Dynaudio

[jmierzur]

Found out yesterday the Danes are back in town after several years’ absence. Listened to the Special 25 and Contour S 3.4 speakers today. Holy cow, they sound great. All the comments I have read do not begin to describe the smooth presentation of the Special 25's.

If you have a retailer of these speakers nearby, do yourself a favor and take the time to have a listen.

Now back to reality.

[tryrrthg]

Huge Dane fan here. I love my 1.3mkII. I rarely hear a speaker I like more, if I do, they cost MUCH more than mine.

I have yet to hear the new contour series. No dealers anywhere near me. Luckily I got to hear some a few years ago on a vacation in Austin, TX. I got to hear the 1.3SE and the 1.8mkII. I've been hooked ever since.

[pjdami]

jmierzur,
Cool man. What were they driving them with? Amp, pre, and source? Wire?

I like my Dyna bookshelves but man are they picky because they are so revealing. Finally got the sound I wanted though.

Paul

[jmierzur]

All the components were Ayre, C-5xe (http://www.ayre.com/products_detail.cfm?productid=13) source, K-1x (http://www.ayre.com/products_detail.cfm?productid=6) pre, V-5x (http://www.ayre.com/products_detail.cfm?productid=8) amp. Don't know about the wire.

Been a Dane fan for about 5 years. Looks like next week I will be joining Dane Brotherhood (Contour S1.4 and S C center).

[Zero]

I thoroughly enjoyed my time with the Dynaudio Contour 1.1 monitors. Dynaudio's respected reputation is well deserved and not mis-placed one iota. I would love to hear (hell, OWN) the special 25's. Maybe I will the next time I am up in the DC area.

[mantis]

I have said it many times before and I will say it again.

Dynaudio in my opnion is the very best of the best. For me there sound quality is exactly what I was looking for.

I 2 have been a Dyn fan for many years. Now that I own them, I can't see owning anything else. I find it funny for me not looking or wanting anything else. This is the first time I have felt this way about my speakers. It's nice.

I agree with the picky comments , that they are. They are so revieling that anything in the chain thats weak is heard. Good thing and for some a bad thing. You have to carefully match them.

Another thing I do however like a bout Dyn's is the fact you can play all kinds of music. They don't care what you play , they will do there best to allow you to enjoy it to it's fullest. How nice.


Dan

[unbridled_id]

Polkmaster, what dynaudios do you own ?

[mantis]

Dynaudio Audience 82 in Maple
Dynaudio Audience 122c in maple
Dynaudio Audience 42w in Maple

Dan

[unbridled_id]

Very nice, I have yet to hear anything but
positive comments on all dynaudio speakers..

[jmierzur]

Yeehaaaa! Dynaudio is in the house! This is going to be one looooonnnnnnnggggg afternoon.:D

[polkatese]

Congrats! which one?

[jmierzur]

Originally posted by polkatese
Congrats! which one?

As I mentioned above, the Contour S1.4 and S C center.

[polkatese]

sorry, I was doing speed reading on the thread. Those are indeed very nice speaks!

[jmierzur]

Originally posted by polkatese
sorry, I was doing speed reading on the thread. Those are indeed very nice speaks!

No need to be sorry. We shall see if they are nice speakers very soon.

[polkatese]

curious, when you auditioned Special 25 and S3.4, why did you find it to be a better one? or do you? being one bookshelf and the other a floorstander. If you could expand your impressions on those two, I appreciated. Thanks,

[jmierzur]

The special 25 is definitely the better of the two. With its Esotar² tweeter, the soundstage is incredibly intricate and precise in all three dimensions. Recordings of orchestral instruments sounded natural and realistic. It was almost like being at a live performance.

The S3.4 is still a great sounding speaker. After first listening to the Special 25’s, it was immediately apparent that the Esotec tweeter is not as refined as the Esotar² tweeter. The S3.4’s did not produce the holographic soundstage the Special 25’s did. It was still exceptional, just not as detailed.

[Zero]

My friend is one lucky bastage. He is not a big Dynaudio fan, but can respect a few of their designs and is getting 'in touch' with the ones that caught his ear;

The Special 25's and the C2's. Oh how I envy him...

[polkatese]

jmierzur, thanks for your impressions, interesting indeed!

[jmierzur]

I have heard others report that the C1's sound even better than the Special 25's. Maybe one day I will be lucky enough to listen to the Confidence series and afford to purchase them.

Quick note

The Contour's have taken the place of the LSi's. These were dealer floor models, so did not require the extensive run in period the Dyn's are infamous for.

The LSi9 and LSiC will be in the Flea Market in the near future. The LSi9 have been modified (http://clubpolk.polkaudio.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=28344) to use Eichmann Cable Pods (http://www.eichmanncables.com/cablepod/index.html) and are currently configured single wired, not the stock bi-wired. All relevant information with pictures will be in a future Flea Market post.

[mantis]

The Confidence series in my opnion are some of the very best speakers in the world. They are so detailed it's sick.

My dream one day is owning the C4's. They are my favorite speakers made at any price. I listened to them powered by a Full Krell system wired with Transparent. I thought I smelled the wood from the kick drum and the brass from the ride cymbol.

One day man one day they will be mine, yes one day......

Dan

[Zero]

So which Contours are you running?

Great speakers, although if I were to be honest, they suffer from the exact same issue the LSi series does. Over-built / dampened and tipped upwards on the scales for theater.

I am eagerly awaiting Dynaudios new product line, that will represent the closest cost/price ratio they have ever put out. Of course, it will still be expensive, but within reach of those who have patience to save up.

[mantis]

I don't plan on using Contour for theater. I'm completely happy with Audience for that duty. Hell if I could afford it I would but I would like to get into 2 channel with the C4's.

What new line?????

Dan

[Zero]

Your Audience rig is killer, Dan. I'd actually take your mains (or maybe the 52 SE's) over anything in the above line.

As for the new line, it should be introduced in a years time or so. Mums the word, ya dig? ;)

[mantis]

I dig. I'll assume the Audience line is getting the upgrade as all the other lines have been upgraded.

Or they are adding an affordable line under the Audience. We shall see.

Dan

[jmierzur]

I hope one day the Confidence series is in town for a listen. Who knows, maybe the C1's will be my future mains with the S1.4 moved to the rear.


On a side note, the wife is not home and the kids are napping. Just finished listening to Zeppelin, 'In My Time of Dying'. My foot is still tapping and probably will be for quite some time.

[jmierzur]

One last comment I wish to share. I recently have been informed that I am banned from attending any future live performances. But first, let me explain.

At the beginning of this year, I bought a recording of Carmina Burana. At this time, my wife informed me that this piece was also being performed by our local orchestra. I thoroughly enjoyed this recording as it was involving and had a nice dynamic range. I purchased two very good seats and eagerly awaited the performance night.

The first piece was a new work commissioned by the orchestra that I found “interesting”. After the intermission, a quiet hush fell over the expectant crowd as the performance began. As we ventured deeper into the piece, I noted it was remarkably similar to the CD I purchased at the beginning of the year. After the performance, it was obvious evident the live performance was far more involving than the CD and many orders of magnitude greater in sonic clarity and dynamic range.

So, this started me on a path where I first tried to modify my existing speakers, eventually lead to the above mentioned speaker purchases. My significant other has been very accommodating this year in my quest to attain the live performance sound quality.

I believe I finally over stepped my boundary when I came home with more supplies to build the final tube traps for the room. This is when I received the official notice noted above. At this time, I think that I can live with this restriction while I complete fabrication of the remaining tube traps. Hopefully the situation will have changed by the start of next season’s performances...

Have a great summer everyone.

[jmierzur]

Further to my prior post, last year I had changed the entire two channel system in my quest to recreate ‘live symphonic orchestra’ performances. Additionally, this has benefited all music types I have listened to.

After having the opportunity to listen to the Dynaudio Special 25 monitors with the Esotar drivers last spring, I had hoped one day I would be able to upgrade to a Dyn speaker with these drivers. I think that I can now say with confidence that the two channel system is complete as I have purchased some Confidence C1 speakers with Stand4’s to replace the Contour S 1.4 as the L+R.

I am looking forward to receiving the C1’s as there was a significant level of refinement over the Contour speakers with the Esotec drivers. To those who contributed to my other used pricing threads, please accept my sincere appreciation for this information as it was used to negotiate a fair price for the speakers with stands for both the seller and myself.

[tryrrthg]

VERY cool! Congrats!

One day I hope to move up the dane line...

[Zero]

The C1's are beasts. Enjoy -!

[mantis]

Damn

Another polkie getting the Dyn on... Sweet

Dan

[Lsi9]

Dan give us some input on the the Audience' sound, Thanks

[Joey_V]

Sweetness... as much as I love the Martin Logan Summit sound, I cant help to adore the Dyns.

[joe6pak]

I am not Dan, but I can say that the Audience speakers are very impressive. When I demoed them I was looking at some higher end Danes, but I still liked the Audience speakers. They are in a price range with some good speakers. I think they really stand out. But I just seem to like Dynaudio. My "old" C-3s kick ass. That is just my opinion. Go take a test drive. Some of the best sound I ever heard was out of a pair of Dynaudio C-4s. I think they msrp for $16000. Damn nice. I think Dan will agree..

[mantis]

Dan give us some input on the the Audience' sound, Thanks

If you do a search in here, you will find alot of my posts about the Audience series.
But I will give em a short review on how I feel about them.In there price range, I find nothing better. There sound quality is very high end.They have a level of detail one would expect from a speaker with the name Dynaudio on it. They shine and are true to the music. The better gear you put behind them, the better they sound.
The Audience series is the entry level line of a High end speaker company. They in my opnion make the very best speakers in the world.Before I owned them, I searched for years to find a better sounding speaker in there price class. Nothing I found was better.
Yes I own them and could be called biased towards them. But my feelings hav not changed from when I didn't own them to I did. I probably like them more now that I own them.
But coming down to it, it's all subjective.You like what you like. I like what I like. I perfer a speaker that sounds real. I'm not into speakers that color up the music. As a musician, I care what the tone of everything sound like.Musical Instruments have different tones and I like th hear them.Dynaudio recreates raw tone better then anything else. This is the reason I like them. Why one day I will own the C4's in a reference 2 channel system.They are the best sounding speakers at any price I have ever heard.
I have Installed speakers costing over 80k and I like the C4's better.There is something magical about the waay the sound. Like being n stage with the band and smelling the drums after a stick strike. being able to feel the felt on the kick. Having your ears ring with the splash. Feeling the heat coming off the Tube amps.

If yo never heard Dynaudio speakers, do yourself a favor and go listen.these are my home.

Dan

[Lsi9]

I will for sure, thanks for your input and sorry Joe, hehe
The only drawback I see is maybe the look of the Audiences, how do they look in the room?