One of the real pleasures and luxuries of my work is to meet new passionate and inspiring people. Consequently, this leads to the constant discovery of the out of the box products.
Goran Dašek, the CEO and owner of Dachorn surely belongs to the small boutique high-end audio manufacturers with a story to tell.
Even from the first glimpse, one can recognize that Dachorn speakers are designed by someone who cares deeply for aesthetics and as you'll learn along the review, also for the music. Goran has studied architecture and this quickly reveals the origin of the particular enclosure shape, that reflect a dense amount of stylish cue points.
Well, that's just one part of the interesting story connected to the Goran and the DNA of the Dachorn speakers. Goran inherited the family woodwork craftsmanship workshop from his father and this is where the speakers are being assembled. Goran father is an avid music lover and in his eighties, he still plays the violin every day.
I'm sure you're already connecting the dots. Dachorn is not yet another speaker manufacturer, but an emotional and passionate driven company with a vivid dream to bring music closer to reality.
THE ESSENCE
The Dachorn speaker design reflects the basic feature of the entire construction, and that is the absence of parallel and same size surfaces so that there is no discrete frequency of resonance in the enclosures.
In order to avoid the front and rear surfaces being parallel and also to help the driver's axis to meet in space at a point around 4.8m in front of the speaker, the front surfaces of the speaker have a slight slope. The upper one 7 degrees and the lower one 5 degrees. This also provides much better aligning and overlapping of the sound waves of each individual driver by using the basic enclosure geometry.
The whole speaker consists of three parts:
- the top enclosure with 60 liters volume (530 mm high)
- the lower enclosure with 80 liters volume (730 mm high)
- mid, separate enclosure (30 cm high) containing the horn speaker and electronics
Each enclosure is spaced apart so the surfaces do not mate directly, but are anchored on three points through special 25mm spikes that reside in the steel sphere (18mm diameter) that can freely rotate on a small horizontal base embedded in the enclosure.
In this manner, each enclosure 'module' stands on 3 balls. The reason for this is very clear... The drivers of such power can be brutal, producing and transmitting high pressures and vibrations. Dachorn took great care to avoid any chance of such phenomena affecting the digital parts in the middle module. Especially given there is also a tube amplified model option.
The mechanical construction of the enclosure is made without any compromises, using only very high-quality materials.
The basic design is a form of HDF combined with a flexible MDF (curved surfaces). The rigidity is further improved by strategically placed braces and cross-members. On the outside, the frame is made out of two layers of flexible MDF. The flexible panel's slots are filled with resin to strengthen the entire cross-section of the speakers' chassis wall.
Added onto the other side of this primary structure are 5 layers of epoxy resin and a 200-gram carbon fiber weave. Once the epoxy dries, the surface first goes through several stages of grinding to a high smoothness and then 3 layers of a special transparent two-component lacquer are applied to maintain the transparency and visibility of the carbon fiber, while producing a high gloss damage resistant surface finish. The resulting carbon fiber and epoxy resin composite firms up and tighten the box to a very high degree, making it very rigid and stiff.
Because of such technology, it was not necessary to use extreme wall dimensions and extreme weight to prevent unwanted resonances.
The front and back sides are made of 22 mm thick flat MDF panels, combined into a composite by applying a 13mm thick extremely rigid Compact (R) panel glued with a special adhesive. Compact (R) itself is an uncommonly used material that is never the less very rigid and has a very low resonance and high acoustic absorption index but is also highly resistant to mechanical loads.
The main point of the multi-layer construction is that each material has a rather different composition and hence different resonant frequencies and absorption/transmission coefficient at the same size. Combining such materials into composite panels produces an enclosure with walls that disperse any acoustic wave inside them making it acoustically dead.
The effect is further enhanced by coating the interior of the box with a permanently elastic high strength adhesive, with embedded 2x2cm squares made of 4mm thick glass, that evenly cover the entire interior surface. This layer forms an acoustic barrier that prevents transmission of the interior vibration to the outer surface by dissipating the vibration energy inside the box. Finally, a layer of liquid bitumen is poured on the structure, which is also permanently elastic, forming another dispersion layer.
This approach to enclosure construction makes it possible to implement the next design goal: the interior of the enclosure is not filled with damping material, rather the interior walls are covered with 5cm thick long wool fiber panels, so that the sound waves have as little impact as possible on the wall of the enclosure, to begin with. This makes it completely unnecessary to use damping material to fill the space inside our enclosures in order to 'fake' additional enclosure volume. They are calculated and designed to have a fast bass response and the fastest possible speed of pressure propagation throughout the enclosure interior.
All these design and manufacturing interventions and elements contribute to a very clean and high-speed bass without artificial damping effects.
The middle enclosure contains the horn speaker’s housing and a special chamber in the back where the latest generation of class D amplifiers are situated together with a DSP based front end. These amplifiers are capable of 600W per channel output and employ adaptations licensed from Electron Audio Co. Class D amplifiers have been chosen after a long period of experimentation, because of their high power, and yet extraordinary control of the bass driver - elements necessary to achieve sound quality required by our design philosophy. Given that the horn reproduces the top 5 octaves of the audio band that contain the most intricate sonic information, it's enclosure and the horn itself have been designed and manufactured with the same care and attention to every detail as that used for the bass driver enclosures, a process proprietary to Dachorn Co, as is the adaptation of the class D amplifier to drive it in a manner that especially suits back-loaded drivers in our particular horn configuration.
THE DSP?
Given that without making serious and unwanted compromises in enclosure construction and aesthetics, regular cone and horn drivers are not acoustically co-incident sources, it was realised in the early conceptual stages of the entire design that regular passive and even active analog crossovers are not going to be able to properly integrate the drivers, so those approaches would not satisfy our goals.
Therefore, the decision was made to employ DSP techniques - this is the only way to time-align the drivers without introducing more compromises in other areas. Once this decision was made, added benefits that come with DSP could be leveraged, such as near zero phase error crossovers, sophisticated driver corrections and perhaps most importantly, the ability to avoid the most common pitfall in speaker design: configuring the speaker for some imaginary 'average' room where the speaker is expected to be used, which means that important and possibly detrimental compromises are already built into such a design from the very start. The ability to use custom DSP setups makes the speaker adaptable to virtually any user and listening room - this feature is worth using the DSP approach on its own merit, even without any of the added benefits that fit so well into the basic design philosophy.
While a fully open DSP engine may have provided 'more advanced' features, it would also have presented more pitfalls and ways to detrimentally influence the audio signal, and require the user to learn the intricacies of DSP.
Dachorn chose to capitalize on high standards of driver choice and enclosure implementation to provide a sound fundamental design, that requires minimal electronic intervention in the first place.
Each complete speaker is individually installed and adapted to the listening environment it will be used in, based on a set of measurements and parameters. Once the desired setup is created, it is stored into one of 4 non-volatile presets onboard the DSP module inside the enclosure. Because each loudspeaker has 4 individually and independently programmable presets that are always available to the user, extra flexibility is provided for fine-tuning or when multiple listening configurations are to be supported in a single room.
The combination of all these features not only provides optimum control of the speaker through the amplifiers but makes this speaker far more advanced, flexible and versatile than any classic speaker design.
THE STAND
The total weight of the assembled speaker is 130 kg. Dealing with so much mass requires an equally capable stand design.
The whole complex structure of the pedestal stand weighs about 10kg on its own and is a complex structure in itself.
The same philosophy of design is maintained here as well - it is construction made of a multi-layer 15mm thick composite slab made out of aluminum and Compact(R). Again, spikes are used as acoustically coupling, here they are made out of aluminum 45mm in diameter and end in a massive base with a triplet of 9mm diameter steel balls.
THE MUSIC
Rimsky-Korsakoff / Fritz Reiner / Chicago Symphony Orchestra* – Scheherazade (RCA Victor Red Seal – LSC-2446) needs no special introduction. Dachorn Kron speakers exhibited an impressive resolution, spot on timbre tone color as well as above expected layering and separation of the orchestra. The depth and weight were of an upper league and the speakers system allowed subtle details and sudden changes to come forward with ease. The violin sounded like an actual violin (which is not the case even with quite a few top tiers).
Fausto Mesolella – Live at Alcatraz (Fonè – 062). The natural warmth and control didn’t a disaster with the guitar. The same goes for the music's energy completes. The guitar's drive and grip were spot on. When the electric guitar kicks in there is no loss of weight. Dachorn flagships provided more than enough rawness. This record expertly challenges the lower register reproduction and with Kron speakers, the bass is always there. Not subtle or gently disclosed, but always ready to expand when needed. With Live at Alcatraz, the micro and macro dynamics expanded easily with a higher grade density, allowing the decays and delays to expand properly and potently. It was great to experience an unchanging music flow with a strong emotional connection.
The proper reproduction of the brass instruments is one of the bigger challenges for any loudspeakers. Ben Webster – Old Betsy is of reference level and a point on for this particular evaluation. This album also explores the system ability to portray the live acoustics atmosphere. Dachorn Kron speakers have retained the natural presentation, that simply draws you into the music. Again the speed and separation of instruments, as well as impressive fast drums attacks, formed a lasting listening experience, that called for more. Kron speakers allowed subtle changes and loud passages to work exceptionally well. My listening notes pointed also to the real world transients rendition. Dachorn flagships have to exhibit proper formant properties of the metallic percussion.
An audiophile classic, Rebeca Pidgeon - The Raven (special pressing) is always helpful to decipher the speakers' ability of proper portraying of the album. Kron speakers Spanish Harlem formed a beautiful vocal and the Spanish Harlem particularly recorded sibilants were instantly recognizable. Three-dimensional positioning of the instruments was of proper relief structure and piano was positioned at in own (needed) space behind the vocal without not the overlapping (d)effect, that is to quickly evident with many high praised speakers out there.
Dachorn's further exhibited their forte vocal correctness with Etta Cameron and Nikolaj Hess – Etta (Stunt Records – STULP 09171). The same goes for the metallic percussions. They were rendered spot on and coming way out of speakers, something that I only encounter with few upper echelon speakers. This is certainly connected with the design of the spherical horn ability to extend into space.
Antonio Forcione and Sabina Sciubba – Meet Me In London (Naim Label – Naim LP068). The rendition of the iconic and timeless Stevie Wonder - Visions revealed a non expected level of density. Antonio Forcione's guitar smallest nuances and sparkling decays were formed harmoniously. Like before, the sense of bass being there, but never overblown has shown the balanced nature of Kron speakers. There is a certain captivating magic of sparkling simplicity unchanged, that was repeatable showing up in my listening notes. This established the believable instruments and notes overlays with a full scope without collapsing. Quite a feat!
Yello – Touch Yello (Label: Polydor – 060252720619) confirmed how Dachorn flagship speakers are capable of delivering of the out of the box sound, submarine depths and non-usual atmospheric impact that can fill the room with the sonic palette and an even dynamics distribution.
Dachorn instant airiness was re-confirmed with The Dave Brubeck Quartet – Time Out (Columbia – CS 8192). The difference between the different recordings is instantly recognizable from track to track. On the Take Five Kron's horn dispersion array allowed the notes to fire out in the space with natural dynamic, translating into the sharp, speedy and sharp snare attacks. I was above enthusiastic with the projection of the airy saxophone and three-dimensional presentation of the tom drums, where impressively the intricacies of the drum's skin were easily observable.
Art Blakey Jazz Messengers - Caravan the energy in full motion without ever collapsing and with attributes of live music, that are rarely exhibited. Brass instruments cut through with the needed sharpness and the essence. Dachorn speaker's horn can provide the speed and formation of the saxophone uncanny and with a rare sense of the directness, that most dynamic speakers fail to do.
No leaving out the timing, pace, and dimensional scope. With Andreas Vollenweider – Kryptos (Columbia – COL 486878 2) the voices and layering, as well as interplay drama, are unveiled without holding anything back. With Kron, the drum rhythms keep ticking, never losing the pace, thus keeping one of the core essentials of the music objectively spot on.
CONCLUSION
The Dachorn Kron speakers system is an exemplary 21st-century product that embraces and blends numerous contemporary technologies and approaches. All the know-how and R and D results in the standout, out of the box loudspeaker design that steps up from the usual norms.
If I'd have to sum up the review with only one sentence, it would be: "Music first!". Dachorn Kron speaker system is the culmination of Goran Dašek's life long affection for music and a quest for creating rather a music box instead of a technical instrument.
Dachorn speakers are a product created by the music lover for the music lovers. Goran Dašek follows the path of purity. Similar to architecture, where one of the purest languages is the removal of everything unneeded while keeping the essence that utterly reflects the reality (Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni), the Dachorn Kron speaker system was designed from the very begging to embrace the very essence of the music. And the result is an active speaker system that easily activates one's hearth for no-brainer return listenings.
Matej Isak
PRICE
- 30 000€ (without VAT)
- 2 – way speaker with DSP
- Drivers : Mid/HF 2″ compression driver
- Diaphragm diameter 72.2 mm, Titanium
- Magnet type Neodymium 33SH
- Tractrix horn 340 mm, 520 Hz
- LF 2×12″ with 3″ sandwich voice coil fiberglass former
- Double Cross Konex Spider
- Rubber surround with Double Asymmetric Rolls Technology
- High Excursion Ferrite Magnet Circuit
- Ventilated Magnet and Voice Coil
- 7.3 kg
- Frequencies response 35 – 18 000 Hz
- Crossover Frequencies: 900 Hz
- Input Connectors: male XLR
- Max input level: 8.2 V + 20 dBu
- DSP : Analog Device Sigma DSP 50MIPS
- AD, DA Converter AKM 24 bit @ 48 kHz
- Internal precision 28 bit data path with 56 bit inner processing
- Crossover, Butterworth, Linkwitz-Riley, Bessel or arbitrary
- asimmetric 6 dB/oct to 48 dB/oct
- 4 presset outboard memory
- Amplifier: D class, 2 x 600 W, 4 Ohm
- Damping factor > 10 000 @ 100 Hz
- Power requirement 100 – 240 V, 50 – 60 Hz
- Dimensions (HxWxD) 1720 x 400 x 550 mm
- Weight: 130 kg
SPECIFICATONS
- 2 – way speaker with DSP
- Drivers : Mid/HF 2″ compression driver
- Diaphragm diameter 72.2 mm, Titanium
- Magnet type Neodymium 33SH
- Tractrix horn 340 mm, 520 Hz
- LF 2×12″ with 3″ sandwich voice coil fiberglass former
- Double Cross Konex Spider
- Rubber surround with Double Asymmetric Rolls Technology
- High Excursion Ferrite Magnet Circuit
- Ventilated Magnet and Voice Coil
- 7.3 kg
- Frequencies response 35 – 18 000 Hz
- Crossover Frequencies: 900 Hz
- Input Connectors: male XLR
- Max input level: 8.2 V + 20 dBu
- DSP : Analog Device Sigma DSP 50MIPS
- AD, DA Converter AKM 24 bit @ 48 kHz
- Internal precision 28 bit data path with 56 bit inner processing
- Crossover, Butterworth, Linkwitz-Riley, Bessel or arbitrary
- asimmetric 6 dB/oct to 48 dB/oct
- 4 presset outboard memory
- Amplifier: D class, 2 x 600 W, 4 Ohm
- Damping factor > 10 000 @ 100 Hz
- Power requirement 100 – 240 V, 50 – 60 Hz
- Dimensions (HxWxD) 1720 x 400 x 550 mm
- Weight: 130 kg
CONTACT
Dachorn
Goran Dašek
Sisak
Croatia
Email: dachanalog@gmail.com
Web: dachorn.com
Tel: +385 992169530