Great value for money: Compared to four compact speakers

In the comparison, four compact and affordable loudspeakers that will take your audio experience to a whole new level.

In the hobby of high-fidelity audio and sound reproduction, the tendency is also to turn into a sport of equipment, and in that sport it is easy to get lost in the rush. This is especially true in the case of loudspeakers.

With them, the final conclusion often seems to be that the bigger the speaker, the better the sound. And that is indeed the case, because if you want to fill the room with sound pressure and deep bass, nothing is a better solution than a pair of sturdy and sufficiently large floor speakers.

They do take up a lot of space and are expensive, not to mention that the sound quality isn’t always the best – especially if the quality criterion is used to be more than just the ability to fill the room with sound.

Of course, everything is relative, but if you’re not looking for just a lot of volume from a speaker and you don’t have a particularly large space or budget, then there’s a good reason and nowadays a great opportunity to get really high-quality floorstanding speakers at a good price.

And this doesn't just apply to first-time buyers: even the most demanding audiophile might be surprised by how much value for money they get if they don't settle for the cheapest shelvesounders on the market.

We came to this conclusion by testing four small, relatively expensive loudspeakers: the Elacin Debut B6, the Monitor Audio Bronze 2, the Q Acoustics 2030, and the slightly more expensive Dalin Zensor 3, which is available on the market for under 600 euros.

Dali Zensor 3
Clean and balanced sound

Despite the fact that Dali has in recent years begun to be associated with more luxurious speaker models and advanced element solutions in terms of aesthetics, it has always had good and affordable stand-mounted speakers in its range.

The Zensor 3 test speaker is an elegant, vinyl-clad two-way speaker with a reflex tube directed towards the rear. The tweeter is a 1-inch dome made by Dalin with a lightweight diaphragm. The bass midrange is a red seven-element woofer typical of Dalin. This element is also Dalin’s own design. To maximize the speaker’s mobility, a lightweight wood-fibre cone is paired with a high-speed copper-coated aluminum driver and a dual-magnet system.