Oberon On-Wall Speaker in Dark Walnut (Pair)

I recently acquired a pair of Dali Oberon On-Wall speakers for my home office, so that I could have relatively high-quality music reproduction playing in the background while I work. I chose the Dali Oberons for several reasons: * They are narrow enough to fit in the space I had available on the wall on either side of a storage closet in my office, opposite my seating position; * They are aesthetically attractive and come in several finishes, one of which nicely matches my existing office furniture; * The drivers are high-quality and the speakers have an innovative downward-firing port to extend bass response; and * Dali generally has a good reputation for build quality and sound reproduction. Because I bought these from Amazon, and had never heard them, I was taking sort of a “flyer” on the sound quality — I relied mostly on reviews from other purchasers and Dali’s general reputation. More on the sound a little later. When I ordered the speakers, Amazon gave me the free option of using disguised outer boxing, because the box the speakers ship in from Dali identifies the contents. Having had past experience with electronic purchases “disappearing” en route (shipped via both Amazon and UPS), I took Amazon up on the option (in fairness to Amazon, on those occasions refunds or re-shipping occurred swiftly and without hassle — but the experience is still annoying). The speakers arrived double-boxed in good order, without incident. The interior box, from Dali, was sturdy and the speakers were carefully packaged to avoid damage. They arrived intact, and absolutely gorgeous. The finish is excellent, and the speakers weigh a little over ten pounds apiece — heavy enough to be well-damped and to suggest substantial internal components and structural integrity, but light enough for easy wall mounting. The drivers themselves appear to be very well-designed and well built, and the speaker grills are removable and very attractive in their own right. On the back, there are two sturdy mounting brackets symmetrically placed so the speakers may readily be hung vertically with either the tweeter or woofer on top, or horizontally. There are also integrated spacers on the back so the speakers stand out a little from the wall, making a space for wiring and the unique downward firing ports behind each speaker. And here’s my only gripe — the speakers do not come with any mounting template, hardware, or mounting instructions. You are on your own to figure out mounting. And the binding posts for speaker wire (which are high quality and will accept bare wire, spades or banana plugs) are placed at an odd angle that does not work well with banana plugs, unless you cut a pretty big rectangular hole in the wall behind the speaker — otherwise the speakers will not sit flush on the wall on the integrated spacers if you use regular-size banana plugs. I solved the problem using three inch spade-to-banana plug adapter wires (also available from Amazon), which allowed me to connect spades to the binding posts and then plug in banana plugs that hung down inside the wall, and did not interfere with the speaker sitting flush on the wall on the integrated spacers. All this means that mounting requires careful planning, very careful measurement, the proper tools and drill bits, and mounting hardware that can readily and safely support ten pounds. Not impossible, by any means, but not something to be done casually in a few minutes. The sound makes it worth the trouble. I have these paired with an ELAC Alchemy preamp and amplifier that are stashed in the afore-mentioned closet. Stereo imaging is excellent, and the highs and mid-range are crystal-clear and beautifully balanced. The bass is, as it would be for most bookshelf-size speakers, a little thin and not subwoofer-deep, but it improves over the first few hours of playing as the woofers flex a little. I play mostly jazz and light classical, for which the speakers are ideally suited. Certainly, a subwoofer might make sense for anyone wanting more solid, or deeper, bass. I highly recommend these speakers for those seeking on-wall placement — I have deducted one star for the lack of mounting hardware, template and instructions.

Beware I received a pair of " new" speakers that cost $1100.00. These are small wall mounted. One had a scratch repair and both appeared to have small cosmetic defects around the cone. Im in the middle of a remodel and dont want to play the send back and buy again game, but not even a price adjustment offer for it being scratch and dent.