The Article

STUPID KUPID? OR DALI’S DELICIOUS DELIGHTS?

24th March 2026

Small in stature and light in price, Paul Rigby checks out these little 4 Ohm speaker designs

If nothing else, they’re colourful. The Danish-created Dali Kupid stand-mounted speakers arrive in five finishes: Black Ash, Walnut, Caramel White, Golden Yellow and Chilly Blue. If you wish, these speakers will stand out amongst your HiFi system.

Colourful they might be but the Kupids are, above all, small in stature at 237 x 140 x 195mm and weigh in at just 2.9kg, including the optional grille.

Thus, these speakers can be stand-mounted, wall-mounted or desk bound. Great for small spaces, bedsits, second systems or near-field use. For the money, they still look good. Sure, build is to a price but I don’t think anyone will be complaining.

These two-way speakers include – up top – a soft-dome, 26mm tweeter with a sunrise-styled waveguide while, down below, is a paper and wood fibre 114mm mid/bass driver. Around the back is a dual-flare bass reflex port plus a pair of terminals.

Sensitivity is pretty low at 83db and so, because of that, Dali recommend that you power these speakers with a 40W or more amplifier.

So how do they sound?

SOUND QUALITY

For this review I grabbed both Seal’s self-titled 1990 LP and Elton John’s Honky Chateau from 1972.

VS FOSI SP601

To begin, I wanted to see where they sat in terms of price, power and design so drafted in a pair of £400 Fosi SP601 speakers that look like Q Acoustics’ 3030i speakers, have a larger bass cabinet than the Kupids, are fun to listen to but also struggle a touch in terms of overall control.

From the off, the Kupids needed more gain clicks on my pre-amp to increase the volume because of that sensitivity.

From there? I noticed a much improved bass structure. That was the first thing that hit me. More control around the low frequencies and a far better tonal realism from bass which resulted in a truly funky bounce from the bass guitar.

I was also struck by the drive from that bass guitar now. There was real energy behind it.

Sure, the sheer physicality of bass was lessened because of the Kupid’s smaller cabinet size but that noticeable control aided focus around the mids, a more balanced output from the same while a sense of accuracy from the treble across the ride cymbal and secondary percussion helped to emphasise clarity.

VS Q ACOUSTICS 3020i

A change of speakers now. I wanted to compare the Kupids against a pair of classic designs within the same general price point. In this case? My Q Acoustics 3020i speakers. Cheaper at £199, larger in bass cabinet terms and balanced in presentation.

The 3020i speakers are beautifully balanced and detailed but I was surprised to hear that they didn’t have the focus or precision of the Kupids. The Kupids offered an improved bass structure while the 3020i speakers were freeform in their approach. They are the hippie children of the stand-mounted speaker genre. There’s less rules here, less discipline with the 3020i designs. The Kupids, on the other hand, had a funky, groovy bass output and was that accuracy in the upper frequency extremes.

VS ROTH OLi RA1

Finally, I wanted to see how the Kupids faired if used on a desk, in near-field mode so brought in a pair of lower cost and equally passive, Roth OLi RA1 speakers which were priced £99 when new.

Despite the price difference, I thought the Kupids were worth every extra penny with a far more incisive midrange output, an airy soundstage and a greater separation between the high and low frequencies. You never felt that the bass was tripping up the treble, for example. That great frequency discipline really came into its own during near-field play which meant that lower volumes and a smaller field of play made absolutely no difference at all in terms of the quality of sound you were hearing.

CONCLUSION

With their small footprint and light weight, you can use the Dali Kupid passive speakers just about anywhere, they are not too much of a strain on the audiophile wallet and the sound they produce is just wonderful. I can’t fault them at all.

In terms of relatively low cost and small factor speaker designs? I have a new favourite: the Dali Kupid. Loves sonic arrow certainly found a place in my ears!

DALI KUPID STAND-MOUNTED SPEAKERS

Price: £299

Website: www.dali-speakers.com

GOOD: small form factor, price, disciplined sound, focused bass, balanced output

BAD: nothing