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Review 3 of 3
Price Paid:
$0.00
from Daedalus Audio Summary:
Daedalus Audio owned by Lou Hinkley, has been well known in the pro-audio world for some years. The new Daedalus Dynamic Audio-One (DA-1) is Daedalus’s largest speaker, and it’s first movement into the Audiophile community. Because of Daedalus’s heritage as a pro-audio company and Lou Hinkley's background as a musician the Daedalus DA-1 embodies a somewhat different philosophy as compared to many audiophile speakers:
? Live Music is the point of comparison
? Dynamic Capability – The dynamic variance of live music can be extreme and the involved speakers must
be able to replicate the performance and few audiophile speakers can handle the required dynamic range.
The observable and impressive components, including the cutting-edge driver construction, the sophisticated real-wood cabinetry, the scrupulously accurate crossover networks as well as the ability to handle extreme dynamics are discussed in detail on the Daedalus website. No effort or expense seems to have been spared in the design and construction of the Daedalus DA-1. When you first open the boxes, you notice the fantastic cabinetry with old world dovetail construction (seldom seen today). The pictures on the Daedalus website, don’t do these speakers justice, with finishes available in oak, walnut or cherry. The beautiful cabinetry of the DA-1’s blends well with most period and modern furniture. The general quality of fit and finish is outstanding. Without spikes, the Daedalus is solidly stable as some other spiked speakers.
I asked Lou about the hard wood and he indicated that in pro-audio, MDF will not work because with the rough handling breakage is a problem. Furthermore, he indicated that a properly designed hard wood cabinet of roughly 100 lbs would be as stiff or stiffer than a 300 lb MDF cabinet. When you start to listen to these speakers you become a believer. These speakers are rock solid, without a trace of resonance.
The DA-1 is a four-way system with a complicated phase coherent crossover. On the DA-1’s front panel is a pair of 8" woofers, and the bottom of the two crosses over at a lower frequency than the other. Above the woofers is a 5” dynamic midrange with it’s own built-in enclosure. Each DA-1 has two tweeters, offset by 10% to provide a large sweet spot. There is a rear facing aperiodic port, which you can easily use to reinforce the bass with corner placement.
Listening
When I first fired up the DA-1’s, I quickly discovered that true to their pro-audio heritage, that they are the most dynamic speakers that I have every experienced. With 96 DB efficiency and the ability to take nearly all the power that you can throw (600 watts per side) at them, you can turn your home into a concert hall. When listening to the 1812 Overture, I wanted to duck under the cannon balls. Furthermore the DA-1 sounds like a single large driver, and I can’t find the crossover seams. These speakers have great coherence and solidity from lower bass through the upper treble. When about 3 feet from the corner, I found them to be essentially flat to about 30 Hz. Moved into the corner, the reinforcement brought the base down to 25 Hz, and down 3 Db at 20 Hz.
So how do they sound?
Lets start with the DA-1’s treble performance, which is so revealing and musical. I can follow the bloom and decay of cymbals, and hear the background noise of the recording process. I can hear air in recordings that I have seldom experienced in 40 years as an audiophile. The previous time that I heard this air was in auditioning Quad ESL-63’s and again when listening to an Apogee Mini Grand. The back half of the notes with the lengthy bloom and decay came through providing realistic in the concert hall sounds. Furthermore, the DA-1’s are as outstanding with intimate small-scale ensemble music as they are with a symphony orchestra.
But the DA-1’s exceptional performance, which extends through all frequencies, somehow seems to bring air and character throughout the midrange and the bass. When you listen to a cello solo on most speakers, the output is commonly recessed. Not so with DA-1 where the cello sounds to be right there, with dynamics and precision that are so realistic. And the midrange with voice and plucked string, and the ensuing harmonics and decay come through in such a lifelike fashion. Air and decay is traditionally thought to be a treble quality, but the fact is that it comes through in other frequency spectrums. I listened to the Indiansong, which is the fourth cut of Toolbox. In the nylon string guitar solo I could discern the movement of the hands on the instrument. This due to the subtleties of sound when one moves there hands on the strings In other cuts with a close miked piano, you can close your eyes and hear the movement of the pianist hands in the sound stage. I don’t think that you will hear that on any but the world’s best speakers, and that includes the DA-1. Strengths:
The fact is that the performance from these speakers throughout the audio spectrum is about as good as it gets, but there are a few areas where the DA-1’s surpass nearly all of the very best speakers.
? As stated previously, these speakers are the most dynamic I have ever heard (96 DB efficiency, 600 watts per side). So when there is a large dynamic range on the recording the DA-1’s really excelled. With the DA-1’s, the combination of depth, detail and dynamics are beyond what I had heard before. Certainly the Quad’s or Apogee’s mentioned above are no match for the dynamic capability of the DA-1’s. Surprisingly, however, the DA-1’s still excel in the ability to handle the soft low-level passages for which the Quad’s and Apogee’s are so famous.
? Most speakers have narrow sweet spots, but the offset tweeters of the DA-1’s provide for an enlarged sweet spot. With this configuration you can listen with multiple companions and still hear the complete performance. In addition this provides a quality that grabs you when you walk through the room.
When Telarc’s CD-80296 “Pictures of an Exhibition first came out, it was portrayed as the first CD to surpass the capability of vinyl. The caveat was that you had to be able to handle the dynamics in your system to properly experience this fine recording. I bought and wondered why others considered this recording to be excellent. With the new Daedalus DA-1’s I eventually got around to playing Pictures. Wow, the reviewers were right. This recording, with it’s wide dynamic swings requires a reasonable amount of volume to hear the softer passages, and when passages move to ones with the bass drums, the dynamic contrast is spectacular. I knew in advance that the DA-1’s would handle the dynamics, and they did superbly. What further impressed me was the DA-1’s ability to handle the quiet passages reproducing all the lower level detail, bloom and decay and to superbly handle the orchestral sound stage Weaknesses:
Although, I had difficulty finding deficiencies in the sound produced by these speakers, I have found that you really can here a difference in amplifiers. When I started, I was using an 8th Nerve modified Carver ZR1600. In a lot of listening I felt I was not hearing all that these speakers could produce. I sent out one of my ZR1600’s to Reference Audio Mods, for their enhancement, and wow what a difference. These speakers are so good that they will highlight the weak-point in your system, and it likely won’t be the DA-1’s. Like me you might catch upgrade fever.
And with all of the ability to produce low level details you can really hear your recordings, and you might be disappointed with some of your old favorites. When I buy a recording, one of my parameters is sound quality, and I have had very few disappointments. On the other hand, my wife does not have this consideration, and she has been disappointed with some of her recordings. The DA-1’s are mercilessly revealing, and you will hear it all, both the good and the bad. Similar Products Used:
Custom Diaural Speaker
Definitive BP20
Infinity 2000A
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