In its nearly thirty years of existence, Davis Acoustics has succeeded, year after year, in renewing itself to become a true house of excellence, today with the DAVIS Mani MK2. And if the Courbet N°7 received our praise (cf. Remarquable n°31), the announcement of a brand new pair of columns at less than €800 piqued our curiosity. Beware, Trojan horse approaching!
A forerunner, Davis was one of the first brands to use Kevlar, fiberglass and carbon in its loudspeaker design. One example is the 13KVL5A, a woofer-midrange with a woven Kevlar cone – a first when it came out. Nevertheless, it wasn’t until 1993 that the brand decided to launch its own loudspeaker, the DK200.
The story soon accelerated, and growth forced the company to move from Saint-Maur-des-Fossés to Troyes, where the Davis factory is still located. All the brand’s loudspeakers continue to be developed, assembled and produced in Aube. Truly made in France, Davis loudspeakers have won over audiophiles and top brands alike.
From Apertura and Avantgarde to Goldmund, Quellis and Jadis, many manufacturers have set their sights on Davis loudspeakers. And if not all of them display the iconic yellow cone, the attentive music lover will soon be able to distinguish, here and there, the achievements of the Trojan.
But who better to sublimate these speakers than Davis? The idea was born in the mind of Olivier Visan, the founder’s son and brand manager since 2005. At that time,
Davis unveiled the Nikita, its first loudspeaker, followed shortly afterwards by the Matisse and Vinci.
Today, building on this experience, the brand brings us the DAVIS Mani MK2. This speaker comes from the DMAX universe devoted to cinema, but not only, as we’ll see later in this review.
A direct sister to the Dhavani MK2, the DAVIS Mani MK2 keeps its topology. We find a 25 mm compression tweeter housed in a large horn, selected for its high efficiency and directivity; a 17 cm woven and damped fiberglass midrange driver, sporting the manufacturer’s typical yellow signature; a cellulose pulp bass woofer, which retains the same diameter as its neighbor, backed by a circular decompression port.
The 3-way, 3-driver design favors high efficiency, as the figures attest. Its rated power of 100 W, with peaks of 150 W, and sensitivity of 92 dB make it ideal for stereo applications, such as home cinema, when used as front speakers.
In terms of dimensions, the Mani MK2 is just 90 cm high, 20.6 cm wide and 28 cm deep. These models will easily find their place in any living room or home cinema. All the more so as the front-mounted port allows for minimal spacing, ideal for this type of installation.
The tweeter is filtered at 4,000 Hz and the woofer at 400 Hz, both with a slope of 18 dB/octave. The filtering has been meticulously designed, incorporating only a few hand-picked components to keep the price affordable, without compromising performance. Lovers of wide transients, fine impulses and good power handling will be delighted.
Last but not least, the speaker’s elegant two-tone enclosure. A satin-black central body, soberly branded with the speaker’s name at the foot, is set between two large slabs of ash or walnut wood. At its base are four decoupling spikes, enough to ensure simplified hi-fi installation.
The design of the DAVIS Mani MK2 allows it to fit in anywhere. Slim and slender, they slip effortlessly alongside a TV stand or either side of a sofa. On the other hand, you’d be better off sliding counter-tips on a parquet floor, as these will soon leave marks.
With an impedance of between 4 and 8 ohms and excellent efficiency, these speakers are equally at home with a conventional stereo integrated system or a home-cinema amplifier. We wholeheartedly applaud this desire to democratize hi-fi.
For a listening room of 20 to 30 m2, the DAVIS Mani MK2s will be perfectly at home, even with an amplifier of less than 100 W. A Rega IO or another Marantz Melody will already offer some very fine performances on a tight budget. For movie buffs, Davis recommends the addition of a Stentaure C MK2 central unit, Surround Mia 40 and a Basson 88 subwoofer.
The set up
These columns, although quite tall, have only a small footprint. The decompression vent is located at the bottom of the front panel. This makes it easy to position them correctly in the listening room. We recommend a minimum distance of 25 cm from the rear wall. To the side walls, try to keep a distance of 50 cm. We suggest that you focus the DAVIS Mani MK2 slightly to structure the stereophonic triangle. When it comes to amplification, there’s no need to worry too much about your household, as these speakers offer a very favorable output of 92 dB. That’s rare enough to be worth mentioning, especially today. They will work ideally with a small Nad D3020, and in general, with any quality integrated amplifier. Their versatility is one of their greatest weapons.
The sound
The arrival of these speakers is a breath of fresh air. Typically, this is a sound diffuser without history, playful, extrovert but without any caricature, in short, a product that does a lot of good. We started by listening to Bach cantatas, followed by a jazz trio, and continued with electronic music. In all cases, the DAVIS Mani MK2 offer a particularly pleasant and open vision of recorded music. No crate sound, no feeling of confinement, but plenty of freedom, great rhythmic capacity, and an ability to play hard while retaining the explosive character of their interpretations. To tell the truth, we wouldn’t have been able to determine the price of these speakers with a blind listen. In fact, these pretty columns already display a fine maturity. The timbres are clear, of course, as we’ve come to expect from the Trojan manufacturer, but they’re not simplified or simplistic either. They’re already well worked out, and if they lean towards clarity rather than roundness, they’re still very realistic. The three-dimensional environment is well executed, with a soundstage that’s wide and deep, well-constructed and, above all, very airy.
The dynamic behavior of these columns is, of course, their field of choice. Whether you try out a symphony orchestra or a small trio, you’ll find the same velocity qualities that make listening to your favorite records so enthusiastic.
Our conclusion
Successful in every respect, the DAVIS Mani MK2 put on a show. Well conceived and well thought-out, these speakers confirm Davis’ status as a house of French excellence. Affordable and elegant, they will satisfy both the music lover and the moviegoer looking for a model that’s a jack-of-all-trades, accessible to all. The Mani MK2 are not the seventh wonder of the world in terms of acoustics, but just a pair of particularly well thought-out, studied and manufactured columns, with quality components. Davis Acoustics has already shown us on several occasions that it is capable of being extremely strong when it comes to value for money. It continues its expertise in this field with its new, particularly successful columns.
And if we began our listening with small electronics, we continued with much more ambitious amplifiers, and take our word for it, these speakers deserve it. This is undoubtedly this winter’s excellent surprise in the field of low-cost column speakers.
Author: Haja Randrianarison
Technical sheet: DAVIS MANI MK2
- Origin: France
- Price: €799
- Dimensions: 900 x 268 x 280 mm
- Weight: 15 kg (2 speakers)
- Number of channels/HP: 3/3
- Efficiency: 92 dB
- Power handling: 100 W/150 W peak
- Nominal impedance: 8 ohms
- Bass reflex: circular port
- Speakers: compression tweeter (2.5 cm)/glass fibre midrange (17 cm)/cellulose fibre bass (17 cm)
