DALI OPTICON MK2 WHITE PAPER

1. DALI OPTICON MK2 – PASSION FOR DETAIL

The OPTICON series has been at the heart of the DALI range for over five years and has brought exceptional DALI performance into the homes of countless music lovers and audiophiles. The time has come for the OPTICON to benefit from new ideas and technologies, and to be refreshed with a new aesthetic. Welcome to the DALI OPTICON MK2.

Effectively updating and improving such a well-regarded high-performance series as the OPTICON is a careful balancing act. The goal is to enhance existing engineering, aesthetics, and performance without degrading the qualities that made the original successful. This has been achieved through a continual focus on music reproduction, thoughtful design, stylish aesthetics, quality of manufacture, and the use of the latest technologies.

As with the original OPTICON series, the OPTICON MK2 remains fully Danish in manufacture, built at the DALI factory in Denmark from components produced in-house or sourced from specialist manufacturers. The OPTICON MK2 series majors on clear, undistorted, enjoyable, and coherent audio, complementing music, radio, streaming, TV, or movie sources. It caters to every requirement with compact stand or wall-mount options, slim to substantial floor-stand options, and a centre channel option.

2. The OPTICON MK2 Series

The DALI OPTICON MK2 series comprises six models, marking a significant step up in performance and engineering ambition within the DALI passive speaker range. The series introduces the renowned DALI hybrid tweeter, die-cast aluminium driver chassis, full SMC driver pole-pieces, and in-house manufactured enclosures.

Each model is built around in-house manufactured SMC-based bass/midrange drivers and employs either a DALI soft dome tweeter or the hybrid soft dome and ribbon tweeter. OPTICON MK2 models are available in three new finishes: satin white, satin black, and tobacco oak*. Grilles are covered with furniture-grade cloth in black for the darker finishes and light grey for the white finish.

• OPTICON 1 MK2
• OPTICON 2 MK2
• OPTICON 6 MK2
• OPTICON 8 MK2
• OPTICON LCR MK2
• OPTICON VOKAL MK2

*The OPTICON 8 MK2 is available in Satin Black Ash and Tobacco Oak only.

OPTICON 1 MK2

The OPTICON 1 MK2 is a compact stand-mount speaker designed for installation close to room boundaries or wall mounting in modest listening spaces. Its drivers include a 4¾" Wood Fibre diaphragm, an SMC magnet bass/midrange unit, and a newly designed 29mm soft dome tweeter derived from the CALLISTO series. The Dual Flare reflex-loaded 5-litre enclosure delivers remarkable bass performance for its size, integrating perfectly with the inherent midrange and high-frequency quality of its drivers. It is supplied with a simple keyhole slot wall-mounting bracket.

OPTICON 2 MK2

The OPTICON 2 MK2 is a mid-sized stand-mount speaker. Its 6½" Wood Fibre diaphragm, SMC magnet bass/midrange driver, and 10-litre enclosure enable greater low-frequency bandwidth and volume than its smaller sibling. It features the same CALLISTO-derived 29mm soft dome tweeter as the OPTICON 1 MK2. This model is ideal for high-performance stand-mount audio in compact to medium-sized listening spaces.

OPTICON 6 MK2

The slim, floor-standing OPTICON 6 MK2 is the entry point in the series for the renowned DALI hybrid soft dome and ribbon tweeter. This hybrid tweeter offers significant advances in high-frequency resolution, combining the CALLISTO-derived 29mm dome with a 17mm x 45mm ribbon element on a re-engineered, cast aluminium faceplate. Low frequencies and midrange are handled by twin 6½" Wood Fibre diaphragm, SMC magnet bass/midrange drivers. The OPTICON 6 MK2 offers optional bi-wiring and features Dual Flare reflex loading and increased internal volume, enabling significantly greater low-frequency extension and bass volume than stand-mount models. It combines this with brilliant midrange clarity and sparkling high frequencies.

The OPTICON 6 MK2 is supplied with cast aluminium foot components that can be fitted with either black chrome-plated floor-spikes or vibration-damping pads. Tools for attaching the foot castings and spikes are included.

OPTICON 8 MK2

The large-scale, floor-standing OPTICON 8 MK2 is the powerhouse of the series and the sole three-way system. It combines two 8" Wood Fibre diaphragm, SMC magnet bass drivers with a 6½" Wood Fibre diaphragm, SMC magnet system midrange driver. It offers optional bi-wiring for its bass and midrange/high-frequency sections. The driver array positions the midrange and hybrid tweeter drivers between the widely spaced bass drivers for optimal ear-height positioning and smoother low-frequency room response. The enclosure incorporates separate internal sections for each driver with non-parallel dividing panels for rigidity and resonance suppression. Each low-frequency section has its own Dual Flare reflex port. The OPTICON 8 MK2 offers immense low-frequency bandwidth, volume potential, and dynamic accuracy, combined with extraordinary detail and clarity from its dedicated midrange driver and explicit, detailed, yet smooth high frequencies from the hybrid tweeter.

The OPTICON 8 MK2 is supplied with cast aluminium foot components for floor-spikes or vibration-damping pads. Tools for attachment are included. This model is available in Satin Black Ash and Tobacco Oak.

OPTICON LCR MK2

The OPTICON LCR MK2 combines OPTICON MK2 technologies in a low-profile, wall-mounted, multi-purpose enclosure suitable for left, right, or centre channel roles. It is designed for conventional stereo, TV audio, and multi-channel home theatre applications. Its wall-assisted reflex port system works with its 6½" Wood Fibre diaphragm, SMC magnet bass/midrange driver, and rotatable hybrid tweeter module to deliver a comprehensive performance that belies its compact dimensions. It offers airy high frequencies, expressive midrange, and extended bass.

OPTICON VOKAL MK2

The OPTICON VOKAL MK2 features a 6½" Wood Fibre diaphragm, SMC magnet bass/midrange driver, and the DALI hybrid tweeter, in an enclosure format designed specifically for centre channel applications in multi-channel audio-visual systems. Its dimensions are configured for installation in AV furniture units, and its front-facing reflex ports allow for fully enclosed mounting. It is voiced for the centre channel role while retaining the characteristic qualities of the OPTICON MK2 series.

3. OPTICON MK2 Bass and Midrange Drivers

The OPTICON MK2 bass and midrange drivers are designed with a focus on DALI's audio principles of low-loss, low distortion, and low colouration. The aim is for drivers to reproduce only what the amplifier requires.

Every component is carefully designed for its contribution to ideal performance. The EPICON-derived diaphragms are made from a mix of paper and wood fibre for minimal break-up resonance. They are terminated by soft, flexible rubber surrounds for minimal low-frequency damping. The magnet and voice-coil system control diaphragm movement, while the surround dissipates vibrational energy. The OPTICON MK2 bass and midrange driver chassis are manufactured in die-cast aluminium for high rigidity, low resonance, and minimal influence on the magnet system. The chassis design minimizes airflow impedance and ensures tight mechanical bonding with the enclosures.

The bass/mid driver magnet system uses a large ferrite ring magnet surrounding a pole piece made of unique DALI SMC material. This is secured between soft iron plates to create the appropriate magnetic field for the voice-coil.

Text description for diagram: A DALI bass/midrange driver is shown, highlighting its die-cast aluminium chassis, wood fibre diaphragm, and surrounding rubber edge.

DALI SMC (Soft Magnetic Compound)

DALI SMC is a coated magnet granular material offering high magnetic permeability and very low electrical conductivity, ideal for driver magnet systems. It significantly reduces electro-acoustic distortion by minimizing eddy currents in the pole piece, which can modulate the input signal and cause harmonic distortion. SMC also improves flux linearity, reduces magnetic hysteresis, and minimizes voice-coil inductance variation. These benefits lead to a subjective reduction in low-level detail masking and colouration.

The bass and bass/mid drivers are finely adjusted for mechanical, magnetic, and electrical parameters to work with each speaker's enclosure volume, internal damping, and Dual Flare port tuning. This ensures an optimized low-frequency response profile for typical installations. For instance, the OPTICON 1 MK2 has an earlier, gradual low-frequency roll-off for compact spaces, while the OPTICON 8 MK2 offers a more extended profile for larger spaces. These voicing considerations have been revised in the MK2 series for improved integration with listening spaces and to leverage the Dual Flare reflex ports.

Midrange driver characteristics are engineered for optimal integration with the soft dome and hybrid tweeters. The midrange response shape of the Wood Fibre diaphragms contributes to the overall filter characteristics of the driver and crossover, making them work as one.

Text description for image: Fine-grain SMC material is presented, described as an important building material for high-performance magnet systems.

4. OPTICON MK2 Soft Dome and Hybrid Tweeters

5. OPTICON MK2 Reflex Ports

All six OPTICON MK2 models are reflex-loaded speakers. Reflex loading uses the acoustic output from the rear of a bass driver to extend low-frequency bandwidth and increase power handling by tuning a low-frequency resonance (the reflex port) to reverse the phase of the rearward output, adding it to the forward output. If not carefully considered, this can result in unnaturally emphasized and 'slow' bass. The port tuning for all OPTICON MK2 models was revisited to optimize subjective bass performance for likely installation applications.

The design of speaker reflex ports is complex. For the OPTICON 1, 2, 6, and 8 MK2, DALI incorporated their Dual Flare port technique. The challenge with reflex ports is maintaining smooth, laminar airflow. Port turbulence can arise at higher bass volumes, causing audible compression and distortion.

The OPTICON MK2 Dual Flare technique uses aerodynamically designed exit and entry flares to minimize turbulence at expected airflow rates. This enables OPTICON MK2 reflex ports to remain laminar and reinforce low-frequency performance to a significantly higher volume level.

The OPTICON LCR and VOKAL MK2 models use different reflex port designs. The OPTICON VOKAL MK2 employs twin, forward-facing letterbox-style reflex ports for installation in furniture units, where space for Dual Flare is limited and port flaring is less critical for voice reproduction. The OPTICON LCR MK2's on-wall installation requires a different approach, with reflex ports exiting at the rear and venting parallel to the wall, making the rear wall surface integral to port tuning and exit flaring.

Text description for diagrams: Diagrams illustrate 'Dual flare', 'SINGLE flare', and 'no flare' reflex port designs.

6. MANUFACTURING IN PAIRS

DALI distinguishes itself through its approach to pair matching, focusing on both acoustics and finish quality. DALI employs quality assurance systems to ensure tight tolerances, but natural material variations (like veneer color nuance) can occur. DALI's manufacturing processes are designed around the idea that speakers used in pairs should be built as pairs. This ensures stereo pairs are built and tested sequentially by a single technician, using components from the same batch. This process aids acoustic pair matching and ensures attention to detail.

Unlike many manufacturers whose speakers have numerically distant serial numbers (indicating different production times), DALI speakers in a pair share the same serial number, with a simple extension to denote Left or Right. This simple approach provides significant customer benefits.

Text description for image: An image shows two DALI OPTICON MK2 speakers with adjacent serial numbers, one marked 'L' (Left) and the other 'R' (Right), indicating they are a stereo pair manufactured sequentially.

7. OPTICON MK2 Crossover

Integrating the output of multiple drivers in a speaker system is the primary job of the crossover, which also defines the speaker's wide-band and fine tonal balance – its subjective 'voice'. Crossovers are a DALI speciality, with extensive R&D dedicated to optimizing each element for maximum performance.

For the OPTICON MK2 models, crossover design returned to first principles to ensure the theoretical benefits of the new drivers were fully realized in subjective performance, working with natural driver characteristics. The filter topology was simplified with a minimum of components between the amplifier and drivers. Crossover components, particularly low-loss capacitors, were upgraded, resulting in increased overall coherence, detail, and precision across the series.

Crossover assemblies are located internally adjacent to the terminal panels to shorten signal paths. The OPTICON 6 and 8 MK2 models feature optional bi-wiring facilities on their terminal panels. All OPTICON MK2 models use gold-plated connection terminals for reliable long-term connections.

Text description for image: An image displays an OPTICON 6 MK2 crossover assembly, showing various electronic components such as capacitors and inductors.

8. OPTICON MK2 Cabinets

Manufacture of the OPTICON MK2 series is retained firmly at DALI in Denmark. The in-house woodworking facility handles all stages, from cutting MDF enclosure panels to applying surface finishes and constructing carcasses. Driver and crossover installation, and final quality approval, are also performed on DALI's assembly lines.

Each OPTICON MK2 enclosure is designed to optimize rigidity and minimize panel resonance. The 25mm thick front baffles provide rigid foundations for the drivers. Floor-standing models feature extra internal bracing to ensure rigidity and eliminate panel resonance. Drivers are securely attached via five mounting holes on their chassis. The internal profile of the baffle cut-outs is relieved to provide clearer airflow space behind the driver diaphragms. New OPTICON MK2 cast aluminium tweeter faceplates are held securely with four or six screws to minimize vibration and resonance.

Front grilles attach via integrated inserts, leaving the baffle surface clean. The finishing laminates are of high quality, and extensive testing ensures resistance to ambient temperature and humidity changes. Strict in-house control of every manufacturing aspect results in a level of fit and finish typically found at significantly higher price points.

Text description for image: An image shows a worker carefully assembling speaker components, highlighting the precision in DALI's manufacturing process.

9. OPTICON MK2 Update Summary

• Fresh and elegant aesthetic with new satin white, satin black, and tobacco oak finish options, matched with new furniture-grade grille fabrics.
• New Woofers and Midrange drivers featuring SMC technology and DALI EPICON-derived Wood Fibre Diaphragms.
• New, larger diameter, in-house designed and manufactured soft dome tweeter derived from the DALI CALLISTO.
• Hybrid, soft dome and ribbon tweeter featured on the OPTICON 6, 8, LCR, and VOKAL MK2 models.
• New die-cast aluminium tweeter faceplates.
• DALI Dual Flare reflex ports for reduced port turbulence and noise.
• Re-engineered crossovers incorporating upgraded, low-loss components.
• Optional bi-wire connection facilities on OPTICON 6 MK2 and 8 MK2.
• Tonal balance revoiced to maximize the subjective benefits of the MK2 revisions.

Technical specifications

All technical specifications are subject to change without notice.