On the last day of the WAVE AV Experience held at Eastin Hotel last month, I walked past Caleb Raj of DALI and he asked me: “Which colour do you want?” For a few seconds I didn’t know what he was talking about.
Then I realised that he wanted to know the colour of the DALI KUPID speakers, which come in five colours, that I wanted to take home for review. Earlier I had asked Willy of Stars Picker if I could review the Cayin/DALI KUPID system after the AV show, but I did not realise that young people work very fast these days and before the show had even ended at 6pm that Sunday, Willy and Caleb were already boxing up the components for me to take home. Willy even pushed the trolley with the boxes to the hotel lobby where I boarded a Grab car home.
Stars Picker has three The Affordable Systems (TAS) on offer. They are:
- DALI KUPID speakers plus Cayin MT-12N valve amp (with 6P1 tubes) plus 2.5-metre-long Penny speaker cables for RM3,700.
- DALI KUPID speakers plus Aiyima A08 Pro amp plus Western Electric speaker cables for RM2,120.
- DALI KUPID speakers plus Fosi ZA3 amp plus Penny speaker cables for RM2,599.
I opted for the system with the Cayin MT-12N valve amp as it sounded punchy and big in Stars Picker’s third-floor room in Eastin Hotel.
This amp produces only nine watts per channel and in my house which has a pretty large living room, it created music so loud that my second son who was working from home on the first floor had to tell me to turn the volume down.
I am not sure what is happening, but the synergy between the Cayin MT-12N and the DALI KUPID speakers is excellent and the amp didn’t sound like a nine-watter. Bear in mind the DALI KUPID is rated at 4 Ohms nominal impedance, with sensitivity of 83dB and amps with output of 40-120 watts are recommended.
In my house, I used a WiiM Ultra streamer, which costs RM1,999 and brought the total cost of the TAS to RM5,699.
The sound you get is quite forward, big and dynamic. It is also quite dense and while lacking micro details, the sheer enjoyment of listening to music on the system will result in you listening to it for hours.
While the bass does not go down that low — bear in mind that the DALI KUPID uses 4½-inch woofers — but the mid-bass has impact and punch. The DALI KUPID also sounds quite transparent with an open and extended treble.
If you want more punch and impact you can opt for the 10-watter Cayin MT-12N with the EL84 tubes which costs RM2,699.
Call Stars Picker at 012-3392040 for a demo session.
