DALI Rubicon Vokal User Manual

DALI RUBICON

WHITEPAPER

INTRODUCTION

Over the last 30 years DALI have continuously
broken new ground in the loudspeaker industry,
and have constantly proven that attention to detail
and the genuine love of music is the foundation of
loudspeaker craftsmanship excellence.

Having introduced the SMC based ‘Linear Drive
System’ with our flagship EPICON series, we
wanted to utilise this technology’s ability to create
extremely low distortion within the RUBICON
series. Using SMC only in the pole piece, we found
that we could remove a very large part of the
unwanted distortion, and lower the complexity
of the central part of the magnet motor. This
simplifies the production process and ensures that
the benefit of SMC can be enjoyed by even more
Hi-Fi lovers around the world.

The DALI trademark hybrid tweeter module has
once again received a make-over in order to bring
the latest developments into the series. Using the
same soft dome diaphragm used in the EPICON
series, and many of the same magnet system
technologies, the RUBICON soft dome tweeter and
ribbon are able to deliver the detailed and spacious
sound stage that DALI is so well known for.

However, drivers alone do not make a great
loudspeaker. The cabinet is the drivers’ terminating
point and therefore has to offer a solid, ridged
and resonance free environment for them to work
in. Constructed from solid MDF, the simple yet
majestic cabinet is the sturdy base from where the
drivers do their work. Following the design lines of
the very popular MENTOR MENUET, the RUBICON
series builds on a well known design language,
and takes it to new heights.

With the RUBICON series of loudspeakers, DALI
continues its tradition of bringing ‘best in class’
products to the market. With drivers manufactured
in-house at our Danish factory, and featuring the
latest in magnet motor technology, DALI RUBICON
is ready to set new standards for audio quality in
the mid-range loudspeaker segment.

It is with great pride we introduce DALI RUBICON

DALI A/S www.dali-speakers.com

PRODUCTS

The DALI RUBICON series consist of
five unique loudspeaker models that all
are built around a brand new 6½ inch
woofer, and the well known DALI hybrid
tweeter module. They are available in
high-gloss Black or White, and in two
real wood veneers, Walnut and Rosso.

RUBICON 2 is a compact 2-way stand
mount loudspeaker. The perfect blend
between compact size and cabinet
inner volume has created the perfect
working environment for the 6½ inch
woofer and soft dome tweeter.

The floor standing RUBICON 5 extends
on the RUBICON 2 by adding a larger
cabinet with extended internal volume.
RUBICON 5 also utilises the hybrid
tweeter module, which features both a
soft dome and ribbon tweeter. All this
add up to a potent loudspeaker despite
its still compact size.

The RUBICON 6 adds another 6½ inch
woofer and a larger cabinet. The two
woofers work together to move a lot
more air and reach even lower into the
deep bass area.

DALI A/S www.dali-speakers.com

The large RUBICON 8 has no less than
3 woofers that kick in at different
frequencies. This adds up to what in
effect is a 2½+½+½-way construction.

RUBICON LCR is the dedicated on-wall
speaker in the series. With a 6½ inch
woofer and a rotatable hybrid tweeter
module, it can be set up to play both
vertically or horizontally, making it the
perfect choice for surround use in a
home cinema set-up. The ingenious
bass port gives the otherwise small
loudspeaker the ability to deliver
surprising large bass.

WOOFER

Magnet system

Reproducing undistorted, uncoloured
sound rich on detail has always been
the goal at DALI. With the recently
introduced SMC ‘Linear Drive System’
we knew that we had the tools to raise
the bar on sound quality in the mid­range loudspeaker segment. Finding

The SMC based pole piece covert by a slitted copper cap forms the basic in the low distortion magnet system.

a way to implement the knowledge
was where things became more
complicated. Wanting to maximise the
effect of the SMC whilst keeping the
magnet motor simple, lead to countless
experiments in our R&D department.
The result was a pole piece constructed

DALI A/S www.dali-speakers.com

entirely from SMC, surrounded with
a copper cap, and enclosed within a
large ferrite magnet. This way the effect
of the SMC was maximised and the
design of the magnet motor system
was kept fairly simple.

SMC

The use of SMC (Soft Magnetic
Compound) has many advantages,
but the overshadowing result is a
significant reduction of distortion from
the mechanical loss in the magnet

motor. SMC’s unique ability to deliver a
high magnetic conductivity and a very
low electrical conductivity gives us all
the wanted qualities of a really good

speaker magnet without the traditional
downsides. The result is a significant
lowering of the colouration of the
reproduced sound.

The individually coated magnet granules makes it possible to mold a strong magnet that is not electrical conductive.

DALI A/S www.dali-speakers.com

Hysteresis

When using iron based magnets in
speakers, the magnetization and
demagnetization introduced by the
shifting current directions does not
happened at the same pace. The
demagnetization process is slower than
the magnetization. This phenomenon
is called hysteresis, and is a known

problem in almost all speaker magnet
motor systems. The problem with
hysteresis is that it introduces an
unintended resistance to the voice
coil, meaning unwanted distortion. The
reason hysteresis occurs is that iron is
not only magnetically conductive, but
also very electrically conductive.

SMC on the other hand is very highly
magnetically conductive, but has a
very low electrical conductivity (approx.
1/10.000’s of iron). The result of using
SMC is almost no hysteresis, and
therefore no distortion.

BH Curve for iron - Measurement: 2 Hz at 1.8 T

2

1.5

1

0.5

0

-0.5

Flux Density [T]

-1

-1.5

-2

-1.5 -1 -0.5 0 0.5 1 1.5

Field Strength [A/m]

BH Curve for iron - Measurement: 50 Hz at 1.8 T

2

1.5

1

0.5

0

-0.5

Flux Density [T]

-1

-1.5

-2

-1.5 -1 -0.5 0 0.5 1 1. 5

Field Strength [A/m]

x 10

x 10

BH Curve for SMC - Measurement: 2 Hz at 1.8 T

2

1.5

1

0.5

0

-0.5

Flux Density [T]

-1

-1.5

-2

4

4

-2.5 -2 -1.5 -1 -0.5 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5

Field Strength [A/m]

BH Curve for SMC - Measurement: 50 Hz at 1.8 T

2

1.5

1

0.5

0

-0.5

Flux Density [T]

-1

-1.5

-2

-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3

Field Strength [A/m]

x 10

x 10

4

4

BH Curve for iron - Measurement: 200 Hz at 1.8 T

2

1.5

1

0.5

0

-0.5

Flux Density [T]

-1

-1.5

-2

-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3

Field Strength [A/m]

DALI A/S www.dali-speakers.com

x 10

BH Curve for SMC - Measurement: 200 Hz at 1.8 T

2

1.5

1

0.5

0

-0.5

Flux Density [T]

-1

-1.5

-2

4

-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3

Field Strength [A/m]

x 10

4

Current linearity

In a traditional iron magnet system, the
current in the voice coil will modulate
the flux in the magnet gap. This flux
modulation is a course of distortion,
and creates a far from ideal working
environment for the voice coil. This

Inductance Linearization

Making our speakers amplifier friendly
is an important part of the design
process. We want to make sure that it
is the amplifier and not the speaker that
forms the audio signal. To get the best
from any amplifier the speaker has to
deliver a stable working environment.

modulation of the magnetic flux is
caused by the iron being electrically
conductive.

By introducing SMC into the area close
to the magnet gap, this modulation is

By keeping the impedance as flat as
possible across the entire frequency
range, the amplifier is able to deliver
the same amount of power at all
frequencies, keeping the sound stage
complete without any sudden drop-offs.
In many magnet motor designs the
voice coil inductance depends

significantly less influenced by the
current in the voice coil. As a result
we manage to reduce the distortion
from current generated flux variations
greatly.

on the position of the voice coil. By
surrounding the SMC pole piece with a
copper cap, and controlling the effect
via small slits in the copper cap, we
focus the effect of the SMC around the
voice coil and linearise the inductance
generated in the voice coil to a degree
that it is seen as almost flat.

Voice coil inductance symmetry versus excursion

1600

1400

1200

1000

800

IInductance [µH]

-12 -10 -8 -6 -4 -2 0 2 4 6 8 10

600

400

200

Displacement [mm]

DALI A/S www.dali-speakers.com

SMC without copper cap

SMC with un slied copper cap

SMC with slied copper cap

Low-loss

Having designed a magnet motor
system that introduces almost no
unwanted distortion, we wanted to
add components that had these same
qualities. Using a wood fibre cone
manufactured by the same company
that makes the EPICON cones, gives
the woofer a light, rigid and randomly
uneven membrane. This makes the
cone easy to move, ensures even
piston like movements and reduces the
possibility of surface resonance greatly.
These things combined results in lots
of detail and very little colouration in
the reproduced signal, even at low
volume. The cone terminates in a soft
low-loss rubber surround that has been
designed from the ground up, and is
bespoke for the RUBICON driver. The
surround ensures that the cone moves
easily and without loss of energy. All
of the components are situated in an
aluminium chassis that is designed for
maximum airflow around the cone and
magnet system. The use of aluminium
for the chassis also minimises the
effect of the magnet motor, since
aluminium is not magnetically
conductive and therefore does not
interfere with the magnetic field around
the magnet.

DALI A/S www.dali-speakers.com

RUBICON 8 woofer,

3rd order distortion

2.000

%

1.600

1.200

0.800

0.400

500300

All of these individual component parts
are assembled in-house to produce the
RUBICON driver. They work together to
reproduce clean, detailed sound, with
no colouration or unwanted distortion.
Every driver is configured to match

2k

Iron without copper cap
SMC without copper cap
Iron with slitted copper cap
SMC with slitted copper cap

the model they are destined for. This
is done, using the RUBICON 8 as an
example, by optimising the bass drivers
for long excursion, and the midrange
driver for a large useful frequency
range, so roll-off is handled in the

Hz

5k

7k

0.000

crossover and not in the driver. This
same type of optimisation is done for
the entire range of woofers used in the
other models..

DALI A/S www.dali-speakers.com

TWEETER

DALI’s trademark hybrid tweeter
module combines the dome tweeter
with the ribbon tweeter for an amazing
rendering of the high frequencies, and
a dispersion of high frequency sounds
that outperform all other tweeter
technologies. In the RUBICON series,
DALI makes use of both the soft dome
working alone, and the hybrid tweeter
configuration.

The ultra-lightweight soft dome
tweeter module is designed to reach

higher into the very high frequencies
than is normal for at soft dome used
in a DALI hybrid tweeter. This is done
since it is required to work on its own
in the RUBICON 2. To achieve this
broader bandwidth we designed a
voice coil that was very light and agile.
We therefore replaced the traditional
copper wire on the voice coil with
copper clad aluminium. This lighter
voice coil is placed inside a powerful
ferrite magnet that keeps tight control
of its movements.

DALI A/S www.dali-speakers.com

The ribbon part of the hybrid module
is a magneto static type tweeter.
Four bands of conductive material
make up the active diaphragm that is
controlled by a strong magnetic field
formed around it. The ribbon tweeter
is the master of wide dispersion and
combining it with the soft dome, we get
a tweeter module that starts working as
low a 2.5 KHz and continues to perform
well above 30 KHz. This extreme
bandwidth combined with the ultra
wide dispersion is an important part of
the DALI sonic definition.

CABINET

The gracefully elegant exterior of the RUBICON works as the base for the low-loss drivers.

Made from Medium Density Fibre board
(MDF), the RUBICON series’ cabinets
form a rigid base for the drivers, which
are screw-mounted directly into the
25 mm thick front baffle. To ensure the
best possible hold on the woofer and
thereby integration with the cabinet, the
five screw holes are placed along the
arms of the woofer chassis. The tweeter
module is held securely in place with

bass drivers are separated into their
own chambers. This enables us
to individually tune every driver to
its specified frequency range, and
thereby maximise the woofer output.
Furthermore, every woofer has its own
bass reflex port placed directly behind
the woofer to minimise turbulence, and
optimise the timing between the woofer

and the bass port.
four screws to eliminate vibrations and
resonance.

Comprehensive internal bracing is

applied to eliminate cabinet resonance
In every cabinet the mid-range and

and colouration of the sound.

DALI A/S www.dali-speakers.com

Every woofer has its own bass port to minimise internal
turbulence and optimize timing.

SIGNAL PATH

When the audio signal is delivered
to the speaker it still has a way to go
before it is transformed into audible
sound. Knowing that the shortest path
is always the best when it comes to
electrical signals, DALI designed the
internal signal path of the RUBISON
series to be as short as possible.
Mounting the crossover directly on the
back of the terminals ensures that the
audio signal from the speaker cable is
split up into the correct frequency
ranges as soon as they enter the

speaker. Due to the high quality

wideband drivers used in the RUBICON

series, the crossover can be kept

relative simple, pertaining as much of

the original electrical signal as possible.

The separated signal then travels the

last short distance to the driver in

carefully selected cables optimised for

lowest possible signal loss.

On the floor standing RUBICON models

it is possible to connect the speakers

through bi-wiring/amping terminals,

with single wired terminal connections
offered on the RUBICON 2 and LCR.
The gold plated terminals for the
entire RUBICON Series accept banana
plugs, Y-spade lugs and bare wire
ends. It is also possible to tighten the
terminals with a high torque as they
use very fine threads, which ensure
mechanical precision and help create
a proper electrical connection between
the loudspeaker cables and the
loudspeaker.

DALI A/S www.dali-speakers.com

APPLICATION

RUBICON 2 is a stand mounted speaker
built around a 6½ inch low-loss
woofer and a 29mm ultra light soft
dome tweeter. It is rich on detail with
an impressive soundstage and has
surprisingly large bass reproduction
with both precision and timing.
This makes it perfect for a stereo or
surround setup in a smaller room, or as
rear speakers in a larger room surround
setup.

RUBICON LCR is a brand new speaker
construction that is optimized for on­wall use. The rotatable hybrid tweeter
module makes it possible to use the
RUBICON LCR as either the left or right
channel, or as a centre speaker. The
6½ inch woofer uses the ingeniously
designed bass port to reach maximum
bass depth. Detailed and coherent
sound, with a fantastic soundstage, it’s
simply in a class of its own.

DALI A/S www.dali-speakers.com

RUBICON 5 is a floor standing speaker.
It expands the sonic performance of the
RUBICON 2 by adding a hybrid tweeter
and a larger cabinet offering more of
everything. Extending and widening the
high frequencies for improved detail,
and adding more well timed deep
bass for a more demanding presence.
The RUBICON 5 is perfect for stereo
listening or as the front speakers in a
medium sized surround setup.

RUBICON 6 is like the RUBICON 5 a

floor standing speaker, but features an

additional 6½ inch woofer. This extra

woofer makes it more powerful, with an

enhanced and controlled performance.

Utilising the extra surface area, the

RUBICON 6 is able to deliver even more

physical bass to fill a larger room.

RUBICON 8 is the largest in the
series. Using no less than three
6½ inch woofers to generate an
amazing range and impressive
sound pressure. Mid-range
detail and extended bass are
taken to new levels, whilst the
mind blowing large soundstage
and impressive large scale
physical bass need to be heard
to be believed.

DALI A/S www.dali-speakers.com

RUBICON TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

RUBICON 2 RUBICON 5 RUBICON 6 RUBICON 8 RUBUCON LCR

Frequency Range [+/- 3] dB [Hz] 50 -26,000 45 - 34, 000 38 - 34,000 38 - 34,000 59 -34,000

Sensitivity [2.83V/1m] [dB] 87 86 88.5 90.5 89

Nominal Impedance [ohms] 4 4 4 4 4

Maximum SPL [dB] 107 107 110 112 109

Recommended Amp. Power [Watt] 40-150 60-150 40-200 40-250 20-150

Crossover Frequency [Hz] 3,100 2,900 /14,000 800/2,600/14,000

Crossover Principle 2-way 2+½-way 2½ + ½-way 2½ + ½ + ½-way 2+½-way

High Frequency Driver 1 x 29 mm soft

Low Frequency Driver(s) 1 x 6½” 1 x 6½” 2 x 6½” 3 x 6½” 1 x 6½”

Enclosure Type Bass reflex Bass reflex Bass reflex Bass reflex Bass reflex

Bass Reflex Tuning Frequency [Hz] 42.5 39 33 33 49

Connection Input(s) Single Bi-wire / Bi-Amp Bi-wire / Bi-Amp Bi-wire / Bi-Amp Single

Recommended Placement Stand/Shelf Floor Floor Floor On wall/Shelf/

Recommended Distance from rear
wall to speaker’s rear side [cm]

Dimensions (H x W x D) [mm] 350 x 195 x335 890 x 195 x 338 990 x 200 x 380 1100 x 220 x 444 465 x 278 x 142

Dimensions (H x W x D) [inches] 13.9 x 7.7 x 13.3 35.2 x 7.7 x 13.4 39.1 x 7.9 x 15.0 43.5 x 8.7 x 17.6 18.4 x 11.0 x 5.6

dome

20 – 120 20 – 150 20 – 180 25 – 180 0 – 30

1 x 29 mm soft
dome
1 x 17 x 45 mm
ribbon

1 x 29 mm soft
dome
1 x 17 x 45 mm
ribbon

500/800/2,500/14,000

1 x 29 mm soft
dome
1 x 17 x 45 mm
ribbon

3,100/14,000

1 x 29 mm soft
dome
1 x 17 x 45 mm
ribbon

Table/ Below TV
screen

Weight [kg/lb] 8.0 / 17.7 15.7 / 34.7 20.2 / 44.6 27.3 / 60.3 8.0 / 17.9

Accessories Rubber feet,

Polishing cloth,
manual

Spike set, rubber
feet, Polishing
cloth, manual

Spike set, rubber
feet, Polishing
cloth, manual

Spike set, rubber
feet, Polishing
cloth, manual

Rubber feet,
Polishing cloth,
manual

All technical specifications are subject to change without notice.

DALI A/S www.dali-speakers.com