The Official Dynaudio Speakers Thread

[Johnny Vinyl]

Originally Posted by BigAl87

look at my gallery but don't look at the mess I have on the coffee table


Dynaudio folder

Congrats Olivier on the new X-12's!

[Show spoiler]TRAITOR!

[BigAl87]

Originally Posted by Johnny Vinyl

Congrats Olivier on the new X-12's!

[Show spoiler]TRAITOR!

Lol, I just wanted something different for my second setup

When I are you going back to Totem John?

[Twm1988]

Hey everyone. I was hoping to get some opinions on my receiver upgrade I will be doing pretty soon.

At the moment I have a Harman/Kardon AVR 347 receiver with two pairs of Energy RC Mini’s for fronts and rears, and an RC Mini center channel to make my surround system. I am looking at getting a new receiver for better sound quality with my Energy’s right now, but it also must work well with my next speaker upgrade which will happen a while later.

I am considering the Anthem MRX 310, Marantz SR6008, NAD T748/757 or possibly a Yamaha Aventage 1030/1040. My plan would be to use the new receiver with the Energy’s for now and then when I get new speakers I would also add a 5ch power amp to whichever receiver I choose for a bit more power. The speakers I am interested in upgrading to are Dynaudio Focus’ smaller bookshelfs and center, or possibly Paradigm Studio 10’s with cc490 center.

I tend to prefer something that is a little on the warm side of neutral like my H/K, but with a bit more detail, transparency/air and refinement. My question is which of these receivers will give me a nice upgrade in sound quality over the H/K for my Energy’s for now, but mostly work best in the future with one of those two speaker brands? I don’t care about the receivers features or even room correction, just audio quality. I know the Dyn’s are more difficult to drive and may be harder to pair equipment to than the Digm’s so I need a little advice here.

Thanks Guys!

[BigAl87]

Originally Posted by Twm1988

Hey everyone. I was hoping to get some opinions on my receiver upgrade I will be doing pretty soon.

At the moment I have a Harman/Kardon AVR 347 receiver with two pairs of Energy RC Mini’s for fronts and rears, and an RC Mini center channel to make my surround system. I am looking at getting a new receiver for better sound quality with my Energy’s right now, but it also must work well with my next speaker upgrade which will happen a while later.

I am considering the Anthem MRX 310, Marantz SR6008, NAD T748/757 or possibly a Yamaha Aventage 1030/1040. My plan would be to use the new receiver with the Energy’s for now and then when I get new speakers I would also add a 5ch power amp to whichever receiver I choose for a bit more power. The speakers I am interested in upgrading to are Dynaudio Focus’ smaller bookshelfs and center, or possibly Paradigm Studio 10’s with cc490 center.

I tend to prefer something that is a little on the warm side of neutral like my H/K, but with a bit more detail, transparency/air and refinement. My question is which of these receivers will give me a nice upgrade in sound quality over the H/K for my Energy’s for now, but mostly work best in the future with one of those two speaker brands? I don’t care about the receivers features or even room correction, just audio quality. I know the Dyn’s are more difficult to drive and may be harder to pair equipment to than the Digm’s so I need a little advice here.

Thanks Guys!

Strickly SQ I would say the MRX310 and use an external amp as you said with the Focus line speakers as they are not easy to drive at all or else step it up to the 510.

Sonically the MRX receiver are impressive, where a lot of receiver struggles with all channels driven the MRX are very good delivering great power with all channels driven.

[Twm1988]

Thanks for the reply BigAl.

The Anthem was what I had my eye on for a while now, especially with the great reviews. Most reviewers and public have great things to say about them having a warm musical sound and great detail/air. I have however heard a couple people say that they can be a little lean and somewhat analytical though, which worries me because I like a little bit warmer, richer sound especially with my Energy’s slightly bright top end.

Did you find the MRX to be on the warmer, more musical side of neutral? Did you hear an MRX with your Totems before you went with Arcam?

[BigAl87]

Originally Posted by Twm1988

Thanks for the reply BigAl.

The Anthem was what I had my eye on for a while now, especially with the great reviews. Most reviewers and public have great things to say about them having a warm musical sound and great detail/air. I have however heard a couple people say that they can be a little lean and somewhat analytical though, which worries me because I like a little bit warmer, richer sound especially with my Energy’s slightly bright top end.

Did you find the MRX to be on the warmer, more musical side of neutral? Did you hear an MRX with your Totems before you went with Arcam?

I only heard them honestly with Paradigm speakers and tought it was a good combo, ce the RC and the C-series from the previous gen had a nice high frequency rolloff so they were not bright at all, I am surprised you say your Energy RC-mini sound bright I use to own the C-500 and C-R100 and C-C100 with an HK receiver.
As for MRX receivers, are you talking about music or for movies in terms of brightness?

For music I am not sure if it is still the case but their was no way on the MRX500 to disable the DAC, analog signal would always be converted back to digital in the internal dac of the receiver. I assume you would use pure Direct for 2 channels right? EDIT: After verification their is a way to disable processing on analog inputs of the new MRX receivers so I think if you are using a better external dac this could work well.

Instead of a power amp you might want to look at an IA on the future to power your fronts like a Naim 5i or XS, they do have an HT Bypass so it acts at a power amp in HT and an Integrated during music playback and plug all you digital sources to an external dac. The Naim pairing with Dynaudio speakers is outstanding.

I know NAD for example would sound brighter than the MRX for a fact. Yammys are Neutral so they are not Bright and a nice mid-range Adventage could be a good buy plus they do have Pure Direct mode.

The best advice I can give you is to go out there and audition as much as you can but rest assure if you wet with Naim gear for 2 channel playback you would be in for a treat regarding silky smooth highs.

[callas01]

Originally Posted by Twm1988

Hey everyone. I was hoping to get some opinions on my receiver upgrade I will be doing pretty soon.

At the moment I have a Harman/Kardon AVR 347 receiver with two pairs of Energy RC Mini’s for fronts and rears, and an RC Mini center channel to make my surround system. I am looking at getting a new receiver for better sound quality with my Energy’s right now, but it also must work well with my next speaker upgrade which will happen a while later.

I am considering the Anthem MRX 310, Marantz SR6008, NAD T748/757 or possibly a Yamaha Aventage 1030/1040. My plan would be to use the new receiver with the Energy’s for now and then when I get new speakers I would also add a 5ch power amp to whichever receiver I choose for a bit more power. The speakers I am interested in upgrading to are Dynaudio Focus’ smaller bookshelfs and center, or possibly Paradigm Studio 10’s with cc490 center.

I tend to prefer something that is a little on the warm side of neutral like my H/K, but with a bit more detail, transparency/air and refinement. My question is which of these receivers will give me a nice upgrade in sound quality over the H/K for my Energy’s for now, but mostly work best in the future with one of those two speaker brands? I don’t care about the receivers features or even room correction, just audio quality. I know the Dyn’s are more difficult to drive and may be harder to pair equipment to than the Digm’s so I need a little advice here.

Thanks Guys!

Here is my suggestion, and I know you said that you aren't that interested in the features of the AVR, just sound quality, but IMO, I would get the speakers before buying an AVR. Especially if you are going to get bookshelf speakers. Take the speakers with you around to where you're shopping for an AVR and audition different AVRs to see what sounds best with your speakers, not what speakers sound best with your AVR. Not to mention, the AVRs will be changing specs here soon, and Id wait to buy one with the changes to the 4K spec and the dolby atoms and all... just to future proof as much as possible.

Now, Dyns like designs with good power supplies and 4 ohm stable but they aren't as hard to power as many think. Their impedance curves tend to be closer to 6 ohms then 4. I use my Integra to power my 210C and DM2/6 surrounds. My Focus 260s run off my Naim XS for music and movies.

One of the guys here was comparing the Focus 110s (which it sounds like what you're referring to) to the Paradigm Sig S1s. I compared the Excite X16s(now discontinued) to the Studio 20s. And ironically, hometheatershack.com compared the studio 60s to the DM3/7s. And I think you can read a review of the excite X12 comparing the studio 10 on goodsound.com.

AS far as the AVRs, the NAD and Anthem will have the best overall SQ from a musical stand point. IMO, the NAD is warmer (almost sounds like Naim), the Anthem has a tonal quality that Id say is kinda rich sounding. Yamaha is very natural sounding, and Marantz is good, probably what Id go to next if I changed my AVR out for another one, but they don't have the old warm sound of the X002 models and before those. I haven't heard the newest models yet, maybe they changed their sound, but the few that I've heard over the years have sounded more dry and sterile.

[BigAl87]

Originally Posted by callas01

Here is my suggestion, and I know you said that you aren't that interested in the features of the AVR, just sound quality, but IMO, I would get the speakers before buying an AVR. Especially if you are going to get bookshelf speakers. Take the speakers with you around to where you're shopping for an AVR and audition different AVRs to see what sounds best with your speakers, not what speakers sound best with your AVR. Not to mention, the AVRs will be changing specs here soon, and Id wait to buy one with the changes to the 4K spec and the dolby atoms and all... just to future proof as much as possible.

Now, Dyns like designs with good power supplies and 4 ohm stable but they aren't as hard to power as many think. Their impedance curves tend to be closer to 6 ohms then 4. I use my Integra to power my 210C and DM2/6 surrounds. My Focus 260s run off my Naim XS for music and movies.

One of the guys here was comparing the Focus 110s (which it sounds like what you're referring to) to the Paradigm Sig S1s. I compared the Excite X16s(now discontinued) to the Studio 20s.

AS far as the AVRs, the NAD and Anthem will have the best overall SQ from a musical stand point. IMO, the NAD is warmer (almost sounds like Naim), the Anthem has a tonal quality that Id say is kinda rich sounding. Yamaha is very natural sounding, and Marantz is good, probably what Id go to next if I changed my AVR out for another one, but they don't have the old warm sound of the X002 models and before those. I haven't heard the newest models yet, maybe they changed their sound, but the few that I've heard over the years have sounded more dry and sterile.

It is also true for Totems but take into consideration that the Dynaudios like to have some headroom and 10wpc made a difference in sound between the XS and the 5i. Of course the 5i and the XS don't have the same designs but sometimes it's surprising what an extra 10 wpc can do. Let's put it this way they may not be as power hungry as people think but they still like power.

That's kind of odd Steve if I compare NAD gear to anything I heard recently the NAD alaways seemed to push high frequencies more.

[callas01]

Originally Posted by BigAl87

It is also true for Totems but take into consideration that the Dynaudios like to have some headroom and 10wpc made a difference in sound between the XS and the 5i. Of course the 5i and the XS don't have the same designs but sometimes it's surprising what an extra 10 wpc can do. Let's put it this way they may not be as power hungry as people think but they still like power.

That's kind of odd Steve if I compare NAD gear to anything I heard recently the NAD alaways seemed to push high frequencies more.

It's not the 10 watts that made the difference, it's the build of the power supply, the larger capacitors, and overall circuitry design.

[callas01]

look at the pics, the XS (bottom pic) has a power supply thats 2 times as large, and it has 7 capacitors vs the 4 on the Nait 5i. So its not the 10 watts that made the big difference its the total design.

[BigAl87]

Originally Posted by callas01

look at the pics, the XS (bottom pic) has a power supply thats 2 times as large, and it has 7 capacitors vs the 4 on the Nait 5i. So its not the 10 watts that made the big difference its the total design.

You nailed it right there

Still they are not speakers so more headroom is never a bad thing since they have 87db sensitivity. Anyways I am sure you get my point. Bottom line quality amplification can make a great difference.

[Twm1988]

Sorry guys, I should have stated from to off that I use my setup for 95% movies, 5% music, so HT is my main concern.

As for the Energy’s being bright, I find it just a little in the highs can tend to be shrill at high volumes. Its like they just tipped them up a little, but not a huge deal. It may not even be the speakers I guess, although the H/K is warm and has lots of power to spare maybe the slight harshness I find in the highs comes from it. A receiver thats a little more refined and with a purer sound would maybe smooth that out a bit I hope.

I have actually heard most of this equipment, or close to it. I heard the Focus 110’s (which, yes, are the bookshelfs I’m looking at) a couple years ago with a Nad HT receiver and loved it, very silky smooth but still so detailed and airy with no hint of harshness. The Digm’s I heard also a couple years ago with a Marantz and was also very impressed, but as you say Marantz may have changed their sound a bit since then. I have auditioned some Sonus Faber Toy’s in the past as well as Totem Rainmakers, B&W CM’s and KEF equivalent lineup, and narrowed it down to Dyn’s & Digm’s.

I absolutely mean to go and audition all equipment again before a purchase although I will only be able to get the receiver for now and speakers later. I realize this is kind of backwards, I should be getting speakers I like first and building around them, but I would like to upgrade my system a bit for now and the only way is really through a new AVR at the moment so the speakers have to wait for now. Seeing as I am quite confident in either Dyn’s or Digm’s for speakers I figured I could make a pretty good choice for a receiver now that will suit either of those speakers in the future, plus take my current setup up a notch for now while I save to get the speakers.

So when you say the NAD and Anthem will have the best overall SQ from a musical stand point, does this also apply to home theatre?

As far as adding a power amp to a receiver I would prefer to get a 5ch amp and just have it add power to all ch of the receiver, or is it better to have the receiver power surrounds and external amp power front three?

[BigAl87]

So when you say the NAD and Anthem will have the best overall SQ from a musical stand point, does this also apply to home theatre?

As far as adding a power amp to a receiver I would prefer to get a 5ch amp and just have it add power to all ch of the receiver, or is it better to have the receiver power surrounds and external amp power front three?

In most cases yes as music is much harder to reproduce than an explosion the Arcam philosophy when they built a receiver they have music in mind and the rest follows.

Both these 2 receivers will probably get you the best sonic. I would pic Dyns hands down over Digms in general but it's just my preference.

BTW I am using a power amp for my front soundstage but I am leaning towards an IA now but I am maybe 50/50 on my listening but since I have a serious setup I have gotten more and more into music. I was maybe 80/20 for HT before

[Twm1988]

I think I am leaning toward the Dyn’s as well, though its been a little while since hearing I will need to compare Dyn and Digm side by side. Although its not entirely fair putting the Studio’s against the Focus, I should maybe be looking at Paradigm’s Signature S1’s and C1 center, but I don’t know if they are making the S1/C1 anymore as its not on their website.

I found this review helpful too:
http://www.stereophile.com/content/p...speaker-page-2

At the end of the review in the comparison section they do a great job describing the high, mid, bass of each speaker, though it was comparing Studio to Excite. Could you compare the Focus 110 to the Studio 10/20 or the Signature bookshelfs and describe how the high, mid, bass of each compare?

[BigAl87]

Originally Posted by Twm1988

I think I am leaning toward the Dyn’s as well, though its been a little while since hearing I will need to compare Dyn and Digm side by side. Although its not entirely fair putting the Studio’s against the Focus, I should maybe be looking at Paradigm’s Signature S1’s and C1 center, but I don’t know if they are making the S1/C1 anymore as its not on their website.

I found this review helpful too:
http://www.stereophile.com/content/p...speaker-page-2

At the end of the review in the comparison section they do a great job describing the high, mid, bass of each speaker, though it was comparing Studio to Excite. Could you compare the Focus 110 to the Studio 10/20 or the Signature bookshelfs and describe how the high, mid, bass of each compare?

Well it was unfair to compare Totem Rainmakers to the Focus 110 I'll tell you that much

The 110 retailed at nearly double the Rainmakers price, a fair comparison would have been the Model 1.

I have not heard the 110 but I did hear the 160s 260s, DM 3/7, Confidence C1 an C2s. Focus 160 on an octave tube amp is amazing and paired with Naim as Callas mentioned it is truly smooth. The 110 and the 160 I believe both have a 3 inch voice coil which will make the bass feel heavier and tighter and superior to the Studio 10 or 20 in my opinion. The Focus does not sound like the X-cites it is an extremely well balanced speaker and shows nearly on weaknesses and they are fun to listen to.

I only got to hear the S8 in the Digm Signature line. They are smoother than the studio per say with the Berylium tweeter but never got to compare side by side to the Focus.

It's truly best if you audition them side by side in the same room and try to see if you can switch gear (associated equipment) at least once to see if it changes your assessment.

Also heard X32s and X12s. I Currently have pair of X12 in my second setup. I have my Arcam zone 2 as my amp.

[callas01]

Originally Posted by BigAl87

Well it was unfair to compare Totem Rainmakers to the Focus 110 I'll tell you that much

The 110 retailed at nearly double the Rainmakers price, a fair comparison would have been the Model 1.

I have not heard the 110 but I did hear the 160s 260s, DM 3/7, Confidence C1 an C2s. Focus 160 on an octave tube amp is amazing and paired with Naim as Callas mentioned it is truly smooth.

Also heard X32s and X12s. I Currently have pair of X12 in my second setup. I have my Arcam zone 2 as my amp.

The Rainmakers are $1200? the 110s were $1600 when they were available. The Model 1s are what like $2200?

[callas01]

Originally Posted by Twm1988

I think I am leaning toward the Dyn’s as well, though its been a little while since hearing I will need to compare Dyn and Digm side by side. Although its not entirely fair putting the Studio’s against the Focus, I should maybe be looking at Paradigm’s Signature S1’s and C1 center, but I don’t know if they are making the S1/C1 anymore as its not on their website.

I found this review helpful too:
http://www.stereophile.com/content/p...speaker-page-2

At the end of the review in the comparison section they do a great job describing the high, mid, bass of each speaker, though it was comparing Studio to Excite. Could you compare the Focus 110 to the Studio 10/20 or the Signature bookshelfs and describe how the high, mid, bass of each compare?

The 110s have bass that offers more punch, and a smoother more detailed highs and mids. A warmer sound thats slightly more laid-back but more transparent. The Excites are closer matches to the Studio line. I heard the Studio 20s while I still owned my X16s. I think this review is close to what I recall, except I think the X16s had a touch more bass to them then the Studio 20s did, but they were close.

http://www.goodsound.com/equipment/d...excite_x12.htm

[BigAl87]

Originally Posted by callas01

The Rainmakers are $1200? the 110s were $1600 when they were available. The Model 1s are what like $2200?

Is that right? Edit:Ok you are right, maybe Canadian Retail was higher back then
Still 33% more expensive, Rainmaker were $1125 in Black and Mahogany

Just no doubt in my mind the mid bass driver is not at all in the same category between the 2, anyways X-12 vs Rainmaker is as fair as it gets for comparison as they are at the same price. Different presentation all together and the X-12 can still take more abuse. Rainmakers has other strong points going for them.

I was under the impression the retail price of the 110 was 2k

I know we were able to get them for cheaper whe they discontinued the previous Focus line.

[callas01]

Originally Posted by Twm1988

Sorry guys, I should have stated from to off that I use my setup for 95% movies, 5% music, so HT is my main concern.

As for the Energy’s being bright, I find it just a little in the highs can tend to be shrill at high volumes. Its like they just tipped them up a little, but not a huge deal. It may not even be the speakers I guess, although the H/K is warm and has lots of power to spare maybe the slight harshness I find in the highs comes from it. A receiver thats a little more refined and with a purer sound would maybe smooth that out a bit I hope.

I have actually heard most of this equipment, or close to it. I heard the Focus 110’s (which, yes, are the bookshelfs I’m looking at) a couple years ago with a Nad HT receiver and loved it, very silky smooth but still so detailed and airy with no hint of harshness. The Digm’s I heard also a couple years ago with a Marantz and was also very impressed, but as you say Marantz may have changed their sound a bit since then. I have auditioned some Sonus Faber Toy’s in the past as well as Totem Rainmakers, B&W CM’s and KEF equivalent lineup, and narrowed it down to Dyn’s & Digm’s.

I absolutely mean to go and audition all equipment again before a purchase although I will only be able to get the receiver for now and speakers later. I realize this is kind of backwards, I should be getting speakers I like first and building around them, but I would like to upgrade my system a bit for now and the only way is really through a new AVR at the moment so the speakers have to wait for now. Seeing as I am quite confident in either Dyn’s or Digm’s for speakers I figured I could make a pretty good choice for a receiver now that will suit either of those speakers in the future, plus take my current setup up a notch for now while I save to get the speakers.

So when you say the NAD and Anthem will have the best overall SQ from a musical stand point, does this also apply to home theatre?
As far as adding a power amp to a receiver I would prefer to get a 5ch amp and just have it add power to all ch of the receiver, or is it better to have the receiver power surrounds and external amp power front three?

well the focus 110s have been discontinued. So you will have to buy them used. I think that the NAD will be more your sound personally, but auditioning will be the final factor. not sure you have to have an amp with either the NAD or Anthem, but if you were going to go that path, depending on what you were going to use for surrounds, then emotiva or outlaw or ati amps would be fine purchases. Even a 3 ch amp would be fine and then let the AVR power the surrounds.

[callas01]

Originally Posted by BigAl87

Is that right? Edit:Ok you are right, maybe Canadian Retail was higher back then
Still 33% more expensive, Rainmaker were $1125 in Black and Mahogany

Just no doubt in my mind the mid bass driver is not at all in the same category between the 2, anyways X-12 vs Rainmaker is as fair as it gets for comparison as they are at the same price. Different presentation all together and the X-12 can still take more abuse. Rainmakers has other strong points going for them.

I was under the impression the retail price of the 110 was 2k

I know we were able to get them for cheaper whe they discontinued the previous Focus line.

X12s and Rainmakers at my dealer were both $1200. X16s and 110s were $1600. The 140s were $2k, the Staff $1995, DM3/7 $1995, Model 1s $2200, Hawk $2800, X32s $3000, Forests $3500, X36 $3600, 220s $3600. Digm Studio 10s $800, 20s $1500, 60s $2500, 100s $3600

those are the prices I remember.