Thank you for the review Erin. Although I am a little late to the party, I'd like to share our perspective on this review. I am not going to go through all the comments and answer directly, but if anyone has specific questions they'd like our input on, feel free to direct them to me, and I'll be happy to answer. First off, I think Erin captures the performance of the speakers really well in this review. I would encourage anyone to not just look at the measurements, but pay attention to the description of what Erin actually heard. While we use what is likely the most advanced measurement facility in the world, we do not aim specifically to make the end product provide beautiful measurements. The aim is good sound - and the measurements is a tool to achieve that. Like Erin points out in the beginning of the review, sometimes a non-linearity that looks bad on the measurement isn't really much of an audible issue, and sometimes audible issues don't look like much in the measurements, unless you already determined by listening that it actually is one. In other words, measurements can explain what you heard, but it is very difficult to determine what you are going to hear, just by looking at the measurements. Which is why Erin listens before measuring. I'd like to point out that none of the comments in the review are somehow revealing something we didn't already know about the speaker, before we put it on the market. There is nothing that Erin can measure that we can't, or haven't done. The main point I would like to point out here is that no loudspeaker, regardless of price, is perfect. I see a lot of assumptions that because a speaker costs a lot of money, the performance should be perfect. That is unfortunately far from the truth. All speakers are the result of a balancing act when engineering them. An example of this is the dip that is pointed out slightly above 1 kHz, which Erin correctly attributes to a "compliance issue" between cone and surround. However, the word "compliance issue" may lead some people to believe that this is an error, either in design or production. That is not the case, it is simply the result of deliberate design choices. It is very easy to design a woofer that doesn't have this dip. The problem is that the design changes you need to make to avoid the dip, leads to other issues that we believe are worse. It's not that we LIKE the dip, it is that we DISLIKE the compromises needed to avoid it. I hope this explanation makes sense to people. One point I found very interesting in the review, and some of the following comments, is that Erin points out the ability to go loud as one of the strong points about this speaker, which led to some comments about that high SPL is not by itself a target. Interestingly, we 100% agree, and actually we deliberately sacrifice high SPL to achieve the performance we are aiming for. Which is why I was actually positively surprised by the comments on high SPL capability being a benefit, and not a downside. Our speakers aren't the most sensitive on the market, due to the decisions we make in creating smooth sounding drivers. In our view, we design the speakers to go "loud enough", not "as loud as possible". The fact that Erin was able to push them to very loud levels, is simply a result of the quality of the components and the design of our drivers - you are able to drive them hard before they start misbehaving, assuming you have the amplifier power to do it. The ability to change loudness level without too much of a change in sound character is a key performance factor for us. I think this is a factor that is often overlooked in objective assessments of speakers - I often see measurements that show how it sounds at low levels, plus how loud it will go - but not what happens to the sound when you turn the volume up. I applaud Erin's approach here. Nitpick: In the beginning of the video, Erin describes the tweeter as a T330. Although it has been designed to look like a T330, the actual tweeter is the newer Esotar3, which is also used in our Confidence speaker line. If anyone has questions for us, feel free to comment here, and I'll do my best to answer. /Otto, Dynaudio Academy
Thank you Dynaudio for taking the time to further explain things. This is so helpful. I'm a proud owner of Dynaudio speakers and have enjoyed them a great deal!
Great information. Kudos to Dynaudio for answering and providing this valuable input. I'm a happy owner of Evoke 20s. What a speaker. Great work Erin! Would be great if you can review the Evoke 20s! Happy listening!
@@mrlinde6518 Check the results in the harmonic distortion/ MD test, the distortion its quite high in that area even with that dip, if you try to fix it with eq then the distortion will be even higher, having that kind of problem on a speaker of this price is weird and yes there is not perfect speaker, but at this price range they are other speakers that are really close to perfection, so it would be interesting to hear is there any valid reason to leave the speaker with this problem.
Erin - you are the best in the game. I watch everyone from Amir, to Andrew, to Danny, etc. but nobody combines the subjective listening experience and objective data as well as you do. And you're so honest, humble, and relatable. So much respect.
I'm just gonna go ahead and say that you, Erin, are *the most* valuable voice in this world of speaker reviews. And it's not even close. I hope people continue to learn about measurement data and how to use it for smart purchases. May your channel surpass them all!
Mmmmm, guesses at all the specifications. The tweeter is 28mm and I'll allow you to redeem yourself with the voice coil diameter. This speaker is somewhat overpriced.
@@carlosoliveira-rc2xt what are you on about? As far as the pricing of the speaker, I would agree just based on the performance. You can obviously get much, much better speakers for this price.
@@Jon-nz3dm What am I on about? So happy you agree with me about the pricing, but as I stated, don't you think a "valuable voice" shouldn't be guessing at diameters of voice coils in his review? It takes but 5 seconds to look it up.
@@carlosoliveira-rc2xt Sure, I can agree with you. That's fair enough. When most of the other people are making complete nonsense statements about how speakers sound in only their rooms, Erin is showing us data we can actually use for comparisons. You can nitpick all day but it's not going to discredit his years of work.
@@carlosoliveira-rc2xt I think (know) that Erin has tested so many individual drivers & speakers at this point over 15+ years that specifically listing those voice coil specs and details are rudimentary, and pretty much EVERYONE knows that you can look it up in Dynaudio's documentation if it's really that important to you. 😉 He has tested several other Dynaudio drivers and noted the voice coil diameters as a common courtesy. And he has personally used the Esotar² 430 midrange drivers in his previous high-end car audio system, so I just think that this specific information isn't really new, groundbreaking, or that important from his perspective. Maybe if the tweeter was a small 3/4" (20mm) dome with a high Fs he might have noted it in regards to potential issues matching/integrating it with the midwoofer, but otherwise it's fairly obvious what they are..."here we've got a pretty well designed midwoofer and tweeter"...NEXT.
I’ve had a couple folks ask if this means the usefulness of measurements is minimized. -- First of all, let’s understand this performance isn’t objectively great but I’ve seen much, much worse. Barring a 4kHz peak, the response is within +/-3dB on-axis and this peak smooths out off-axis which is what I found sounded best as well. -- Back to the question about usefulness of measurements… It’s a perfectly reasonable question. The answer for me is “this doesn’t change anything”. Because: 1) I don’t view anything as absolute. There are always compromises in loudspeakers. At the end of the day you have to enjoy the speaker. 2) The data confirms the things I did hear such as the treble peak and the upper midrange “softness”. Despite those, however, there were other attributes I enjoyed. Those overrode the audible/objective cons for me. 3) It is still *my* subjective opinion. Others may not agree. So having the data as a reference helps keep everyone on the same page. I think this is a good place to reiterate the main reasons we have data. It’s to help establish a baseline for reference and understand the compromises in its design. It’s NOT to be wielded as a weapon, for or against objective vs subjective debate. Case in point, despite the speaker not measuring perfectly, I still enjoyed it. However, the things I heard that bothered me are in the data. Listening matters and so does the data. The thing to not to fall into is an “us vs them” mindset. I have seen other channels attempt to do that. To polarize their community. Some suffer from the Dunning-Kruger effect where they think they are experts at building/reviewing speakers and fail to see beyond their own (incredibly ignorant) point of view. Others intentionally misinform to create “sides”. Don’t let those guys manipulate you. Narcissistic tendencies are easy to spot when you question motives. Why wouldn’t you want more data? Why would another person try to keep you from getting all the facts you can? Why would a reviewer make clickbait videos disparaging measurements, as a means of evaluating performance, instead expecting you to rely solely on their opinions?… Frankly, if my goal was to push measurements as the end-all and make me the only person you can trust because I have data then I wouldn’t publish videos like this where I show non-ideal performance and then say I enjoyed the speaker despite the flaws. That’s not my goal, though. My goal is to have objective data to help understand the things we hear and why we like or don’t like what we do. As I always say, *at the least*, you can use measurements to help understand what you do and do not like about a speaker’s sound which helps you make better informed purchases in the future. Not everyone needs to agree with my assessment. You can skip my opinion and go straight to the data and draw from your own experiences in correlating the two. Hope that helps explain my position a bit more clearly. I love having data. But I’m sure as heck glad I have my ears, too. 😉 Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk. 😂 - Erin
👏🏼. Especially the point, that every speaker is a compromise - even at this price point - was tough for me to accept, but afterwards you take things less serious and therefor the speaker less granted and like it for what it is/what it’s best at doing.
I checked the screws of the units, backplate and port, they were all a bit loose. It surprised me a bit. It wouldn’t do any harm to check this. Also you can experiment with the damping material inside the enclosure.
Great way to point out that a speaker doesnt have to be perfect In regards to measurements to be enjoyable. Data is still very important, but so is listening. Some anomalies might not be as bothersome as one might initially think.
I used to be a measurements over all else kind of guy, I’ve owned Neumann KH80, Polk R200’s just so you can gauge where I am coming from. However after hearing the Wharfedale Denton 80ths which I currently own, I have been convinced that there are specific non-neutral presentations that are very pleasurable to listen too. The pattern I’ve identified with my Wharfedales and also these Dynaudios is an elevation in fundamentals around 500-900 hz, relative dip in upper mids around 3 khz, followed by a slight spike around 4-5khz. Particularly, the bump around 800hz seems to have very pleasing effects psychoacoustically. The tipped up sound in that fundamental lower-mid region has an enveloping effect, in that it does cloud the dynamics a bit, but pulls you into the music and allows you to turn the volume up much higher.
I agree - it doesn't have to be about absolute neutrality - deliberate tuning is a design choice which when properly implemented can yield extraordinary results.
I still owned 2 pairs of Wharfedale Denton 80th after years of listening, great little bookshelf speakers and flexible to most music genre, even though not great in measurement.
@@wim1983 Heard a lot of speakers at this price point and sub $1000, the Denton 80's have to be my favorite standmount speakers. Best overall presentation, incredible holographic soundstage depth and height, very rich tonality, and an unusually low bass extension for a 5 inch woofer. I still own my pair, usually I keep experimenting and changing audio equipment frequently, but I'm not at all able to let go of these from my main listening setup.
@@kamilkashaf2766 Yes, and I think most people does not hit the accident that Denton 80th surprisingly sound great if pairing with fierce power amp, very underrated speakers, a hidden gem even to a degree, having said that it definitely not a dynamic beast, but I rate it good if clean power is feed.
Great video. I got my HS about two years ago and I still enjoy them a lot. Before I had the B&W 805 and was annoyed of the heights after some listening sessions. The HS plays so musically and I really don‘t care how a speaker measured.
agreed, folks read way to much into measurements, are they needed, yes, do they define a speaker, no. ignorant for so many to judge a speaker on its measurements only and discard them as "overpriced" when they have never heard them, ignorance is blissed
That peak at around 4.3 khz means Dynaudio did not made a great work on the crossover, I can fix that with a LCR choke, that 1.3 khz disturbance looks like a ringing on the woofer and that can be solved lowering the crossover point to 900 hz with a 24 db per octave crossover design to protect the tweeter, besides that I believe this speaker sounds good because that tweeter is the little brother of my prefered tweeter the T-330 Esotar
I own Dynaudio Special 40’s and indeed Heritage Specials are my dream speakers right now, which are absolutely out of my price range. Considering the fact that I paid roughly $2400 for a practically new pair of SP40’s I really don’t think that I will get 3-4 times “better” sound if I switch to HS, and this review confirms it for me. I’m eager to see what Dynaudio is going to do next!
Thanks for the review. First, it's not a TD 330 it's an Esotar 3. I seriously doubt anyone can hear the small blip at 4k, humans are very poor at discerning volume levels that's why we measure it in db's. I'd like to see you do it in a DBT. I get a kick out of people who would change a manufacturer's crossover setups and other factors. I'll stick with Dynaudio's expertise and their 50 plus years of experience.
As a consumer I could not care less about the individual parts, it is the sum result that counts. Manufacturers who market their speakers based on the technicalities of individual parts put me off. Those technicalities are a matter for the designer and the producer not the consumer.
@@jctai100for 6k.. i could list a bunch speakers i would by before i would choose a passive Dynaudio. A Genelec 8341, PSI Audio A21-M, Neumann KH150 for example
As somebody who really enjoys the (used) pair of Special 40s I run in one of my setups, I find these type of reviews captivating. I happen to want to know how my gear measures, but I also don't dictate what I buy/keep/choose to listen to based solely on measurements. I use them as kind of a gateway to competency and then go by listening to whatever it is, in my room, with my gear. If that tweaks anybody's 'objectivity" well, you get to buy your own stuff and I get to buy mine. The Special 40s are great little speakers, the best small standmounts I've had, and they work great in my somewhat difficult small sunroom.
Erin, enjoy your thoughtful reviews and commentary. $7K is a pretty steep price that should ensure darn good performance. Crossover parts quality appeared good, but does not add more than $400. What technical reason for the tweeter to have that large a face plate? Large voice woofer voice coil good for power handling, but what are to negatives? Did Dynaudio design this speaker to play at ear splitting dB level just because they could, or is there a correlation to sound quality? Some may like it, that is fine. The measurements and listening impressions seem to point out flaws that should not exist in a $7K speaker.
I was wondering this issue of whether the HS were actually designed to play at ear-splitting levels? I am someone who plays acoustic jazz and classical music at moderate to lower levels and like speakers that have a wonderful organic integration rather than top, top, top dynamic range and high volume. Sounds like this speaker would be more for me than someone who is a heavy-duty rocker. Final point, would someone who has different musical tastes than you do think differently, and experience these speakers differently, than someone with your musical tastes? Or would the measurements be the same at lower volume levels? I never listen to anything close to 102 db.Thanks for the review.
@@josephfranceski1041 Watch the video again. Erin pretty much already answered your questions with the measurements he provided of both the distortion levels and dynamic compression effects at various listening levels and his discussion around them. From your comments, it seems that you would probably listen to your music at levels between 70dB-80dB, and not more than 85dB max. At those levels with a listening distance of between 3m-4m (or less), you shouldn't run into any distortion or dynamic compression issues whatsoever. Erin and I have a mutual friend who owns these speakers and who listens to ALL Genres of music, including quite a bit of acoustic jazz and classical/symphony. He upgraded from the Dynaudio Special 40 to these, and he seems VERY happy with them in his average size den/home office/bedroom listening room. They are keepers. HOWEVER, he did pair both the Special 40 and now these Heritage Special standmounts with Two REL Acoustics T/7X 8" Subwoofers. 😉 He has heard A LOT of different systems and also owns a TOTL headphone rig as well as a very high-end custom car audio system that uses a DIRAC Live multi-channel DSP. I trust his ears and impressions, like I do Erin's. That being said, IMO, I think there are better speakers for the money, especially if you go the DIY route, and/or if you can add a subwoofer, but I realize that either of those isn't for everyone. Many people tend to choose and purchase their speakers based on their particular Brand Preferences and the brand's perceived prestige, quality, or nostalgia. But if it is a Brand you prefer, they are within your budget, sound great to you, and they fit your listening room and your design & aesthetic tastes, there's no reason not to choose them.
The individual parts and labour costs of this speaker set are somewhere around €1500. The €1500 difference are profits for Dynaudio and the dealer, transports costs, marketing and development. These are not made in China, but made in Denmark.
this review is spot on, I've owned both these and the 40's, both are outstanding, I would recommend the 40s for most people and the Heritage for the 'audiophile' crowd, the Heritage could easily be considered end game by many, its limitations particularly around dynamics are synonymous with speakers of its size and design, unfortunately this was an issue for me as when turned loud you could go from vocals from the gods to a bit of a mess, its attributes are incredible, I've eq'd them to sound more like the 40's in an attempt to get the best of both worlds, mixed results on that
I just heard these yesterday for the first time...i have to agree with what you say, it's a well braced cabinet with really good quality drive units, strange the resonance's but i still really liked them..the mids 1500hz to 3000hz then a slight lift just above about 3000hz - 5000hz...if that dip was not there about 1500hz - 3000hz they would be great speakers, the bass is great for the size of bass/mid unit with a beautiful upper range from 5khz with a rolled of upper treble extreme...they do go very loud before breaking up...the drivers should be flush mounted, strange for Dynaudio....i only have a pair of their stands but they are immaculate made & once ballist filled, 50% Atabites & 50% expanding foam, they make most standmount speakers sound at their best, clever use of layers of rubber/bitumen to damp vibration...as always a good review...i could live with them if i had to, a little expensive but you do get quality....
Beautiful set of speakers. Good to see amazing attention to the crossover parts - looks like all Mundorf components 2:04 with only one sandcast resistor - probably parallel to the woofer where it matters the least. Great job Dynaudio!!! Great review Erin!!!
At 12:21 , a port has by definition ALWAYS a resonance. You cannot have a port/tube/pipe without a standing wave in it, just by the rules of physics. Unless Dynaudio did something special with their port, but as far as I know, it's just a straight port. You have to completely fill up this port to get rid of the resonance. By just blocking one side, you go from a port/tube with two open ends, to a port/tube with one closed end. Which still, by the laws of physics, will end up with a resonance (standing wave), just at a different frequency. Unless they made the port shorter than about 12cm. Which I don't see working very well with this tuning frequency or severe port noise.
By that metric, shouldn’t the resonance profile change to some degree if you are insistent the port is still creating resonance? Because the results of that range did not change. Furthermore, I’ve posted reviews where plugging a port indeed alleviated resonances caused by poor port design.
@@ErinsAudioCorner Yeah, that's a little hard to say. All depends how severe that resonance is relatively speaking. Since this port is on the backside, I guess it isn't that bad. That little blip in the impedance could also have been some resonance of the speaker itself (doesn't always have to be a surround dip). The only way to really know, is to take the woofer out of the cabinet. My main point was, you can't go into definitive conclusions with the measurements you showed us. So you just simply might call out the wrong problem. We just don't really know at this point.
@@p_mouse8676 I've had some resonances like that in my own speakers, specifically at ~160hz, and I sort of tracked them down to mechanical vibrations somewhere in the woofer. I thought it was the port, but removing the port didn't get rid of it. The only thing that did affect the impedance plot there was wrapping the port in thick rubber, so to this day I still don't really know what the cause was. I ignored it since it didn't cause any audible issues.
These speakers improve immensely after 100 hours. I own a pair and was concerned a bit when I first got them, but after 100 hours, not only do they sound much better, the low end feels much fuller and the tweeter smooths out considerably.
There comes a time where you all realise that you can build 100 ruler flat speakers, and they all sound different. :) That is why the best speakers are tweaked to sound best interacting with a room (floor for starters). Wide dispersion means the driver in question needs towing down at certain frequencies because your ears receive to much info otherwise. Etc. Keep up the good work Erin.
The real bargain of the line are the Emmit 20's. I compared them side-by-side at my local dealer in AZ, and found I couldn't really determine a big difference in performance between the Heritage Specials, the Evoke 20's and the Emmit 20's. I went home with the Emmit 20's and I've never regretted my decision.
@@RanTausi I'm running them with a NAD C268 amp, and a custom built all-discrete pre-amp. This is a very transparent and revealing setup, and the Emmit 20's never get in the way of the recording, simply reproducing what's there without emphasizing or taking away from the presentation.
Hi Erin, now I hear you say that Dynaudio Heritage has some problem with resonance because the cabinet does. I want to do a simple exercise, but you must need some equipment like joinery clamps that you can use around the cabinet and if the resonance stopped or reduced you have the correct answer. Another way is to use a small device like a piezo disk and put it on the cabinet wall and use a multimeter that reads Hz.
@@stephenscharf6293 The No-Res is not a product that prevents the resonances of a box, it works as in metals, as in a bell, but when the box enters into resonance the No-Res is of no use.
Some idea , is it possible to film woofer with high speed camera and after that play it with slow fram to see mechanical movement, it helps a lot to find out THD where it comes from .
Thanks for the review Erin. Comparing the impedance and FR graphs, the tweeter seems to have two impedance humps which - combined with the 6dB/octave crossover - might lead to the rugged HF FR. And then the cabinet resonance - one might think Dynaudio made the cabinet extra thin & cheap to sell the Confidence speaker line better.
Erin, why do some manufacturers put a dip in the lower midrange area, say 200hz - 600hz region, when it is easy enough to make it flat in that region? What effect are they trying to achieve with that dip? Ive seen quite a few with that dip in that area.
@@aleksandarstojceski3139 depends on the schroeder of the room, I rarely see any of my rooms intefering with anything above 250 really. All my flat measuring speakers (from 150 - 1khz) measure real linear in my rooms, but I can see how some rooms will bump up that dip.
Thanks Erin, great review. Would be interested in what you think of the Emit 20's, there by some way the best speaker I've heard for around 1k and in my opinion are pretty much the equal of the Evoke 20's at more than double the price.
I always have to ask, how can speaker cables matter at all when you get inside the speaker and they are using RadioShack wire and TIN crimp on connectors. what good does gold banana plugs do when they get terminated to TIN at the binding posts inside the speaker?
I watch the videos from GR Research as well. I found it interesting to note in one of Danny’s recent videos, he attributed a resonance to the lack of a chamfer on the inside edge of the driver opening. The photos of the Dynaudio opening don’t appear to have this procedure done. Perhaps this is a reason or insufficient bracing.
Usually that only matters with smaller drivers like dedicated midranges or with very thick baffles. But it could be a culprit here. Here’s a good write up that is about 14 years old now: www.troelsgravesen.dk/chamfer.htm
@alskooper3319 So, did Danny add a chamfer or round-over to the rear opening for the midwoofer and re-measure it to prove his hypothesis? He also could have just made two simple MDF front baffles, sans full enclosures, one with and one without the rear chamfer, and then measured what differences there are. In addition, adding a chamfer like this to the mounting hole in the baffle for a decent size and weight midwoofer might compromise the strength and rigidity of the driver/enclosure mounting interface, and could create enclosure resonances of its own. It would be better to use a much thinner but stronger/more rigid baffle such as 1/4" titanium sheet or UHMW polymer sheet with a self-adhesive CLD mat (i.e. Dynamat Xtreme) applied to the inner baffle with extra clearance around the rear of the driver opening. And if Dynaudio thought it would be an issue, they should've implemented ^ that considering the $7k price. But as Erin alluded to, this potential issue is usually only attributed to mounting 4" or smaller midrange drivers into a 3/4"+ thick baffle. But Erin's link to Troels Gravesen's tests are informative and worth a look.
My HS were a bit too bright in the higher treble. Especially with human voice, some sibling, not as good as my LS50 meta’s. I am streaming most of my music with a Bluesound node. After modifying the Node with an ultra low noise power supply the sound is much better, so that’s the bottleneck. My Hegel amp is very neutral. The HS need a bit of power so 250 watts at 8 ohm does the job. Update, I used the parametric eq from the Wiim app to correct the frequency response by using the measurements from Erin. Great tool from Wiim, a good result can be achieved if you understand how the Wiim equalization works. In fact you can adjust every speaker system this way if you have good measurements!
As far as resonance 300hz-400hz In the midbass Might be the cut out for the midbass driver The edge on the inside needs too be routed It’s loading the driver A specral decay will show everything Stored energy from the drivers as well Break up
Thank you for this un-biased and informative review. Staying within the bookshelf category, is it better than say; the Marten Duke 2 or the Focal Diablo Utopia BE?
That is quite a measurement apparatus you have! Thank you for a fantastic review. I wonder how much of hifi listening is psychological. Your told a speaker is amazing yet it has issues and measures ok. Yet people rave about it. Like the controversial cable issue. I’m going down that rabbit hole now. Thanks again and keep the honest talk going!
I liked Dynaudio when they used to sell their drivers to, We Peasants, for less than pennies on the dollar compared to the outrageous sums they are now charging for completed systems.
hey erin, when you say you aim the speaker 30deg off-axis, do you mean pointing both speakers so that they don't form an equilateral triangle with your head and are just pointing straight at the wall behind you? it's a bit confusing to me lol also apologies if you've explained that before 😅
Question: THD at level 8.95v , how do you know that it is not from amplifier? How do you separate THD from speaker and amplifier, is it perhaps that THD from amplifier is far a way below speaker THD .
Excellent review and i think you're the first to measure them extensively. In short - due to distortion and nonlinearity in frequency response these speakers will be both hated and loved... One thing though... Tweeter here seems to be distorting quite a lot. Much more than special 40. Are you positive that it is not faulty pair or something? It looks bad actually. Both speakers measures the same?
I think it’s a 3” voice coil. Back in the 80s they made a 17W75XL (3” coil) and a 24W100 (4” coil). I suspect that 450Hz resonance is from the woofers polymer chassis (basket). Try adding some blu tac to the chassis and see if the changes.
The 2nd number in the speakers stand for the diameter of the coil in mm. Should be easy to measure. The larger the diameter of the coil, the better it can get rid of heat. Thus the enormous power, they can survive. It only gets problematic with tweeters, when the weight of the coil/membrane gets in the way of quick response.
Most times i have them pointing nearly straight forward. When I'm doing an "actual" listening session I toe them in slightly. I've never heard any sibilance.
I've owned Dynaudios for many years (Contour S3.4s), but at the price these sold for, I'm disappointed that Dynaudio used a cermet (aka, sandcast) resistor in the crossover. At this price, IMHO, a Dueland, Mundorf, or Vishay-Mills resistor should have been used.
That Kanye track is such a good one. I'm not even that big of a fan of his, but that track is so unique and all over the place I love using that as a test track to see what a system is capable of.
Thanks for the review, and I know this was a limited run but I have been very curious about these speakers. At AXPONA they had the 50's, those big funky looking ones. They had them on some octave tube amps and man that was in my opinion the best sounding setup in the entire show. Blew me out the water when I heard it the first time and I went back and got to listen to songs of my choice towards the closing of the show. I was extremely impressed. They had them last year as well, but it wasn't as crazy but I do not recall what the pairing equipment was. Especially price to performance vs other rooms
Last year at AXPONA there were CF60's - not CF50's. And they were playing with the flagship Octave - Jubilee. Just one more proof that setup is very important - higher level of equipment doesn''t guarranty better sound.
@@vladimirbarbu9586 Oh damn those weren't the flagships, didn't even know. That one was really mind blowing. I went the previous year as well, and I am not sure which one they had. I do have the photos still, but this previous year 23' was wild. Might have been the 50's, or just the accompanying equipment but I didn't get the same experience.
some folks simply love first order crossovers.. my ears are not that educated to recognize such subtleties, meaning i enjoy all kinds of speakers :) my guess, this was priced so as a collectable item. thanks for the review, have a nice day :)
Crossover parts looked good, for the price the cabinets should be a bit nicer,like the sharp edge on the front baffle . They look thick and braced properly. The tweeter should be recessed better for better alignment of the voice coils.
@RennieAsh 😆 🤣 😂. Danny uses the same resistors. They have air core inductors, but they aren't areanged correctly. I can't tell the caps, but they dont look electrolytic.
I wouldn’t say these measure bad. The listening window is smoother in that 4kHz region and the ER/SP are mostly linear other than at 1500Hz. The radiation is wide, which is something you enjoy, so it’s all tradeoffs.
Dude, you need to get your hands on a pair of Revival Atalante 3's... exceptional balance, openness and realism. Very linear top to bottom, nothing sticks out in a bad way, very smooth with a touch of warmth, but with so much micro detail and clarity. A neutral, transparent, uncolored speaker that doesn't suck the life, emotion, energy, or heart and soul out of the music like most other "accurate" speakers do (I'm not talking about the Dyn HS here though).
I think a mention of the cab quality build and crossover parts should of been noted, data is one thing not all of it, regardless how you hear it because at the end its subjective. To note the Dynaudio Special 40 ( at $4,000us I believe ) well reviewed, sounds great noted by a lot of people, actually has cheap quality parts in the crossovers ( which you should not expect at that price point ) Curious to know, does the Heritage Special continues the cheap addition of parts ?
@cruise2023 ??? There's a good enough closeup of the crossover network in this video starting at 2:04 to determine that it is made with very good quality parts, and not overly simplified to cut costs. Mundorf capacitors (not cheap!) and no iron cores in the coil inductors. The inductors are wound with thick enough wire for good power handling (copper isn't cheap either). The only potential issue that caught my eye is that the inductors are all mounted horizontally in the same plane on the board. Generally you want to have adjacent inductor coils mounted at 90° to each other to minimize their interaction or magnetic crosstalk. IOW, that smaller coil in the center of the board would be stood on end or upright. But Yes, the cabinet quality looks quite "basic" and unimpressive for a speaker at this cost, and for not having flush-mounted both drivers into the front baffle, as Erin noted. While the 2-way Wilson Audio TuneTots were relatively more expensive at $8,900, the build quality and attention to detail put into the enclosures is Night & Day compared to these also upper tier $7k Dynaudios.
Hey man! Have you done any videos on the dispersion characteristics of dented vs. non dented tweeters? The topic comes up often and I’d love to see actual results on a klippel.. Cheers, my friend!
It's so interesting, Dyns always have this slightly scooped but zingy signature - just like is shown here, and in the Special 40 video. I noticed it with the BM15A, the BM6A... I think it must be something they don't mind with their sound from that compliance issue and the low order crossover slopes.
I am always shocked to see that expensive speakers have such a normal housing and components. I mean, Q Acoustics Concept series are the halfe price but much much better cabinets. Or Fischer&fischer with natural Slate and made in Germany are cheaper... I would buy this Heritage definitely for the sound but its also definitely too expensive for the Hardware... Imo
I'm curious if you tried aiming them more off-axis as Erin suggested? And/or is there any guidance on placement and positioning/aiming in the owner's manual? Also curious what you ended up with instead? EDIT: I downloaded the Owner's Manual, and while it didn't go into too much Technical detail, it was fairly comprehensive regarding speaker placement/positioning/aiming. They mention the general rule of using of an Equilateral Triangle and maintaining similar distances between the speakers and the listening position along with diagrams for each section to achieve the best results. They also mention the effects of using proper speaker stands and speaker height, as well as the effects of the placement & distance to room boundaries and the effects of various hard/soft surfaces and furniture in the room. They cover the use of the port plugs and driver "burn-in" as well. A few excerpts: "At Dynaudio we appreciate that speakers should fit with your environment and lifestyle, not the other way around, so our speakers make no unusual room positioning demands. Even so, every listening room has its own acoustic character and is uniquely furnished, so there are always choices to be made to help ensure that your speakers can give their best. *Don’t be afraid to experiment with adjusting the speaker positioning, and listening carefully, until you have it just right to your ears* " and "Speaker Positioning - Inward Angle There is no rule that speakers must be angled inward, but depending on the dimensions and acoustic character of your listening room, it could improve the stereo image focus. Experiment and trust your ears - you’ll definitely know when it sounds its best. Speakers used for front channels in home-cinema systems are less likely to benefit from inward angling as the centre-channel speaker tends to control the central image. Diagram 5 illustrates inward angle." ...just posting this for general interest.
I don’t understand why a such capable company makes such a expensive products that doesn’t measure well. Ok, it sounds good but… for who? If a use this standard, a Klipsch 600m sounds good for some people too.
Even though Dynaudio has Jupiter, it seems like they are not out to build an objectively great speaker but rather a sound that is pleasant to their target customers. A dip in the 1-3khz region is always pleasant and that slight bump after that seem to cover some of that dip, with a side of additional sibiliance of course. What I dont like is that dip from 200hz - 600hz, which I see quite a lot of speakers exhibit.
How to get most of the classical Dynaudio sound without ruining your bank account? Go and buy PRO active studio monitors BM5 MKIII. For $1.000 a pair in US (I get mine here in Europe for $700 even with great XLR cables) you get nice build quality (made in Denmark, not China), 99% identical woofer and tweeter (which are much closer to each other), decent power 94W each, strong deep bass (in rooms up to 30m²), smooth highs,... You will not get marketing BS and real veneer (only vinyl), but you can save 6.000 for speakers and another $5.000-10.000 for amp, stands and cables. I had Confidence C1 and C2 II Signature and now I can happily live with these small cheap, but great Dyns. I hope that Erin will be able to test them sometimes. I would like to see real differences in measurements.
Damn. I'm trying to place your t-shirt and it's driving me crazy because I know that I recognize it. My head keeps going back to Steve Miller Band, but there's something about the background grid pattern that's hinting at something else and making me doubt myself. So anyone who can instantaneously place Erin's concert t-shirt, please chime in and let me know. Thanks. Remember when buying concert t-shirts was a thing? Wish I still had all of them from 40 - 45 years ago....
Surprisingly similar to the Triangle Borea BR03, which also seems to be liked by many. I've heard neither and so I cannot comment..., but interesting never the less.
@@dudemanismadcool True, plus the crossover parts in the Dynaudio are clearly a step above..., but then many others did in fact like the BR03..., so as I said... interesting 😉
Yes :) I should have been more specific. I was referring to their ragged Frequency response. Despite this being the case for each, they are both well received.
Dynaudio. It's a FOR PROFIT organization. They have a large facility, manufacturing equipment, manufacturing supplies to procure, maintenance, janitorial services, packaging/shipping/transportation/logistics, many employees, utilities, insurance, marketing & advertising budgets, taxes...on and on. Oh yeah, ALL of those things cost MONEY...LOTS of MONEY. All that you see and hear is the End Product, not what it takes to design, manufacture, and distribute it to you. Can you find better speakers for less money? Sure. But that doesn't change Dynaudio's operating costs and a reasonable desire to be a profitable company. So there's that.
The price of this speaker is very high - for what you're getting, in my opinion. The seemingly oversized tweeter plate forces the tweeter to be mounted farther away from the woofer, which harms the off-axis dispersion. It also greatly increases the diameter of the hole in the front baffle, making the web between the drivers weaker. Yes, there is a window brace, but it is relatively light. The port is quite large in diameter, and the binding post panel is also quite large - this similarly weakens the rear baffle. The brace is linking two relatively narrow webs; so the front and back baffles can't strengthen each other all that much. The tweeter isn't flush (as you mentioned); and the groove at the edge of the front baffle is another source of diffraction. The inside edge of the woofer opening is not beveled or radiused, and this is a source of diffraction. You do not show us the crossover - and judging by your assessment of the sound, it may not be built using parts of a quality that I would expect in an expensive speaker? The push-on connectors and wires look pretty ordinary.
While I can’t disagree with your price comment anything that Dynaudio puts out is extremely well designed. I’m sure there are reasons for everything you mention in the design of this speaker.
@@danahill7546well designed should not mean very High market Price. A Honda Civic is very well designed but Will never be a Mercedes. Imagine a Honda Civic or Toyota Corolla, with a price of a Mercedes or Maybach? Would you Still Buy one?
Look at magnet/voice coil on an ATC some time...7K for Heritage Special?!. I'd be more interested in their Contour 20i for far less $ and a much more modern design. Can't seem to find any good reviews with measurements for them, and so far, the two you tested don't impress.
I you want a woofer workout listen to war and peace by dj die and suv. It has some pretty bad clangorous mid sounds but the bass is the deepest I know of.
Hello Erin from Montreal !. . . I own a pair of these exceptional speakers so don't expect my comments to be neutral LOL First I'm in complete agreement with you that measurements are not the be all and end all of speaker performance OR purposeful design for that matter. If there is ANY speaker maker that is VERY highly technically aware of what it is doing, it is by ANY measure imaginable, Dynaudio. Now whether your measurements match Dynaudio's or not, Dynaudio is SUPREMELY aware of measurements in their R&D for a given speaker but err on the side of LISTENING to UN-amplified instruments and pleasure over perfect measurements. For instance the idea that the highs can sound different at different listening angles is VERY consciously designed-in so that one can "tune" the H S's to one's liking IN ROOM. I'm guessing that the little bit of high frequency sibilance that you hear on certain tracks just might be attributed to your source or amplification or maybe even wiring because I don't hear ONE bit of it in my system no matter the source, or placement - (OKAY once or twice on very badly recorded stuff :-) As a matter of fact a friend of mine who owns a pair of Sonus Fabers which are well respected for their beauty of construction AND more importantly, their beauty of sound, asked me to come over to his place for a blind test with my H S's with all his equipment vs his S F's which cost him close to DOUBLE of the H S's . . . after listening, he immediately made arrangements to bring his S F's to his cottage while awaiting their sale and went out and bought a pair of H S's the very next day LOL The Heritage Specials are also on Gutenberg's list of 10 favourite of all time speakers . . . I found THAT out AFTER I bought them but frankly that wouldn't have swayed me all that much anyway . . . just a listen for a half hour with different tracks was all I needed . . . after all is said though, I have to admit that they are silly money but if I ever have to let them go, which at this point I have no intention of doing LOL, I think they will hold their value quite well. Thanks for your good well intentioned work!
WOW! I JUST finished writing the above post and THEN noticed the Dynaudio Academy's post just below !! I SWEAR !! :-) It appears that my comments align almost perfectly with Dynaudio's approach to design and good sound. It's TRUE . . . all GOOD design is a BALANCE among all kinds of factors and is the end result of well thought out and IMPLEMENTED compromise . . . HUGE KUDOS, Dynaudio!
cant get my head around how much people spend for those t330d tweeters, as if they are something special?! its the same construction as 99% of dynamic textile 1inch dome tweeters out there, just done right it seems. what makes them so special
Good questions and I'm not sure. What I do know is Dynaudio has been doing their thing, optimizing their driver mfrg processes for decades. It's an impressive operation. Doping/surface coatings, coil winding, motor tech, adhesives, etc. Their magnesium silicate polymer cone material seems to be notable.
This just shows how measurements aren’t the be all and end all. I did not end up keeping the heritage special speakers. The Harbeth 30.2XD is a far more engaging listen
I was interested in your presentation of this speaker Erin because I understand that you are very much a measurements person, yet this review seems to legitimise, those who go principally by audition. To illustrate this I was looking at your review of the Triangle Borea BR03 which received a rather lukewarm (to put it kindly) response from you. I have to admit that I don't fully understand all of your graphs, but looking at the respective estimated in-room response curves for the Dynaudio and Triangle speakers, they both seem to exhibit marked departures from your line of best fit, though admittedly in different frequency areas. Your comment in the BR03 review that a peak followed by a trough followed by another peak then a trough indicates a badly designed speaker would seem to apply equally to the Heritage. However, you like the Heritage and not the BR03 and there are those in the comments for the BR03 who, nonetheless, like that speaker. All this does seem to point toward people having differences in what they like to hear despite the sound departing from some absolute symmetry.
Always interesting to see what these rediculously priced ( IMO) bookshelf speakers bring to the table. Sounds like it has a lot going for it in areas that I value ( dynamics and the ability to play loud cleanly), but I would have a hard time going this route, when for a bit over half price, I could buy a pair of JBL 708P's. A true bargain when you figure in you are getting your matched amps and DSP as part of the deal, so you could tune it to your room ( or your tastes).
Exactly, expensive 2-way bookshelves must be the poorest value in audio...no way I'm spending serious money on a 2-way speaker with all the inherent compromises.
Thank you for the review Erin. Although I am a little late to the party, I'd like to share our perspective on this review. I am not going to go through all the comments and answer directly, but if anyone has specific questions they'd like our input on, feel free to direct them to me, and I'll be happy to answer.
First off, I think Erin captures the performance of the speakers really well in this review. I would encourage anyone to not just look at the measurements, but pay attention to the description of what Erin actually heard. While we use what is likely the most advanced measurement facility in the world, we do not aim specifically to make the end product provide beautiful measurements. The aim is good sound - and the measurements is a tool to achieve that. Like Erin points out in the beginning of the review, sometimes a non-linearity that looks bad on the measurement isn't really much of an audible issue, and sometimes audible issues don't look like much in the measurements, unless you already determined by listening that it actually is one. In other words, measurements can explain what you heard, but it is very difficult to determine what you are going to hear, just by looking at the measurements. Which is why Erin listens before measuring.
I'd like to point out that none of the comments in the review are somehow revealing something we didn't already know about the speaker, before we put it on the market. There is nothing that Erin can measure that we can't, or haven't done. The main point I would like to point out here is that no loudspeaker, regardless of price, is perfect. I see a lot of assumptions that because a speaker costs a lot of money, the performance should be perfect. That is unfortunately far from the truth. All speakers are the result of a balancing act when engineering them. An example of this is the dip that is pointed out slightly above 1 kHz, which Erin correctly attributes to a "compliance issue" between cone and surround. However, the word "compliance issue" may lead some people to believe that this is an error, either in design or production. That is not the case, it is simply the result of deliberate design choices. It is very easy to design a woofer that doesn't have this dip. The problem is that the design changes you need to make to avoid the dip, leads to other issues that we believe are worse. It's not that we LIKE the dip, it is that we DISLIKE the compromises needed to avoid it. I hope this explanation makes sense to people.
One point I found very interesting in the review, and some of the following comments, is that Erin points out the ability to go loud as one of the strong points about this speaker, which led to some comments about that high SPL is not by itself a target. Interestingly, we 100% agree, and actually we deliberately sacrifice high SPL to achieve the performance we are aiming for. Which is why I was actually positively surprised by the comments on high SPL capability being a benefit, and not a downside. Our speakers aren't the most sensitive on the market, due to the decisions we make in creating smooth sounding drivers. In our view, we design the speakers to go "loud enough", not "as loud as possible". The fact that Erin was able to push them to very loud levels, is simply a result of the quality of the components and the design of our drivers - you are able to drive them hard before they start misbehaving, assuming you have the amplifier power to do it. The ability to change loudness level without too much of a change in sound character is a key performance factor for us. I think this is a factor that is often overlooked in objective assessments of speakers - I often see measurements that show how it sounds at low levels, plus how loud it will go - but not what happens to the sound when you turn the volume up. I applaud Erin's approach here.
Nitpick: In the beginning of the video, Erin describes the tweeter as a T330. Although it has been designed to look like a T330, the actual tweeter is the newer Esotar3, which is also used in our Confidence speaker line.
If anyone has questions for us, feel free to comment here, and I'll do my best to answer.
/Otto, Dynaudio Academy
Thank you for the reply. I appreciate you taking the time to share this information and correcting my mistake on the tweeter model.
Thank you Dynaudio for taking the time to further explain things. This is so helpful. I'm a proud owner of Dynaudio speakers and have enjoyed them a great deal!
Great information. Kudos to Dynaudio for answering and providing this valuable input. I'm a happy owner of Evoke 20s. What a speaker. Great work Erin! Would be great if you can review the Evoke 20s!
Happy listening!
What compromises would have to be made to avoid the ~1.3khz dip?
@@mrlinde6518 Check the results in the harmonic distortion/ MD test, the distortion its quite high in that area even with that dip, if you try to fix it with eq then the distortion will be even higher, having that kind of problem on a speaker of this price is weird and yes there is not perfect speaker, but at this price range they are other speakers that are really close to perfection, so it would be interesting to hear is there any valid reason to leave the speaker with this problem.
Erin - you are the best in the game. I watch everyone from Amir, to Andrew, to Danny, etc. but nobody combines the subjective listening experience and objective data as well as you do. And you're so honest, humble, and relatable. So much respect.
Holy crap, man! That’s the largest thanks amount anyone has ever given me! I appreciate that a lot!!! I’m floored.
Hell yea, dude! Nice
Absolutely agree with you
Hear, hear! Totally agree!
How do u watch Amir? Is there a yt for that or
I'm just gonna go ahead and say that you, Erin, are *the most* valuable voice in this world of speaker reviews. And it's not even close. I hope people continue to learn about measurement data and how to use it for smart purchases. May your channel surpass them all!
Mmmmm, guesses at all the specifications. The tweeter is 28mm and I'll allow you to redeem yourself with the voice coil diameter. This speaker is somewhat overpriced.
@@carlosoliveira-rc2xt what are you on about? As far as the pricing of the speaker, I would agree just based on the performance. You can obviously get much, much better speakers for this price.
@@Jon-nz3dm What am I on about? So happy you agree with me about the pricing, but as I stated, don't you think a "valuable voice" shouldn't be guessing at diameters of voice coils in his review? It takes but 5 seconds to look it up.
@@carlosoliveira-rc2xt Sure, I can agree with you. That's fair enough. When most of the other people are making complete nonsense statements about how speakers sound in only their rooms, Erin is showing us data we can actually use for comparisons. You can nitpick all day but it's not going to discredit his years of work.
@@carlosoliveira-rc2xt
I think (know) that Erin has tested so many individual drivers & speakers at this point over 15+ years that specifically listing those voice coil specs and details are rudimentary, and pretty much EVERYONE knows that you can look it up in Dynaudio's documentation if it's really that important to you. 😉
He has tested several other Dynaudio drivers and noted the voice coil diameters as a common courtesy. And he has personally used the Esotar² 430 midrange drivers in his previous high-end car audio system, so I just think that this specific information isn't really new, groundbreaking, or that important from his perspective.
Maybe if the tweeter was a small 3/4" (20mm) dome with a high Fs he might have noted it in regards to potential issues matching/integrating it with the midwoofer, but otherwise it's fairly obvious what they are..."here we've got a pretty well designed midwoofer and tweeter"...NEXT.
I’ve had a couple folks ask if this means the usefulness of measurements is minimized.
--
First of all, let’s understand this performance isn’t objectively great but I’ve seen much, much worse. Barring a 4kHz peak, the response is within +/-3dB on-axis and this peak smooths out off-axis which is what I found sounded best as well.
--
Back to the question about usefulness of measurements…
It’s a perfectly reasonable question. The answer for me is “this doesn’t change anything”. Because:
1) I don’t view anything as absolute. There are always compromises in loudspeakers. At the end of the day you have to enjoy the speaker.
2) The data confirms the things I did hear such as the treble peak and the upper midrange “softness”. Despite those, however, there were other attributes I enjoyed. Those overrode the audible/objective cons for me.
3) It is still *my* subjective opinion. Others may not agree. So having the data as a reference helps keep everyone on the same page.
I think this is a good place to reiterate the main reasons we have data. It’s to help establish a baseline for reference and understand the compromises in its design. It’s NOT to be wielded as a weapon, for or against objective vs subjective debate. Case in point, despite the speaker not measuring perfectly, I still enjoyed it. However, the things I heard that bothered me are in the data. Listening matters and so does the data.
The thing to not to fall into is an “us vs them” mindset. I have seen other channels attempt to do that. To polarize their community. Some suffer from the Dunning-Kruger effect where they think they are experts at building/reviewing speakers and fail to see beyond their own (incredibly ignorant) point of view. Others intentionally misinform to create “sides”. Don’t let those guys manipulate you. Narcissistic tendencies are easy to spot when you question motives. Why wouldn’t you want more data? Why would another person try to keep you from getting all the facts you can? Why would a reviewer make clickbait videos disparaging measurements, as a means of evaluating performance, instead expecting you to rely solely on their opinions?…
Frankly, if my goal was to push measurements as the end-all and make me the only person you can trust because I have data then I wouldn’t publish videos like this where I show non-ideal performance and then say I enjoyed the speaker despite the flaws. That’s not my goal, though. My goal is to have objective data to help understand the things we hear and why we like or don’t like what we do.
As I always say, *at the least*, you can use measurements to help understand what you do and do not like about a speaker’s sound which helps you make better informed purchases in the future. Not everyone needs to agree with my assessment. You can skip my opinion and go straight to the data and draw from your own experiences in correlating the two.
Hope that helps explain my position a bit more clearly. I love having data. But I’m sure as heck glad I have my ears, too. 😉
Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk. 😂
- Erin
Simple solution to cabinet resonance is NoRez from GR research. Adding DynaMat on the woofers leg would also do good.
I appreciate you writing this... thank you for making me understand a little better 👍
👏🏼. Especially the point, that every speaker is a compromise - even at this price point - was tough for me to accept, but afterwards you take things less serious and therefor the speaker less granted and like it for what it is/what it’s best at doing.
Legend. Very well put indeed.
I checked the screws of the units, backplate and port, they were all a bit loose. It surprised me a bit. It wouldn’t do any harm to check this. Also you can experiment with the damping material inside the enclosure.
Great way to point out that a speaker doesnt have to be perfect In regards to measurements to be enjoyable. Data is still very important, but so is listening. Some anomalies might not be as bothersome as one might initially think.
I used to be a measurements over all else kind of guy, I’ve owned Neumann KH80, Polk R200’s just so you can gauge where I am coming from. However after hearing the Wharfedale Denton 80ths which I currently own, I have been convinced that there are specific non-neutral presentations that are very pleasurable to listen too.
The pattern I’ve identified with my Wharfedales and also these Dynaudios is an elevation in fundamentals around 500-900 hz, relative dip in upper mids around 3 khz, followed by a slight spike around 4-5khz. Particularly, the bump around 800hz seems to have very pleasing effects psychoacoustically. The tipped up sound in that fundamental lower-mid region has an enveloping effect, in that it does cloud the dynamics a bit, but pulls you into the music and allows you to turn the volume up much higher.
I agree - it doesn't have to be about absolute neutrality - deliberate tuning is a design choice which when properly implemented can yield extraordinary results.
I still owned 2 pairs of Wharfedale Denton 80th after years of listening, great little bookshelf speakers and flexible to most music genre, even though not great in measurement.
@@wim1983 Heard a lot of speakers at this price point and sub $1000, the Denton 80's have to be my favorite standmount speakers. Best overall presentation, incredible holographic soundstage depth and height, very rich tonality, and an unusually low bass extension for a 5 inch woofer. I still own my pair, usually I keep experimenting and changing audio equipment frequently, but I'm not at all able to let go of these from my main listening setup.
@@kamilkashaf2766 Yes, and I think most people does not hit the accident that Denton 80th surprisingly sound great if pairing with fierce power amp, very underrated speakers, a hidden gem even to a degree, having said that it definitely not a dynamic beast, but I rate it good if clean power is feed.
Great video. I got my HS about two years ago and I still enjoy them a lot. Before I had the B&W 805 and was annoyed of the heights after some listening sessions. The HS plays so musically and I really don‘t care how a speaker measured.
agreed, folks read way to much into measurements, are they needed, yes, do they define a speaker, no. ignorant for so many to judge a speaker on its measurements only and discard them as "overpriced" when they have never heard them, ignorance is blissed
Same here. I use to listen to my speakers, I do not measure them.
I’ve never detected any hint of sibilance at all, nor have I heard it from any other of the many reviewers….
Are you sure that the sibilance you’re hearing isn’t coming from one of the other components in the chain of equipment?
That peak at around 4.3 khz means Dynaudio did not made a great work on the crossover, I can fix that with a LCR choke, that 1.3 khz disturbance looks like a ringing on the woofer and that can be solved lowering the crossover point to 900 hz with a 24 db per octave crossover design to protect the tweeter, besides that I believe this speaker sounds good because that tweeter is the little brother of my prefered tweeter the T-330 Esotar
I own Dynaudio Special 40’s and indeed Heritage Specials are my dream speakers right now, which are absolutely out of my price range. Considering the fact that I paid roughly $2400 for a practically new pair of SP40’s I really don’t think that I will get 3-4 times “better” sound if I switch to HS, and this review confirms it for me.
I’m eager to see what Dynaudio is going to do next!
It depends on your reference of $ vs sound, but (for most listeners) the HS is a much more satisfying speaker than the SP40.
Thanks for the review.
First, it's not a TD 330 it's an Esotar 3.
I seriously doubt anyone can hear the small blip at 4k, humans are very poor at discerning volume levels that's why we measure it in db's. I'd like to see you do it in a DBT.
I get a kick out of people who would change a manufacturer's crossover setups and other factors. I'll stick with Dynaudio's expertise and their 50 plus years of experience.
Yes, quality parts, even in the crossover, but for that kind of money there are much better options.
are there? There are maybe more expensive brand names but maybe not better performing.
March audio sointuva, ukkonen, Kef r3 meta
As a consumer I could not care less about the individual parts, it is the sum result that counts. Manufacturers who market their speakers based on the technicalities of individual parts put me off. Those technicalities are a matter for the designer and the producer not the consumer.
@@jctai100for 6k.. i could list a bunch speakers i would by before i would choose a passive Dynaudio. A Genelec 8341, PSI Audio A21-M, Neumann KH150 for example
i was talking parts@@vtkz
As somebody who really enjoys the (used) pair of Special 40s I run in one of my setups, I find these type of reviews captivating. I happen to want to know how my gear measures, but I also don't dictate what I buy/keep/choose to listen to based solely on measurements. I use them as kind of a gateway to competency and then go by listening to whatever it is, in my room, with my gear. If that tweaks anybody's 'objectivity" well, you get to buy your own stuff and I get to buy mine. The Special 40s are great little speakers, the best small standmounts I've had, and they work great in my somewhat difficult small sunroom.
Well said, Re: "you get to buy your own stuff" 👍
What was the setup? Amp, DAC, etc.
Erin, enjoy your thoughtful reviews and commentary. $7K is a pretty steep price that should ensure darn good performance. Crossover parts quality appeared good, but does not add more than $400. What technical reason for the tweeter to have that large a face plate? Large voice woofer voice coil good for power handling, but what are to negatives? Did Dynaudio design this speaker to play at ear splitting dB level just because they could, or is there a correlation to sound quality? Some may like it, that is fine. The measurements and listening impressions seem to point out flaws that should not exist in a $7K speaker.
I was wondering this issue of whether the HS were actually designed to play at ear-splitting levels? I am someone who plays acoustic jazz and classical music at moderate to lower levels and like speakers that have a wonderful organic integration rather than top, top, top dynamic range and high volume. Sounds like this speaker would be more for me than someone who is a heavy-duty rocker. Final point, would someone who has different musical tastes than you do think differently, and experience these speakers differently, than someone with your musical tastes? Or would the measurements be the same at lower volume levels? I never listen to anything close to 102 db.Thanks for the review.
@@josephfranceski1041
Watch the video again. Erin pretty much already answered your questions with the measurements he provided of both the distortion levels and dynamic compression effects at various listening levels and his discussion around them.
From your comments, it seems that you would probably listen to your music at levels between 70dB-80dB, and not more than 85dB max.
At those levels with a listening distance of between 3m-4m (or less), you shouldn't run into any distortion or dynamic compression issues whatsoever.
Erin and I have a mutual friend who owns these speakers and who listens to ALL Genres of music, including quite a bit of acoustic jazz and classical/symphony.
He upgraded from the Dynaudio Special 40 to these, and he seems VERY happy with them in his average size den/home office/bedroom listening room. They are keepers.
HOWEVER, he did pair both the Special 40 and now these Heritage Special standmounts with Two REL Acoustics T/7X 8" Subwoofers. 😉
He has heard A LOT of different systems and also owns a TOTL headphone rig as well as a very high-end custom car audio system that uses a DIRAC Live multi-channel DSP.
I trust his ears and impressions, like I do Erin's.
That being said, IMO, I think there are better speakers for the money, especially if you go the DIY route, and/or if you can add a subwoofer, but I realize that either of those isn't for everyone.
Many people tend to choose and purchase their speakers based on their particular Brand Preferences and the brand's perceived prestige, quality, or nostalgia.
But if it is a Brand you prefer, they are within your budget, sound great to you, and they fit your listening room and your design & aesthetic tastes, there's no reason not to choose them.
The individual parts and labour costs of this speaker set are somewhere around €1500. The €1500 difference are profits for Dynaudio and the dealer, transports costs, marketing and development. These are not made in China, but made in Denmark.
this review is spot on, I've owned both these and the 40's, both are outstanding, I would recommend the 40s for most people and the Heritage for the 'audiophile' crowd, the Heritage could easily be considered end game by many, its limitations particularly around dynamics are synonymous with speakers of its size and design, unfortunately this was an issue for me as when turned loud you could go from vocals from the gods to a bit of a mess, its attributes are incredible, I've eq'd them to sound more like the 40's in an attempt to get the best of both worlds, mixed results on that
I just heard these yesterday for the first time...i have to agree with what you say, it's a well braced cabinet with really good quality drive units, strange the resonance's but i still really liked them..the mids 1500hz to 3000hz then a slight lift just above about 3000hz - 5000hz...if that dip was not there about 1500hz - 3000hz they would be great speakers, the bass is great for the size of bass/mid unit with a beautiful upper range from 5khz with a rolled of upper treble extreme...they do go very loud before breaking up...the drivers should be flush mounted, strange for Dynaudio....i only have a pair of their stands but they are immaculate made & once ballist filled, 50% Atabites & 50% expanding foam, they make most standmount speakers sound at their best, clever use of layers of rubber/bitumen to damp vibration...as always a good review...i could live with them if i had to, a little expensive but you do get quality....
Did you mention what amplifier was used on these speakers?
Beautiful set of speakers. Good to see amazing attention to the crossover parts - looks like all Mundorf components 2:04 with only one sandcast resistor - probably parallel to the woofer where it matters the least. Great job Dynaudio!!! Great review Erin!!!
At 12:21 , a port has by definition ALWAYS a resonance. You cannot have a port/tube/pipe without a standing wave in it, just by the rules of physics. Unless Dynaudio did something special with their port, but as far as I know, it's just a straight port.
You have to completely fill up this port to get rid of the resonance. By just blocking one side, you go from a port/tube with two open ends, to a port/tube with one closed end. Which still, by the laws of physics, will end up with a resonance (standing wave), just at a different frequency. Unless they made the port shorter than about 12cm. Which I don't see working very well with this tuning frequency or severe port noise.
By that metric, shouldn’t the resonance profile change to some degree if you are insistent the port is still creating resonance? Because the results of that range did not change.
Furthermore, I’ve posted reviews where plugging a port indeed alleviated resonances caused by poor port design.
@@ErinsAudioCorner Yeah, that's a little hard to say. All depends how severe that resonance is relatively speaking. Since this port is on the backside, I guess it isn't that bad. That little blip in the impedance could also have been some resonance of the speaker itself (doesn't always have to be a surround dip). The only way to really know, is to take the woofer out of the cabinet.
My main point was, you can't go into definitive conclusions with the measurements you showed us. So you just simply might call out the wrong problem. We just don't really know at this point.
@@p_mouse8676 I've had some resonances like that in my own speakers, specifically at ~160hz, and I sort of tracked them down to mechanical vibrations somewhere in the woofer. I thought it was the port, but removing the port didn't get rid of it. The only thing that did affect the impedance plot there was wrapping the port in thick rubber, so to this day I still don't really know what the cause was. I ignored it since it didn't cause any audible issues.
These less than straight forward reviews are the best ones 😊
These speakers improve immensely after 100 hours. I own a pair and was concerned a bit when I first got them, but after 100 hours, not only do they sound much better, the low end feels much fuller and the tweeter smooths out considerably.
There comes a time where you all realise that you can build 100 ruler flat speakers, and they all sound different. :) That is why the best speakers are tweaked to sound best interacting with a room (floor for starters). Wide dispersion means the driver in question needs towing down at certain frequencies because your ears receive to much info otherwise. Etc. Keep up the good work Erin.
I wonder what room these speakers were designed for? A bounce house? The dispersion is kind of a mess.
The real bargain of the line are the Emmit 20's. I compared them side-by-side at my local dealer in AZ, and found I couldn't really determine a big difference in performance between the Heritage Specials, the Evoke 20's and the Emmit 20's. I went home with the Emmit 20's and I've never regretted my decision.
Hi, with what AMP you are paring them ? Thanks
More a blessing than a curse.
@@RanTausi I'm running them with a NAD C268 amp, and a custom built all-discrete pre-amp. This is a very transparent and revealing setup, and the Emmit 20's never get in the way of the recording, simply reproducing what's there without emphasizing or taking away from the presentation.
@@decoryder Many Thanks, I am happy for you. Can I ask what color you bought , and are you placing them on stand or shelf ?
@@RanTausi I have them on good quality metal stands, and the color is walnut.
Graphs apart, they sound like no other stand speakers... Simply terrific!
Hi Erin, now I hear you say that Dynaudio Heritage has some problem with resonance because the cabinet does.
I want to do a simple exercise, but you must need some equipment like joinery clamps that you can use around the cabinet and if the resonance stopped or reduced you have the correct answer. Another way is to use a small device like a piezo disk and put it on the cabinet wall and use a multimeter that reads Hz.
Alternatively, you could line the cabinet with No-Res.
@@stephenscharf6293 do you have the link of the product?
@@stephenscharf6293 The No-Res is not a product that prevents the resonances of a box, it works as in metals, as in a bell, but when the box enters into resonance the No-Res is of no use.
How about reviewing more Dynaudio speakers? Contour 20i? Confidence 20?
I’d be happy to but need someone to loan me some.
Some idea , is it possible to film woofer with high speed camera and after that play it with slow fram to see mechanical movement, it helps a lot to find out THD where it comes from .
Thanks for the review Erin. Comparing the impedance and FR graphs, the tweeter seems to have two impedance humps which - combined with the 6dB/octave crossover - might lead to the rugged HF FR.
And then the cabinet resonance - one might think Dynaudio made the cabinet extra thin & cheap to sell the Confidence speaker line better.
It's probably more that they are remaking the original Heritage, with its small size
yes the tweeter has rugged build for sure but HF FR is not all that ragged...
Love your reviews........I trust you more than anyone else!
Erin, why do some manufacturers put a dip in the lower midrange area, say 200hz - 600hz region, when it is easy enough to make it flat in that region? What effect are they trying to achieve with that dip? Ive seen quite a few with that dip in that area.
Clarity
@@aleksandarstojceski3139 i thought so, to reduce the undertones of human voice thus taking away some warmth to improve 'clarity'.
@@AbsoluteFidelity The room modes will fill that space nicely.
@@aleksandarstojceski3139 depends on the schroeder of the room, I rarely see any of my rooms intefering with anything above 250 really. All my flat measuring speakers (from 150 - 1khz) measure real linear in my rooms, but I can see how some rooms will bump up that dip.
Thanks Erin, great review.
Would be interested in what you think of the Emit 20's, there by some way the best speaker I've heard for around 1k and in my opinion are pretty much the equal of the Evoke 20's at more than double the price.
Me too, I am praying that Erin will come with the Emit20 review soon 😊
"in my opinion are pretty much the equal of the Evoke 20's" They aren't. And Old Emits are great, New Emit it's a sad disappointment!
I always have to ask, how can speaker cables matter at all when you get inside the speaker and they are using RadioShack wire and TIN crimp on connectors. what good does gold banana plugs do when they get terminated to TIN at the binding posts inside the speaker?
I watch the videos from GR Research as well. I found it interesting to note in one of Danny’s recent videos, he attributed a resonance to the lack of a chamfer on the inside edge of the driver opening. The photos of the Dynaudio opening don’t appear to have this procedure done. Perhaps this is a reason or insufficient bracing.
Usually that only matters with smaller drivers like dedicated midranges or with very thick baffles. But it could be a culprit here. Here’s a good write up that is about 14 years old now:
www.troelsgravesen.dk/chamfer.htm
@alskooper3319
So, did Danny add a chamfer or round-over to the rear opening for the midwoofer and re-measure it to prove his hypothesis?
He also could have just made two simple MDF front baffles, sans full enclosures, one with and one without the rear chamfer, and then measured what differences there are.
In addition, adding a chamfer like this to the mounting hole in the baffle for a decent size and weight midwoofer might compromise the strength and rigidity of the driver/enclosure mounting interface, and could create enclosure resonances of its own.
It would be better to use a much thinner but stronger/more rigid baffle such as 1/4" titanium sheet or UHMW polymer sheet with a self-adhesive CLD mat (i.e. Dynamat Xtreme) applied to the inner baffle with extra clearance around the rear of the driver opening.
And if Dynaudio thought it would be an issue, they should've implemented ^ that considering the $7k price.
But as Erin alluded to, this potential issue is usually only attributed to mounting 4" or smaller midrange drivers into a 3/4"+ thick baffle. But Erin's link to Troels Gravesen's tests are informative and worth a look.
So are the graphs based on music or a sine wave sweep type sound. Thank u fir any explanations like v wut u do just never thought to know this detail.
My HS were a bit too bright in the higher treble. Especially with human voice, some sibling, not as good as my LS50 meta’s. I am streaming most of my music with a Bluesound node. After modifying the Node with an ultra low noise power supply the sound is much better, so that’s the bottleneck. My Hegel amp is very neutral. The HS need a bit of power so 250 watts at 8 ohm does the job. Update, I used the parametric eq from the Wiim app to correct the frequency response by using the measurements from Erin. Great tool from Wiim, a good result can be achieved if you understand how the Wiim equalization works. In fact you can adjust every speaker system this way if you have good measurements!
As far as resonance 300hz-400hz
In the midbass
Might be the cut out for the midbass driver
The edge on the inside needs too be routed
It’s loading the driver
A specral decay will show everything
Stored energy from the drivers as well
Break up
Erin, I'd like to compare my REW freq response measurements to yours. What smoothing value should I use in REW? Thanks plenty! Great work you do!
1/20
Kef r3 meta with sub vs Heritage? I think you could get a killer sub and still come well under the price of the heritage if you could find one.
7000$? Where are they placed? There's no more than 1000$ in parts in these speakers. Add another 500 for the chassis and cosmetics.
Dynaudio if you area reading this send the Confidence 20 or 30 to Erin's audio corner.
😂
Thank you for this un-biased and informative review. Staying within the bookshelf category, is it better than say; the Marten Duke 2 or the Focal Diablo Utopia BE?
That is quite a measurement apparatus you have! Thank you for a fantastic review. I wonder how much of hifi listening is psychological. Your told a speaker is amazing yet it has issues and measures ok. Yet people rave about it. Like the controversial cable issue. I’m going down that rabbit hole now. Thanks again and keep the honest talk going!
I liked Dynaudio when they used to sell their drivers to, We Peasants, for less than pennies on the dollar compared to the outrageous sums they are now charging for completed systems.
I think the first order crossover is to blame for linearity issues..the first order filter also has advantages
Hi Erin, I know it's a tough and subjective question, but which do you prefer? These or the KEF R3 Meta?
hey erin, when you say you aim the speaker 30deg off-axis, do you mean pointing both speakers so that they don't form an equilateral triangle with your head and are just pointing straight at the wall behind you? it's a bit confusing to me lol
also apologies if you've explained that before 😅
No worries. Here is a video I made about the topic:
m.ua-cam.com/video/C-2Uy2Gk7Dg/v-deo.html
@@ErinsAudioCornerthanks boss! ❤
Any reviews or tests on other kinds of equipment? Might be a thing to consider just sayyin
Awesome video! Thanks for that.
What’s you take on special 40 vs heritage special?
Question: THD at level 8.95v , how do you know that it is not from amplifier? How do you separate THD from speaker and amplifier, is it perhaps that THD from amplifier is far a way below speaker THD .
Can you please review the loxone audioserver? Can’t decide if it is worth it…
Hi Dynaudio Heritage better or confidence 20
Thanks
Excellent review and i think you're the first to measure them extensively. In short - due to distortion and nonlinearity in frequency response these speakers will be both hated and loved...
One thing though... Tweeter here seems to be distorting quite a lot. Much more than special 40. Are you positive that it is not faulty pair or something? It looks bad actually. Both speakers measures the same?
I think it’s a 3” voice coil. Back in the 80s they made a 17W75XL (3” coil) and a 24W100 (4” coil).
I suspect that 450Hz resonance is from the woofers polymer chassis (basket). Try adding some blu tac to the chassis and see if the changes.
The 2nd number in the speakers stand for the diameter of the coil in mm. Should be easy to measure.
The larger the diameter of the coil, the better it can get rid of heat. Thus the enormous power, they can survive.
It only gets problematic with tweeters, when the weight of the coil/membrane gets in the way of quick response.
Most times i have them pointing nearly straight forward. When I'm doing an "actual" listening session I toe them in slightly. I've never heard any sibilance.
When are you building your own design?
On what did you listen to them on ??
I've owned Dynaudios for many years (Contour S3.4s), but at the price these sold for, I'm disappointed that Dynaudio used a cermet (aka, sandcast) resistor in the crossover. At this price, IMHO, a Dueland, Mundorf, or Vishay-Mills resistor should have been used.
That Kanye track is such a good one. I'm not even that big of a fan of his, but that track is so unique and all over the place I love using that as a test track to see what a system is capable of.
Thanks for the review, and I know this was a limited run but I have been very curious about these speakers.
At AXPONA they had the 50's, those big funky looking ones. They had them on some octave tube amps and man that was in my opinion the best sounding setup in the entire show. Blew me out the water when I heard it the first time and I went back and got to listen to songs of my choice towards the closing of the show. I was extremely impressed. They had them last year as well, but it wasn't as crazy but I do not recall what the pairing equipment was. Especially price to performance vs other rooms
Last year at AXPONA there were CF60's - not CF50's. And they were playing with the flagship Octave - Jubilee.
Just one more proof that setup is very important - higher level of equipment doesn''t guarranty better sound.
@@vladimirbarbu9586 Oh damn those weren't the flagships, didn't even know. That one was really mind blowing.
I went the previous year as well, and I am not sure which one they had. I do have the photos still, but this previous year 23' was wild. Might have been the 50's, or just the accompanying equipment but I didn't get the same experience.
Interesting. My impression on this speaker is that the price to value ratio is a bit modest.
Distortion audibility and masking at different frequencies? Nice review.
some folks simply love first order crossovers.. my ears are not that educated to recognize such subtleties, meaning i enjoy all kinds of speakers :)
my guess, this was priced so as a collectable item.
thanks for the review, have a nice day :)
Erin looked so perplexed in the beginning😅😂
I am always perplexed. Especially at the grocery store.
@@ErinsAudioCorneryou joke but you should see me trying to decide on cereal and ice cream😂😅
Great review thank you!
Yikes! $7K. Could nearly get the Kef reference 1 meta for that price.
Could you fix this with a new crossover?
Great review from 1 of my favorite reviewers, yes I like data and science. 🎶 🔈 🧮
Crossover parts looked good, for the price the cabinets should be a bit nicer,like the sharp edge on the front baffle . They look thick and braced properly.
The tweeter should be recessed better for better alignment of the voice coils.
Danny : 🧀🧀🧀
@RennieAsh 😆 🤣 😂. Danny uses the same resistors. They have air core inductors, but they aren't areanged correctly. I can't tell the caps, but they dont look electrolytic.
behringer manages to do just as good if not better bracing with the 2031, so this seems poor for the cost.
It's alright you'll get your chance. But, remember... to keep your sweet, sweet mouth shut
how the heck did they hit 100 dbs average with music at 3.5 meters? feed them 600 watts? lol
I wouldn’t say these measure bad. The listening window is smoother in that 4kHz region and the ER/SP are mostly linear other than at 1500Hz.
The radiation is wide, which is something you enjoy, so it’s all tradeoffs.
Dude, you need to get your hands on a pair of Revival Atalante 3's... exceptional balance, openness and realism. Very linear top to bottom, nothing sticks out in a bad way, very smooth with a touch of warmth, but with so much micro detail and clarity. A neutral, transparent, uncolored speaker that doesn't suck the life, emotion, energy, or heart and soul out of the music like most other "accurate" speakers do (I'm not talking about the Dyn HS here though).
I think a mention of the cab quality build and crossover parts should of been noted, data is one thing not all of it, regardless how you hear it because at the end its subjective. To note the Dynaudio Special 40 ( at $4,000us I believe ) well reviewed, sounds great noted by a lot of people, actually has cheap quality parts in the crossovers ( which you should not expect at that price point )
Curious to know, does the Heritage Special continues the cheap addition of parts ?
@cruise2023
??? There's a good enough closeup of the crossover network in this video starting at 2:04 to determine that it is made with very good quality parts, and not overly simplified to cut costs.
Mundorf capacitors (not cheap!) and no iron cores in the coil inductors. The inductors are wound with thick enough wire for good power handling (copper isn't cheap either).
The only potential issue that caught my eye is that the inductors are all mounted horizontally in the same plane on the board. Generally you want to have adjacent inductor coils mounted at 90° to each other to minimize their interaction or magnetic crosstalk. IOW, that smaller coil in the center of the board would be stood on end or upright.
But Yes, the cabinet quality looks quite "basic" and unimpressive for a speaker at this cost, and for not having flush-mounted both drivers into the front baffle, as Erin noted.
While the 2-way Wilson Audio TuneTots were relatively more expensive at $8,900, the build quality and attention to detail put into the enclosures is Night & Day compared to these also upper tier $7k Dynaudios.
Hey man! Have you done any videos on the dispersion characteristics of dented vs. non dented tweeters?
The topic comes up often and I’d love to see actual results on a klippel..
Cheers, my friend!
It's so interesting, Dyns always have this slightly scooped but zingy signature - just like is shown here, and in the Special 40 video. I noticed it with the BM15A, the BM6A... I think it must be something they don't mind with their sound from that compliance issue and the low order crossover slopes.
I am always shocked to see that expensive speakers have such a normal housing and components. I mean, Q Acoustics Concept series are the halfe price but much much better cabinets. Or Fischer&fischer with natural Slate and made in Germany are cheaper... I would buy this Heritage definitely for the sound but its also definitely too expensive for the Hardware... Imo
I bought these and sold them quickly. That esotar tweeter was killing me. Still haunts me actually.
I'm curious if you tried aiming them more off-axis as Erin suggested? And/or is there any guidance on placement and positioning/aiming in the owner's manual?
Also curious what you ended up with instead?
EDIT: I downloaded the Owner's Manual, and while it didn't go into too much Technical detail, it was fairly comprehensive regarding speaker placement/positioning/aiming.
They mention the general rule of using of an Equilateral Triangle and maintaining similar distances between the speakers and the listening position along with diagrams for each section to achieve the best results.
They also mention the effects of using proper speaker stands and speaker height, as well as the effects of the placement & distance to room boundaries and the effects of various hard/soft surfaces and furniture in the room. They cover the use of the port plugs and driver "burn-in" as well.
A few excerpts:
"At Dynaudio we appreciate that speakers should fit with your environment and lifestyle, not the other way around, so our speakers make no unusual room positioning demands. Even so, every listening room has its own acoustic character and is uniquely furnished, so there are always choices to be made to help ensure that your speakers can give their best.
*Don’t be afraid to experiment with adjusting the speaker positioning, and listening carefully, until you have it just right to your ears* "
and
"Speaker Positioning - Inward Angle
There is no rule that speakers must be angled inward, but depending on the dimensions and acoustic character of your listening room, it could improve the stereo image focus. Experiment and trust your ears - you’ll definitely know when it sounds its best. Speakers used for front channels in home-cinema systems are less likely to benefit from inward angling as the centre-channel speaker tends to control the central image. Diagram 5 illustrates inward angle."
...just posting this for general interest.
I don’t understand why a such capable company makes such a expensive products that doesn’t measure well. Ok, it sounds good but… for who? If a use this standard, a Klipsch 600m sounds good for some people too.
Even though Dynaudio has Jupiter, it seems like they are not out to build an objectively great speaker but rather a sound that is pleasant to their target customers. A dip in the 1-3khz region is always pleasant and that slight bump after that seem to cover some of that dip, with a side of additional sibiliance of course. What I dont like is that dip from 200hz - 600hz, which I see quite a lot of speakers exhibit.
The DIP looks like the same as with the MW 172 woofer ;-)
They got floorstanding speakers now!
How to get most of the classical Dynaudio sound without ruining your bank account? Go and buy PRO active studio monitors BM5 MKIII. For $1.000 a pair in US (I get mine here in Europe for $700 even with great XLR cables) you get nice build quality (made in Denmark, not China), 99% identical woofer and tweeter (which are much closer to each other), decent power 94W each, strong deep bass (in rooms up to 30m²), smooth highs,... You will not get marketing BS and real veneer (only vinyl), but you can save 6.000 for speakers and another $5.000-10.000 for amp, stands and cables. I had Confidence C1 and C2 II Signature and now I can happily live with these small cheap, but great Dyns. I hope that Erin will be able to test them sometimes. I would like to see real differences in measurements.
Damn. I'm trying to place your t-shirt and it's driving me crazy because I know that I recognize it.
My head keeps going back to Steve Miller Band, but there's something about the background grid pattern that's hinting at something else and making me doubt myself.
So anyone who can instantaneously place Erin's concert t-shirt, please chime in and let me know. Thanks.
Remember when buying concert t-shirts was a thing? Wish I still had all of them from 40 - 45 years ago....
Surprisingly similar to the Triangle Borea BR03, which also seems to be liked by many. I've heard neither and so I cannot comment..., but interesting never the less.
Except Erin was not a fan of the bro3
@@dudemanismadcool True, plus the crossover parts in the Dynaudio are clearly a step above..., but then many others did in fact like the BR03..., so as I said... interesting 😉
Similar in that it has a tweeter and a woofer? 😂
Yes :) I should have been more specific. I was referring to their ragged Frequency response. Despite this being the case for each, they are both well received.
Where is the money going into these speakers. I just dont understand it.
Dynaudio. It's a FOR PROFIT organization.
They have a large facility, manufacturing equipment, manufacturing supplies to procure, maintenance, janitorial services, packaging/shipping/transportation/logistics, many employees, utilities, insurance, marketing & advertising budgets, taxes...on and on.
Oh yeah, ALL of those things cost MONEY...LOTS of MONEY.
All that you see and hear is the End Product, not what it takes to design, manufacture, and distribute it to you.
Can you find better speakers for less money? Sure. But that doesn't change Dynaudio's operating costs and a reasonable desire to be a profitable company. So there's that.
@@bbfoto7248 there must be a few at the top earning too much. As for the design, they are ok at best.
says the person
that has never heard them
@@r423fplip
Can You make A video about B&W 706 s2 ? 😉
The price of this speaker is very high - for what you're getting, in my opinion.
The seemingly oversized tweeter plate forces the tweeter to be mounted farther away from the woofer, which harms the off-axis dispersion. It also greatly increases the diameter of the hole in the front baffle, making the web between the drivers weaker. Yes, there is a window brace, but it is relatively light.
The port is quite large in diameter, and the binding post panel is also quite large - this similarly weakens the rear baffle. The brace is linking two relatively narrow webs; so the front and back baffles can't strengthen each other all that much.
The tweeter isn't flush (as you mentioned); and the groove at the edge of the front baffle is another source of diffraction.
The inside edge of the woofer opening is not beveled or radiused, and this is a source of diffraction.
You do not show us the crossover - and judging by your assessment of the sound, it may not be built using parts of a quality that I would expect in an expensive speaker? The push-on connectors and wires look pretty ordinary.
While I can’t disagree with your price comment anything that Dynaudio puts out is extremely well designed. I’m sure there are reasons for everything you mention in the design of this speaker.
@@danahill7546well designed should not mean very High market Price. A Honda Civic is very well designed but Will never be a Mercedes. Imagine a Honda Civic or Toyota Corolla, with a price of a Mercedes or Maybach? Would you Still Buy one?
Look at magnet/voice coil on an ATC some time...7K for Heritage Special?!. I'd be more interested in their Contour 20i for far less $ and a much more modern design. Can't seem to find any good reviews with measurements for them, and so far, the two you tested don't impress.
I you want a woofer workout listen to war and peace by dj die and suv. It has some pretty bad clangorous mid sounds but the bass is the deepest I know of.
Hello Erin from Montreal !. . . I own a pair of these exceptional speakers so don't expect my comments to be neutral LOL First I'm in complete agreement with you that measurements are not the be all and end all of speaker performance OR purposeful design for that matter. If there is ANY speaker maker that is VERY highly technically aware of what it is doing, it is by ANY measure imaginable, Dynaudio. Now whether your measurements match Dynaudio's or not, Dynaudio is SUPREMELY aware of measurements in their R&D for a given speaker but err on the side of LISTENING to UN-amplified instruments and pleasure over perfect measurements. For instance the idea that the highs can sound different at different listening angles is VERY consciously designed-in so that one can "tune" the H S's to one's liking IN ROOM. I'm guessing that the little bit of high frequency sibilance that you hear on certain tracks just might be attributed to your source or amplification or maybe even wiring because I don't hear ONE bit of it in my system no matter the source, or placement - (OKAY once or twice on very badly recorded stuff :-) As a matter of fact a friend of mine who owns a pair of Sonus Fabers which are well respected for their beauty of construction AND more importantly, their beauty of sound, asked me to come over to his place for a blind test with my H S's with all his equipment vs his S F's which cost him close to DOUBLE of the H S's . . . after listening, he immediately made arrangements to bring his S F's to his cottage while awaiting their sale and went out and bought a pair of H S's the very next day LOL The Heritage Specials are also on Gutenberg's list of 10 favourite of all time speakers . . . I found THAT out AFTER I bought them but frankly that wouldn't have swayed me all that much anyway . . . just a listen for a half hour with different tracks was all I needed . . . after all is said though, I have to admit that they are silly money but if I ever have to let them go, which at this point I have no intention of doing LOL, I think they will hold their value quite well. Thanks for your good well intentioned work!
WOW! I JUST finished writing the above post and THEN noticed the Dynaudio Academy's post just below !! I SWEAR !! :-) It appears that my comments align almost perfectly with Dynaudio's approach to design and good sound. It's TRUE . . . all GOOD design is a BALANCE among all kinds of factors and is the end result of well thought out and IMPLEMENTED compromise . . . HUGE KUDOS, Dynaudio!
cant get my head around how much people spend for those t330d tweeters, as if they are something special?! its the same construction as 99% of dynamic textile 1inch dome tweeters out there, just done right it seems. what makes them so special
Good questions and I'm not sure.
What I do know is Dynaudio has been doing their thing, optimizing their driver mfrg processes for decades.
It's an impressive operation.
Doping/surface coatings, coil winding, motor tech, adhesives, etc.
Their magnesium silicate polymer cone material seems to be notable.
I’ve never detected any hint of sibilance at all in my system, nor have I heard other reviewers detect any sibilance…
This just shows how measurements aren’t the be all and end all. I did not end up keeping the heritage special speakers. The Harbeth 30.2XD is a far more engaging listen
Well, then, this may actually show how measurements track more closely to your experience.
I was interested in your presentation of this speaker Erin because I understand that you are very much a measurements person, yet this review seems to legitimise, those who go principally by audition.
To illustrate this I was looking at your review of the Triangle Borea BR03 which received a rather lukewarm (to put it kindly) response from you.
I have to admit that I don't fully understand all of your graphs, but looking at the respective estimated in-room response curves for the Dynaudio and Triangle speakers, they both seem to exhibit marked departures from your line of best fit, though admittedly in different frequency areas. Your comment in the BR03 review that a peak followed by a trough followed by another peak then a trough indicates a badly designed speaker would seem to apply equally to the Heritage.
However, you like the Heritage and not the BR03 and there are those in the comments for the BR03 who, nonetheless, like that speaker.
All this does seem to point toward people having differences in what they like to hear despite the sound departing from some absolute symmetry.
This points to tradeoffs in designs and what you are willing to accept. No speaker is perfect. 👍
I'm not a big fan of asking smallish woofers to play below 50hz. But that's just me.
I know, its silly to expect a bookshelf (or even a tower) to be the jack-of-all-ranges.
Love the content.
Any chance of making a script and picking up the pace? I run at 1.5x speed but it makes you sound like a chipmunk😂
Nah. I don’t script. Just listen to me in chipmunk mode.
How much…$2000?
Are you the Erin that used to drive a Jetta and worked for PG? if you are I am an old friend......
Not me, sir.
@@ErinsAudioCorner no worries. You even look like him hahaha
Always interesting to see what these rediculously priced ( IMO) bookshelf speakers bring to the table.
Sounds like it has a lot going for it in areas that I value ( dynamics and the ability to play loud cleanly), but I would have a hard time going this route, when for a bit over half price, I could buy a pair of JBL 708P's.
A true bargain when you figure in you are getting your matched amps and DSP as part of the deal, so you could tune it to your room ( or your tastes).
Exactly, expensive 2-way bookshelves must be the poorest value in audio...no way I'm spending serious money on a 2-way speaker with all the inherent compromises.
And they still need a subwoofer...
@@pedrocols most speakers do even towers.
@@leoanthony7281 Exactly!
Another great one Erin.