Munich High End 2011

The press kit reads: “Home is where we can do exactly what we please. It’s freedom to breathe, live, love, and play together with music as a dedicated companion….”

I know it’s just marketing talk, but I have to admit that I like it.

The new Dali Fazon F5 (€1499) uses a 1.1” dome tweeter and two 5” mid-woofers, while the cabinet is curved to avoid any parallel sides and prevent standing waves. Special spring-loaded terminals developed by Dali work together with the speaker’s integrated base to neatly conceal speaker cables. (Because, really, who wants to see speaker cables?) In addition, the Fazon F5’s dual-layer front baffle is meant to eliminate vibrations between the drivers and cabinet.

The Fazons were matched with NAD’s C 545BEE CD player and C 375BEE integrated amplifier, for a sleek, simple, affordable system. The sound was fast, detailed, involving, and more impactful than one might expect for the size of the speakers.

Even Rosemarie was impressed.

“I wouldn’t mind having these in my home,” she said.

“Damn, that’s good stuff," I replied. "I’m totally putting that in the blog.”