High-End Audio Buyer’s Guide 2024: DALI Oberon 5

$1499

Stretching the sonic limits in the lower-cost, small-floorstander category, DALI’s three-driver, two-way, bass-reflex Oberon 5 strikes a satisfyingly warmer tonal balance, offering good extension and timing, and well-focused detail. Output is robust with a wealth of timbral cues and colors in the midrange. The high frequencies are smooth, although a bit dry and perhaps a tad shaded. Singers are reproduced with a pleasing flesh-on-the-bone physicality, accompanied with lively presence. The Oberon 5 won’t venture deeply into the bottom octave, but there is enough oomph in the midbass to suggest some grandeur. An economical yet formidable speaker that with few concessions permits users to toe the line of everyday practicality, while still allowing their audiophile hearts to lead the way. (297)