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The smaller boxes of the original Tizo and Helium 410 moved them into a tonally rather lighter less complete realm. They did not belong into a fair-minded comparison with the rest. They really ought to get matched against each other as isolated competitors. For my tonal balance needs either made a perfectly acceptable computer monitor without mandatory sub augmentation. They simply begged for assistance once asked to traverse the greater air volumes of the big or upstairs systems.
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Dayens Tizo+ with Pure i-20 dock, NuForce HDP as DAC/pre and Dayens Ampino
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That said the Tizo+'s longer legs were very welcome also on the desk top where it ran alternately off Nuforce Icon minis or the Ampino. Now even unnatural bass from ambient and chill-out fare came home at just one meter from the ears. At two meters and in the upstairs stereo video system which is anchored by a 35-inch Sony flat screen we still fell back on Amphion's downfiring 10-inch subwoofer for a bit of sub 50Hz assist on those gothic undercurrents of dread which run through Cops & Odd Consultants series flicks like Castle, The Listener and The Mentalist.
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Back to the Tizo+ as stand-alone music speaker, it slotted neatly between the burly, rugged but not as refined American presentation of the era and the sophisticated cooler leaner clarity of the metal-tweeter'd Finn with its shallow wave guide. Both Euro efforts made less of their ports to come closer to sealed-box sound than the American. The latter seemed strategically voiced to complement lesser sources and be more forgiving/complementing.
The Argon1 and Tizo+ struck me as less casual and the Finn the most uncompromising.
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I found its tweeter a bit more prickly and exacting particularly on the desk top where the Dayens' was rounder. In the presence region the Serb felt more forward and charged to add a touch of caffeine. Curiously it was the Amphion which had the more metallic and drier rather than woodier redolent sound. This was true on the Ampino but even more so on the switch-mode NuForce amp. On the desktop the Tizo+ voicing of high resolution with a shot of adrenaline mixed into more generous textures made it my favorite.
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There's good reason why some reviewers prefer speaker assignments. Passive filter networks are far more nonlinear than digital filters in source components. The conversion of electrical to mechanical energy plus room interactions merely add to personalities which as a rule are far more defined than in other component categories. Via the ruse of comparisons the Tizo+ psych profile can now focus on a few core traits which experience suggests ought to recognizably transfer to various systems as though 'built in'. Unlike the era's warmth which stems from strategic midbass manipulation and some timing softness, the Dayens' pseudo warmth doesn't derive from its tonal balance. Its mere textural suavity and as such presumably stems from its Mundorf caps.
With resolution and bandwidth very comparable to the more expensive Amphion, the Finn exhibited the cooler aspects. Those made it texturally drier and more metallic. Since the Tizo+ didn't trail it on detail magnification, its softer warmer aspects really weren't based on amplitude shifts or timing incertitude. Unlike the era I'd thus not call it warm but smooth. Within my three-word limit, the Tizo+ thus exhibited exciting smooth clarity.
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When judged by the company it kept (up with), the Tizo+ proved to be a cleverly tweaked small loudspeaker. Due to origins it'll never win the broad press accolades more entrenched brands rack up. Prospective buyers not only have fewer opportunities to read about it, auditions will be quite rare. It's why I've included more recognizable comparators to create context. From all the monitor speakers on hand, the Tizo+ was my clear favorite on the desk top. In the big system I could achieve somewhat similar results by spreading things around. Keeping ancillaries real, I'd mate the Amphion with the iDecco, the era with the Ampino pure and the Dayens with the Ampino plus NuForce HDP. Going nuts the Dayens would strap to the ModWright LS100/KWA100SE combo because that's what I own. But—and this is nearly universally true—a really beefy amp behind a refined small speaker like the Tizo+ will make it go places that (minus the 1.5 bottom octaves) seem quite silly considering far pricier spread. On lucidity and speed a good 3-incher seems quite hard to match with something bigger. By paralleling two Dejan Dobrin got his cake and satisfaction too. Think Gallo Strada in a ported box.
The Dayens Tizo+ is as sophisticated as Amphion's Argon1. Where Finn and Serb take slightly different routes is that the former points at the cooler more sober milieu of recording monitor applications. The latter injects minor silkiness on tone textures. It introduces a degree of what tube heads call fluidity to distinguish it from drier transistors. The Dayens also treats the vocal band with just a minor emphasis. Rather than fattening things up this injects a tinge of excitement. In leading lady terms the Tizo+ is a natural beauty. Her makeup artist plies his trade quite invisibly to the untrained eye. The result is very attractive and apparently sans touch-ups. In short with the Tizo+ Dejan Dobrin proved that the Ampino was no one-time fluke. Since amps to speakers rarely translates from the same designer, that's one lovely surprise. |
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Quality of packing: Basic. Should be improved.
Reusability of packing: Once.
Ease of unpacking/repacking: A cinch but due to the absence of a grill, be careful not to thumb a mid/woofer.
Condition of component received: Flawless.
Human interactions: Good.
Pricing: Good value.
Final comments & suggestions: Pricing is factory-direct from Serbia and includes global delivery. Finish quality is surprisingly high. The Dayens wood shop knows its stuff.
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