and DALI publishes them plainly rather than rounding them up.
What Reviewers Are Saying
What Hi-Fi? reviewed the Spektor 2 on October 28, 2020, gave five stars and named them a What Hi-Fi? Awards 2020 winner: "The Spektor 2s are excellent speakers, combining Dali’s traditional strengths with a generous dose of entertainment".
The same review: "The way these speakers handle dynamics is impressive. They’re fluid and expressive, handling both large-scale swings and low-level subtleties with equal skill."
Craig Chase reviewed them for Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity on November 15, 2021, and put them on its Recommended Gear List: "DALI has made a budget speaker that doesn’t sound like a budget speaker."
Who Are These Bookshelf Speakers Best For?
- This is your first real pair of speakers — DALI designs and builds its own drivers, so the engineering is the same thinking that goes into speakers costing several times as much
- The shelf is shallow or the room is small — under 12 inches tall and 9.4 deep, with a fixing point on the back for wall mounting
- They are handling movies as well as music — a 105 dB ceiling and DALI’s wide dispersion mean they hold up as a front pair or as surrounds
- You would rather not chase placement — DALI voices these to fire straight ahead, so there is no toe-in angle to dial in and no sweet spot an inch wide
- Your amplifier has some power behind it — sensitivity is 84.5 dB into 6 ohms, and DALI asks for 25 watts minimum; one of our integrated amplifiers opens them right up
How Do They Connect to Your System?
Speaker cable runs from your amplifier to the single pair of terminals on each cabinet. They take spades, banana plugs or bare wire, so use whatever you already own. Rubber feet are supplied for shelf use, and there is a fixing point on the back for wall mounting.
Placement is where these repay a little care. DALI recommends firing them straight ahead rather than angling them in, and leaving a gap behind for the rear port. Get the tweeters near ear height and you are done.
Pairs Well With
What rounds out the system. These are the categories most Spektor 2 owners shop next.
- Speaker stands — the single easiest improvement, since these were voiced for ear-height listening
- Subwoofers — add the bottom octave the cabinet cannot reach, and the Spektor 2s handle everything above it
- Speaker cables — terminated or bare, in the length your room actually needs
- Wall-mount brackets — for the rear fixing point, when shelf space has run out
Frequently Asked Questions
Are the DALI Spektor 2s sold as a pair?
Yes, they ship as a pair. Grilles and rubber feet are included, and the grilles attach to the baffle so you can run them covered or exposed.
How close to the wall can I put them?
DALI designed the Spektor 2 for a shelf, a wall or a stand, so close placement is part of the brief. Nearer the wall lifts the bass, so start further out and move in if you want more weight.
Do I need speaker stands?
A shelf works and DALI designed for it. Stands still help, mostly by putting the tweeters at ear height and getting the cabinets off a surface that can resonate with them.
What kind of speaker cable termination fits?
The terminals accept spades, banana plugs and bare wire. There is one pair per cabinet, wired straight to the crossover, so a single run of cable per side is all you need.
Can I use them in a home theater?
They work as a front pair or as surrounds. The wide dispersion helps when seats are spread across a room rather than in one chair, and Chase found they handled film dialogue with ease.
Is there a step up from here?
DALI’s newer Sonik 1 is the next rung: the same size class with a 29 mm tweeter and DALI’s SMC magnet system. It is in our DALI collection.
See It in Action
Cheap Audio Man reviews the Spektor 2:
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