John
Danish loudspeaker manufacturer has activated its entry-level Oberon series of loudspeakers to give us the Oberon C Series, the company’s most affordable range of active loudspeakers to date. The new active series comprises the Oberon 1C standmount (€998/pair), the Oberon 7C floorstander (€1698/pair) and the puddle-deep Oberon On-Wall C (€1298/pair) for wall mounting, possibly either side of a TV.
These active versions feature the same cabinets and drivers as their passive counterparts but inside each cabinet sit a streaming module, a pair of DACs and a pair of 50-Watt Class D amplifier modules – one per driver – plus a DSP crossover module. That makes ’em all 2-way designs!
On driver complements, the 1C and On-Wall C are each equipped with an (oversized!) 2.9cm fabric dome tweeter and a 13cm wood-fibre mid/bass driver that’s driven by Dali’s proprietary SMC system for “drastically reducing non-linear magnetic distortion”. Bass reflex porting can be found on the rear of each cabinet with the On-Wall C enjoying a more discrete implementation than its deeper 1C sibling. Note: the 1C is rated by DALI down to 39Hz but the On-Wall down to only 51Hz. The 7C gets the same 2.9cm fabric dome tweeter and two 18cm wood-fibre mid/bass drivers – that also enjoy SMC drive – plus a rear-firing port to mine down to 31Hz.
To get music into the Oberon C we look to DALI’s new Sound Hub Compact (€299) that streams any signal arriving at its rear – aptX HD / AAC Bluetooth, HDMI ARC, 2 x TOSLINK or analogue (digitised upon entry) – to each loudspeaker via a proprietary 24bit/96kHz-capable wireless streaming protocol. This same compact hub can also be used with DALI’s Callisto C (review here) or Rubicon C actives (seen here). Conversely, the original (and pricier) Sound Hub, equipped with its optional BluOS module, will add Roon Readiness and Spotify Connect. However, I’d wager most Oberon C users will connect a HAT-ed Raspberry Pi, Google Chromecast Audio or Xiaomi Mi Box S to one of the more affordable Sound Hub Compact’s TOSLINK inputs.
All Oberon C models are manufactured in Denmark: drivers, internal amplifier modules and DSP crossover circuitry — the whole shooting match! Each Oberon C loudspeaker will be available in matt white, light oak, dark walnut or black ash. In-store availability remains TBC.
Further information: DALI
I guess you could say that my German is coming along nicely.
