Dynaudio "Special Forty"
Any info on the 40th anniversary "Special Forty"? Should be here shortly they say. May be the speaker I am looking for. :scratch2: Not going to break the bank at $3k rumored price.
https://www.whathifi.com/news/dynaud...tereo-speakers |
https://www.dynaudio.com/home-audio/.../special-forty
I'm kind of liking the Gray Birch myself. https://www.dynaudio.com/media/5551/...bgcolor=25282c |
Dynaudio "Special Forty"
I agree. Gray Birch is the way to go. Should be a very nice speaker. I really enjoyed my demo of the Contour 20 which costs $5k which looks very similar to the Special 40. I would be surprised if the Special 40 comes in less than the C20. I assumed the new Esotar 40 tweeter would be an improvement on the classic Esotar 2 tweeter which I absolutely love in my Contour 30 speakers.
|
Serge.......I'm with you on the Gray Birch. It makes a quiet statement and will work in all interior designs. The 86dB sensitivity will need a little extra power depending on your listening habits. The Dynaudio Special 40's look good.
|
Quote:
|
|
Quote:
The price in Euro is 3,000.00 so they should cost a bit more here but maybe we get lucky? :D http://hometheaterhifi.com/uncategor...y-loudspeaker/ |
I received an e-mail from a Dynaudio dealer I know promoting these.
They look to be very awesome! |
Quote:
|
Quote:
|
IMHO these are the best speakers you can find in this price range. They are absolutely stunning. Presenting music in a engaging way and with a big soundstage. Lots of air and and height. Congrats if you are one of the future owners.
|
Quote:
I have owned a pair of Dynaudio 72 SE's back in the day and they were very enjoyable with my then BAT and McIntosh system that followed. :music: No glaring faults or omissions from their performance that I can recall, smooth and musical. Of course every new speaker should be auditioned and evaluated no matter the brand or heritage. :D |
Wondering if anyone's demoed these yet? Haven't made the trek to a local dealer, which isn't super close.
|
Those should be very accurate monitors. And through in a pair of subs and amazing good sound. I have many Dynaudios based on that same tweeter and similar mid bass mid range driver. They do great in overlapping frequencies without the need for extremely complex crossovers
That and the voice coil design results in very clean accurate out put. |
I'm very interested in these for a small-room system. Here's a recent writeup -- not the most systematic or authoritative but gives some idea of the speakers in a modest setup:
http://peteswrite.blogspot.ca/2017/0...er-review.html best, s |
Quote:
|
These seem to be a slightly upgraded version of the Focus 160s, with lightly upgraded drivers, in an almost identical cabinet.
I am very interested in comparing these to my Focus 160's, and also want to audition the new C20's. They are going to have to sound really good to make me move away from the 160's. IMO they are one of the best ~3000 monitors, period. |
Quote:
You can say that again! :) __________________ Amp: BAT VK-655SE Pre-amp/Digital: exaSound e32 w UpTone JS-2 Power Supply; SOtM tX-USBultra w UpTone LPS1.2; Apple Mac Mini w UpTone DC Conversion Kit & UpTone JS-2 Power Supply; Squeezelite w Logitech Media Server 7.9.0 Speakers: Triangle Magellan Cello II Cables: AudioQuest WEL XLR, AudioQuest Everest, AudioQuest Hurricane HC, AudioQuest NRG-1000, AudioQuest Diamond USB Rack: Solid Tech Hybrid Tweaks: Omicron Stabilizzatore Armonico & Gold Evolution SE; IsoTek Sigmas GII w Optimum EVO3; Furutech FT-SWS (R) AC Outlet; Synergistic Research Blue Quantum Fuse |
Hello all,
Been a Dyns fan since my 20's and this is my first post here. So be gentle to me. :) I started a thread on another forum regarding the Special 40. One of the gentleman on the thread has posted his review: "So I ducked down to Lifestyle Store yesterday for a listen to the special 40's. I was very impressed with what I heard. They had the Special 40's placed on some Dynaudio stands (3 or 4?) in their Devialet room (which by guess is about 3.5M x 4.0M and acoustically treated). Feeding the Special 40's were a pair of Expert Pro 220's configured in mono-block mode. The first thing that struck me was the scale of the sound-stage it managed to produce - their was quite a lot of width and height about the music. In fact prior to listening to the Special 40's I had the privilege of listening to what would have been close to a $AU1M system comprising of top of the range Moon Audio electronics feeding a pair of Evidence Master Platinum's (bucket list stuff) and dare I say it, in the smaller Devialet room I thought the sound-stage thrown up by the tiny Special 40's was on par with the monolithic pair of Evidence Masters. I know that comment may beggar belief. Imaging was very good as you would expect from a pair of monitors in a treated room i.e. pin point. The second thing that took me by surprise was the tonality of the speakers. I've always found Dyn's to be smooth, refined, and JUST on the warm side of neutral. Having owned a pair of C1's in the past there were times I was looking for a touch more attack when it came to the leading edge definition of some tracks. In contrast I found the Special 40's to be very agile and fast with the upper frequencies leaping out at you, grabbing your attention, while for a moment hanging in the air before an equally fast yet tactile decay. At this point these speakers certainly had my attention. The mid-range was classic Dynaudio, palpable, neutral yet incredibly musical and effortless in it's coherence & alignment with the lively and dynamic performance of the Esotar tweeter. Which in turn brings us to the bass. Which again proved to present an interesting/pleasant surprise. I've always found Dyn's to lay a fantastic foundation when it comes to bass. Indeed some suggest in medium sized rooms one can get away without a sub when it comes to the C1. Obviously this is not the case with Special 40's. But to simply right off the bass performance as lacking due to the proportions of the speaker is to only tell half the story. I currently own some Focus 110's which when compared to the Special 40's appear to accentuate the upper mid-bass. This at times can result in a (fun and engaging) coloration of the sound. Not so in the case of the Special 40's. I found them to be very neutral through the mid-bass and what elements of sub-bass it could muster. If the track was poorly mastered you could hear it i.e. if there wasn't bass there it wouldn't compensate through the slight mid-bass bump I've come to hear in the Focus 110's. Lastly, if I were to knit pick I'd suggest that to really enjoy the Special 40's at their best you need to stretch their legs. I felt I had to get the volume to slightly above normal listening levels to enjoy the Special 40's in all their grandeur. If your listening space allows you to do this, and your amplification is able to come to the party you will be rewarded with an incredibly dynamic and transparent musical experience. Needless to say lads I put down a deposit for a pair. Apparently delivery will be in 8 weeks. Caveat emptor: I'm not entirely familiar with the electronics that were being used and the room was well treated, but, clearly i'm quite smitten by these beauties. Lastly a big thank you to the young lad at Lifestyle store. I love what Vinod and the team are doing down in North Parramatta. Not least because of their product selection, but because of their clear respect of both the customer and musical experience. Their rooms are beautiful, treated and appointed with some stunning components. I feel very lucky to be able to walk into a shop front and be able to have the sort of experience I had yesterday. This is to say nothing of the attentive and friendly customer service I also enjoyed. More power to them!" By Galatic Soap |
Quote:
|
Quote:
I'm thinking of putting in an order also, since my dealer won't be stocking them. They'll be replacing Harbeths in a small room, so I have some concerns about placement. May borrow a pair of the C20s as a proxy. best,. |
dealers near by me in socal don't have the special 40 to demo, said on back order.
anyone get much of a discount on special 40's or the c20's, or is the price the price? Moved about a year ago so have to build new relationships with local dealers, but closest dyn dealer is about an hour away. |
AFAIK price is dealer dependent but I'm just an outsider...
P.S. GalacticSoap is right regarding the volume level on Dyns. Dynaudio loudspeakers are usually a little bit dark and have a small mid-bass bump -> they seem to open up more only when the volume knob is a notch above the usual setting. __________________ Amp: BAT VK-655SE Pre-amp/Digital: exaSound e32 w UpTone JS-2 Power Supply; SOtM tX-USBultra w UpTone LPS1.2; Apple Mac Mini w UpTone DC Conversion Kit & UpTone JS-2 Power Supply; Squeezelite w Logitech Media Server 7.9.0 Speakers: Triangle Magellan Cello II Cables: AudioQuest WEL XLR, AudioQuest Everest, AudioQuest Hurricane HC, AudioQuest NRG-1000, AudioQuest Diamond USB Rack: Solid Tech Hybrid Tweaks: Omicron Stabilizzatore Armonico & Gold Evolution SE; IsoTek Sigmas GII w Optimum EVO3; Furutech FT-SWS (R) AC Outlet; Synergistic Research Blue Quantum Fuse |
Finally had a chance to stop by and give the Special 40’s a listen. They were driven by a McIntosh MA5200 integrated. Much of their qualities were already discussed before so I won’t try to duplicate it in my post.
In a nutshell, I found no glaring faults with them at all for their price. It is not the type of speaker that may try to impress from the first note and that’s a good thing to me. I found the bass to be very articulated and resolved for a smaller monitor speaker like this, the midrange was rather pure and uncongested. With no traces of note hardness or upper frequency harshness, the Special Forty impresses me with a very generous soundstage that was wide and deep and after playing around with some mild degree of toe in and further tweaks with positing on the fly (some dealers look at me funny as I jump up and start moving their setup around :D) the center image locked into focus with image density and proper weight that I find enjoyable. Slight deviation from neutral towards the darker, warmer side to my ears with the pairing gear (McIntosh) but I find that more enjoyable in the long relationship with a speaker anyway. Not a giant killer but for $3k one can’t go wrong with this musical and enjoyable speaker if looking in that price range and perhaps up even a bit higher. I’ve certainly heard much better at multiples of the price and have heard much worse sounding speakers that were more money than special forty. I am coming back next Tuesday to try out different pairings of amps and may very well order a pair for myself. They impressed me enough to own them and not go chasing more expensive pair for my room. The special forty hit all the right notes and resonated well with me. :thumbsup: |
Quote:
My experience with Dyns over quite a few years now is they very neutral, but never cold or un-musical; instead they are very "pure and musical", as you have described. As they are so neutral, they do pretty much reflect the amplification gear driving them, so I'd expect them to be on the darker, warmer side with McIntosh gear. Other electronics I've heard them sound very good with are C-J, of course, as well as NAIM, Octave, and T+A. I'd expect they'd sound fantastic with Esoteric as well. You should also be able to get them to integrate with a REL sub very nicely, and obtain full-range performance. My guess is the Special 40s have good output down to about 45 Hz or so just by themselves. Bear in mind if you get them you will need to give them a good 300 hours of running in time, and they may sound worse at 150-250 hours than when new or when fully run-in. |
Quote:
|
Quote:
|
Quote:
Back in the day I went with the JL Audio subs and they were stupendously good too. Having a stereo pair with my SF Guarneri Memento's and two Fathoms dialed in to perfection had all the slam, impact, deep, tight and well articulated bass that I could have never achieved with a floorstanding speaker in that smaller room. :no: Big speakers with truly low bass capability just do not play well with smaller rooms. :no: If one overshoots with a speaker for the room, not much can be done at that point. It will never sound balanced and I hate bloated, boomy bass. Once again, I find myself with a similar dimension room so I will take the tried and true path. Monitors like the 40's and a sub if need be. :yes: |
Quote:
|
Quote:
|
Quote:
|
Quote:
http://6moons.com/audioreviews/bryston2/6.jpg |
Quote:
|
The Special Forty will be my second pair of Dynaudio if I decide to pull the trigger. I owned a pair of Dynaudio 72SE back in the day. The Special Forty is a better speaker to my ears. :yes: Time marches on, speakers do get better and better.
|
I’m a Dynaudio fan too. 5 years ago I owned a pair of original Confidence C1 speakers. Those were wonderful speakers, big step up compared with the Cremona Auditors they replaced. They responded well to power, like my current speakers, Contour 30. When I auditioned the Contour 20, I felt they were every bit as good as my old C1’s. The new Contours are an excellent value just as I’m sure the Special 40 is. A used Contour 20 or C1 is also a consideration. I just saw pair of C20s plus stands for $3500 on the gon. I will hopefully get my home re-model approved by HOA and convert garage into media room next year .... which means I will need larger speakers. The Contour 60s are on my short list.
|
Quote:
|
1 Attachment(s)
:music:
|
Now that’s a sweet set up. Musical indeed!
|
Quote:
|
Nice setup! Lovely color too! I prefer this one to Red Birch High Gloss! :thumbsup:
__________________ Amp: BAT VK-655SE Pre-amp/Digital: exaSound e32 w UpTone JS-2 Power Supply; SOtM tX-USBultra w UpTone LPS1.2; Apple Mac Mini w UpTone DC Conversion Kit & UpTone JS-2 Power Supply; Squeezelite w Logitech Media Server 7.9.0 Speakers: Triangle Magellan Cello II Cables: AudioQuest WEL XLR, AudioQuest Everest, AudioQuest Hurricane HC, AudioQuest NRG-1000, AudioQuest Diamond USB Rack: Solid Tech Hybrid Tweaks: Omicron Stabilizzatore Armonico & Gold Evolution SE; IsoTek Sigmas GII w Optimum EVO3; Furutech FT-SWS (R) AC Outlet; Synergistic Research Blue Quantum Fuse |
All times are GMT -4. The time now is 05:38 AM. |
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.10
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
©Copyright 2009-2023 AudioAficionado.org.Privately owned, All Rights Reserved.