Dynaudio Audience 82's in review.

[mantis]

Well they have been playing all day since I got home from work. About 6 hours on them so far.

What kinda sucks is that nothing is broken in, I need new front 3 speaker wires, not to mention the Rotel gear is also new and in the not broken in club. But....

It sounds incredible. I'm alittle stunned how smooth the system is playing. It's been awhile since I Installed Dynaudio speakers. i do however never remember them sounding bad out of the box like B&W's do.

So far I feel they are on a different level then my Lsi15's where. Even fresh out of the box, the bass is so much smoother. It's so accurate and quick. The 15's had a slight boom to them when you drove them, the Dyn's don't. They however have a silk to them I'm in need of getting used to it.

I thought the high's where going to be close to what the Lsi15's produced. that Viva tweeter was really good. I felt it was the best part of the Lsi's. The Dyna's take that to a whole new level. This tweeter crashes Symbols and keeps the ringing going into the sound stage. It's like the drummer hit the cymbol in my livingroom and let it ring out.... very effin cool.

I feel alot has to do with this killer 330 watts of A hole power I bought. It controls the 82's with ease.

Well I gotta let them break in for a good 100+ hours before I can give a better review. So far though I'm so happy. I feel so good about this upgrade. I think it's a keeper for a long time.

Dan

[TroyD]

Glad to see you digging your gear, Dan!

What did you opt for amplification?

BDT

[polkatese]

Dan, sounds like you have "found" your true sound!

burn-in is a bitch from the point of waiting, but it will get there in no time. Let us know how you diggin' it.

[mantis]

Troy,
I got Rotel. Rsp1068 preamp and a RMB1095 5 channel power amp. It's rated at 330 watts all channels driven into a 4 ohm load. It's scary how much power it has.

Polkatese,
Yes it's what I always wanted. I believe this is the way I should have gone back then. I have no regrets of owning the Lsi or B&K, they went together like PP&J. But this is where I want to be. I'm still a bit in the clouds as I have to pinch myself every now and again to make sure it's not a dream.

The system has been on today since 9am this morning. I want to get past the break in period as fast as possible. I want to sit and review the system after I Install the new speaker wires (still in the air with a single run of 8tc or killing it and going for Monocle X's), the sub (Rel and I'm gonna try out the Dynaudio Sub500) and the center channel ( 122C).

Dan

[Aaron]

Congrats, Dan! You just better lock your doors or BDT might do a smash 'n grab on ya! :eek:

Aaron

[mantis]

waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

[TroyD]

Eh, my main amps are 900wpc into 4 ohms. I'll stick with them. ;)

No offense to anyone but Rotel amps just don't blow my skirt up.

BDT

[beardog03]

900w per channel..?!!

**DROOL**

what praytell puts out 900w, and where can I find one..?!!

[TroyD]

My Carver Silver 9t monos according to the manual are 575 wpc into 8 ohms, 900wpc into 4 ohms.

BDT

[mantis]

Thats why we all have our own skirts to get blown up.

Rotel rips my skirt off,

Dan:p

[cfrizz]

ROFLMAO!!!!!!!!!

Beautiful Dan!:D

[organ]

Awesome. Give us a full review when everything breaks in. I've yet to hear anything bad about Dynaudio.

Maurice

[mantis]

organ,
So far I find them even not broken in a big improvement from where I was. The level of detail is on a different level.

More to come mayb e by this weekend if I can get the hours on them.

Dan

[Crazed]

Congrats on your setup Dan. That 1095 should whip the speaks into shape pretty quickly. I'm now suffering from amp-envy... That's what makes this hobby (affliction) so dangerous...

[mantis]

Crazed,
I see you own the 1070 and 1075. Those amps are no slouch.

Yes this hobby will make you go for broke.

Dan

[jrausch]

Mantis:

I find that if your amp has enough power, break in time is less of a concern. You may only hear a slight improvement over time. Sounds like your Rotel is an Alpha male that has the Danes in a choke hold. Nice gear Bro. ;)

[mantis]

Well after so many damn hours of playtime, they finally came around.

So I felt it was time to break out the "Inroom Pressure test". Tom Coster"From the Streets" was the track I decided to use as this is one of my very favorite Progressive Jazz tracks. It has plenty of jam and is very dynamic. Much going on . I turned it up , then up some more , got real brave and cranked the hell out of it.
I was waiting for the walls to crack and my couch to move backward. The floor felt like shockwave ripples where pulling up the floor boards. Such power I couldn't repeat with my last system.

Next up was KORN , I felt if they can rock out Progressive jazz like that , what can they do with heavier stuff. I ran "Right Now","Did My Time" and "Freak on a Leash".Maaaannnn let me tell you..... I almost was convinced that they where here with me. One a while I thought I could smell the guitar amps.I was reliving a time when I used to play and I could smell my Fender Twin reverb after a hard jam.

So after all the torture I wanted to see how well they could play clean.Train is always fun to listen to and I had the SACD of "My Private nation" and ran "calling all Angels". Before I sold my Lsi15's, I ran this same track to give them a goodbye. I was loving them and secretly getting all emotional with there departure. That all went in the drain after 20 seconds into the song. Such detail and control. The truth be told, the bass on the Audience 82's crush the Lsi15's. It's not even in the same class. Thats the only part of the Lsi15's I didn't care for. The lower end always sounded a bit boomy . Maybe I expected to much out of my last system, but I was unhappy there. It wasn't as pronounced untill I owned the Dynaudio's. I didn't know what I was missing untill I had it.
So After the Train left the station, I ventured out to a new artist. The very beutiful Keiko Matsui "Walls of Akendora". It's my first cd of hers and I'm digging it. It's in HDCD form and the Rotel eats it up like a kid with candy. I run this cd in digital from my dvd player as it doesn't decode HDCD. I gotta just think that this is what music is suppost to sound like. Everything coming together, I can listen to the music instead of my system..... If that makes any sence to you. I understand it, I thought I could do it before but I always found something that I just didn't like.Why o Why I'm so damn picky is behond me.

To sum it up, I'm totally devoted to Dynaudio. They are in my very soul. I feel one with them. I have finally found what I have been looking for. All the other systems I have built never gave me what I'm experiencing now. I'm not seeing any new speakers for a very long time. I'm so looking forward to tweaking my ever lovin face off. I'm also wondering if it's the synergy between Rotel and Dynaudio thats so special. I know I can do better then Rotel down the road in Krell showcase It's most likely where I'm headed. For now I'm way into Rotel as a combo with Dynaudio. Kimber thatfully works perfectly. I was sweating going back to Transparent due to thats what I used when I first fell in love with this combo. To recreate that dream, that experience was unnerving. now I'm at peace.

Dan

[bigsexy1]

Dan how would you compare Rotel vs B&K now that you've had them both?

[mantis]

There different. I don't think one is better then the other. But when comparing certain speakers, they are. B&K is more suited for Polk Lsi speakers and Rotel I find better suited for Dynaudio.

But both companies run both speakes extremely well. It comes down to personal preference.

I think B&K builds a slighty better preamp section. I like the fact that the Rotel has no tuner built in, one thing I like better about the Rotel, but B&K's menu system and setup is alot better. Rotels is ok at best. Rotel doesn't click and pop like the B&K preamp does. I hated that about them. There damn lack of a soft muting circuit drove me up the wall.

Amp wise it's tuff. both companies build solid strong amps. Sound quality here is close. Dynamic range is even closer.

If you go B&K or Rotel, I feel you own very good Entry level seperates. I perfer B&K and Rotel over companies like NAD, Adcom and Outlaw.Even Sunfire I still perfer B&k.

Dan

[dorokusai]

The Dynaudio sounds pretty interesting Dan. I will have to keep my eyes open for a steal.

I agree on that B&K soft muting issue, it's annoying at times. I'd like to get in touch with you sometime this week to go over some B&K issues. I think the menu system is mediocre at best when it comes to the B&K. The Sony ES was far easier to work with IMO, but that is mainly due to being more knowledgeable in its operation I imagine.

Email me as to what would be best for you time wise, as I don't want to take up too much if any of your personal time.

Do you still have your Pronto remote files? If you do, please email them to me, as it's now time to finally get consolidated.

[mantis]

I find it wierd you like the Sony better for the menu. I hated the Sonys menu systems.
Everyone has what they like and not. I will gladly help you with anythin you need.
Yes I still have the Pronto file for the B&K. If you have any questions about the Pronto, I can help as well.

Dan

[pjdami]

I like the B&K menu system for navigation. Rotel is kinda strange; one needs to hook up to the TV to really get a good feel for it.

Doro,
When I upgraded my 307 to 317 at the B&K factory, I got the new blue lights, DACS, and the clicking noise is a lot less now. Kind of strange, it makes a very light click the first time you change an input but if you switch to another input or back to the input you just came from it is quiet. With the 307 it clicked every time and a lot louder. I really didn't notice this until I read this thread and noticed that my 317 doesn't make all the clicking. I actually forgot about it.

Here's an old thread with what she looks like:

http://clubpolk.polkaudio.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=19617&highlight=avr+317

Oh yeah. Nice writeup on the 82s Dan.
What do they dig down to 26 Hz or something like that?

Paul

[dorokusai]

PJ - Well, if that's the case, I need to send this POS outta here :) Thanks for the information, that is actually quite worthwhile to me personally.

[pjdami]

Doro,
The upgrade was $498 plus shipping one way. While it is there it will also be given a clean bill of health and thoroughly checked out. I know 5 franklins is not chump change but I'm glad I went through with it. You also get all the latest surround modes (if that is important to you). I won't be needing a surround receiver for a long time as I am completely happy with it and my LSi HT setup.

I think they have the 317 manual on B&Ks website if you want to check out the differences.
Paul

[mantis]

Thats one of the great things about owning B&K. The ability to send it in and get upgraded not only software but hardware as well.

You just can't go wrong with B&K...

pjdami,
Thanks.
The Dynaudio Audience 82's are rated at 26 Hz - 21 kHz.
Unlike Polk I believe they actually get down there as hard as they hit. The Lsi15's where all confusing, I tested them and they only hit solid down to 32hz but rated differently. I'm not one for spec's and all so that really didn't matter to me. I still loved owning them.

Dan

[heiney9]

Originally posted by mantis
There different. I don't think one is better then the other. But when comparing certain speakers, they are. B&K is more suited for Polk Lsi speakers and Rotel I find better suited for Dynaudio.

But both companies run both speakes extremely well. It comes down to personal preference.

I think B&K builds a slighty better preamp section. I like the fact that the Rotel has no tuner built in, one thing I like better about the Rotel, but B&K's menu system and setup is alot better. Rotels is ok at best. Rotel doesn't click and pop like the B&K preamp does. I hated that about them. There damn lack of a soft muting circuit drove me up the wall.

Amp wise it's tuff. both companies build solid strong amps. Sound quality here is close. Dynamic range is even closer.

If you go B&K or Rotel, I feel you own very good Entry level seperates. I perfer B&K and Rotel over companies like NAD, Adcom and Outlaw.Even Sunfire I still perfer B&k.

Dan

Glad to hear your system is sounding so good! But I am confused. Your previous gear from what I gather in your posts was the Lsi-15 with B&K, is this correct? You now say the Dynaudio's blow the Lsi's out of the water. Did you use the Rotel with the Lsi's or is that piece new as well as the Dynaudio? If you never hooked the Rotel up the Lsi's, then it's not fair to say the Dynaudio are so much better than the Lsi's. It's comparing apples to oranges. I mean it's not really a "true" comparison. You say B&K is more suited to Polks and Rotel to Dynaudio. Did you compare all 4 pieces against each other? I'm not trying to be an ass, but it's not fair to say one sounds better than the other if you haven't compared them with each other. If I misunderstood please set me straight.

In reality the Dynaudio's may be better than the Lsi's in some respects. I just want to know the process of how you came to this conclusion. If you weren't able to compare both amps with both speakers, the it's not really a fair test. Now, if somehow I missed something and you did run both sets with each amp then I've typed all this non-sense for nothing :eek:

Thanks

H9

[polkatese]

great to hear you're enjoying your Dyna, Dan.

[bigsexy1]

Dan & Doro, I have an old B&K AVR101. It is Dolby Digital only, not even DTS. It would cost $1000 plus shipping to get it upgraded to all the latest formats, plus I'd still need an additional 2 channel outboard amp.

Do you feel it would be woth it, or would that money be better spent elsewhere?

[mantis]

heiney9,
I see your new to the forum. I have owned Rotel 2 times now. I have worked for companies that carried both products in Rotel and B&K, my X partner Liv4fam owned B&K and Rotel , We did many vs battles with the Dynaudio,Rotel,B&K,Lsi setup with Transparent,Monstercable and Kimber battles in these systems. I have done countless hours of demoing all the products above and more.

Dynaudio is a much better speaker company then polk. They make higher end speakers and sound as such. You are correct in my last system , It consist of B&K and Lsi. The system was very very good and it made me happy for 2 years. I grew out of it and wanted more . The Rotel/Dynaudio combo was something I considered before I bought the B&K/LSI setup. Things changed, money was a problem and what I ended up with reflected it.

I don't know how much you have read around here but I have high respect for all the gear I have owned. B&k and Lsi I feel are great buys and rightfully so. Rotel and Dynaudio I perfer the way they mate together better. If Lsi sounded better on Rotel I would have gone that way a long time ago. I felt the Rotel was a bit forward sounding with the Lsi compared to the B&K. With Dynaudio, I felt the B&K sounded a bit dead. Funny 2 as in my shootout then I had a pair of B&W N803's and they sounded killer on the B&K. The Dyn's sounded better on the Rotel. I even tested the Rotel with the B&W N803 and I perferred the B&K running them.

It's all a matter of opnion my man. If you didn't learn that yeat, you will. After many many hours, many different systems, many different wires , you will come to a place where it's about mating and personal taste.

Thanks for reading and I enjoyed your questions.

polkatese,
Lovin them Bro Loving them.

bigsexy1,

I would sell it and get a used 307 or 507. your missing 2 amp channels and its not worth the upgrade. B7K made very good upgrades both amp section and preamp froom the 101. I Installed plenty of them back in the day and I loved that piece except the damn volume knob. Yoou know exactly what I'm talking about...LOL.

Sell it Bro, you can get good money for it. It's still a great piece.

Dan

[heiney9]

Mantis....thanks for in-depth response, I enjoyed reading it. My biggest downfall is, to a certain degree, I'm a bit afraid to buy different equipment to compare. I've had my gear for almost 20 years and it certainly still makes me smile everytime I turn it on. In some ways I'm envious of those on the forum, like yourself, that are able to mix things up. I'm afraid if I did that I would a) never be satisfied; b) not able to make a decision. I'm not completely opposed to switching out gear, but it would cause many reservations. I suppose if I were going to do it, it would have to be a huge leap to another level of performance. Maybe that's what your trying to get at in your explanation.

But hey.....that's just me, and that's why I enjoy this forum so much. All the knowledge and opinion and the willingness to defend one's opinion.

Regards

H9

[dorokusai]

BS - I agree with Mantis, sell it and buy a used 307/507. It should be more cost effective in the long run and is a smarter way to approach future upgrades IMO. Good luck and let us know what you get into.

[mantis]

heiney9,
nothing wrong with old gear(don't tell Troy I said that). If your digging your system, then why change it? Call me mental as I'm always looking for better... when you hit a certain level, it becomes very difficult to get to the next level. I just about leveled myself out.For now anyway.
Upgrading is tuff for me. I like 2 much stuff. I try to compare as many things I can find. Sometimes you have to listen 3 or 4 times for hours to figure out if this is the right thing to do. I had no desire in selling off my last system untill I made the huge mistake and sitting down infront of a pair of Dyanduio Audience 72se's powered by Rotel. I got weak in the knees and started reliving a dream I once had, which in my case never went away. So I said to hell with it and went for it.
When you decide to upgrade your current gear. Don't be afraid. Actually get juiced. Watch your wallet as I tend to forget about it.

Dan

[bigsexy1]

Dan & Doro, you both pretty much confirmed my train of thought, but I wanted other opinions on it.

I was thinking $1050 give or take a little counting shipping just for the upgrade (not even counting the extra 2 amp channels) just wouldn't be worth it.

The 101 is still servicable as is. Hell, probably about 90% of all DVDs are still DD 5.1 only. Plus, aside from all the newer processing formats (when they are avaible that is), the old B&K will still sound much better than a newer mid-line newer receiver, like say a Denon 3803 for example.

And yes Dan, that volume knob is wierd.

[dorokusai]

BS - I guess I should clarify a little further. I say sell only if that's what you want to do at this moment, but if you're content with the operation, keep it. I was under the impression this was a current, looking to do it soon type question.

I'm still 5.1 with no plans to rush that 6.1 upgrade anytime soon, it's just too low on the list of things. If that's the case for you, screw it, hold onto it and rock on.

Mark

[pjdami]

BS,
If you can sell your AVR101 for $800 - $900 you can buy a used AVR307 for about $1200 - $1300 (with some patience and daily checking) and send it in for the upgrade for another $500. So that's about $1,800 total so far invested minus the $800 or so you get from the sale and you're at the grand that you want to spend for the AVR101 upgrade. Plus with the AVR317 upgrade you get a clean bill of health on the existing unit that you bought used and a 90 day warranty (you will have to call B&K to see if this is still true). Heck there's a AVR507 used on the gon right now for $1,800.

Just some different options. If you go the AVR305 route you can also save a few if you want to stay 5 channel.

Just my 2 cents worth.

[bigsexy1]

I hear ya doro. I did go 7.1, on my main surround sytem, but IMO it's just not really worth it. 5.1 is still good enough for right now, unless you had a great big, huge ass room.

PJ, I've had my eye out on a local Tweeter who are clearing out their B&K line. The 507 series 1s are now at $2000 new, but they still have quite a few left, and the price should drop yet again. I'll probably wind up trying to sell the 101.

[mantis]

Ok,
It's been awhile since I owned them and I wanna leave a few comments.

I just upgraded my system with Audioquest and I'm even more happy with my Audience 82's now more then ever. Whats so cool about these speakers is there ability to grow with ones system. When you upgrade this and that, they go right along with it. The sound quality I get now is the best I have ever owned. I'm very proud to own them. After a year or so I get bored with my sound. I start picking it apart and looking for the next plan of action. My speakers are always included in this adventure. Not this time. I can see many upgrades down the road built and designed around these speakers.

True Audiophile sound quality that stands the hairs up on the back of my neck.I take my hat off to Dynaudio. My speakers are the top of the line of the bottom of the line for Dynaudio. And I have been checking out Martin Logan and Focal/JM labs to see if there is any reason to upgrade my speakers. As good as both companies are, I find no reason to change. I'm so cool with that.

I believe once you find a pair or system of speakers that you like, it makes it so much easier to upgrade around them instead of keep looking for better speakers, then figure out the rest of the system to go with them. Around and around you can go and really never get the sound quality your looking for.

Many say "build your system around the speakers". I completly agree.

Dan