I've heard a bunch of systems that delivered ruler-flat frequency response at the listening position, and every one of them sounded as dead and boring as Netherlands-pressed reissues of British Decca LPs. I can't think of another person that could put it thru it's full performance envelope or be able to report as clearly and understandably as you've seemed able to do ( I've just read all your stuff from 2014 onward ). I'd begun with the Contour 20s about 84" apart, 44" from the front wall to the front of each cabinet, and 76" from my ears. It's the reason most people with very high sensitivity speakers run flea-watt tube amps on them; people with low impedance/current demanding electrostats and planars pair them up with massive monoblocks. The art of hi-fi, the result of picking up where science drops off. Since the Contour 20's have a world class tweeter (the Esotar2), and a newly developed woofer with varying cone thickness, plus a new crossover and a very beautiful cabinet, made to impressing specs, I truly don't get it. There are many other speaker manufacturers out there to enjoy, which I enjoy also. Thought I would respond since I didn't see anyone else do it. Call or Email Us now for a better deal! Familiar recordings—Macy Gray's Stripped (Chesky JD389, HDtracks), the Grateful Dead's American Beauty (LP, Warner Bros. WS 1893)—didn't sound right. Dynaudio Contour 20 (Withdrawn) EXPIRED: Dynaudio Contour 20 (Withdrawn) By TONYCH31, July 15, 2020 in Classifieds - Stereo, Home Cinema & Headphones. Share Followers 0. Read more at https://www.stereophile.com/content/monitor-audio-gold-signature-gs10-loudspeaker-measurements#dDdiPT7wwJDIhmlG.99. *Are you claiming that Dyns sound so terrible because of B&K ST 125.2 power amplifier, Blue Jeans Cable speaker wires with locking bananas More than anything else, a loudspeaker expresses its full character in how and where it directs the listener's attention. The Contours delivered good sound off axis, but the focus and specificity of the aural images they cast were best when I sat with my ears just below the tweeter axes and the speakers were toed in so that those axes crossed about 12" behind my head. I first read this report when my Print Issue of Stereophile arrived two weeks ago. https://www.whathifi.com/reviews/dynaudio-contour-20-review Review Contour 20i. There are many fine sounding amplifiers today, and if the Dyn's can't sound good with most of these, I'd suggest the issue/ problem/weak sound lies with the transducer. I bought a pair of Contour 20s last year and was transfixed by the sound of these babies pushed with the McIntosh 402 and Bat VK500. SALE PRICE: $ 4195 RRP: $ 6,999.00 $ 4,195.00 Dynaudio Contour 20. For all others out there; run from the Dyn(amite)-grip that would otherwise have you spell bound -for eternity! Continuing: " This kind of variability occurs with any type of speaker out there; it's not limited to Dyns.". The best thing to do in this case is to go listen before buying to be sure. First, the Parasound power amp (2x 230 W / 4 Ohms) was a very good match with the Dyns. And, because of the driver tweaks providing an inherently flat frequency response, it means Dynaudio has been able to remove the impedance correction circuitry for an even simpler board. Dynaudio Contour 20, Nuprime IDA-16, Marantz SA-8003 Cables: AudioQuest Coffee, Nordost Red Dawn I'm not an audiophile, and I'm not searching the world over for a suitable amp for the speakers. The above system matching recommendations come from my experiences as follows: The only thing that I find "tricky" with Dyn's, if you will, is the way they handle power. SKU#: Ask our expert. Sorry Herb - better luck next time "Fanatics of "accuracy to the source" fail to realize that an audio system's truthfulness is not something that exists on a scale of less to more—it is always more an opinion than a fact. A brand new Contour review has hit the streets in Germany, as the popular magazine, Audio, takes a closer listen to the compact stand mounter, Contour 20. We’ve redesigned the internal wiring and crossover, too. We do price match. But it isn’t just for show – the new shape marries those aesthetics with cutting-edge acoustic physics. Regarding the difficulty of positioning the Contours correctly (which I absolutely experienced with the Parasounds), the next funny thing is that all anomalies in the resulting stereo image, had disappeared like a popsickle in Nevada on a hot summers day when I connected the Accuphase. Dynaudio Contour 20 Bookshelf Speakers. Its sweet-toned Esotar2 soft-dome tweeter has been a legend in its own right for years. Suggesting that a loudspeaker requires 'specific' driving amplification is both impractical and misleading;obsessive really. The amp loves the Contours, and vice versa. In desperation, I began measuring the Dynaudios' in-room response, looking for holes and bumps, and moving the speakers farther apart and farther out from the front wall—ie, the wall behind them—and, finally, closer to the front wall. 50+ Post Club; Full Member; 59 135 posts ; Location: Sydney; Country: Australia; First Name: Tony; … The woofer features an asymmetric spider, said to increase overall motor symmetry, and is reflex-loaded with a port at the top of the rear panel; foam inserts are provided to allow this port either to be partly or fully blocked in case the bass is found excessive is some rooms or to be left unobstructed. You fell into Dyn drivers & musical tubes, I doubt that any Solid State electronics will equal what you're reporting ( I still own and enjoy a good SS Class A Headphone Amp ). And although we might have changed the cabinet’s shape (square is out; curves are in), the new design tips a respectful nod to older Contours. On so many levels: 1) That's why we should have "Reference" equipment --so we don't waste 4-days of our lives attempting to 'figure out' the problem(s). Without doubt, special, synergistic pairings abound, but if one cannot find a suitable "match" to their beloved product one must surely wonder if its time to find another loudspeaker to fill the role. TONYCH31. Why ? for discovering you and releasing your talents. It's bizarre that an audiophile would have spend such an inordinate amount of time seeking a suitable amplifier; I'd say find a better loudspeaker. These were bedroom system only. But then about three months after I purchased them they suddenly when crackle, zap and dead. Type: Speaker. I need to notice the performer's artistry and rhythmic inventions. Dynaudio is the leading producer of hand-crafted high-end loudspeakers created by impassioned music lovers for your living room, the professional studio and for your car. Dynaudio Emit M15C | Center Speaker $ 639.00 $ 799.00. Some reassurance that they can accommodate a broader array of amplification would also be welcome news to those who sell, and might buy, this brand of speaker. PIANO WHITE WITH SILVER FASCIA ( 1 x ONLY) But they are willing to change and bring out some new changes, which deserves applause. Colour options. Regarding your remarks about room placement for the Contours, JA's measurements suggest that should not be very difficult at all. Dynaudio says that the Contour 20s will play their best only when set up in an exact triangular configuration with respect to the listener (with the speakers closer to each other than they are from the listener), and only over a narrow range of ear heights. Contour 60i has a completely new crossover because of the new woofers and new Esotar 2i tweeter. Its sweet-toned Esotar2 soft-dome tweeter has been a legend in its own right for years. Herbert, lean off the brown pops until then !). You, Stereophile and the editor should apologize to readers and DynAudio for this immature piece of drek and at least offer the manufacturer another "review" lead by a professional. Trade-in toward Heritage. Because the amp had way more juice on tap than the speaker load demanded. Unthinkable. The horizontal dispersion characteristics are typical Dynaudio, which is to say, it is not as wide as some of the competition. The lower sensitivity and impedance have always concerned me as a potential purchaser, as has the extent to which one has to turn up the volume compared to a B&W, for example. There is nothing "subjective" in it. The latest in a long line of Contour bookshelf designs – starting way back in the early ‘80s – this is the first to sport Dynaudio’s excellent Esotar2 tweeter. It’s commonly regarded as one of the world’s best-ever drivers – and because it’s been such a great friend to so many millions of ears (and a key part of Contours past), we just had to give it another outing. To suggest that: "...my very humble B&K ST 125.2 actually mates with my Dyn's better than the (Pass) X250.5" tells more of the author and the reality of Dynaudio loudspeakers than any possible, meaningful insight/discovery. Srajan Ebaen's (6Moons) purely subjective review of the Butler Audio TDB-2250, when he switched the amplifier from powering horn loudspeakers (higher sensitivity) to Gallo Ref 3s (lower sensitivity), is in line with the above-mentioned objective references, saying: "Feeling confident that my hornspeaker interlude had revealed the essential sonic nature of our review subject when barely moved out of 'park', I now inserted the Gallo Reference 3s as examples of passive full-range speakers in the 88dB sensitivity range that would run the amp deeper into its power band and higher up its torque curve.". Put another way, their unconditional (brand) love affair is so convoluted that it simply does not occur to them that the shitty sound quality experienced could be anything but their choice of loudspeaker. The extended-excursion 18cm woofer, though, is brand new. Dynaudio S4-C80 | 8" In Ceiling Speakers EACH $ 1,249.00. The Australian Audio Visual hub, AvHub, which comprises of some of Australia's leading hifi magazines has reviewed the compact Contour 20 loudspeakers. Like all Dynaudio products, the Contour 20 loudspeaker is made entirely in Denmark. dac = Chord Qutest, amp = Goldmund Telos 390d,Network player = SOtM sMS-200(ultra), sPS-500(Linear), sNH-10G(switching hub), This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience. You may be able to go with tube power amplification, but I would recommend a powerful one, AT LEAST 50 wpc. He seems to be one of those people who has a certain sound that he likes, and that's of course fine (I probably do as well), but instead of saying "I like this particular sound" he turns it into "this is accuracy for me". Or a few of extra 'rounds' on the (Stereophile) House come this Oktoberfest ! Accuracy is whatever you think accuracy is. Worst of all, "flat" never inspired me to listen more often or more closely to the music. Look at it from the top; you’ll see the old baffle design in its shape. British hifi magazine Hi-Fi Choice has reviewed the compact Contour 20 stand mounters. Regarding your flat earth comment: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myth_of_the_flat_Earth. $5,399 Save $1,600 $6,999. (lol). SHARE. I began to wonder: Are these speakers that hard to drive? Herbert, Herbert, Herbert ... Octoberfest is not upon us, and yet you decide to 'Eine Prosit' a bit early ! The "shouts" in my last post were meant as highlights to key phrases, but I don't know of a good way to do that here. Dynaudio Contour 20. The day I installed the Contour 20s, Steve Guttenberg, of C-Net and Sound & Vision, and Michael Manousselis, of Dynaudio North America, were sitting on my couch listening. Below is a direct quote from my original post: "...This is the importance of system matching; A MORE MODERATELY POWERED AMP, WHETHER PASS LABS OR ANOTHER COMPETITOR'S (all caps emphasis added here by jbreezy) is what I needed. Therefore, these are NOT sound-staging champions, though they do fine. Compare. That's right! On the flip side, I had a Pass Labs X250.5 for a few years which was waaay more power than they needed; the effect of too much power on tap was that I had to turn the volume dial up more to get the speakers to come alive. The Norwegian Hi-Fi magazine, Lyd og Bilde, call the new Contour 20 for a "heavenly reference loudspeaker" in their recently published review. Indeed, my very humble B&K ST 125.2 actually mates with my Dyn's better than the X250.5, even though the Pass amp is otherwise in every way superior (circumstances forced me to downgrade).". Something seemed wrong. It’s powered by a lightweight aluminium voice-coil and a vented dual-ferrite magnet system, and was created by driver specialists Danny Pasfall Christensen and Andreas Eberhardt Sørensen and their team under acoustic maestro Daniel Emonts. Nice little amp, nonetheless. This two-way speaker is luxuriously large and heavy for a stand-mounted model, measuring 17.3" high by 8.5" wide by 14.2" deep and weighing 34.2 lbs. Perhaps it's comparable; perhaps it's better. As a Retail Dealer, I ordered every Amplification Sample I could negotiate. $5,399 $6,999. An older review of the s1.4--issued by a publication north-of-the-border--left the reviewer, by my interpretation, unable to find a satisfactory placement for the older model. When the Dynaudio warranty came into play, it turned out that document was not worth the paper it was printed on. To its credit, flat in-room response always delivered good vocal and instrumental tone, but musicality was noticeably reduced. Neither can it be fully described by such measurable characteristics as anechoic frequency response, dynamic impedance, or step response. And what is more subjective than that?". The funny thing is, it IS in fact a moderate powered amp, but with a rather oversized power stage compared to many other amps in the ~1oo Watts per channel range. This line of reasoning also seems to reflect in his current line of preamps which also have no added gain, leaving the amplifier alone to do its job, rather than having more amplification stages in the audio chain. But they sound most alive with moderate-high power.". What a loudspeaker emphasizes—what it reveals, what it obscures, what it forces the listener to notice and think about—that is a loudspeaker's soul. Amplification technology, along with much else, has surely come a long way since the millenia. Add to wishlist. Regardless of size, even of brand, we reckon you won’t find better sound for the price than that available from the Dynaudio Contour 20 speakers. But I struggled to actually hear the excellence I suspected was there. First you mention that I am a "brand faithful". The Contours exhibit little vertical dispersion limitations and, as a result, JA concluded that stand height is not a major concern. This is true of the new Dynaudio Contour loudspeakers. Dynaudio S4-W80 | 8" In Wall Speaker EACH $ 1,399.00-30%. only manufacture speaker drivers? Dynaudio makes world-renowned tweeters. It’s made from MSP – a material we developed ourselves, and have been using in our drivers since 1985. Email * Name. Still, the system wasn't doing it for me. We are what we give our attention to, and I require a hi-fi rig to direct my attention toward how and why the music was made. But there’s always room for improvement – and our designers love to stretch their legs (you should see the number of sketches they produced for just this part). Original Packaging. This baffle is aluminium, and set into the cabinet. We’ve redesigned the internal wiring and crossover, too. Say hello to the brand-new Contour 20. They appeal equally to heart and mind and deliver the music on a silver platter. Thanks for respectful communication. Share Followers 0. Below we have selected some of our favourite quotes from the review for you to enjoy. If you can find the appropriate amplification for these Dynaudio products, they are fine transducers indeed. Contour 20i is a further refined Contour 20, still with its heart in the right place. DYNAUDIO CONTOUR 20 BOOKSHELF MONITOR - EXCELLENT WALNUT TRADE. Lastly, I have never experienced durability issues when comparing soft-dome and metal-dome tweeters from quality makers; YMMV. Everything we know about speaker design in a compact, clean, great-sounding package. 3) And then you finally "discovered" amplifier problems / incompatibility issues ? Immediately, the focus and transparency improved and the high frequencies opened up. Yet, I'm lead to think the preamps gain attenuation sophistication (or lack thereof) may be largely responsible for the distinctive variations in sound quality over the range of its operation (i.e.lower volume levels, mid-level and so forth). If you opt for tube preamplification, you want high input impedance (33 kohms or higher) and low output impedance (200 ohms or lower) to avoid frequency extreme roll-offs. With the Contour 20i’s, Dynaudio also shipped me a pair of their Stand 20 stands ($499/pair), available in Black Satin, White Satin, or Silver. We’ve long been fans of Dynaudio’s Contour 20 standmounters. Great Tube gear releases it just like the Electrocompaniet stuff. I can't imagine a legitimate (hi-fi) dealer seeking brands of hi-fi from around the globe with the single-minded pursuit of finding suitable amplification to (desperately) validate their flawed loudspeaker choice(s)? That simply has not been my experience with conventional dynamic-driver transducers. These could be a 10/10 but AudioGon rules state that if older than 1 year, must be 9/10. ... Dynaudio Contour 20 is the perfect choice. Your Review prompted me to have a look at PrimaLuna. Evolution has not only changed the size but also the drivers, the looks, the materials and the crossover into a modern product, looking extremely fresh for the Danish who have always been strong on design. The Contour S1.4 you mentioned had an unconventional front baffle/driver arrangement which did affect the soundstaging/room placement, but that appears to no longer be a part of the Contour design. I own Dynaudio Audience 82 floorstanding speakers (13+ years), am familiar with Excite, Contour, Confidence and Temptations in the line since I have a local dealer who has, or has had, all on display. It includes built-in cable-management, a compartment for sand and an innovative tool-free, top-adjustable spike design – plus non-stick rubber pads to support your speakers. Hey breeze: Indeed, amplifier choice is crucial to obtaining high performance. I currently own, and have owned, MANY various brands/models of speakers since I first got into the audio hobby in 1997; not to mention, DACs, preamps, and amps. Another thing that bothered me all through the review, is that it seemed like this was Herb's first entry as a reviewer, looking like a blind man in a wheelchair crossing a busy highway during rush hour. After a few tunes, both were smiling and giving the thumbs-up, but I wasn't happy.
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