DALI Epikore 3 Loudspeaker Review

DALI is a long-established Danish company that prides itself on designing and building its loudspeakers – including drive units –in Denmark. This is increasingly unusual, with so much being made in Asia these days. The company’s name is actually an acronym for Danish Audiophile Loudspeaker Industries, so they are true to their word.

Epikore 3 is a premium-priced 3-way reflex-loaded standmounter and is the smallest of the model range, measuring 470x250x420mm [HxWxD]. It has a claimed 85dB/1 W/1 m sensitivity, which is somewhat low, and a quoted nominal impedance of 6 ohms. The recommended amplifier power range is 40 to 250W, with a maximum sound pressure level of 108dB. For optimal results, pairing with a powerful solid-state amplifier is recommended. The claimed frequency response is 42Hz to 34kHz (±3dB), which is excellent for a speaker of this size.

In engineering terms, it is a little different from the fray, as it features DALI’s own drive unit technologies – namely, its hybrid ribbon/dome tweeter, 7-inch woofer, and crossover. These have trickled down from the flagship Kore loudspeaker and have been reengineered for this specific application, including drive units, crossovers, and cabinets.

The Evo-k hybrid tweeter module comprises an improved version of the company’s wide-dispersion 10x55mm planar ribbon, plus a DALI-designed 35mm soft-dome tweeter that is claimed to have low distortion, a wide frequency response, and wide dispersion. The ribbon diaphragm has very low mass, letting it follow complex musical waveforms better than a soft dome, so the theory goes. Interestingly, this is combined with a separate dome tweeter, which adds better low-end power handling. The idea is to get the best of both worlds – good extension down to the midband via the dome, plus the ribbon's wide horizontal dispersion, extended high-frequency response, and delicacy. By the way, planar ribbons like DALIs are more robust than traditional corrugated aluminium-foil ribbons.

The new 175mm woofer features the company’s patented SMC (Soft Magnetic Composite) Gen-2 magnet technology. This is a special granular type of non-electrically conductive soft iron that DALI says virtually eliminates eddy currents and hysteresis in the magnet system's poles, supposedly resulting in purer sound. Three rings of aluminium and copper are incorporated into the magnetic circuit to reduce variations of inductance with frequency, which is claimed to deliver further improvements in linearity and thus lower distortion. The crossover sports high-performance Mundorf capacitors.

The Clarity Cone woofer is custom-designed and built by DALI and sports the company’s preferred pulp cone—a unique blend of paper and wood fibre—embossed with a five-leaf pattern. The company says this breaks up symmetry, which, in turn, reduces resonance. The voice-coil former, which transfers vibrations from the voice coil to the cone, is made of highly rigid, nonconductive titanium. This provides an extremely strong mechanical coupling to the diaphragm while eliminating eddy currents.

The curvaceous, solid, 22kg cabinet is internally braced for rigidity and finished with real-wood veneers and a polished piano-finish lacquer. Available finishes are high-gloss black, walnut, or maroon. Light woods are not offered, which is unfortunate given that the most popular UK veneers are lighter woods such as oak, walnut, and cherry. The rear-mounted bass reflex port is tuned to 39Hz and angled downward, with a continuous, flared curve and a large diameter.

The optional matching stands are well-engineered, with a solid metal base and a strong, fluted, heatsink-like extrusion connecting the thick steel top plate to the cast base. The spiked feet are easy to level and adjust. Magnetised floor-protecting discs stay attached to the spikes, making speaker placement much easier. The stand is rigid and non-resonant, with foam rubber on the top plate and rubber pads to further dampen vibrations into the base.

For this review, my reference system comprised an Audiolab 9000N streamer as a digital source, plus a Musical Fidelity A3 CR power amp. I also used an Avid Sequel SE turntable with Origin Live Conqueror tonearm and Ortofon Cadenza Red cartridge, played through my Cyrus Signature phono stage. Initially, I moved the review pair of speakers around the room, and ended up with them about 20cm from the rear wall. I positioned them to point straight down the room, as recommended, instead of toeing them in. This produced the best soundstage.

The Listening

The Epikore 3 has a wonderfully even, open sound. Its drive units blend so well that there’s no sense of bass, mid, or treble—just a well-integrated whole without audible peaks or troughs. It’s highly detailed. Although it doesn’t quite match the very best speakers in transparency, it draws you in and lets the music shine. Unlike some standmount speakers, the DALI is not bass-shy. It reproduces low instruments with impressive strength and firmness. Bass is well extended for a speaker of this size, yet has no artificial bloom and blends seamlessly with the midband. At the other end, treble is well textured and natural, avoiding peakiness and unnatural lift or edge.

This speaker always sounds composed and controlled, whether it's playing studio-produced or acoustic recordings of many genres. The sound is surprisingly powerful, dynamic, and full-bodied for a standmounter – it’s far bigger than you’d expect for a speaker of this size. The smooth, stable, and civilised sound might seem a little restrained to some people, though. Ideally, I would have liked a little more low-level transparency and a greater sense of ‘lively energy’, but the Epikore 3 actually has all the fine detail and dynamics required to create plenty of impact when needed. In truth, some speakers that sound more etched can prove tiresome over the long term.

For example, Tony Faulkner's recording of Mozart’s Horn Concerto K622 had a delightfully natural tone on LP, revealing the warmth of the clarinet solo and the Michaelangelo Orchestra in London’s Henry Wood Hall. Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto Number 2, played by Sviatoslav Richter with the Warsaw National Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Stanislav Wislocki, sounded organic and authentic, especially during the rapid arpeggios which flowed with mellifluous ease. Never was the record’s surface noise emphasised.

Indeed, feed the DALI a complex, multi-layered mix, and it laps it up, with no fuss, no confusion, or congestion. Live recordings of bands or full-scale orchestras sound robust and generous, especially when high-resolution. Many fine and intricate parts of stereo mixes are revealed, yet this speaker has a self-effacing presentation. Stereo images emerge against an uncluttered background, which suits studio-produced music very well. For example, Dvorak's Allegro Con Brio, with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra conducted by Manfred Honek, sounded convincingly natural in balance, from the delicate woodwind to the raspy horns. This was richly toned, with smooth sweeping strings.

Daft Punk’s Give Life Back to Music via my streamer showed this speaker’s deep but controlled bottom end. The track was propelled by a deep, powerful bass line that was right on the beat, while the harmonically complex Vocoder-processed vocals and all parts of the mix were clearly and separately laid out in space. Giorgio by Moroda, from the same album, highlighted the DALI’s strengths – the music was tight as a drum yet never fatiguing, even as the track became more complex as it built to a climax.

The smooth tonality of the Epikore 3 is complemented by its fine textural resolution. Lady Be Good to Me from Jazz at the Pawnshop took me into the club, close up to the band. Glasses clinked, and the audience talked in the background. Piano was rich and well-toned. Cymbals rang and fizzed convincingly. As the upright bass came in, it was easy to follow when notes rose and fell in pitch. The sax was breathy, fruity, and reedy in a satisfying way. When the vibraphone came in, it was delightfully resonant and harmonically complex. The percussive impact was convincingly reproduced.

The artificially engineered upper bass peaks of some standmounting speakers can give the impression of a strong low-end, while in reality they lack extension – but that was emphatically not the case here, as the DALI sounded balanced almost to a fault. As a result, music swings along naturally and musically. At the opposite end of the frequency scale, treble proved admirably smooth and spacious. With Alison Balsom’s recording of Baroque Concertos with Trevor Pinnock and the Pinnock Players, her bright-sounding piccolo trumpet and glassy-toned original baroque instruments never veered into unnatural scratchiness. On the contrary, her trumpet soared over this period band in the lovely acoustics of St Jude on the Hill, London, beautifully captured by engineer Arne Akeslsberg.

The Epikore 3 also has highly impressive dynamic capabilities for a speaker of its size and type. I played The Hut on Chicken’s Legs, The Great Gate of Kiev, and Night on a Bald Mountain from Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition (Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Gustavo Dudamel). These tracks showcased the speaker’s strong room-driving ability, as they reproduced the orchestra's power and scale in the Vienna Musikverein Hall. I didn't push my review pair to the absolute maximum, but they went very loud with precious little sign of strain.

The Verdict

DALI’s Epikore 3 is a highly talented high-end standmount loudspeaker, offering a surprisingly powerful, dynamic, full-bodied, generous, and engaging sound. It has obviously been extremely well engineered and is a tribute to its manufacturer’s abilities in this respect. I greatly enjoyed my time spent listening to my dem pair. As such, it’s an excellent option for anyone who expressly does not want a floorstanding speaker – it offers better bass extension than many smaller floorstanders, plus the time-honoured benefit of big standmounters: better room integration. Highly recommend, then.