Do you have any insider info? I'm over at AVS too, but I'm not there as often - so I missed that whole discussion.
I've seen a trend of many companies (Dynaudio, Klipsch, as well as many others) are refreshing their lower and medium lines and coming out with a lot of wireless tech, but their high-end lines go basically ignored. Only the super high-end (Wilson, Magico, and the like) seem to be constantly upgrading all their products.
I'm beginning to believe that the industry is hitting a point of marginalization...that things just don't matter anymore. Not to say that great products aren't coming out, it just seems that many of the great products are very...similar to each other. What do you guys think over here at the Dynaudio thread?
Honestly I haven't heard anything that's drastic. Mostly it seems that the new owner wants to keep Dynaudio where it's at and not make any quick hasty changes. My understanding was that Wilfred is getting old and would like to enjoy more time with family, and Goertek is willing to invest more into R&D then Wilfred has recently. Apparently the new owner has owned Confidence speakers and when he learned of the possible up for sale status he jumped at it. The most recent product launch was the Focus XD and those weren't designed under new ownership, so we have yet to see how the new owner will impact the company. Of course there's the fears of all Chinese made products, or a dumbing down of the brand... Or as the owner said, he's not going to make any changes but invest in R&D and introduce new products that keeps Dynaudio in their place as a top speaker manufacture. Time will tell! But the hope is that KEF has been fine under new ownership, so hopefully Dyn is too.
Honestly I haven't heard anything that's drastic. Mostly it seems that the new owner wants to keep Dynaudio where it's at and not make any quick hasty changes. My understanding was that Wilfred is getting old and would like to enjoy more time with family, and Goertek is willing to invest more into R&D then Wilfred has recently. Apparently the new owner has owned Confidence speakers and when he learned of the possible up for sale status he jumped at it. The most recent product launch was the Focus XD and those weren't designed under new ownership, so we have yet to see how the new owner will impact the company. Of course there's the fears of all Chinese made products, or a dumbing down of the brand... Or as the owner said, he's not going to make any changes but invest in R&D and introduce new products that keeps Dynaudio in their place as a top speaker manufacture. Time will tell! But the hope is that KEF has been fine under new ownership, so hopefully Dyn is too.
Glad to hear that the new owner has the Dynaudio experience (as having owned the speakers). That always helps in keeping the quality end up. I understand the entire "Chinese stuff is junk" mantra, however, I would differ with that - I've seen some quality stuff come out of China, (but they're doing it with virtual slave labor). Kef is not the only one to survive and even thrive with their operations...B&W, and Quad/Wharfedale have huge manufacturing sites in China and they are both doing very well. Thanks for the catch-up on their position. Still waiting on a review on Thiel's new products....that have nothing of Jim Thiel in them .
Here is a personal review of the Focus XD400 from one of the guys on AVS. I thought I would share it here with his consent cause I think he does a great job explaining these new speakers. http://www.avsforum.com/forum/89-spe...hread-839.html
Quote:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Solgryn
Focus 400XD review for Dyn owners Thread :P
Disclaimer:I try not to be biased in this review and I have never heard speakers above C1 from Dynaudio so please have this in mind when reading the review. But the speakers I review here ARE mine and I spent (to me) a lot of money on them so maybe I am not completely objective. But I do have very good hearing (yes I have had it tested haha) and I use A LOT of time listening to music. Also, the speakers have not been used for 100+ hours so they are still new, so to say.
1. Speaker specs
Focus XD 400. One tweeter and two woofers per speaker. One coax digital input, one analogue input and wireless input.
2. Pick up and set-up
I went to pick up my speakers at my dealer on a rainy afternoon. Theyboxes could barely be in my small Polo but I managed by forcing my girlfriend to sit almost inside the windscreen. I, of course, needed room to manage the three pedals in the car (manual gear for you Americans).
The speakers are not overly heavy, around 20 kg, so was rather easy to carry around one at a time.
Unpacking the speakers they were held in place by standard styroform and a nice little fabric bag around them. Included was a remote, which by design I would call small and dirty; needles to say(?), I like it.. My girlfriend does not.
The base or feet of the speakers are the, fitting to their name, X which is seen in rather a lot of European speakers due to the regulation which requires the speakers to not fall over at a certain steep angle. Currently I have them standing on the small rubber rings which makes it very easy to move the speakers until I am happy with the position. They also have a needle option which is extended and adjusted through the rubber ring by screwing a knob,quite neat.
I think the design of the speakers are ok but it is very obvious they did not spend a lot of extra time on this for this line, compared to e.g. Contour and Confidence, but I like the thought that maybe they used all of the effort on the sound. Future “XD” technology speakers will surely have a more radical design.
3. Connecting speakers, the technical details and possibilities.
First of a rant! For a new speaker technology and/or non-intuitive setup you really have to have some manuals. There was only included a very small piece of info in the boxes. I know I can find the manual online and we are in 2015, but still.. Also, the online manual is lacking some basic info which caused some minor annoyance for me connecting the speakers.
Let me try to explain: the speakers are each connected to a normal powersupply. There are many ways to use these speakers.
a. Using the HUB meaning no signal cable into neither speaker, (completely wireless). The HUB then have coax, USB,LAN cable and analogue ports.
b. Connecting speaker 1 to a digitalsignal (coax) which is then transmitted wireless to the other speaker. (The speakers ONLY have one coax port and no other digital port)
c. Connecting both speakers to a digital signal (e.g. cable from CDplayer into speaker 1, and then a coax cable between speaker 1 and 2.
d. Connecting speaker 1 with an analogue signal (LEFT) and speaker 2 with the analogue signal (RIGHT). In this setup the speakers amps works merely as poweramps (so 450watts per speaker).
I decided to go for option b first, but will be getting a longer coax cable to use option c. Also will be using option d once I get my vinyl player which is currently being repaired.
And here is where it went wrong for me. I turned on the speakers (speaker 1 set as master, the other as slave) started my CD player and nothing happened. I pressed “Coax IN) on theremote, I turned the speakers on and off, I pressed “Direct IN” again and again. Sometimes I could get sound out of one speaker, sometimes both but at different sound levels. Something was amiss! I was getting pretty furious. Why was there no good manual, why was the manual on the website so lackluster.. ARGH..// Rant off
In the end it turned out a couple of things confused me (and as I have heard others, including my dealer). The speakers are actually made very clever but just not intuitive (hence a better manual or“first time setup” would be nice). First off, patience is a virtue; I should just have turned on the speakers and they will connect withing 10 seconds first time setting them up ( and pressing any buttons will disturb this). After they have connected I should just have started the cd-player and they would automatically find the signal and off we go. Once the speakers have connected the first time it is much faster when using them afterwards.
I pressed the buttons that are for the HUB (on the same remote, nowhere was this stated) and this caused the speakers to search for the HUB and not each other. Actually the “coax IN” button on the remote is only when you need to play the coax IN signal from the HUB. You need to use the button Direct IN to switch between coax or analogue signal attached directly to the speakers, very logical.. in hindsight maybe.
Nevertheless, the end of this story is that it works now and runs very smooth and fast (i.e no waiting to find the signal or the other speaker which could have been an issue with wireless stuff). So in the end I am happy and satisfied.
The last step was to update the speaker firmware. The dealer said new firmware was already made and I should “install” this. This was very easy and well described, so the Dynaudio manual guys have not completely lost contact to the engineers. Only small issue was that they did not have a date on their update on the website, so how was I supposed to know when a new update had arrived? I mentioned this to my dealer and a day later, a neat little date was added to the update on the Dynaudio webpage (yes,I am bragging)!
4. The soundstage!
So finally, the section we all skip to when reading reviews (or wannabe reviewslike this one). The sound of the music (or speakers)!
Sorry, first a short intro. I’ve talked a lot to a certain dog in this forum to get my speaker placement just right in my room,which is actually a living room. However I had a secret agenda; I wanted to get the best sound possible from the speakers in my room but I knew I would not be able to leave my speakers in that position because it would be impractical (sorry Aaron). However, I used the sound that I got in this best position to benchmark against the sound I could get in the area which I could place thespeakers along with the small taboo ingredient Dynaudio calls “adjusting thespeakers sound” (very sexy description, mm hmm). You see, the XD can be adjusted in the treble (-1 to +1 dB) and in the low frequency range (neutral, to wall, to corner). I’ve been told these adjustments are different from analoguead justments because they manipulate the signal digitally BEFORE it is processed to analogue inside the amps. This means they can do it non-linearly and more specific in the regions that cause bad room or positioning effects. So, what Iended up with and what sounded to me almost like having the speakers in thereference position was “Wall” and -1 dB treble. It is not as good as the reference position but it is damn close!
THE SOUNDSTAGE (for real this time):
Wow… just wow…
On a more serious note in this section I try to cover most, but I have not listened enough (less than 200 h) to make a real review but I will try;
I’ve now listened to most of my go to CD records and I just have to say that the details I hear, the clarity and the spacing between each instrument is _nothing_ like I have ever heard (mind you I haven’t heard C2’s and up). It is so far ahead of my contour S 1.4 that I cannot believe it. It is cliché to write but I have a hard time to find the words to describe it. I hear things I've never heard before, like lips parting and meeting from a singer and even sometimes I hear things I am not sure was completely intended because the producers/sound technicians making the record maybe couldn’t hear it. I love it. I also loved my S 1.4 as they were so very musical but I just have to say I missed out on a lot of detail.
As when my girlfriend said: "That guitar almost sound too real!" while I was smiling from ear to ear.
The bass is extending very deep as the specs also say and it just brings life to the records with artists like NHØP or generally bass heavy albums and they control it so well. I was blown away to hear some percussion solos and effects on some albums, almost literally. Bass lines are also very clear, tight and crisp. But it is the highs and mids that are most standing out from all other speakers I've heard.
However I would like to mention what so far have made the biggest impression. The extra detail I mentioned above in both the highs, mids and lows is of course amazing but once you get used to it, it is “just” there and you enjoy the music again and forget the speakers (which is how it should be).
What hit me like a truck in the listening room at my dealer and also now at home is the spacing between the instruments, effects and voices when thesespeakers play. They are so clearly defined and have so much air between that I just want to listen to music all the time and listen to the same album again and again to hear how each artist plays his or her instrument in detail (actually considered taking some days off of work.. But you have to work right?).
When it is night I often like to turn off all light and listen to music as this really enhances ones hearing sense. I did this first with Pink Floyd – Darkside of the Moon and.. holy shi.. everything stood out so clearly. I forgot everything about speakers and just enjoyed the music.
This experience was the same I had in the listening room at my dealer. I went there with 10 different albums when auditioning the speakers, and started of very meticulously trying to pinpoint where the speakers did well and where they had some downfalls. But after 10 minutes or so I just wanted to hear my music because it was so good. Actually the music was soo good I wished I had brought along more records.
A “funny” thing I want to mention is that listening to the albums I’ve listened to the most in the past. On these speakers, I have noticed that the music sounds “slower”. I do not mean each sound is drawn out (quite on the contrary) but the underlying tempo of the songs seems slower without being slower (cannot expain it any better, sorry). I’m not quite sure why that is, I can only speculate. Mind you, the music is played on the same CD player I used on my old speakers.
A conclusion. These speakers are the best I’ve heard. I have yet to find any negative things about them in sonic performance. They just make me a happy music enthusiast.
I am looking forward to using my vinyl player to see how they perform and I am a bit worried as the speakers are designed, made and completely engineered towards digital signals. But if it is indeed as Dynaudio states it should be very good and mostly depending on the vinyl player as the signal is merely amplified in the speakers, but we will see.
5. Other notes
A final note, which I didn’t want to include in the main soundstage section,is the sound pressure these speakers can produce.
I have to say they can play loud, like really loud. It is quite insane the bass pressure and attack they can produce without any effort it seems while keeping the clean and composed sound they have. I almost think it is dangerous because as you all know our hearing is relative so as long as the sound is clear you don’t really notice how loud it actually is. But I guess that is what you get with 150 watts directly coupled to EACH woofer and tweeter. As my dealer said, they can probably make your ears bleed before the sound is distorted (exaggeration, but still).
If anyone have any questions or want to pick my review apart please do so. I can handle it (I think).
Hey guys, I'm going to try and make this short and sweet. I've been owning the Dynaudio Excite X12's for a couple of months or so, but only recently received the Dynaudio stands for them so I finally have them setup.
The only thing I really have to compare them to is my current Energy RC's, so about a week ago I swapped them out to compare them using the same music and source. I have to say after the A/B comparison I was surprised how similar they sounded with the exception of mid range. I found the Energy to have a little more mid to upper bass presence, but the Dynaudio was cleaner sounding and more balanced and articulate across those frequencies. Highs sounded very similar, however. I have to say I love the sound of both the Energy and Dynaudio, but for music I have to give the edge to Dynaudio for sure.
I have the Dyns setup with my old Integra unit which was recently replaced with a Marantz for HT. Bottom line, I love these Excites, very pleased.
Oh, and I created a new folder in my gallery with a few more photos if you would like to take look. It's just a modest little setup in my computer room until I can find someplace better.
Almost forgot, thanks Callas01 (Steve) for getting me in touch with your Dyn dealer. Can't forget you man!
Glad to read you like the X12s and are pleased. I know you wanted to get something with more bass energy, if you're not completely happy, send them back to tyler and get a pair of dm2/7s or XEO 3s, even the used market may fetch you something at a good price. One thing they will certainly benefit from will be a nice amp. Look at audion for things like an Arcam fmj-19 or naim nait 5i, or a creek evolution, NAD 326 or 356. Each of those will help to bring out a little more from the speakers musically and dynamically vs either of your AVRs. Buying used will save you a lot of money!
Hey Steve, I know we had been discussing this privately, and I was concerned in the beginning, but after setting them on stands and some repositioning the bass sounds fine. They are comparable to the Energy's in regards to bass response, but the Dyns are presenting cleaner more detailed bass, not sure how to explain it. They Dyns have more depth to them, and I think I hear more separation of the individual instruments a bit more, just very detailed overall. For jazz and classical music, which is what I listen to primarily, they sound fantastic, and I'm totally pleased.
For example, I recently purchased Dave Brubeck's Concord On a Summer Night from HDTracks, and the tunes "Koto Song" and "Softly William Softly sounds wonderful. The piano is delicate and softly played throughout, but to me the bass work is where this piece shines, you can clearly hear every bass note played, and it's nice and deep. It's just a wonderful tune to sit in a dark room and relax to.
You can even hear the crickets chirping in the background, it's a wonderful recording.
As to your amp suggestions, I have been looking into that for some time, and will be getting something in the future to add to the mix so stay tuned.
Thanks again for you help.
Quote:
Originally Posted by callas01
Hey Mike,
Glad to read you like the X12s and are pleased. I know you wanted to get something with more bass energy, if you're not completely happy, send them back to tyler and get a pair of dm2/7s or XEO 3s, even the used market may fetch you something at a good price. One thing they will certainly benefit from will be a nice amp. Look at audion for things like an Arcam fmj-19 or naim nait 5i, or a creek evolution, NAD 326 or 356. Each of those will help to bring out a little more from the speakers musically and dynamically vs either of your AVRs. Buying used will save you a lot of money!
I approve the DM 2/7 suggestion from Steve, They can move some Air and sound Fabulous for their price but the only bugger to me is the vinyl Finish no wonder they can sell them at that price point with them sounding so good.
As for amp suggestion I will say look for a used 5 italic. As Steve will tell you they mate very well with Dys so are Sugden
Glad to read you like the X12s and are pleased. I know you wanted to get something with more bass energy, if you're not completely happy, send them back to tyler and get a pair of dm2/7s or XEO 3s, even the used market may fetch you something at a good price. One thing they will certainly benefit from will be a nice amp. Look at audion for things like an Arcam fmj-19 or naim nait 5i, or a creek evolution, NAD 326 or 356. Each of those will help to bring out a little more from the speakers musically and dynamically vs either of your AVRs. Buying used will save you a lot of money!
I wonder how the bass compares between the x12 and XEO 3. The XEO 3 I know put out some nice bass. Are X12 on par, above or below the output of the XEO 3? Add in the x14 as well. I'm thinking about changing my XEO 3 for a naim UQ2 and x14.
I wonder how the bass compares between the x12 and XEO 3. The XEO 3 I know put out some nice bass. Are X12 on par, above or. Slow the output of the XEO 3? Add in the x14 as well.
Somehow similar but I would think the Xeo 3 have the bass of the x-12 and if the X-14 has the same improvement as the X-34 has on the x-32 I think the Xeo 4 may certainly be slightly better but does not extend lower, I think it's pretty close judging by the previous gen Xeo I heard in comparison with the X12.
so Xeo 3 would be closer to x-12 and xeo 4 closer to the X-14 but again it's not a night and day difference but more like e refinement.
I am sure Steve will chime in. The xeo line maybe slightly better in the older generation vs the X-cites I don't knoe they are close except one is powered and an amp can change the way you perceive sound regardless of what driver and tweeter Dynaudio used on both xeo and X-cite lines.
I do know the X-12 bever sounded that great not even from what I can recal them sounding like on the Naim XS vs the Sugden.
I wonder how the bass compares between the x12 and XEO 3. The XEO 3 I know put out some nice bass. Are X12 on par, above or below the output of the XEO 3? Add in the x14 as well. I'm thinking about changing my XEO 3 for a naim UQ2 and x14.
They sound like a different speaker. I'm really enjoying them. Best they have ever sounded. I like the U2 better than the XS2. I think Steve's comments on the 2 are spot on.
Somehow similar but I would think the Xeo 3 have the bass of the x-12 and if the X-14 has the same improvement as the X-34 has on the x-32 I think the Xeo 4 may certainly be slightly better but does not extend lower, I think it's pretty close judging by the previous gen Xeo I heard in comparison with the X12.
so Xeo 3 would be closer to x-12 and xeo 4 closer to the X-14 but again it's not a night and day difference but more like e refinement.
I am sure Steve will chime in. The xeo line maybe slightly better in the older generation vs the X-cites I don't knoe they are close except one is powered and an amp can change the way you perceive sound regardless of what driver and tweeter Dynaudio used on both xeo and X-cite lines.
I do know the X-12 bever sounded that great not even from what I can recal them sounding like on the Naim XS vs the Sugden.
I've read the XEO 3 is like a supercharged x12 but would really like to hear for myself or someone that has heard both. Maybe I'll just add a U2 to the XEO 3.
I've read the XEO 3 is like a supercharged x12 but would really like to hear for myself or someone that has heard both. Maybe I'll just add a U2 to the XEO 3.
I hear both but not in the same room in an A-B comparison but rest assure the rep did tell me the xeo edge the x-12 as I said specially during that generation but it's not like a huge night and day difference but still a nice improvement but I cannot tell for myself.
Glad you like the new amp and pairing with the Forests. They like some great juice to them.
Somehow similar but I would think the Xeo 3 have the bass of the x-12 and if the X-14 has the same improvement as the X-34 has on the x-32 I think the Xeo 4 may certainly be slightly better but does not extend lower, I think it's pretty close judging by the previous gen Xeo I heard in comparison with the X12.
so Xeo 3 would be closer to x-12 and xeo 4 closer to the X-14 but again it's not a night and day difference but more like e refinement.
I am sure Steve will chime in. The xeo line maybe slightly better in the older generation vs the X-cites I don't knoe they are close except one is powered and an amp can change the way you perceive sound regardless of what driver and tweeter Dynaudio used on both xeo and X-cite lines.
I do know the X-12 bever sounded that great not even from what I can recal them sounding like on the Naim XS vs the Sugden.
I haven't heard the XEO 3 speakers but I understand that they do sound like the X12s with better bass and slightly more agressive. The X14s are supposed to be more open and airy with better bass according to my dealer, the XEO 4 and X14A are supposedly very similar but the bass is tuned the way Dyn prefers. With the right amp, like a naim 5i you'll get the same/similar bass.
All countries
Argentina
Austria
Belgium
Brazil
Bulgaria
Chile
China
Colombia
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Estonia
Denmark
Finland
Greece
Hong Kong
Hungary
Iceland
Indonesia
Ireland
Israel
India
Latvia
Lithuania
Malaysia
New Zealand
Norway
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Russia
Singapore
South Africa
South Korea
Sweden
Switzerland
Taiwan
Thailand
Turkey
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
! Do you like - yes or no? I'm not big on themed rooms but I like this one. 
.
Linear Mode
