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Dali Zensor 1 Spinorama measurements (passive version)

Ageve

Senior Member
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Here are measurements of the passive Dali Zensor 1 bookshelf speaker.

zensor1.png


It retailed for ~US $189 / pair (1996 SEK) in Sweden 12 years ago.

Note: This is not the passive speaker that came with my powered Zensor 1 AX, measured here:

I don't know if there's any difference though.

Equipment/settings used:
Calibrated miniDSP UMIK-2
REW v5.30.5 (mac)
OPPO BDP-93 (playback source)
Denon AVR-4306 (pre-amp/HDMI)
Rotel RB-1590 (power amp)
Sweep: 0-48000Hz 512K 24-bit 96 kHz
Homemade speaker turntable, 1m distance

I measured at 5 deg increments, both horizontal and vertical (negative horizontal angles duplicated since the speaker is symmetrical).

Number of measurements: 113 (148 including the duplicates).


Zensor 1 CTA-2034.png



It's similar to Zensor 1 AX, but a bit more uneven. The small 8 kHz dip wasn't there with the powered version. The directivity is nearly identical (as expected).


Zensor 1 early reflections.png


The early reflections look quite good considering how inexpensive this speaker is. It's designed to be used off-axis.***

Zensor 1 estimated in-room response.png


Horizontal directivity:
horizontal directivity polar.png


0-90 deg compared to measurements by John Atkinson (Stereophile):

Horizontal directivity Stereophile_comparison.png

712Dalifig4.jpg



Vertical directivity:
vertical directivity polar.png


0-45 deg compared to Stereophile:

Zensor 1 vertical dir stereophile comparison.png

712Dalifig5.jpg



Near on-axis compared to Stereophile (both are 0-30 deg horizontal averages):

onaxis_vs_stereophile.png

From the Stereophile review:

DALI Zensor 1, anechoic response on HF axis at 50", averaged across 30° horizontal window and corrected for microphone response, with nearfield responses of woofer (blue trace), port (red), and their complex sum (black), plotted below 350, 700, and 300Hz, respectively.



Distortion, 76dB @ 1m (measured at 30cm):

Zensor 1 distortion 76dB 1m.png

Zensor 1 distortion 76dB 1m percent.png



Distortion, 86dB (measured at 30cm):

Zensor 1 distortion 86dB 1m.png

Zensor 1 distortion 86dB 1m percent.png



I didn't measure at higher SPL, since the port was already making quite a bit of noise at 86dB SPL.


*** From the user manual:

The speakers are designed to meet our wide dispersion principle, so they should NOT be angled towards the listening position, but be positioned parallel with the rear wall, see Figure 2. By parallel positioning, the distortion in the main listening area will be lowered and the room integration will be improved. The wide dispersion principle will ensure that sound is spread evenly within a large area in the listening room.


figure2.png
 

Attachments

  • Zensor 1 CTA-2034 export from VituixCAD.zip
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Thanks for the detailed measurements!

I used to own this speakers a few years ago. And I really liked it.
It's somehow a typical tuned hifi speaker with the W-shape frequency responce.

I think this one is a good example that a speaker does not always have to follow the praised ideals (flaz responce, constant directivity,...) to sound good, as long as the power responce is ok. (which it is).
The pronounced upper bass is making the box sound a bit bigger than it is and the hight boost above 9kHz helps prettymuch everyone above 40 years old to hear anything in this range.
 
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What impresses me is that even their entry series drivers seem to behave well in terms of distortion.
Same... I think the FR is take-it-or-leave it, not the worst I have ever seen but nothing to start scouring eBay over either.

But the distortion is pretty impressive for the price tier. And with EQ they could probably improve some.

Thanks @Ageve for another one of these... somehow the measurements of wacky or less-than-stellar speakers are really interesting in their own way.
 
Nice, I wanted to buy these at 2nd hand market for some time now.
 
Thanks for the measurements. I have these as my desktop speakers and find them pretty good in near field.
 
These are very well thought out for smaller rooms where bass is boosted at about 50Hz. The 8k+ rise does not interfere with instrument notes, especially when positioned like the manual suggests. And at 40+ totally approved.
I'd say that in real room and person scenario these are very very nice for the price. This is from a Nordic perspective, small rooms and thick walls where I can see this curve as much better in practise than on paper. Dali is quite popular around here.
 
I've owned a pair of these for over a decade, now they're in a side room system attached to a simple network Marantz integrated amp and they punch way way way above their weight class. I've also listened to much pricier Dali speakers and they all have a great sound that couples with typical listening environments. Even their best speakers are somewhat colored, but they really punch you in the eardrum in a unique way. They aren't so clinical, just fun to listen to.
 
It seems to me they are a tad bit better in all regards compared to Spektor 1, even if the Zensors are older.
Slightly lower bass extension, slightly better vertical directivity etc...
 
It seems to me they are a tad bit better in all regards compared to Spektor 1, even if the Zensors are older.
Slightly lower bass extension, slightly better vertical directivity etc...

Yep, they are one step above Spektor. One difference is the crossover. Zensor has a real 12 dB / octave crossover, while Spektor has a 6 dB / octave filter for the tweeter.

spektor_crossover.jpg


post-27321-0-58981400-1426418376.jpg


From this thread:

 
Welp... these are not for me.

BTW - @Ageve I think you are doing gods work, measuring all these speakers where otherwise would never get a spinorama. Thank you for your efforts!
 
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