Dynaudio Contour 1.3 mk II Setup and Tonal Balance

Posted by: Jaybar on 08 September 2003

I have re-stup my Dynaudio Contour 1.3 Mk II's as per Frank Abela's posts. That is I have them about 5.5 feet apart, no toe in and fairly far into the room. The net effect of placing them closer together is allowing more distance from the side walls. Also, as stated I am no longer toeing the speakers in.

Frank and others, I find that with no toe-in, the tonal balance changes. The highs appear to be a bit rolled off and images are slightly less specific. On the plus side, this setup fills the room and is not narrow or pinched in any way. Id this normal for these speakers? Can the much greater distance from the side walls also serve to change the tonal balance. I am not sure what is going on? Any thought.

Posted on: 09 September 2003 by Jaybar

Thanks Wrenchi

Overall, the soundstaging/center-fill is MUCH better as is the lack of bass thickness, which was not severe to begin with. Some of my walls are rather reflective and there is a good bit of glass in terms of room expansive windows, so getting them away from the walls and wall behind helps. I thought the soundstage would be rather compressed, but it is highly variable according to CD-much more so than before.

The single problem that remains is tonal balance.

The complicating factor is that I changed power cords to Cardas on all my gear (non-naim) and these are just breaking in, so I don't know what effect this has.

BTW, I have heard larger Dynaudio Contour speakers drive by 180's (1.8 mk II) and this was a good, but not great match.

Jay

Posted on: 09 September 2003 by Frank Abela

Jaybar,

I think you're getting there slowly. The change in tone is down to the fact that the speakers have moved a significant amount from the sidewalls. The reflected sound is not as coincident as it was before. So before you were getting way too much bass and this was because the direct and reflected bass notes were arriving to you at the same time - a double whammy. Now, you should find the bass is much better controlled. This is because the reflected bass has dissipated much further than before. The tonality will have changed to become a bit brighter probably. Now you need to start separating the speakers by very small amounts (a centimetre at a time) until the tonal balance seems right to you. The ideal spot depends on the room of course.

This may help the soundstage a little as well. However, the centre image (e.g vocal) may become a little weak. If so, you want to introduce a tiny amount of toe-in. Now I mean tiny, as in you'd barely notice they're toed-in. You'll find that at some point it suddenly just snaps into focus with as solid an image as you'd like.

Regards,
Frank.
All opinions are my own and do not reflect the opinion of any organisations I work for, except where this is stated explicitly.

Posted on: 09 September 2003 by Jaybar

Frank Abela

Thank you so much for your suggestions.

Frank, I changed all my Power cords to Cardas Golden or Golden Reference. The tonal balance/system performace seems to be changing as they break in. The applification is Ayre (AX-7) integrated and the CDP is Ayre (CX-7). I have also added a power strip (PS Audio Juice Bar) Which is also tethered to the wall outlet by a Cardas Power Cord. Unfortunately, I did everything at around the same time.

Shall I wait to adjust the speakers until all this power related stuff stabalizes?

Thanks,

Jay

Posted on: 20 September 2003 by gilfachphil

Not having been into previous discussion on the Contour 1.3's, just a comment on my experience. I have these speakers and can not get them further than about 15" from the rear wall. I recently hung a thick wool rug on the wall behind each speaker with very beneficial effects, a much improved focus to the sound.

Phil