Advice: Elac - Canton - Dali


Hello everyone, I got something to ask:

 

  • Has anyone heard Dali Rubicon 6 AND also the Elac FS407 / 409?
  • Please elaborate on the sonic differences!

 

Background:

Speaker quality is defined in two main characteristics for me.

A.     Separation of instruments / airy open image / detached from the speaker box

B.     The position of the image as “in your face / lively” or “laid-back / in the background”

Lately I have been listening to a few speakers. The best of all seemed the Elac FS409 but it was quite bass heavy. Lots of subsonic waves that might be too much for my small living-room. And I must confess the tweeter is so very clear that it reveals all flaws in recordings!

I want to try and listen to the smaller Elac FS407. It is said to have the same separation of instruments in the stereo image but less bass pressure.

First I started out with B&W 703S2 but they have very directional tweeters that even go phasing when you move your head. The bass pressure is less than the big Elac FS 409 but the instrument separation was also much less. This made slightly nervous records even more nervous. Not gonna buy those B&W.

Another candidate was the Canton 896DC. It gets you to 80% of the Elac FS409 at a third of the price but the instrument separation was also less. They also have quite some bass but the tweeter hides flaws in the tracks which makes bad recordings still enjoyable. The tweeter is still very good and non directional. It may still be a very big speaker for my room.

Some months earlier I tried Dali. They sound very much laid-back. Very much in the background. What can be a pity is that mid range driven tracks will have less presence.

Dali is very calm and Elac is very lively. Canton might be in between, but with less instrument separation.

I wish there was a shop with Dali Rubicon 6 AND Elac FS407 & 409. But alas. There is no such shop where I live.

Some say either speaker is way too big for my room but I got Philips FB820 for thirty years and they always worked fine, even being big. I’ll try upload my room plan.

Anyway, I’m very curious about your thoughts about- and experiences with Elac FS407, Elac 409, Canton 896DC and Dali Rubicon 6.

My room:

http://i65.tinypic.com/6xz2o5.png
stereonic