Dali Kubik One
FOR Involving sound; good connections; ease of use; looks AGAINST Nothing of note
Dali says the Kubik One is not exactly a soundbar – rather than a mere extension of your TV, it’s a system in its own right, and one that can handle music files up to 24-bit/96khz from a Mac, PC or similar.
Whatever the appropriate nomenclature, one thing is for sure: we think it’s brilliant. Award-winningly brilliant, in fact.
Room to manoeuvre
We dive straight into Guardians Of The Galaxy and it’s hard not to notice the size of the sound presented here. It’s a wide, spacious soundstage, giving jets and spaceships ample room to manoeuvre. Even the more hectic scenes don’t sound crowded.
The Dali manages to ping effects around meticulously, and with impressive clarity in comparison with the other soundbars in our test. It also makes the most of speech – voices are detailed, maintaining their textures, but never sound harsh.
There’s ample low-end heft to give substance to the sound, but it’s nicely controlled. Add good timing and you have a punchy, dynamic soundbar that wipes the floor with rivals in many ways.
Whether you watch a film or listen to music, the Kubik One’s greatest strength is its ability to seize your attention. It’s a thoroughly involving experience: we don’t tend to expect this from soundbars, and although products such as the Yamaha YSP 2700 come close, the Kubik One does have an edge over them.
Dali hasn’t focused only on the sound – the Kubik One’s exterior is as appealing. Soundbars don’t tend to be particularly attractive, but we think this one is really quite pretty. Those grilles are removable: red, white and black come as standard, but you can also choose from six others ranging from purple to lime green.
Under the fancy exterior, a single piece of aluminium forms the chassis – designed to be thin yet sturdy enough to suppress unwanted resonances. It’s heavy and solidly built, with a finish luxurious enough to match that price tag. It’s not just a pretty face, however. This is a serious bit of kit.
You’ll find two 25mm soft-dome tweeters and two 13cm wood-fibre cones beneath the grilles. And at the back is a fair offering of connections. Inputs include two optical, and one analogue RCA. We’re pleased to see a micro-usb input too, which means you can hardwire in a Mac or PC. We’d still like to see it have the same HDMI ports that the Bose, Samsung, and Yamaha do, but nothing’s perfect.
A better class of wireless
For wireless input, there’s Bluetooth. The Kubik One handles aptx Bluetooth, which means you get higher-quality wireless streaming, provided you’re using a compatible device.
A sub-out socket lets you hook up your own subwoofer if you feel the need. We don’t think you will, though. That’s partly because the Kubik One has a switch to adjust the amount of bass depending on the unit’s position (‘Neutral’ or, at the other extreme ‘Bass Boost’). The latter does just that, and is best for large rooms (or blowing the roof off small ones). In between is ‘Bass Enhance’, providing a balanced sound in our set-up, on a rack and in front of a TV.
Mind you, your TV will need to be tall to avoid having the bottom blocked off. At 16cm high, the Dali might conceivably justify its own shelf.
Once in place, it’s easy to use, not least because the remote control is a notable improvement on that which launched with the soundbar back in 2014.
Whether it’s a soundbar or a sound system, the Dali Kubik One is a massive success. The design and features impress us, and we love the way it sounds. This is a gorgeous, complete package.
“The Dali manages to ping effects around meticulously, and with impressive clarity in comparison with the others in our test”