Daedalus


All, there is some info here on some of Daedalus' larger models. Anybody have the DA-RMa monitor? I'm wondering if anyone has experience and any feedback on these.
Thanks
jimmy2615

Showing 6 responses by rrsclyde

I just took delivery of my new ebonized walnut DA-RMa's this afternoon; Lou tells me they need another 70-100 hours to really sing at their best. After about 1 hour I'm really pleased with the sound, soundstage and imaging. These are replacing my JM Lab Micro Utopias (modified with all cardas wire and solder) which are very nice in their own right but are going into a second system.

The DA-RMa's are certainly throwing a taller, deeper soundstage than the Micro Utopia's. So far imaging is very similar (and good). As far as doing the disappearing act, I certainly don't hear any boxlike colorations, and even this early on, I haven't had any speaker sound this 'natural' in my setup.

Just excited enough to throw out some very early impressions!! And of course I chose it, but IMHO Lou's ebonized walnut cabinet is absolutely stunningly good to look at!!
Thanks Dodgealum :). My setup is as follows:

MW Transporter for a digital front end, Cary SLI-80 integrated amp and a REL Strata III sub x'ed over at about 36 hz at the moment. I will probably be hooking up a solid state amp tomorrow evening so I'll feel better about letting the system run 24-7 the next few days to speed up the speakers' break in.
OK, my DA-RMa's now have a good 2 weeks on them, probably a total of 150 hours or so. This isn't intended as an exhaustive review, just a quick addendum to my post above. In summary, I'm very pleased with their sound. I'm certain I don't have things optimized as far as room placement, sub x-over etc., but these guys really sound natural and musical. I've just left the sub's x-over at 36hz, with very minimal gain--I'm not a basshead by any stretch of the imagination, but for me with minimal supplement by the sub, the bass is fine, very tight & quick also.

The Micro Utopias that the DA-RMa's replaced are very nice in their own right, but the DA-RMa's just sound more like live music, less 'electronic' for lack of a better term. As I noted on a different site, the Micro Uotpia's excel at high end detail (even tho mine have been modded to smooth the top end out a bit), but I've found that I haven't lost any detail with the DA-RMa's, yet the overall resolution of the DA-RMa's is significantly better....don't know if that makes sense to anyone else, but its my best attempt at describing that particular phenomena :)! To me, part of the high end detail I heard with the Micro Utopia's was slightly obscuring other areas. The mids and treble with the DA-RMa's are to die for, with great resolution as noted, but NEVER fatiguing (completely in line with everything I've ever read about Daedalus spkrs).

Soundstage is bigger, more 'air' between instruments. Overall pinpoint imaging of instruments/singer within the soundstage is about the same I'd say--maybe a slight nod to the DA-RMa's due I'd guess to the better overall resolution throughout the frequency range.

I've swithched back and forth between my Cary SLI-80 integrated and my Pathos Classic MkII integrated quite a bit this weekend. Both are very good with the DA-RMa's, but my overall preference is with the Cary. I will say that the DA-RMa's easily let me hear differences in various NOS 6922's used in the pre section of the Pathos.

Again, I'm no reviewer :), and certainly don't have 'golden ears' (I can't tell you how many times I've spent $ on different cables/tubes, tweaks and really WANTED to hear a difference and justify the expense and couldn't!), but the above is my somewhat feeble attempt to provided what little insight I can about the DA-RMa's sound.

Happy listening!
David12,

I listened for a while without my sub being switched on, and frankly didn't even realize it! Of course, once I turned it on I could tell it was contributing to the sound (remember I have it crossed over fairly low and with very little gain at this point), and yes I preferred the sound with it on, but the DA-RMa's were certainly not bass deficient (to my tastes) even without being supplemented by my REL.

Hope that helps some; of course IMHO with subs (and speakers too) your room and setup are going to have a huge influence on how well the spkrs and/or subs load the room in the bass octaves...
My DA-RMa's are impressing me more and more every day. Recently had a local audiobuddy over; his comment was that the DA-RMa's sounded so good it was almost like my prior spkrs (the Micro Utopias) were broken!!

I've been rolling various power and pre/input tubes thru my Cary SLI-80 the last couple of weeks--they all sound pretty good thru the DA-RMa's, but still the DA-RMa's let me hear the differences in various tube combinations much easier than I could before.

I really pleased with these guys!

Randy
My DA-RMa's are now a few months 'old' and I comfortable that they are completely broken in. As we all know, everyone's tastes are different and of course sound is so much room and associated equipment dependent. But I wanted to chime in one more time on my opinion/preference for these speakers.

Over the years I've owned a number of very good speakers in my opinion: Thiel 2.2's, Thiel 3.6's, Wilson Benesch Act Ones (I think I had one of the 1st pairs in the US), Sonus Faber Electa Amator II's, JM Lab Micro Utopia's....IMHO the DA-RMa's are easily the most enjoyable of any speaker I've owned. They give me the detail & dynamics of the Thiels, the resolution and coherence of the Wilson Benesch Act Ones, and the absolute non-fatiguing, enjoyable listening experience of the EA II's!! After 25 years in this hobby, this may the 1st purchase/upgrade that I've been completely satisfied that indeed its an upgrade and worth the investment.

Lou has a great product and is great to deal with. I urge anyone that has a chance to give his speakers a listen. I'd love to hear the Ulysses (but cost and room size make those babies a non-starter for me anyway).

No, I have no affiliation with Daedalus other than being a very happy customer. And I don't often post my evaluations of equipment, but given that I'm so pleased with this purchase, I wanted to sing some praises :)!