HiFi Review: Dynaudio Special 40. $3k Price brings $10k Performance.
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- Опубліковано 26 вер 2024
- #HiFi #Dynaudio #Special40
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Today I share my thoughts, opinions and love for a speaker that I adore. I have been into serious HiFi for 25 years, as it is one of my passions. These Dynaudio Special 40 speakers are indeed special, and I am going to tell you why, in my own words, straight from the heart.
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These speakers are great because they are engineered and built in house in Denmark. They are not outsourced with cheap knock-off drivers. They are voiced in such a way that at moderately loud levels, they balance.
I auditioned (at a showroom) the Special 40 versus the B&W 705 S2.... which are equally priced ($3k suggested retail).
The B&W's sounded brighter and more analytical.... and "louder".... possibly because they are easier to drive.
But I liked the Special 40 better. They sounded more subtle and nuanced, or natural.
I bought the 40's. Then a month later I paired them with Dynaudio's smaller subwoofer, the Sub 3.
My room is only 15 x 15 ft, so this combo is all I need.
Recommended.
705 are thousand bucks less..which amp you are using with s40?
Did you ever hear the Emit20s? They are the same size and $1800 cheaper.
Nice to hear someone on a similar journey with similar findings along the way. Very nice to hear your story.
Fantastic review! Respect reviews who actually purchased them for reviews!
Thank you.
I have the exact speakers paired with a Modwright tube preamp and Bel Canto amp-----gorgeous sound. Best audio system I've ever had.
Love Dynaudio. Had thiel. Wilson klipsh. Proac. Dunlavy. But dynaudio has the tonal colors that the other speakers do not.
Love your life's philosophy--music makes for a happy life. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on Dynaudio.
Wow, your review is what I needed, but I was shooting for the evoke 20. Now I'll need to listen to them.
Thanks
I have the Dynaudio Contour 3.0 Floor standing and Contour SR surround rear speakers which I love. The sound is exceptional andI would expect to pay much more to get the same quality.
I have Dynaudio Focus 140s. Love their sound. No doubt that these are better, but they're also Dynaudio's. I auditioned B&W, Epos, Focal (I think), and more, but the Dynaudio's were the best. To my ears, anyway. And I never regretted my decision.
ILOVE DYNAODIO AND I HAVE A XCITE old bookshelf model . I am going to have this Speakers no doubt.
I love my old Dynaudio Focus 220 floorstanders which cost less than the Special 40's. I also love the singer Thomas Dybdahl you were playing in this review. By the way, he is also using Dynaudio equipment in his home I heard in an interview :)
Mads Francke 220 here too :)
Easy to drive, good amount of bass for large room, great tonal balance.
Nice. I really like Dynaudio; I used to have 5.1 speakers from them, now I have a bedroom rig with Audience speakers and a sub. Very decent gear. Thanks.
This review resonates, seriously considering going out for S40 now.
I totally agree with you. By the way, it's a good review and talk
Got a pair of Audience 52 se I bought used a few years ago. Wonderful!
Just listened to a demo of these and I was blown away. The source was a really good Sim DAC but the image, detail and soundstage of these speakers was incredible. Amazing really. I will be buying soon. I've owned many good brands and listened to others. I am listening to this through Focal monitors (and they are really good btw) but the Dyn's are just plain special. No pun intended.
You will love them. These are best bang for buck in their whole line. You get some of technology from Confidence drivers in a much more affordable speaker. I've had these for about 9 months now and they continue to amaze me on both music and movies. Been a big fan of Dynaudio growing up with their awesome aftermarket car speakers and these are just as special.
@@kevtn8they are special I bought my special 40s 3 1/2 years ago. I also have the kantas no1 at $8800 and even though kantas are more detail.
The special 40's are not embarrassed by the costlier ones.
I plan to get these within the next few years to be part of my end-game system.
The Special Forty are not particularly demanding for current. Granted they are 6ohm, but they only drop to five ohms. They are designed with a flat impedance curve. (I have the same grey ones.) Agree with you over the SP40; some say they are the best all round hifi purchase.
I sometimes run the SP40 from the RCA outputs of my Chord TT2 DAC. (By the way, TT2 is worth it. You can also use the balanced outputs for about 18W p/channel.) The TT2 drives the SP40 easily, and grips bass like a vice. It's only about eight watts per channel in RCA single-ended output, but it's enough in my room. I have a good budget amplifier which I use in the system sometimes. I am looking for a new amplifier though, but will not go mad on price.
I have these speakers. They are the absolute king of their category.
Better than Burchardt s400mkii ?
@@gokhanersan8561 Haven't heard the Burchardts. I upgraded to the contour 20. Another category leader. Hopefully I can listen to them some day.
@@ricardoosantos100 I wish I could hear a Contour 20 in my lifetime. Happy for you !
@@gokhanersan8561 I've had, contour 1.4, c2s , c1s, c1mkll, c1 sig, 40s and now contour. I prefer the contour of all of these. Better looks and sound. They are huge and play lower then the c1s.
The Special 40 sounds great with the Chord TT2 and M Scaler. You can find them with a great discount if you look online.
Phantom Plastics for example where?
My fave speakers is also small bookshelf diy speakers, playing on their 10th year and I just love them because they are well balanced...
I listened to Dynaudios yesterday(Not sure which) with a Schiit Ragnarock and a Thorens turntable. Wow. I had the same experience. Clear detail and you body could feel it. It felt like Coltrane was in the room.
Been a customer of dedicated audio myself. Live right down the street from AZ Hi-Fi. Small world. Maybe I should check it out… or maybe I shouldn’t 😂
Indeed. The room is the most important factor for sound. Not important are cables.
Cables are important. Without cables you have no sound. ;)
I bought the same speakers. Best balanced speakers I owned. Pretty expensive for me but great.
Totally agree with your review I have the special 40s and love them
Excellent review, with a very comprehensible english, even from people leaving outside of US
We in the pro sound world of film and the like, immediately tune out at the mention of the word "audiophile". My main monitoring set up are a gaggle of Dynaudio BM-15As; I will *never* part from them.
thks for the review...a comparison with speakers of similar price range wd really help. Thks
I went ahead and purchased the 110th integrated amp and cd transport along with the special 40's
I'm glad I did I have no regrets here.
About a 10k spediture but believe it sounds like 15k at least.
how do you like the denon 110 with the s40 so far?
@@mykeldg I like the synergy very much so much that I'll stick with the speakers for 4 years.
Than I'll upgrade to either the confidence 20 or la scala klipsch for my last pair of speakers. But I'm satisfied in a scale to 10 im at a 9
But I'm very hard to please. I highly recommend it.
For me S40 way better than ATC. S40 more natural sound, good layering, musical and warm. It’s difficult to hear the sound stage in you tube sound quality although i used earphone, ATC sound like harberth, litle bit artificial sound for me. You can googling for S40 drum demo, there also ATC drum demo. S40 sounded more like real drum hit by drummer. I have a plan to buy S40 soon...
By the way the complete special 40 package with stands is $4100 U.S...
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on your system.
spotify is not cd quality, it's low to high mp3 quality, it's not lossless.
What's the song in the opening?
I’ve had older Dynaudio Contour 1.3’s back in ‘95.. It had a lower treble peak that could be bothersome long term. I’m glad these new Dyns has a better response and even tonal balance.
I've got them too, they're fantastic. I wonder how they'd compare with the special 40s...
Exactly on point, music lover!
That’s a good system. You can’t go wrong with Dynaudio.
Great review and I agree with you as I have a very similar system with an Ikon valve amp and same speakers and I love it, very engaging
I just purchased 110th integrated and cd transport along with the special 40's. I hope the synergy its on point.
Everything you say is absolutely correct.
You had that luxman and sold it?! Get it back lol. Love the review by the way XD.
What sound i like ? A very well defined fast bass and highs and at least a little dark. Now i owe a AS2200 with a pair of Evoke 20. I await a CD player called Marantz sa 12 se to replace my Vintage Yamaha bluray.
Have you tried ATC SCM19's? I wonder how you think they compare with the Special 40's.
These look almost exactly like that 2 way Swan kit, no?
Nice sound - but they need a minimun of 1 meter of from the (real) wall - otherwise the bass is unnatural big
50-60cm are enough
You could use some absorption panels on the side walls in front of the speakers. It will greatly improve soundstage and imaging.
I also use the Qutest with an external power supply.
Nice room, love Van Gogh.
Excellent review.What filter setting from the Chord Qutest gives you the best results for the special 40.
Thanks in advance.
Great review ! Can you tell me how these are against the wall or close to? What center would you recommend with these ?
They need to be 50cm from any boundary. If you move them closer to a boundary, but you will squish the soundstage somewhat. However if you would compromise soundstage a bit then you will still get something special.
Great presentation. But can the 40ies compete with Dali's Epicon 2's ?
I've just put a deposit on these. In your opinion do you think the Willsenton R8 would be adequate for these? More of a musicphile but crave good audio. Small living and dinning room to fill. Will never play super loud.
Love dynaudio
No, I wouldn't think they'd be hard to drive. I would have thought that by 2022, and all the things you can actually learn from the internet, people would have gotten over this thinking that you need huge numbers to drive speakers. Maggie's and a couple others need be power but MOST don't. My speakers are also 86db and I'm running a tube 30. I also use a 10 watt that does the job with NO limitations.
Great review. I wonder how they’d sound with Mcintosh MA325… and just a regular DAC like Modius.
Ther replaced speakers that cost 6 times as much, what speakers?
@SteveHuff, you've sold me. Do you think my Naim Uniti Atom is high-current enough for these?
Thanks for sharing. I wish i could experience it the way you get too!! I saw your review on the kef ls 50 a while back. I know the kef offers a lot more convenience with dac and amps built in. So i can imagine it could be giving up some "magic". How do they compare?
Detail?
Sound stage?
Bass?
Performance to price?
This system is a few steps up, quite a few, from the LS50 powered speakers. Much more presence, much bigger sound, much fuller sound. But this is an $8k setup, and I bought the amp as a demo so saved quite a bit of money on that. So this is much more expensive than the KEF's. With that said, you do not need to spend $8000 to get great sound. But I do not see speakers as better or worse, but rather "different". All depends on what YOU like. Audio is hard as you never know what something will sound like in your own room. Thank you.
You're right. The room is the most important element in a hifi system and your room seems to be pretty good for these speakers. Hifi loves carpet and drapes.
Will you please add a link for the Dac and amplifier?
Will do.
Have you compared them to the Harbeth HL5 40th anniversary
Song?
Have you ever heard the ProAc Response 2S? You are describing exactly what I like about them.
thank you
The tweeter on the contour is still amazingly good, light years away from my former B&Ws (6 series then CM series: CM9, CM5, CMC 2), KEFs (Q300, IQ30), my S30 from Cambridge audio or some exotic little things such as Eltax Monitors or else ArtSound AS150. Ok, they definitely aren't in the same category but some boast good features (the S30 for instance for its clarity, the Eltax for their oomph effect for being so small and bury any PC loudspeakers with a ridiculous NobSound toy amplifier), but still I haven't heard anything close yet, including higher end KEFs reference, Focals etc. Only Sonus Faber impressed me, though I liked the overall Dyn presentation better. Hence my only upgrade option seems along the confidence line-up... ooomph again (retorts my wallet!)
Try ProAc Response D2's
@@pennfootball71 mmmm... need to dig a little in that direction!
@@coguglielmi You will be rewarded when you do
That sounds great from Vickey
Thanks for the excellent objective review on the Special 40s and other insights. I'm considering get the Dynaudio Evoke 20 if anyone has experience with them I'd love the input. I'M looking for my living room system pairing with NAD M10. I looking for a balanced sound with good sound stage and good off axis listening. Not in a hurry to buy sub/s so have to have some bass on their own.
TY!
One cannot go wrong with Dynaudio.
Yes, I am trying to upgrade from Emit10s for a larger, maybe a little more refined sound; and also considering the Evoke 20s. SP40 is around $3500 in the US, way above my budget.
Right speaker that close to the wall?
I think I had my Focus 140s about as close. You definitely don't want to get much closer though. And I had my room treated with bass traps and mid/high absorbers.
I like the S40 more the heritage special
Why?
I’m also curious why as a S40 owner. Heritage is 3x the price and a bookshelf, surely it has to be better.
Please tell me what recording that is.
How far are your speakers from the rear wall?. Did you use foam plugs or bungs ?. Thank you
Ok, tell us what they replaced. Great presentation consider me subscribed👍😀
what's better, this or Klipsch Heresy IV?
Dynaudio and klipsch aren't in the same league. So dynaudio.
It would be interesting to hear those, I'm a DIY'er so I wouldn't be interested in buying a set but it would be interesting to hear them. Dynaudio does make some decent quality drivers. I get out to Arizona at times or at least I use to before COVID19, maybe one of these days I can get there or somewhere with a local shop that carries them. Nice review, thanks for posting!
Have you compared the Qutest to the Pontus II? That would be interesting. Better yet the Venus II.
Then you should try the Totem Signature One..
Silk dome tweeter > aluminum dome
Yes, the Totem signature one is very impressive.
Intro song: Feel Like Going Home - Hans Theessink
Great stuff, thanks. I've had the S40 for a couple of years & enjoy them a lot. Have you had a chance to hear the Heritage Special yet? I'm wondering if it's the logical next step from the S40. Cheers!
Sidegrade at best :)
@@maxb.simonsen2459 yeah I ended up with some Sopra 1s instead :-)
@@feloniousmonk5261 Then the natural step up would have been the Confidence 20 ;-)
@@maxb.simonsen2459 ha, very true, but that beryllium tweeter... oof
@@feloniousmonk5261 May I suggest that If you again wish to upgrade that you start with upgrading the crossover parts. Often manufacturers cut cost on the crossover parts because they aren't visible, of course I don't know if that is the case with the Sopra 1's
What is the difference vs EMIT 20 model ?
Not to be an AH, but try out the Canton K8 at €4000. I had the Confidence C2, and other various Dynaudio speakers. All good but not spectacular!
What cables do you use for the speakers??
No measurements of the spkrs ?, hmm. From comparison with live music, mostly classical, I find many 'audiophile' systems very unnatural and too bright.
My buddy sells Octave. Nice
Octave and Dynaudio is a magic combination. Hardly to beat. My favorit combo is Octave V70 + Dynaudio Heritage Special. However I dont know what is a difference between special 40 and Herritage special. Never heard the special 40. But I guess there wll be not a big difference.
Heard special 40 was big dissapointment! Very meaty bass, lack of resolution, maybe amplifier was not a match by dealer, but this speaker i did not even wanted to take home for test!
Please upgrade your streamer. The rest of your gear is so nice
Special 40 is good, the Special 25 is even better
I heard different.
Wish I had the space for these. I really only have 4-5ft of space to seperate them. :/.
Imaging in front of speakers? I thought they should be behind speaker plane. Think about reversing recording process.
Do you think they perform adequetely with the 40W tube amp?
@@hushpuppykl Thanks, appreciate the reply.
These speakers cost $1000 in my country from an official dealer.
Where is that?
@@Dumdadum76 Georgia
This speaker cost usd3.7k in my country whcih hasn't including delivery/shipping yet..
$ 1000 each one, on sale!
@@AMan-wu8eg No, a pair.
Try Yamaha A-S3200! The best amp for the S40.
I've hear a reviewer from Canada say that the integrated amp/cd player 110th denon anniversary has a spacious and wide sound stage like the as 3200. Thats why I purchased the denon combo. I'm running special 40s. I love the sound im getting.
@@Skyshakerrrr the Denon 110 is also a very Special and very Fine System.
I also recommend pairing S40 with low cost NAD C375. Set sounds not even a bit worse than S40 with Hegel H190.
WOULD LOVE TO HEAR ISAAC HAYES SHAFT OR ELLIES LOVE SONG OR BARRY WHITE LOVE UNLIMITED??
I’d never send a luxman amplifier
Dynaudio are excellent speakers... this gives a lot of learning towards smart buying system. by the way what is the song and the artist name. thanks
What's that song in the intro?
Feel Like Going Home HANS THEESSINK
How it compares with Focus series?
I own Xeo 2-s right now, absolutely love them!
Rafael Grigorian Xeo 2 are way too emaciated. Perhaps ok if you listen to country music. No bass. No mids. Even Xeo 4 is a massive upgrade. But special 40 etc are in a whole different league. Dyn charges ridiculous prices for active speakers and only gets serious with the focus XD range. Xeo is mass market; you might as well get Edifier which will cost a small fraction but produce better sound than Xeo. Special 40, evoke, contour - this is true audiophile sound.
Well, a quadratic room indeed is not really ideal.
Buchardt S300 and S400 ???
Michael Larsen wondering the same myself.. how do they compare to these
Special 40’s are more balanced. If you like bass go for the Buchardt’s.
compare any Dynaudio Special 40 to ATC SCM 11 on any youtube demo, ATC way ~ better ... btw the audiofool had demo both with same music
Yeah saw that review. But he also said the 40's are better with bass and as an all around speaker. I was a bit surprised by his review.