Dali Skyline 2000

[irb]

Having bought Horace's Skyline 2000s via the Wam back in December, perhaps I should post a brief report. The first thing about them is their size. Standing 5'3" tall in their stocking soles, they are rather imposing. Which brings me to the second, and most surprising, thing about them: my wife hasn't asked me when I'm selling them yet. (Something about their weird, black and aluminium, '70s sci-fi aesthetic must appeal to her.) As for the sound, well they're not the easiest speakers to accommodate, as others have noted on the Wam before. The treble level can seem rather recessed as Robert E Greene (of TAS, a longtime Skyline 2000 owner) has noted. There's also a tendency to bass excess, which prompts owners to bring them further and further out from the back wall. Having said that mine are functioning pretty well at around 4 feet out at the moment. The best solution to both these issues, I suspect, is equalisation. I haven't quite got that far yet, but I'll get there over the summer (courtesy of Lyngdorf TDA2200).

So at the moment, some discs are more successful than others. Despite this, there is honesty, realism, music that breathes, and a sense of tonal fidelity on unamplified instruments and voices that just seems right (despite the issues noted above). Basically, there's no going back to boxes. These are keepers.

Which brings me to one of the reasons I finally got around to posting tonight: I noticed there a pair of Skylines (probably 2000s?) just appeared on fleabay at a very fair starting price. See http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Dali-Skyline-Speakers-/130400289268?cmd=ViewItem&pt=UK_AudioVideoElectronics_HomeAudioHiFi_HiFiSpeakers&hash=item1e5c7681f4

I have no connection whatsover to the seller, and know nothing about the particular pair of speakers. They might be worth checking out, though, particularly if you are near the seller (Staffordshire). I hope it's OK to post this?

Here's a pic of mine.

 

[macvisual]

Hi irb,

Good write up, are the Skyline 2000's a ribbon speaker technology or what's their internals? Yes I would agree about NOT returning to box speakers, my ESL 57's are fabulous.

 

[irb]

Hi irb,Good write up, are the Skyline 2000's a ribbon speaker technology or what's their internals? Yes I would agree about NOT returning to box speakers, my ESL 57's are fabulous.

Dynamic bass (15") and mids (twin 4") combined with a 40" ribbon tweeter. Not shabby!

 

[JANDL100]

Yep, nice speakers - I had the smaller Skyline 1000 - same ribbon tweeter but a mere 12 inch open baffle woofer and one 5 inch mid cone.

I had awful bass issues - a 15dB bass peak. But a Behringer DEQ2496 sorted that completely, so yes, equalisation is the way to go if the speaker/room interaction is problematic in the bass.

 

[stewartwen]

Yes Jerry I totally agree with you. There is nowt wrong with using Equalisation INTELLIGENTLY!

I remember these loudspeakers from some years ago. I was stunned at their performance, although the price was rather high.

Seems like you have a pair of keepers there.

S

 

[Boxer]

Having heard that particular pair, and been impressed, I'd love to hear what they can do in a suitably large room...

 

[irb]

Update. I advertised these for sale on the wam a couple of months ago, due to domestic pressure. Truth be told, I didn't put up as much of a fight as I could have, as I was still getting uneven results. I seemed at times to be fighting against bass fullness and a generally soft, over-warm quality. Some discs were fine, but some weren't. I'm sure a bigger, livelier room would have helped, but that wasn't a practical option. I'd been playing around with the equalisation on the Lyngdorf TDA2200, but focussing on the bass and lower mids. Then, having had a sale agreed only for the buyer to pull out at the last minute, I thought I might as well play around a bit more radically with the equalisation. If I was going to sell the Dalis, I reckoned, I might as well play with them a bit first. After a weekend of trying out different eq settings I ended up with a totally transformed sound. All the life and freshness I'd been missing was there, and all the other positives of the Dalis were unaffected. I quickly took them off the market, and decided to fight my corner on the domestic front, while giving my ears time to adjust. Two months on, I'm still over the moon at the results I'm now getting from the Dalis. I'm also shocked at how close I came to selling them without ever hearing what they can really do. :doh:

The eq settings which have wrought the transformation? Well, I've still got a steep notch on the main bass resonance around 40hz, but have dispensed with any other attempts at flattening peaks. The additional element which did the trick is very simple - basically a straight-line tilt from high treble (18khz or so) down to mid bass (60hz ish) created by cascading two low-q shelving filters. The level at 60 Hz is about 6 dB down relative to the extreme treble. I guess the slope I've created is a bit like what you might have got from the old tilt controls on Quad preamps.

Anyway, the equalised Dalis - what a speaker! I feel rather embarrased that I had them for a year and a half and didn't realise how good they could sound - and how simply that sound could be achieved. And the domestic front? I'm sticking to the story that there weren't any buyers. :nup:

 

[browellm]

Glad to hear of a happy outcome :^

 

[AmDismal]

I really wanted these, as I'm sure they are capable of amazing results from the time I heard some years ago, but the wife vetoed them. Still, I got my own back with fugly DIY jobbies

 

[irb]

Well here goes for my annual update on the Skylines. (I hope I'm not overloading the wam with my unsought opinions.) Over the last year I've moved house twice (sort of). The Skylines are now installed in my new listening room, which is a much more normal shape and size than my old room.

As for all that stuff I posted before about equalisation - huge bass peaks, depressed highs, yada yada? Cancel all of that - they are now flat as a flat thing, no eq in sight. It would appear that all the problems I was having derived from the room.

For most of the last six months I've been using my Harbeth M30s, which have been sounding superb in the new room, and I'd convinced myself that the Skylines wouldn't be missed if I got rid of them. Box speakers can do the job just fine, I've been telling myself, especially with support from twin corner subs, fed from the built-in crossover in my Lyngdorf.

Well, last weekend I disconnected the Harbeths and the subs, shoved the Skylines from the (big) cupboard they've been lurking in, (sat down for a bit to recover), set them up and put on some music. The result? Well I can now say quite categorically that box speakers - even ones as good as the Harbeths - most certainly can't do the job. Big dipoles with beefy bass drivers and 1 meter long ribbons are the only way to go.

 

[JANDL100]

Interesting about the Skyline bass peaks. In my rectangular room I could never get rid of the 15dB bass peaks without an equaliser with my old Skyline 1000 (wimpy, I know, compared to yours - 12 inch bass drivers? - pah, kids stuff).

.... Well I can now say quite categorically that box speakers - even ones as good as the Harbeths - most certainly can't do the job. Big dipoles with beefy bass drivers and 1 meter long ribbons are the only way to go.

Well, box speakers do have their limitations, yes.

But there are other approaches to big beefy bass drivers and 1 meter long ribbons .... a couple of sets of weird carbon fibre petals set in a circle partnered with doubled up smaller bass drivers do a nice job, too. ;-)

... at a price, admittedly.

How about a pic of your new setup, Ian?

 

[User211]

Here they are chez Jerry, in fact.

If you like the sound of a 40 inch ribbon for mid/treble duties, you should try to hear some of the bigger full range Apogees. If you are anywhere near Bristol, PM me, and you can

 

[irb]

I'd love to hear the Duetta's, Justin, but I'm in Dumfriesshire. I'll keep the offer in mind.

I've got some pics of the old setup somewhere Jerry. I'll try to take a couple of snaps of the new layout and put both old and new up tomorrow.

 

[JANDL100]

..... I'll try to take a couple of snaps of the new layout and put both old and new up tomorrow.

:Tumble:

 

[irb]

:Tumble:

Yes, sorry about that little delay. I don't know what I've done with my wide angle lens. So, here's a rather unhelpful photo of my current room:

Here are a couple of pictures of the old room:

They looked a lot better in the old room, but they sound so much better in the new room it's hard to believe.

 

[Pac67]

Heard a pair of these recently courtesy of a fellow Dursley Wammer and was very impressed. Definitely on the list of some of the very best loudspeakers I've heard. Enthralling, convincing and very well balanced with great scale but can also be a great low level listen too without giving anything much away. Very, very entertaining.

 

[Willie Garvin]

Hi Ian,

Beautiful looking speakers & as you say keepers.

But IMHO you have one hell of a listening room there & me, well just a tiny bit envious as I'm sat in my broom cupboard of a listening space. ;-)

Even without your wide angle lens these are very nice pics.

Cheers,

willie g