Amp for Dali Hellicon 400 mk2

well..the room they are in is actually an all cedar room with carpet and my couches..bay window etc..still..i had 12 yr old paradigm reference spkers b4 these..and they were fine..i upgraded to dali as i was looking for a real 'up'in the emotion evoked by music..and so far..disappointed on a few levels..most of which is the reliability..second of which is soundstage.,.when i upgraded to my paradigms years ago..i was in sonic heaven...i was expecting the same from these...not happening....now by decibals...i play it at like -15 to about -7 to really feel them...i have played them at +1..but..i shouldnt have to go that loud to get these babies breathing....my bros kit is in his basement..so..its like a vault..im sure that helps his sound..but still..the addition of the nad did wonders..i should have gone for the paradigm sig series i think.

Dan,
The other best thing to do and to take some of the guesswork out is to call Dali..I know for a fact that they always have the time to talk tech and to advise you of the best setup and applications for their speakers...you wil get alot of comments for end-users but like I did I went right to the horses mouth..
They are very informitive and knowledgeable.

thanx Dg...did u contact dali america?

It's your amp (someone on Agon told me that once when I was complaining about my speakers and I did not believe them; turns out they were right, though it cost me thousands to learn that lesson!).

I bought a pair of Dali 400s after owning a pair of Paradigm Studio 100 v3s. I like both of them, but they are balanced differently, and by most measures the Dalis really are quite a step up. If you're after maximum slam and a heavy balance in the lower mids, then I suspect you might prefer the Paradigms. But for resolution and soundstage, the Dalis really walk away from the Paradigms.

As mentioned, both speakers reflect the character of the downstream gear, but the Dalis do so more than any other speaker I have owned (cables too), so I suspect your issues with these lies primarily in your amplifier and source. I bet that if you find the right pieces, you will experience the improvement you're after. These are excellent speakers, although surely not to everyone's taste (nothing is).

In other recent threads on these speakers, Dave (Dcstep) expresses his opinion that they worked best for him with gobs of power. My experience has been different, as I prefer them much more with a medium powered tube amp (Rogue Tempest II) than I did with a high power amp (MF A5).

I do agree with Dave, though, that these speakers reproduce well what they are given. If you can audition a high quality amp, I would not be surprised if you change your mind about them.

Well the DALIs are a lot less sensitive and they DO need to break in a couple of hundred hours. Have you broken them in? Can you take them back?

I really don't like the bass on the DALIs. It really turns into one-note bass below 40hz. I don't know what music you're playing, but IME, they really have problems with a lot of low frequency music. Some people don't notice that, like Michael Fremer for instance, but it's a real problem with the music that I listen to. I didn't want to rain on your parade so I kept quiet, but you may be running into the limitations of these speakers.

Dave