Dali Helicon 800 Mk2 are stunning ?

I am glad to read your review! I am about to pull the trigger on a pair of these babies. I am more impressed with the Dali Helicons vs. Focal Electra Be's. Much more balanced sound top to bottom from the Dali. Not to mention they look friggin' awesome too!
I am trying to learn what changes were made from the 800 to 800 MKII? Do you have any more details on the differences? I am eager to know. Thanks for your post.

Im a Dali dealer, and am very familiar with this speaker. The 800MkII has newly re-designed woofers and crossovers making it a much better balanced from top to bottom. Some people used to complain about a tab bit of bloat on the bottom end with the original Helicon line. The combination of these new drivers with reworked motor assemblies and the new crossover creates a much more coherent sound in the new mkII.

Also the lacquer finishing process has been refined to make an even more mirror-like shine. The Dali 800MkII is one of the finest sub $10K speakers currently on the market, and they can be driven with excellent results with tube and solid-state alike. Though IMO a high quality solid-state will control the large woofers better.

How big an improvement is the 800 over the Helicon 400?

Drubin, I have cut and pasted my comments from elswhere to answer your question. Hope this helps:
I have the Helicon 800 Mk2, but had the Helicon 400 before that, so I can really make a comment on the comparison of these two mentioned by some.
I believe they are both superb. The reviews are correct!
The 800 Mk2 is definitely superior in a few ways. Voices sound better and more detailed, bass is deeper, and suprisingly, the depth of the sounstage improved. I thought this might get worse with the larger speaker.
I also found that the 800 Mk2 had improved on the 400's slightly enthusiastic high frequency treble, without compromising the excitement.
Again, both are excellent, and I tried a huge number of speaker brands and types before I went with Helicons.