Dynaudio Focus 260 with XS2

Thanks everyone. Strange enough, some very knowledgeable people from the local Dynaudio fan base suggest either Moon by Simaudio, Accuphase or Densen as the best match for the Dyn's. 

Listen widely, choose wisely... i hope you end up enjoying your speakers -let us know the outcome!

Hey Amused,

My speaker (Dynaudio) dealer is a Simaudio dealer too, I had on home demo the Moon 340i and the SN2( from another dealer) at the same time. They are roughly the same price here in the States.

Both are excellent, can't fault either one. I bought the Naim. My speaker dealer understood.

I look forward to your follow-up.

this is from the stereophile review of the the moon 340 

Overall, Simaudio's Moon Neo 340i offers excellent measured performance; I was particularly impressed by its affordably priced phono and digital modules. One point should be noted, however: The 340i's heatsinking isn't adequate for sustained use at high powers. Before the testing, when I preconditioned the amplifier by running it at one-third power into 8 ohms with both channels driven—the worst case for an amplifier with a class-B or -A/B output stage—its side-mounted heatsinks became too hot to touch after 30 minutes, measuring 160.6°F (71.6°C). Even the top panel was hot, at 111.6°F (41.1°C). This amplifier needs to be used in a well-ventilated location

Looking forward to your conclusions Amused. I heard some dynaudios about 8 or 9 years ago, can't remember the model but they sounded good with naim electronics 

Hope it works for you 

I will be more than glad to post my conclusion. Plus I will have 2 more people at my place on Saturday, one of them the founder of the local Dynaudio fan club (he currently owns Focus 380s powered by some high end Accuphase), and the other one owns a pair of Focus 160s (powered by the Moon i3.3 that he will bring to my place for addition). So I will post some joint observations of all 3 people. 

Tomorrow I will try to get the XS2 and the Supernait 2 (turns out the local dealer does have it in stock, despite what the website says), as well as Musical Fidelity M6si. So if it turns out right, we will be doing a direct comparison of the following:

1. Arcam A29

2. Naim XS2

3. Naim Supernait 2

4. Musical Fidelity M6si

5. Moon i3.3

BTW, I am home now, and this is how my current setup looks like:

Sounds like a good weekend    If possible try and get the amps warm before listening. 

Good luck.  

Lindsay

badlands posted:

Hey Amused,

My speaker (Dynaudio) dealer is a Simaudio dealer too, I had on home demo the Moon 340i and the SN2( from another dealer) at the same time. They are roughly the same price here in the States.

Both are excellent, can't fault either one. I bought the Naim. My speaker dealer understood.

I look forward to your follow-up.

The local Dynaudio dealer is also a Simaudio and Electrocompaniet dealer. He says the synergy between Dynaudio and Simaudio is amazing. Never heard it though. 

You honestly can't go wrong with the Sim, I was very impressed with the sound.

If I didn't hear the Naim SN2, that is what I would have purchased, no doubt in my mind. Much preferred to the Hegal I also auditioned.

My brother and cousin at one time both owned the Electrocompaniet  ECI 3. Not bad, just not my cup of tea.

I heard the Sim i3.3 it was a good unit. I think I highlighted it earlier. On my 260s the owner of it  and I compared the XS and the Sim and we both came away feeling that we could happily live with either, just different sounding. We even used each unit as a pre into the the other using the amp section only. What we noticed is the Naim had the most impact on performance as a preamp. The Sim DAC was noticeably better on transients vs my tube Jolida DAC. The sim presented trumpets with more "splat" but less texture then the XS, and sax was much better on the XS in terms of tone and richness. Bass depth was better on the sim but the XS was satisfying as well, we both agreed. 

from what I can see of your Chord DAC, the volume is set at Preamp level, which I think is too high (3 volts)

Try to set the volume at turquoise/dark blue.

Amused posted:

I will be more than glad to post my conclusion. Plus I will have 2 more people at my place on Saturday, one of them the founder of the local Dynaudio fan club (he currently owns Focus 380s powered by some high end Accuphase), and the other one owns a pair of Focus 160s (powered by the Moon i3.3 that he will bring to my place for addition). So I will post some joint observations of all 3 people. 

Tomorrow I will try to get the XS2 and the Supernait 2 (turns out the local dealer does have it in stock, despite what the website says), as well as Musical Fidelity M6si. So if it turns out right, we will be doing a direct comparison of the following:

1. Arcam A29

2. Naim XS2

3. Naim Supernait 2

4. Musical Fidelity M6si

5. Moon i3.3

BTW, I am home now, and this is how my current setup looks like:

 

Nice setup. Would appreciate if you can update on the results of the amp shootout once the comparison is completed. We will then see if a change in amplifier will transform the system or speakers, whether it's more of an amplifier or room issue.

I'm especially interested to hear how the Simaudio fares. A brand we don't hear much of here and one I've yet to hear.

It is good that Amused has finally decided to take the plunge and listen to few amplifiers in his system. In that way, he won't become confused anymore with the varied and diverse suggestions that are coming in all directions.

Amused gave the impression that his dealer was the limiting factor in being able to audition, so it was perhaps persuasion if the dealer rather than a change in decision by himself that us allowing this to happen, with the added benefit if finding the dealer does have a more choice than was originLly understood.

Ok guys, let me clear things up. 

It appears it won't be that easy to get hold of the Naims, the home audition has yet to be approved by the store owner, so I'm still waiting for confirmation.

Regardless, the Moon should be here today, and a Densen B130+ shold also be here today or tomorrow. Still waiting for a phone call from the Naim dealer who I bought the Arcam from as well. If they don't approve the home audition, I will try to book one with the other Naim dealer here.

It's not easy to buy HIFI over here, and probably it's very similar everywhere else outside of U.K. You guys are very lucky.

Amused posted:

It appears it won't be that easy to get hold of the Naims, the home audition has yet to be approved by the store owner, so I'm still waiting for confirmation.

Regardless, the Moon should be here today, and a Densen B130+ shold also be here today or tomorrow. Still waiting for a phone call from the Naim dealer who I bought the Arcam from as well. If they don't approve the home audition, I will try to book one with the other Naim dealer here.

Audition whatever is locally available then, and buy whatever suits your taste best. Our hobby is supposed to be pleasure and I don't think it should be this hard.

C.

Amused,

Hope the demos are good fun.

Question: how close to the wall are the 260s?

Regards,

Lindsay

Hi guys,

We just finished the audition of Moon i3 (80w into 8 ohms). 

Equipment used: Moon i3 integrated amp, Supra Lorad 2.5 power cable with Wattgate terminations, Chord Epic Analogue interconnect, Chord Epic Reference speaker cable, Chord Mojo DAC, Foobar2000 with some FLAC and DSD files and Chord C-USB cable. The speakers were of course the Focus 260s.

Ok, I will be brief and try to explain in my own words what I just heard. Upon powering on the Moon and playing the first song ("Us and them" by PF) the difference in sound signature was immediate, but not in a way that would blow away the Arcam. However, the amp was cold at the moment and it started playing much better after some 10-15 minutes.

Compared to the Arcam, the sound was fuller and more dynamic, with more apparent slam and deeper bass. The mids were much better though, it was a fuller and more balanced sound overall. The highs on the Arcam were more pronounced and more airy, but perhaps this is due to the lack of midrange. We played a few songs from Metallica and Iron Maiden as well just for the purpose of testing. The Moon performed much better with hard rock music. It also pulled out more details than the Arcam (especially noticeable in the chorus of Wish you were here with Roger Waters singing the backing vocals during the line "...year after year").

Then we changed the power cable to some high end Transparent, and the sound became a little darker but more balanced and neutral and I would say better overall. The Supra cable appears to be pretty bright and transparent.

All in all, the Moon is more suitable to the Dyns and cures some of the cons of the Arcam. However, I wasn't blown away and I still think the Moon is underpowered as well as the Arcam. The 260s would definitely benefit from a more powerful amp, no doubt about that. What I particularly liked about the Moon was the ability to push more of the spectrum at lower volumes (whereas only the highs dominate with the Arcam). However, still not good enough for me.

That's it for now

The Strat (Fender) posted:

Amused,

Hope the demos are good fun.

Question: how close to the wall are the 260s?

Regards,

Lindsay

Hi Lindsay, they are about 50cm away from the wall. 

You really need to use amps for a few days to see what they are like. If that is impossible, use run in examples that are well warmed up. I'd also avoid playing with mains leads. Just use a standard lead. Otherwise, you won't know if you are coming or going. Try to forget the hifi aspects such as spatial effects, bass and treble. Does the system drag you into the performance and make your heart sing? Does it make you tap your feet, nod your head, want to dance? Do sad songs make you cry?

Yes, I suppose you are right regarding the power cables.

The music was definitely better with the Moon, but the answer is no, it didn't win me over. I didn't feel the "zing" to make me tap, dance or play air guitars and stuff like that

Amused posted:

The Strat (Fender) posted:

Amused,

Hope the demos are good fun.

Question: how close to the wall are the 260s?

Regards,

Lindsay

Hi Lindsay, they are about 50cm away from the wall. 

That's good.    At the risk of opening up the previous debate I predict we're in 250 trrritory

Perhaps, but that's way over the budget as I would need a preamp as well.

Hegel H360 looks very good on paper (with a very good built in DAC as well), but that's over Supernait 2 territory price wise. The Hegel dealer might be willing to lend it for a home demo. It's a 20kg monster.

I've heard the SN2 with the Sopra 2s and it was very good, actually quite refined if not the authority of the 250.