Dynaudio Special 40

NJB

i used to own the focus 160's,for about 2 years...great speakers.I have ordered a pair of gray birch special 40's,but I am still waiting for their arrival,any day now,I was told.Once I have them in place,I will report back,but I am expecting them to outperform the 160's everywhere,I also used to own C1 mk11's.

Hi there, will there by any issues for the Uniti Atom (40 watts 8 ohm) driving the Special 40 (6 ohm)?

6 ohm load is ok for Atom - and with Dynaudio the load in terms of ohms are quite stable with no aggressive dips (which is good, amplifiers like constant ohms) , not like other companies where in certain bass frequencies the load can be as high as 3 ohms.

Strangely enough, Focal Sopra do not present constant and stable load to amplifiers , well not according to stereophile review anyway.

even more strange is that Focal use Chord DAC/headphone amp to demonstrate their top of the line headphones in hi-fi shows.

A better comparison would be Contour 20 vs Special 40

I have a 272/250DR/Focus160 and I think to flip (Roon, is one of the reason to do this) and go with a more simple solution Nova/DynSpecial 40. But, the question is, the Nova will grip the 40th [6 Ohms / 86 db] like my 250DR grip my 160 [4 Ohms / 85 db] ? Hummm....

magagne posted:

I have a 272/250DR/Focus160 and I think to flip (Roon, is one of the reason to do this) and go with a more simple solution Nova/DynSpecial 40. But, the question is, the Nova will grip the 40th [6 Ohms / 86 db] like my 250DR grip my 160 [4 Ohms / 85 db] ? Hummm....

Should be the same. But maybe not better.  Remember the lower the ohm especially in the lower frequencies (As ohm on paper is calculated throughout the range, and can be from any dip )  usually gets more bass, but needs a beefier stiff amp to control it.

I use  Core>272>XPSDR>250DR>special 40's,I have had the 40's for about 3 weeks now.This is a well balanced system,that I would not change.Roon may possibly be an update in the future for the 272,who knows.Myself,I have no desire to pay for Roon,when the setup I have works flawlessly,I would keep what you have,upgrade to the 40's,and add an XPSDR.

My fiend has the Special 40 speaker (it is in Red). I yet to have a chance to listen but if you want the big jump to entry gate for high end sound, should consider Confidence Series either Stand Mouth or floor standing.

magagne posted:

I have a 272/250DR/Focus160 and I think to flip (Roon, is one of the reason to do this) and go with a more simple solution Nova/DynSpecial 40. But, the question is, the Nova will grip the 40th [6 Ohms / 86 db] like my 250DR grip my 160 [4 Ohms / 85 db] ? Hummm....

The Nova would work great. Maybe overkill. I've had a few people that heard an Atom driving the S40 tell me that was a great sounding combo. All of these people have had high end Dyn/Naim combos and now Aavik/Raidho.  They are not in the market to buy and are not dealers trying to sell me either. Might save you a few bucks with an Atom. 

I heard the Special 25 at a coworkers house.  They were amazing speakers.

Being rear ported, how far away from the rear and side wall do the special 40 have to be to work well?

Dynaudio recommends a distance of 0.5m or more from the back and side walls, but the distance from back or side walls to speaker should not be equal to one another.

magagne posted:

I have a 272/250DR/Focus160 and I think to flip (Roon, is one of the reason to do this) and go with a more simple solution Nova/DynSpecial 40. But, the question is, the Nova will grip the 40th [6 Ohms / 86 db] like my 250DR grip my 160 [4 Ohms / 85 db] ? Hummm....

No, the Nova won't have the grip of the 250DR, but a better question is whether or not it's good enough; and the answer there is...

Probably; but ultimately it depends on what you consider to be good enough, and the only way to be sure of that is to listen to the combination.

Have a pair of Special 40's on home demo driven by 250DR, 272 and XPS DR with SL full loom.  The 40's are in place of Sony SS-NA5ES monitors which retail for $6K.  I like the Sony's but always felt they were a little clinical and missing something. The 40's (at $3K retail) are just plain better.  This is my first time listening the Dynaudio brand and I can see why so many speak of the synergy with Naim.  Not a big wordsmith regarding the typical audio speak but I can say  that I've been listening to music for 2 days straight without fatigue.  Very enjoyable.  Put my order in yesterday and will hopefully get them by the end of the week.