Daedalus Ulysses

“Plastic sounding bass” is a bit ambiguous I understand but that’s the term that pops into my mind when I hear Daedalus speakers.  “Synthetic” is another term.  Perhaps this relates to the cone material or perhaps to some unevenness in the response or perhaps some resonances.  I don’t know.  All I know is that I hear this coloration when I listen to Daedalus speakers.  

For some context, my speakers at home use vintage paper cone 15” woofers.  These sound fast and detailed and to my ears are less colored, but they do not go as deep in the bass as Daedalus woofers.  

I am not surprised that a number of Daedalus owners disagree with my characterization.  As I said before, many people love Daedalus speakers, but some do not.

My suggestion is that you listen carefully to a pair of Daedalus speakers (any model) before deciding to buy the Ulysses.  If you aren’t bothered by the bass, then you will likely love the Ulysses.  But if you do hear problems, you can expect to hear them in the Ulysses too.

That’s the Cliff Notes version.

If it is of any help, I also listened to these speakers at Capital Audio Fest over the weekend. I went a few times just to check if it was a source material or maybe something related to me at that moment that was not right. It seemed that people listening were very pleased. However, for me that was the room with the sound I really did not want to hear. I agree with salectric's posts to the last letter. It was not the sound I could get used to or start appreciating over time. Obviously, careful listening before buying is a must but I think this, in fact, can be figured out after a few minutes. If you have a Daedalus receptor, they will be golden. If you do not, skip them.

If anyone is looking to purchase a pair of Daedalus Ulysses speakers someone on UsMart is selling for $6500. You can get the final v2 upgrade for $2500 and pretty much have a $20k pair of speakers for $9k. Just wanted to put that out there.