Dali Rubicon 2 C

Stereo speakers | ₹TBA The Danish company has form when it comes to active-speaker design, so we plug in these new standmounters with no little anticipation

KEY FEATURES

BluOS streaming

aptX HD Bluetooth

Digital and analogue inputs

You may wonder why more hi-fi speaker brands don’t make active versions of their existing passive speakers. Stick an amplifier into the cabinet and you’re done, right?

Not quite. As demonstrated by these Dali Rubicon 2 C active standmounts, a lot of work goes into such a transition. Complex digital processing is required for optimal sound – wireless connections between the speakers need to be dependable and there’s also the housing of streaming modules and connectivity to consider.

Essentially, the Rubicon 2 Cs are an amalgamation of Dali’s five-star Rubicon 2 passive speakers (they borrow the drivers and cabinet construction) and the 2018-launched Callisto active speakers, from which they take the company’s capable Class D amplifier technology as well as the third and final box in the set-up, the Dali Sound Hub.

Streaming preamplifier

The Sound Hub is essentially the brains of the system – a streaming preamp that connects to the speakers wirelessly via Dali’s own proprietary network (on either the 2.4GHz or the 5.8GHz wi-fi band depending on the location and quality of the connection) and transmits audio to them at 24-bit/96kHz.