Dali Oberon 5 vs Polk R500

[junvvin]

Seeking advice on these two speakers.

1. the oberon 5 is cheaper, better looking, not fussy about placement and looks more compact.

2. the r500 has great reviews too.

3. DAC - Rose Technics Rt5000

4. Amps - Quad vena or audiolab 6000a.

5. Room size - Medium and untreated.

6. Purpose - music streaming via youtube, spotify, tidal and apple music.

I want to get the oberon 5 but i am afraid it might be too sharp/fatiguing since the dac (rt5000) is also highly revealing.

The polk r500 is slightly more expensive than the oberon 5 in my city.

If anyone has experience with both the speakers, kindly help.

 

[BazsiBazsi]

I've listened to the Oberon 5, and It's pretty good, but you will need some measurements to corrects its overwhelming bass.
About R500, I haven't listened to it, but I think it's a much more balanced speaker. If you can afford it also consider the R700, when it's discounted, it's below 1000 EUR here. But if this is going to be your first floor standing speaker set, just buy whatever you like more. Both of them are excellent.
Considering your gear, I don't think you need to worry about anything messing up the sound off besides your room. I would try to throw in some stealth treatment, deep pile carpet, bookshelves etc. Your gear is too expensive for a room without treatment. Speakers of this range tend to have a bright and clear output, if combined with a really empty room you will get highs that literally hurt your ears.
So I would recommend buying a cheap measurement mic. Your overall cost is above 2k EUR/USD adding in a mic around 200 would only increase it by <10%. You can even buy measurement mic below 75 EUR (not the best, but way better than your phone).

Regarding placement, make sure that you can pull away the speakers from the walls and make sure that the face of the speakers are more than 1.5 away from the wall(or minimum 1) and then you're good to go. I had the issue that one of my speakers was only 70 cm away from the sidewall in an asymmetric setup and had to move them out a bit to correct the drifted sound stage.

 

[junvvin]

I've listened to the Oberon 5, and It's pretty good, but you will need some measurements to corrects its overwhelming bass.
About R500, I haven't listened to it, but I think it's a much more balanced speaker. If you can afford it also consider the R700, when it's discounted, it's below 1000 EUR here. But if this is going to be your first floor standing speaker set, just buy whatever you like more. Both of them are excellent.
Considering your gear, I don't think you need to worry about anything messing up the sound off besides your room. I would try to throw in some stealth treatment, deep pile carpet, bookshelves etc. Your gear is too expensive for a room without treatment. Speakers of this range tend to have a bright and clear output, if combined with a really empty room you will get highs that literally hurt your ears.
So I would recommend buying a cheap measurement mic. Your overall cost is above 2k EUR/USD adding in a mic around 200 would only increase it by <10%. You can even buy measurement mic below 75 EUR (not the best, but way better than your phone).

Regarding placement, make sure that you can pull away the speakers from the walls and make sure that the face of the speakers are more than 1.5 away from the wall(or minimum 1) and then you're good to go. I had the issue that one of my speakers was only 70 cm away from the sidewall in an asymmetric setup and had to move them out a bit to correct the drifted sound stage.

Thanks for your input, greatly appreciated. I forgot to mention I also own a Polk HTS12 subwoofer. The Rose Technics RT5000 DAC also boost the low end a bit. In view of this, would you still recommend the oberon 5 over the polk r500? Also available is Revel f35/36, Wharfedale super denton/linton heritage at a slightly higher price. Main priority is vocals should be thick, intimate and on the front stage with clear instrument separation, great retrieval on background instruments, forgiving of placement and poor recordings. Indeed, this will be my first floorstander, so looking for compact ones since my bedroom is also oddly shaped. As for the measurement mic, will try to get one, but I am a total noob when it comes to these and I am by no means an audiophile, I just want a good and pleasing sound according to my taste. Will not be playing flac,dsd or offline files at all, just pure streaming from spotify, apple music, tidal and youtube. Bluetooth streaming for now, will get the wiim ultra once it is out.

 

[BazsiBazsi]

I think I would never not recommend a speaker with a good bass response since you can always correct it, and you must if you have a subwoofer because the bass waves will be mismatched based on your positions (either with positioning or with room correction). But it's hard to say, maybe with the R500 you would get a cleaner upper range. Unfortunately, I have no idea about Revel and Wharfedale, but they seem to be quite a lot more expensive. I would go for cheaper units, not for something that you will upgrade in 2 years, but also not for something that you would consider endgame. Is it possible for you to listen to these speakers in your area? Speakers are very subjective. A lot of stores are happy to show you around.

When I went to a store and compared a Wilson Digits 7 and A Canton GLE 90, I felt the Canton was lacking bass. My friend sitting next to me said he really felt the bass... Now go figure, it's hard to recommend a speaker sounds based on personal preferences, That's why measurements are important.
But above all, you will be able to correct almost everything except volume and a lack of bass with a measurement mic. Just make sure to read up all around here, understand the physics of sound and reflections and brush up your math regarding phase, amplitude, matrix operations, impulse response etc. I know it sounds daunting, but it's extremely useful if you grasp these concepts.
Looking for a certain sound signature is very source dependent, in some of the recording the vocal are deliberately mixed in the background, in others they are in the center or even above the soundstage. The difference is even more shocking between classical and non-classical music, when it comes to dynamics and clarity.

 

[junvvin]

Auditioning is out of the equation as I need to make a blind purchase. I need to travel 4000+ kms inorder to audition any speakers which will only add to the cost. I really want to get the oberon 5 due to its smaller size and looks, however i am not sure whether I will like the sound. The polk r500 seems to be a safer bet but i really don't like the looks of it and it is also around $150 more. I had dali spektor 2 and polk r200 in the past, both fine speakers. The oberons seem to be brighter/thinner sounding than the spektor 2 and the spektors were not exactly warm sounding to begin with. I really don't know how to describe the sound signature that I want. In short, if i were to EQ, I would normally hate V or U shaped but prefer n-shaped if this makes any sense. I would always bump up the midrange to make the vocals and guitars more thick and pop out. I will definitely look up some measurement tutorials, thank you for your help.

 

[junvvin]

what are your thoughts s on the focal chora 806 with my existing equipment btw? They seem to be particularly good at low volume listening which is what i would be doing and the vocal seems to be very good too? Will I be better off with it against getting these floorstanders?

 

[antcollinet]

I have the oberon 5's and am very happy with them. Not sure what the "overwhelming bass" comment above is about. Unless they were auditioned in a room with a bad room mode.

I've not experienced that at all. Even if I had I'd fix it with EQ.

I'd also not worry about brightness. You don't say what your source is - but assuming PC then it is easy to apply graphic EQ - or even better parametric eq with room correction. All freqency response issues are pretty easily fixed and it makes far more sense to do this purposefully with EQ rather than attempting to compensate one components response with an opposing response from another. In any case - I've also not noticed any particular brightness from the Oberons.

I'd also be prepared to bet your DAC is not bright in any case - DACS that are not a broken design won't have a noticeable sound signature.

I've not heard the Polks, so can't give a comparison.