272/250DR with Dynaudio Contour 20

Posted by: Trickfi on 19 May 2018

Hi folks,

It's been a while since I posted but had a demo worthy of a post today. A bit of back story - around 6 months ago I moved to San Francisco and shipped my gear over with me. Over recent years I've put most of my "hifi fund" into upgrading electronics - I've been through a Rega Elicit R, DAC-V1, NAP 100 and NAP 250, ultimately settling on the 272/250DR. One thing has remained constant, my B&W CM8s; I was just having too much fun seeing how far Naim upgrades can get my system. For a while now I've been acutely aware that my speakers are due a change. I've had good mileage out of these but they are now massively outclassed by my amplification, and despite their dreamy mids they lack heavily in other departments (bass, transparency and overall coherence). Now I'm settled in to a new city, I decided it was time to get out there and do some demos.

One thing I was surprised to learn is that dealers in the bay area do not readily offer home demos. So I found a couple of local stores who deal in some brands I'm familiar with, to go in for a good session. I have demo'd a fair few different speakers recently, including Focal, Dali, B&W and PMC. There have been some *great* speakers in that bunch, but none convinced me enough to part with any cash.

The dealer was keen to get me in front of some Dynaudio, given my current Naim setup and penchant for rock music. I listened to the Special 40 and Contour 20 over a variety tracks and they were both excellent dems. They had a lot of common ground - expansive sound stage, detailed highs without any fatigue, and most importantly the PRaT I have heard so much about. The special 40 is no doubt an incredible speaker for the money, and I would happily take a pair over some others i heard at 2 or 3 times the price. However, the Contours had a pretty solid edge which I can only put down to the cabinet design and perhaps a lower resonance (and of course the extra couple of thousand dollars). They delivered a sound stage which was almost holographic. The resolution of the drums in tracks such as Opeth's "Eternal Rains Will Come" and Russian Circles' "Afrika" were particularly enjoyable - as if I was hearing the skin of the drums on these tracks for the first time. Vocals on Steven Wilson's "Pariah" sounded life like and were completely immersive, especially impactful thanks to the low noise floor coming from the Naim amps. There was very little compromise, which is something I find particularly rare; for a stand mount speaker they can go low, although if I wasn't in an apartment I'd likely be considering the bigger brother floor standers. One or two tracks initially appeared to lack a little warmth, but I think this is likely just conditioning from the muddy low end I sometimes get from my current speakers. All in all the music was presenting itself effortlessly - after a few tracks I didn't feel the need to dial in critical listening because everything was just... working. I could have quite happily sat there all afternoon.

I know at this point I sound like a Dynaudio salesman, but after so many years of this hobby I really wasn't expecting to be able to click so well with a particular sound. Now I can only hope when I get a pair of the Contour 20's home that they behave well in my room, I'll be taking delivery soon so will post back on how I get on.

If nothing else I hope anyone reading this, particularly those with similar music taste, give these things a listen. You might just be as blown away as I was!

Cheers

Posted on: 19 May 2018 by thebigfredc

I used to run Dyns in the 90s and good fun they were too.

since then I have been through OB1s, Kabers, nSats, C10s and now have 20.24s.

Posted on: 19 May 2018 by S3

I recall hearing the Contour 20s on the end of a NDS, 252, 300 set up at the Bristol show last year. Absolutely stunning. Great purchase....

Posted on: 20 May 2018 by badlands

Great sounding speakers, much preferred them to the Focal Sopra 1. Congrats on the purchase.

Posted on: 20 May 2018 by spurrier sucks

I have the same setup myself and must agree with you. I bought my C20 as a blind buy with the intent to upgrade to C30 if I liked them. Turned out I liked them enough to just keep them and forget the C30. Congrats and enjoy.

Posted on: 20 May 2018 by Halloween Man

How much space does the contour 20 need behind it?

Posted on: 20 May 2018 by Trickfi

Halloween Man posted:
How much space does the contour 20 need behind it?

According to the manual, 0.5m.

Posted on: 21 May 2018 by Dan.S

spurrier sucks posted:
I have the same setup myself and must agree with you. I bought my C20 as a blind buy with the intent to upgrade to C30 if I liked them. Turned out I liked them enough to just keep them and forget the C30. Congrats and enjoy.

Have you ever tried pairing your 30s with a more powerful amp? Traditionally, Dynaudio speakers require a lot of power to get things moving, certainly this was the case for me when tried to budge a pair of Contour 1.4S and C1s with my 250DR some time ago.

I myself am in the search for a new pair of bookshelf speakers to match my 272&250DR. Contour 20 are on the list along with BW 805D3, Kudos S10A and PMC 25.22, although I have to confess I'm a bit sceptical given their notorious finical and choosey nature.

@TRICKFI: Don't want to hijack your thread but perhaps this is a question worth answering for you as well.

Posted on: 21 May 2018 by spurrier sucks

Dan.S posted:
spurrier sucks posted:
I have the same setup myself and must agree with you. I bought my C20 as a blind buy with the intent to upgrade to C30 if I liked them. Turned out I liked them enough to just keep them and forget the C30. Congrats and enjoy.
Have you ever tried pairing your 30s with a more powerful amp? Traditionally, Dynaudio speakers require a lot of power to get things moving, certainly this was the case for me when tried to budge a pair of Contour 1.4S and C1s with my 250DR some time ago.
I myself am in the search for a new pair of bookshelf speakers to match my 272&250DR. Contour 20 are on the list along with BW 805D3, Kudos S10A and PMC 25.22, although I have to confess I'm a bit sceptical given their notorious finical and choosey nature.

@TRICKFI: Don't want to hijack your thread but perhaps this is a question worth answering for you as well.

Nope. 250DR is just fine with my C20. Happiest I've been since I've started this hobby. Just as a side note, the SuperNait I have in another room is also more than capable of powering the C20. I don't think you have anything to be skeptical of with these speakers. I've heard the 805D3 and found the setup rather boring. Could have been the Mac gear but still not impressed. I've heard 25.23 and really liked those but I'm not selling the C20 to get a pair although I would like to have another listen. I may end up with a pair of 2x.21 or 2x.23 if I can find a good deal. I think either would be nice on the end of the SN. Never heard Kudos.

Posted on: 21 May 2018 by DavidS

Trickfi posted:
I listened to the Special 40 and Contour 20 over a variety tracks and they were both excellent dems. They had a lot of common ground - expansive sound stage, detailed highs without any fatigue, and most importantly the PRaT I have heard so much about. The special 40 is no doubt an incredible speaker for the money, and I would happily take a pair over some others i heard at 2 or 3 times the price. However, the Contours had a pretty solid edge which I can only put down to the cabinet design and perhaps a lower resonance (and of course the extra couple of thousand dollars). They delivered a sound stage which was almost holographic. The resolution of the drums in tracks such as Opeth's "Eternal Rains Will Come" and Russian Circles' "Afrika" were particularly enjoyable - as if I was hearing the skin of the drums on these tracks for the first time. Vocals on Steven Wilson's "Pariah" sounded life like and were completely immersive, especially impactful thanks to the low noise floor coming from the Naim amps. There was very little compromise, which is something I find particularly rare; for a stand mount speaker they can go low, although if I wasn't in an apartment I'd likely be considering the bigger brother floor standers. One or two tracks initially appeared to lack a little warmth, but I think this is likely just conditioning from the muddy low end I sometimes get from my current speakers. All in all the music was presenting itself effortlessly - after a few tracks I didn't feel the need to dial in critical listening because everything was just... working. I could have quite happily sat there all afternoon.

Daring to dip my toe in the water of this thread (having been away from serious Hi-Fi for many years), last November I was thinking of buying a Nova and went to a demo with Special 40s. They were good but didn't sound right to me. I went back a week later and the upshot was that the dealer set up a Contour 20 demo for me. I took along some favourite tracks (baroque classical to modern studio pop) and my reaction was the same as yours. I didn't want to leave. Eventually, after a couple of hours, I sensed that my time was up and reluctantly went home, having placed an order for the Nova and C20s, subject to them sounding alright at home. Two weeks later the dealer came to the house and installed them. It's now May and I can honestly say I've enjoyed every day since then. The Contour 20s are fabulous with whatever I throw at them, from the latest streamed Hi-Res baroque to an original ripped CD of Sade Diamond Life. The dealer left me with three cables to try. I suspected I wouldn't be able to tell the difference and put off comparing until the end of January. To my surprise the differences were obvious and Naim NACA5 was the clear winner. (BTW, there is no problem with volume. I normally listen on 47 or thereabouts.)

Posted on: 21 May 2018 by Timo

DavidS posted:
The dealer left me with three cables to try. I suspected I wouldn't be able to tell the difference and put off comparing until the end of January. To my surprise the differences were obvious and Naim NACA5 was the clear winner. (BTW, there is no problem with volume. I normally listen on 47 or thereabouts.)

Out of curiosity, what were the other two speaker cables?
Cheers!

Posted on: 21 May 2018 by sktn77a

TRICKFI: Yes, most audio dealers in the US aren't worth the air they breath! If you can't get a home demo of their speakers, the next best thing might be to take your speakers in to their showroom for comparison. I'm not specifically suggesting an AB comparson between the speakers, just that you hear both speakers in the same environment. The listening room in my present home, unfortunately, is awful so most speakers in the dealer's place sound good but the few I've taken home were nothing special when auditioned in my listening environment.

Posted on: 26 May 2018 by DavidS

Timo posted:
DavidS posted:
The dealer left me with three cables to try. I suspected I wouldn't be able to tell the difference and put off comparing until the end of January. To my surprise the differences were obvious and Naim NACA5 was the clear winner. (BTW, there is no problem with volume. I normally listen on 47 or thereabouts.)
Out of curiosity, what were the other two speaker cables?
Cheers!

Hi [@mention:63936634726737555]

Sorry for delay. I had forgotten and had to ask the dealer. They were Chord and AudioQuest but neither of us can remember the exact types. They cost roughly the same as the NACA5 but I think the AudioQuest cable was discounted. My point was that there were obvious differences. My choice was personal, based on the music I like. The dealer had not tried to influence me, but was not surprised when I chose NACA5.

david

Posted on: 27 May 2018 by RaceTripper

Not quite the same but similar. I have a 282/HiCap/250 with the previous generation Dynaudio Contour S3.4, but with upgraded Esotar2 tweeters. I listent to jazz and classical vinyl and it's a fantastic sound (I also have a ND5 XS but use it rarely). In a month or so I plan to send off all the Naim (282/HiCap/250) for recap service and DR upgrades.