Dynaudio fans (evoke)

looks like the update or replacement for the passive focus series of speakers.

there was a gap between the excite range and the contour range, so keen to audition the new speakers.

There has been talk about the new line recently on AVS forum(Dynaudio) Otto,the Dyn Rep says they are really good for the price range,but of course he would say that...time will tell.

Never understood this cult following for Dynaudio. Heard them many times with all kinds of boxes behind them. They sound out of focus or downright disjointed. Not to mention some of them require welding machines to proper get them going. Its a shame, really. I love the way C2 looks like but same goes with Cyrus. I would have loved to like the sound, but my attraction to them is strictly visual...

Speakers are a personal thing, my only advice is not to be blindly tied to one manufacturer because of what other's say or because you've only listened to a limited selection. Of course the same advice is just as relavent when it comes to other hardware. Sometimes it confirms your innermost feelings that Naim or other equipment is the best, other times it'll make you think. That's what a good demo and home trial should do. Rich 

I find the critical views of dynaudio interesting.... 

I like them because these are fast speakers, and convey Pace Rhythm and Timing, and are fun speakers to listen to, and more so with Naim amplifiers.

Many movies and albums are mastered on Dynaudio studio monitors and to my ears they sound tonally neutral. 

That neutrality is not for everyone, but for me I do like it very much, as the treble is not hot at all and actually quite sweet sounding if the speaker has the world famous Esotar2 tweeter (Contour range and above and the new Special 40).

as for requiring very powerful amps, well they are mostly 4 ohm rated speakers, so a NAP 200 or 250 should be able to drive the more demanding Dynaudios, but maybe not for home cinema amps.

Almost all Dynaudio speakers do have a very good bass output, even if they are bookshelf ones.

but speakers are a personal taste..... 

There's no shortage of speaker brands, and with many putting out new lines and updated revisions of old at a fair lick. No doubt for some fans it can be quite dizzying to keep up.

There's also those other brands that only seem to put something new on the market every decade or so, which equally has its fans.

Its all good - although when there is a merging of qualities between lines - it can be difficult for a consumer to decide what's what - with some items quickly known to be superfluous to needs and discontinued.  

Dan.S posted:

Never understood this cult following for Dynaudio. Heard them many times with all kinds of boxes behind them. They sound out of focus or downright disjointed. Not to mention some of them require welding machines to proper get them going. Its a shame, really. I love the way C2 looks like but same goes with Cyrus. I would have loved to like the sound, but my attraction to them is strictly visual...

I drive my Dynaudios with a Nait 2 no problem! 

Where do you drive it to?

Dan.S posted:

Never understood this cult following for Dynaudio. Heard them many times with all kinds of boxes behind them. They sound out of focus or downright disjointed. Not to mention some of them require welding machines to proper get them going. Its a shame, really. I love the way C2 looks like but same goes with Cyrus. I would have loved to like the sound, but my attraction to them is strictly visual...

I have a pair of Dynaudio Special Forty on the end of a 250 and they are sensational - as far as I am concerned they blew every other speaker I auditioned at this price range out of the water! They are as tight as a gnat's chuff so your comment that they lack focus is quite bafling to me...

Have had my Contour 1.3mk2 for nearly 20 years - tried several more expensive speakers with a view to changing but they just work so well for me I’m sticking for now. I did hear the Special 40’s last week when I demo’d my turntable which sounded great, similar signature but a bit more refined.

Kevin-W posted:

Dan.S posted:

Never understood this cult following for Dynaudio. Heard them many times with all kinds of boxes behind them. They sound out of focus or downright disjointed. Not to mention some of them require welding machines to proper get them going. Its a shame, really. I love the way C2 looks like but same goes with Cyrus. I would have loved to like the sound, but my attraction to them is strictly visual...

I have a pair of Dynaudio Special Forty on the end of a 250 and they are sensational - as far as I am concerned they blew every other speaker I auditioned at this price range out of the water! They are as tight as a gnat's chuff so your comment that they lack focus is quite bafling to me...

I owned the S 40’s for 6 months or so,driven with N272/XPSDR/250DR...and I agree with you Kevin,sensational combo.I don’t get where Dan.S is coming from at all.They were relatively easy to drive too,but the C1MK11’s I previously owned needed a beast of an amp to drive them properly.Dyn keep releasing these new version of the Esotar 2 tweeter,for the 40’s,they call it Esotar 40,for the new Evoke,they call it Cerotar.Slightly different but supposedly speaker specific,as in “tuned” for that specific model.It just makes you wonder if our hearing is completely different from person to person.

I'm on my third pair of Dynaudio's and the last set Contour S3.4 are the only part of my system I haven't changed since owning them and the rest of my system has been built to accommodate them.

I am only on my second pair of Dynaudio speakers, so am a novice compared to some. While I accept that people look for different qualities (or else wouldn’t we just end up one speaker manufacturer?), I don’t agree with the negative comments about Dynaudio. I am running Focus 160s from a 250.2. They are fast, punchy in the bass and sweet in the vocals. I still have my old Epos ES14s and they sound a bit brash and laid back in comparison. I have been pondering the move to Special 40s but am holding off until there are some Evoke 20 reviews. On paper, the Evoke range look good and appear to parallel the Special 40 but at a lower price point. My head says that this cannot be correct and the Special 40 will outperform the Evokes, but there are few absolutes in hifi!

I'll audition a pair of either C20 or S40 asap, just out of curiosity.

Which dynaudio stand is a good match for special 40 (6,10 or 20?). What dynaudio fans think?

(Same question for C20)

[@mention:1566878604006668] - When i was demoing the S40s I had them on Stand 6, which was a great match, and had a lot of aesthetic appeal.

But I found - in my room with its suspended wood floor at least - that the 20s gave a little bit more stability, and just tightened the sound up a tad, even if they don't look quite as nice as the 6s.

I'm a long time fan of Dynaudio and my 250 has seen Audience 52SE, Contour S1.4, Contour S3.4 and now my current Confidence C2 Platinum. They provide a very detailed and neutral presentation, have excellent and fast bass and just plain boogey all day with whatever music you want to throw at them. They have great synergy with Naim and the Naim sound, IMHO.

As far as stands go I also use Stand 6 - a perfect match with Contour 1.3 which are the same size as Special 40’s. Haven’t compared other stands for relative sonic attributes but they are very well built, look excellent and can be filled for additional mass which is worthwhile. 

I have Stand 20 with my C20 but only because there were no Stand 6 available when I bought my stands, discontinued. I like the look of both but Stand 6 would have saved me $100 although Stand 20 with the wide base seems more stable. 

Finally listened to some current dynauio - a quick listen of c20 and 30 also special 40. Very nice and need to explore further, but the s40, even just sitting on a table sounded very nice, but I'm thinking more of a floorstander , to get a fuller bass base. I found some pricing on the evoke line and think it is more in-line with the excite line (same for the finishes). Might stretch to c30 if i could fit them to the room.

Thanks all for stands feedback. Also i want to ask if there  are any special features like secure mounting, special plates , tilting ( maybe for stand 20 which is more expensive)

No tilting on Stand 6, it has upward facing spikes you can screw into the top plate to place the speaker on (I do) and for using with confidence models there is (was?) a special top plate mounting that could be bought separately. As mentioned previously they can be sand filled.

I've never had the chance to properly listen to a pair of Dynaudio (quite badly distributed in France actually). Could anyone honestly give me some insight about what's the typical recent Dynaudio sound is like ? I own B&W speakers (PM1 for instance), some Leemas (both the Xero and One floorstanders, very "in-your face"), Dali Menuet latest incarnation (very sweet top-end and really astonishingly convincing bass given their tiny dimensions), and finally I also had the Kef LS50 (the passive original version black/rose-orange cone), these were sold long time ago. 

So how would compare the standmounters from the current Excite or newly released Evoke range versus the aforementioned speakers. I know only my ears could give me a idea about the Dynaudio sound but I'd like to have opinions (honest and unbiased if possible) before being able to actually be able to listen a pair

I would say without audiotion many other speakers that the brand live up to Naim effort to deliver music emotionally close to what it had been if yoy where in front of the scene.

[@mention:1566878603900238] - I can only speak about the Special 40, but the Dynaudio sound in this particular case can be best described as fast, fun and detailed with astonishing bass for a standmount of their size. Decent imaging too, if you get the placement right.