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Dali 400mkii or 800mkii?

Hello, this is my first post on here so please bare with me. I am piecing together my new theatre system and have a few questions. My room is roughly 14x25x9 feet and I am thinking of running either the Dali 400 mkii or 800 mkii. I currently have a theta dreadnaught gen ii and have access to either an onkyo processor or lexicon. I have an axiom vp180 center and qs8 rears already and 2 fathom f113 subs. My questions are 1) would the 400 or 800 be better for my room size 2) do you think my axiom center and rears will sound bad with the dali's? 3) am I shooting myself in the foot running an onkyo processor with this setup? 4) does anyone have suggestions on alternative choices? There are no places to demo higher end speakers where I am so I am basing a lot o my decisions on what I have read which I know is not necessarily a good thing to do. This will be used for 60% movies 40% music. Sorry for the long winded post. I really appreciate any help
stevesimon
stevesimon OP
10 posts
 
These are really great suggestions. I really appreciate the help. I never thought of doing monitors. I originally was going to stick with axiom m80v3's for my mains but to be perfectly honest I am really drawn to the way the Dali helicon 400's look. I am assuming I will like the way they sound better also but I suppose that is pretty subjective. Either way I will take the monitor thought into consideration.
brownsfan
1,508 posts
 
I auditioned the 400MKII's about a year ago. They struck me as being lovely speakers excelling at reproduction of voices. I thought they would be ideal for opera lovers. Very good with orchestral music, but they did tend to congest at higher volumes. That aspect left me wanting to audition the 800's which I assumed might handle higher volumes better. I did not get to hear the 800's so I can't comment on them. The 400's are visually stunning, and are not demanding with respect to placement. I think they would be pretty good in a home theater set up. I would never buy speakers without an audition, but if that is not possible, I'd say give it a try.
bigkidz
3,373 posts
 
Brownsfan, the congestion you heard may not be the speakers, it oculd be the preamp or if CD source the dac section unless you really know the equipment you auditoned them with. I agree with the looks and sound you mention otherwise.

Happy Listening.
brownsfan
1,508 posts
 
Bigkidz,
You are correct on the congestion. For what its worth, at some point I may pick up a pair of used 400's for my home theater. I really did like them, but at full retail they are no where near the speaker the Magnepan 3.7's are, which is what I went with for my 2-channel system. The maggies won't work in my den though, so I could be very happy with the Dalis. There is a lot to like about those speakers.
stevesimon OP
10 posts
 
Yeah I hear ya when you say never buy speakers before auditioning them. I am pretty nervous about buying them and the possibility of not liking them. But I hear really good things about them and the sound most people describe is what I enjoy. Worst case I audition them in my home and if I don't like them I resell them and use my axiom m80's. Thanks again for the help guys!! It's appreciated

One side note. Do you think it is unwise to run axiom center and rears with these dali's?
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