Dynaudio Emit 20: review

[robdmarsh]

Posted this on AV Forums but no one has anything to say about these speakers, so I thought I'd post here too.

Good to be out of the heat, eh? I say a kind of review because I've used these with one amp and one amp only, my trusty ole Denon pma 800ne, so it is not an exhaustive review. This amp has a power rating of 50 wpc into 8 ohms and 85 in 4 ohms, not massive amounts of power but it has a fairly even frequency response with no obvious emphasis anywhere in the range. Bass punch with this amp I would say is surprisingly good. All comparisons mentioned are with my current speakers, Triangle Esprit Titus EZ (specs later).

The Emit 20 are pretty big for bookshelf speakers, measuring 37cm in height and with a depth of nearly 32cm. They weigh nearly 10kg each so they are quite a lot bigger and heavier than the Titus. They look pretty nice in white but with a knuckle rap on the cabinet they sound a bit hollow while the Titus sound solid and inert. Oh well, maybe no matter, perhaps it's more difficult to make a larger cabinet sound inert. The Emits have a sensitivity of 86db and nominal impedance of 6 ohms, with no specified minimum drop in impedance. The Titus are 90db sensitive and have an impedance of 8 ohms, with a drop to 3.9 ohms.

On to their performance and after the first few hours where the Emits sounded a bit all over the place, they settled down and produced a very confident, easy to listen to and balanced sound.

They are very resolving and detail in the higher frequencies is good, but they never sound harsh or sibilant. With Paul Simon's 50 Ways to Leave your Lover I can hear slightly more detail than the Titus and maybe instrument separation is a tad better. Paul Simon's voice is locked in the centre image between the speakers where with the Titus he is perhaps a bit blurry, the position of the snare drum and other instruments is easier to pinpoint. The sound stage is big and broad with these speakers and taller than with the Titus. The Triangle speakers, however, have more sound stage depth. The overall sound with the Emit 20 is of a speaker that really knows what it is doing, is a safe pair of hands and suits a broad range of music.

But it was then with exploring other material that these speakers started to disappoint me in other areas of their sound. Playing The Adults are Talking from The Strokes' album The New Abnormal had me scratching my head. Wait a minute, what's wrong? Ah.... that's it, they're not keeping up! This track should be a fizzing fire cracker and the Dynaudios were robbing it of its character making it sound almost languid, they almost had me shouting at them "Keep up!"

With Daft Punk's Get Lucky I thought, yeah, that's quite a nice rhythm but then it's like "do I have to get up and dance? I'm too old to dance!" The same track on the Titus has me twitching involuntarily there is so much rhythm and drive. The Bed's too big without you (The Police version) sounds big, bold and satisfying with Emits but then the same track on the Triangle speakers produces more sizzle on the cymbal splashes, more kick on the kick drum and the bass, though not as low, is no less impactful.

But it is with the upper mid range and its tonality where the Triangles really seem to leave the Emits behind. The album Make Way for Dionne Warwick is from 1964 but it is beautifully produced and the recording, though obviously limited by the technology of the time, is wonderful. The songs are all by Burt Bacharach and I'm sure he was present at the sessions, crafting exactly the kind of sound he wanted with the band and full orchestration. The Emits transmit (not quite a pun) all that care and attention but the overall result is a little thin sounding and Warwick's voice lacks timbre and your first impression might be, well, not surprising since this is 1964, but a good effort nonetheless.

Then with the Triangle, something magical happens: the voice is is fleshed out and has more body, the horns, sax and piano have more body and you end up thinking "wow, they really did know how to make a good recording in 1964!"

The thing is, what I'm hearing there might well be the coloration of the speakers with the Titus and what I'm hearing with the Dynaudios might be more the bare bones Tell it as it is. But in that case the coloration and warmth given by the Triangle speakers is very welcome in my book. And when I say warmth, I don't mean over sweetness or sloppiness. The latter speakers are super agile and fast as I've said, and when you've heard an agile speaker you can't unhear it and you definitely miss it when you hear one that is not agile.

John Darko goes on about how some people like speakers which have a sound which makes you lean forward on the edge of your seat and others prefer ones that make you sit back and relax. He's overdoing this distinction, surely. Do the Triangle Titus turn relaxed sounding music into something frenetic and anxious? Absolutely not! Laid back Brazilian jazz sounds brilliantly laid back and cool on these speakers. But it sounds a little bit less so and almost a bit matter-of-fact on the Dynaudios.

So the big question is, would a more powerful (and doubtless more expensive) amplifier bring out a better performance from the Emits, would they be able to snap a bit faster to the rhythm of The Bed's too Big without you and make Brazilian jazz sound appropriately effortlessly cool? Maybe so, but I'm not sure they would add the timbre and that spine-tingling quality to Dionne Warwick's voice...

 

[nopiano]

A summary, or tl:dr version might help.

 

[12th Monkey]

It shouldn't matter, but I tend not to read things where there is a great block of text. Paragraphs and spacing in between make a piece more likely to get read.

 

[robdmarsh]

Ok there you go. I've made more paragraphs. It doesn't take that long to read and I don't babble on about the designers or other speakers I had in my youth a la Stereophile!

 

[Deleted member 195594]

Posted this on AV Forums but no one has anything to say about these speakers, so I thought I'd post here too.

Good to be out of the heat, eh? I say a kind of review because I've used these with one amp and one amp only, my trusty ole Denon pma 800ne, so it is not an exhaustive review. This amp has a power rating of 50 wpc into 8 ohms and 85 in 4 ohms, not massive amounts of power but it has a fairly even frequency response with no obvious emphasis anywhere in the range. Bass punch with this amp I would say is surprisingly good. All comparisons mentioned are with my current speakers, Triangle Esprit Titus EZ (specs later).

The Emit 20 are pretty big for bookshelf speakers, measuring 37cm in height and with a depth of nearly 32cm. They weigh nearly 10kg each so they are quite a lot bigger and heavier than the Titus. They look pretty nice in white but with a knuckle rap on the cabinet they sound a bit hollow while the Titus sound solid and inert. Oh well, maybe no matter, perhaps it's more difficult to make a larger cabinet sound inert. The Emits have a sensitivity of 86db and nominal impedance of 6 ohms, with no specified minimum drop in impedance. The Titus are 90db sensitive and have an impedance of 8 ohms, with a drop to 3.9 ohms.

On to their performance and after the first few hours where the Emits sounded a bit all over the place, they settled down and produced a very confident, easy to listen to and balanced sound.

They are very resolving and detail in the higher frequencies is good, but they never sound harsh or sibilant. With Paul Simon's 50 Ways to Leave your Lover I can hear slightly more detail than the Titus and maybe instrument separation is a tad better. Paul Simon's voice is locked in the centre image between the speakers where with the Titus he is perhaps a bit blurry, the position of the snare drum and other instruments is easier to pinpoint. The sound stage is big and broad with these speakers and taller than with the Titus. The Triangle speakers, however, have more sound stage depth. The overall sound with the Emit 20 is of a speaker that really knows what it is doing, is a safe pair of hands and suits a broad range of music.

But it was then with exploring other material that these speakers started to disappoint me in other areas of their sound. Playing The Adults are Talking from The Strokes' album The New Abnormal had me scratching my head. Wait a minute, what's wrong? Ah.... that's it, they're not keeping up! This track should be a fizzing fire cracker and the Dynaudios were robbing it of its character making it sound almost languid, they almost had me shouting at them "Keep up!"

With Daft Punk's Get Lucky I thought, yeah, that's quite a nice rhythm but then it's like "do I have to get up and dance? I'm too old to dance!" The same track on the Titus has me twitching involuntarily there is so much rhythm and drive. The Bed's too big without you (The Police version) sounds big, bold and satisfying with Emits but then the same track on the Triangle speakers produces more sizzle on the cymbal splashes, more kick on the kick drum and the bass, though not as low, is no less impactful.

But it is with the upper mid range and its tonality where the Triangles really seem to leave the Emits behind. The album Make Way for Dionne Warwick is from 1964 but it is beautifully produced and the recording, though obviously limited by the technology of the time, is wonderful. The songs are all by Burt Bacharach and I'm sure he was present at the sessions, crafting exactly the kind of sound he wanted with the band and full orchestration. The Emits transmit (not quite a pun) all that care and attention but the overall result is a little thin sounding and Warwick's voice lacks timbre and your first impression might be, well, not surprising since this is 1964, but a good effort nonetheless.

Then with the Triangle, something magical happens: the voice is is fleshed out and has more body, the horns, sax and piano have more body and you end up thinking "wow, they really did know how to make a good recording in 1964!"

The thing is, what I'm hearing there might well be the coloration of the speakers with the Titus and what I'm hearing with the Dynaudios might be more the bare bones Tell it as it is. But in that case the coloration and warmth given by the Triangle speakers is very welcome in my book. And when I say warmth, I don't mean over sweetness or sloppiness. The latter speakers are super agile and fast as I've said, and when you've heard an agile speaker you can't unhear it and you definitely miss it when you hear one that is not agile.

John Darko goes on about how some people like speakers which have a sound which makes you lean forward on the edge of your seat and others prefer ones that make you sit back and relax. He's overdoing this distinction, surely. Do the Triangle Titus turn relaxed sounding music into something frenetic and anxious? Absolutely not! Laid back Brazilian jazz sounds brilliantly laid back and cool on these speakers. But it sounds a little bit less so and almost a bit matter-of-fact on the Dynaudios.

So the big question is, would a more powerful (and doubtless more expensive) amplifier bring out a better performance from the Emits, would they be able to snap a bit faster to the rhythm of The Bed's too Big without you and make Brazilian jazz sound appropriately effortlessly cool? Maybe so, but I'm not sure they would add the timbre and that spine-tingling quality to Dionne Warwick's voice...

@robdmarsh

Thanks for a good read, enjoyed it 👍 Everytime I see you write about your Triangles, I become more Intrigued (I know the review was of the Emits, but the Triangles intrigued me more from your write-up).

Triangles are now etched in my brain as "potentials" when I start looking at speakers (don't tell my SO) 😏🙄😊

 

[robdmarsh]

@robdmarsh

Thanks for a good read, enjoyed it 👍 Everytime I see you write about your Triangles, I become more Intrigued (I know the review was of the Emits, but the Triangles intrigued me more from your write-up).

Triangles are now etched in my brain as "potentials" when I start looking at speakers (don't tell my SO) 😏🙄😊

Triangle Esprit range have something special imho and I think it's in the tweeter and the sweet mid range. By all accounts they work very well with Atoll amps, also a French brand, and I see you have the IN200 Signature. Jealous!

 

[Deleted member 195594]

Triangle Esprit range have something special imho and I think it's in the tweeter and the sweet mid range. By all accounts they work very well with Atoll amps, also a French brand, and I see you have the IN200 Signature. Jealous!

That's certainly good to know re: the Atoll/Triangle pairing. There's an IN200 with the DAC module going for grabs on that auction site £1.1k ono, which is £1.9k new. Apparently the DAC module is more than just a "toss it in" for good measure addition. I've not heard it, but supposed to be very nice. Mine is the straight amp, no DAC or phono module.

 

[plastic penguin]

Posted this on AV Forums but no one has anything to say about these speakers, so I thought I'd post here too.

Good to be out of the heat, eh? I say a kind of review because I've used these with one amp and one amp only, my trusty ole Denon pma 800ne, so it is not an exhaustive review. This amp has a power rating of 50 wpc into 8 ohms and 85 in 4 ohms, not massive amounts of power but it has a fairly even frequency response with no obvious emphasis anywhere in the range. Bass punch with this amp I would say is surprisingly good. All comparisons mentioned are with my current speakers, Triangle Esprit Titus EZ (specs later).

The Emit 20 are pretty big for bookshelf speakers, measuring 37cm in height and with a depth of nearly 32cm. They weigh nearly 10kg each so they are quite a lot bigger and heavier than the Titus. They look pretty nice in white but with a knuckle rap on the cabinet they sound a bit hollow while the Titus sound solid and inert. Oh well, maybe no matter, perhaps it's more difficult to make a larger cabinet sound inert. The Emits have a sensitivity of 86db and nominal impedance of 6 ohms, with no specified minimum drop in impedance. The Titus are 90db sensitive and have an impedance of 8 ohms, with a drop to 3.9 ohms.

On to their performance and after the first few hours where the Emits sounded a bit all over the place, they settled down and produced a very confident, easy to listen to and balanced sound.

They are very resolving and detail in the higher frequencies is good, but they never sound harsh or sibilant. With Paul Simon's 50 Ways to Leave your Lover I can hear slightly more detail than the Titus and maybe instrument separation is a tad better. Paul Simon's voice is locked in the centre image between the speakers where with the Titus he is perhaps a bit blurry, the position of the snare drum and other instruments is easier to pinpoint. The sound stage is big and broad with these speakers and taller than with the Titus. The Triangle speakers, however, have more sound stage depth. The overall sound with the Emit 20 is of a speaker that really knows what it is doing, is a safe pair of hands and suits a broad range of music.

But it was then with exploring other material that these speakers started to disappoint me in other areas of their sound. Playing The Adults are Talking from The Strokes' album The New Abnormal had me scratching my head. Wait a minute, what's wrong? Ah.... that's it, they're not keeping up! This track should be a fizzing fire cracker and the Dynaudios were robbing it of its character making it sound almost languid, they almost had me shouting at them "Keep up!"

With Daft Punk's Get Lucky I thought, yeah, that's quite a nice rhythm but then it's like "do I have to get up and dance? I'm too old to dance!" The same track on the Titus has me twitching involuntarily there is so much rhythm and drive. The Bed's too big without you (The Police version) sounds big, bold and satisfying with Emits but then the same track on the Triangle speakers produces more sizzle on the cymbal splashes, more kick on the kick drum and the bass, though not as low, is no less impactful.

But it is with the upper mid range and its tonality where the Triangles really seem to leave the Emits behind. The album Make Way for Dionne Warwick is from 1964 but it is beautifully produced and the recording, though obviously limited by the technology of the time, is wonderful. The songs are all by Burt Bacharach and I'm sure he was present at the sessions, crafting exactly the kind of sound he wanted with the band and full orchestration. The Emits transmit (not quite a pun) all that care and attention but the overall result is a little thin sounding and Warwick's voice lacks timbre and your first impression might be, well, not surprising since this is 1964, but a good effort nonetheless.

Then with the Triangle, something magical happens: the voice is is fleshed out and has more body, the horns, sax and piano have more body and you end up thinking "wow, they really did know how to make a good recording in 1964!"

The thing is, what I'm hearing there might well be the coloration of the speakers with the Titus and what I'm hearing with the Dynaudios might be more the bare bones Tell it as it is. But in that case the coloration and warmth given by the Triangle speakers is very welcome in my book. And when I say warmth, I don't mean over sweetness or sloppiness. The latter speakers are super agile and fast as I've said, and when you've heard an agile speaker you can't unhear it and you definitely miss it when you hear one that is not agile.

John Darko goes on about how some people like speakers which have a sound which makes you lean forward on the edge of your seat and others prefer ones that make you sit back and relax. He's overdoing this distinction, surely. Do the Triangle Titus turn relaxed sounding music into something frenetic and anxious? Absolutely not! Laid back Brazilian jazz sounds brilliantly laid back and cool on these speakers. But it sounds a little bit less so and almost a bit matter-of-fact on the Dynaudios.

So the big question is, would a more powerful (and doubtless more expensive) amplifier bring out a better performance from the Emits, would they be able to snap a bit faster to the rhythm of The Bed's too Big without you and make Brazilian jazz sound appropriately effortlessly cool? Maybe so, but I'm not sure they would add the timbre and that spine-tingling quality to Dionne Warwick's voice...

This proves that hi-fi is a compromise. No two components are the same. Then factor in that every component will have different synergy. Last but not least it boils down to a preferred presentation.

I know it's boring but that's about the size of it.

 

[Gray]

This proves that hi-fi is a compromise. No two components are the same.

It's something that I've always thought about - how many people have got the best available combination for their taste?
If they even bothered auditioning, they picked the best of what they heard.
They may be (or have grown to be) very happy with what they've got.
But nobody has heard a fraction of the thousands of potential combinations.
So to say it's a compromise, is an understatement.
What are the chances of anyone owning what would actually be the very best for them ?
By definition, thousands to one against I'd say.
(Which is why those that have got off the upgrade merry-go-round and found contentment, are the happiest).

...it's natural to wonder what you're missing though 🤨

 

[plastic penguin]

It's something that I've always thought about - how many people have got the best available combination for their taste?
If they even bothered auditioning, they picked the best of what they heard.
They may be (or have grown to be) very happy with what they've got.
But nobody has heard a fraction of the thousands of potential combinations.
So to say it's a compromise, is an understatement.
What are the chances of anyone owning what would actually be the very best for them ?
By definition, thousands to one against I'd say.
(Which is why those that have got off the upgrade merry-go-round and found contentment, are the happiest).

...it's natural to wonder what you're missing though 🤨

That pretty much sums up the situation. Too many variables when it comes to matching one component with another. It's quite frankly a minefield to advise, and dangerous to buy blind, unless it only costs chip money from an auction site.

I'm generally very content, rarely change unless it's a serious upgrade or for practical reasons.

 

[Deleted member 195594]

Great observations. Sums the HiFi hobby nicely.

Personally, from re-entering the hobby after 20+ years away, I found it bewildering; so much has changed, and I'd forgotten more than I know. Plus, there are so many more choices out there (or there seems to be more, maybe its the Internet that gives us the exposure to more products) than there was in the 90s.

Also, streaming is now a huge part of the hobby, and extremely well represented and prevalent in the marketplace.

The difficulty I found was, that I wasn't really sure what my preferences were anymore. I thought I wanted a just on the warm side presentation, but that didn't cut it for me, so I'm really just finding my feet again and exploring what I actually want from a system, and how I would ultimately prefer my music presented to me.

The system I initially started out with last year has only one item left from it today. Its been a trial and error, auditioning when possible, but also buying blind, or deaf. While not an ideal way of doing things, I have actually enjoyed the process so far

But while it is exciting, I have made a couple of mistakes and false starts along the way, but haven't taken too much of a hit on re-selling items. It's part of my personal learning curve I suppose, together with picking up advice and observations from far more experienced and established people on WHF and the like.

 

[plastic penguin]

This is why I, and some others, will only advise certain brands we are familiar with if they can be demoed.

These days I won't ask for advice. I will shortlist brands and then post my findings on here. I did this earlier this year with speakers: Neat SX2, Iota Alpha, Amphion Argon 1, MA Gold 100 and Dali Rubicon 2 (x2).

 

[Romulus]

Thank you for your review. So in a nutshell are you saying that the Dynaudio Emit 20 do not time well when played with your Denon amp...?

 

[robdmarsh]

Well, yes, I'm saying I don't think I got a great result pairing this amp with these speakers. The sound lacked agility and sparkle but maybe you'd get that with a different amp, probably a more powerful one. The tone of my Triangle speakers, however, is something that is particularly awesome especially with voices and I'm not sure a more powerful amp with the Emits could match that.

 

[manicm]

I think Dynaudios generally benefit from greater power, and amps on the brighter side of neutral.

 

[robdmarsh]

That's certainly good to know re: the Atoll/Triangle pairing. There's an IN200 with the DAC module going for grabs on that auction site £1.1k ono, which is £1.9k new. Apparently the DAC module is more than just a "toss it in" for good measure addition. I've not heard it, but supposed to be very nice. Mine is the straight amp, no DAC or phono module.

Can you tell me about the sound of your Atoll IN200? I've heard that it is a lean sounding amp. Would you say this is true?

 

[Deleted member 195594]

Can you tell me about the sound of your Atoll IN200? I've heard that it is a lean sounding amp. Would you say this is true?

Hi,

I did find it a little lean at first, but it has lessened over the 3 weeks I've had it. The LFs were a little lacking but that definitely isn't the case now. It makes the most of my Concept 40s LF output, and in a much more controlled manner than my Nait XS2 did.

If I remember correctly, The British Audiophile did state the IN200 had a bIt of a lift in the high mids, (maybe at the expense of lower mids) , which I would agree with, but again, I would say it has calmed down the more I've used the amp.

It definitely has a fair amount of presence up that end of the frequency range. I think discerning choice of speakers would be advisable, nothing overly bright.

Poorly recorded/mastered material can suffer with this amp, but I suppose it would with a lot of amps.

What it does do, probably down to the dual mono configuration, is give a really nice sense of space and separation of individual track components.

I suppose whether the IN200 is right for someone is down to their taste at the end of the day. it is a nice amp. So far so good

 

[robdmarsh]

Ok thanks for that. Also sent you a PM in case you didn't see this one, please ignore. I think I will give it a listen. Btw if you're into the Q Acoustics sound then there were deals on the new Concept 50 a few weeks ago. It sounds like these could be a good match for your amp.

 

[Deleted member 195594]

Ok thanks for that. Also sent you a PM in case you didn't see this one, please ignore. I think I will give it a listen. Btw if you're into the Q Acoustics sound then there were deals on the new Concept 50 a few weeks ago. It sounds like these could be a good match for your amp.

Thanks for the heads-up on the Concept 50's, I'll take a look. Just replied to your PM 👍

 

[radiorog]

I liked and aporeciated the review. I skipped the parafraphs regarding the size etc and went straight to sound quality. I have owned the dynaudio dm2/7 for about 7 years now, they were the same sized model of the previous iterstion to the emits, a fairly similar speaker. Readi g the review about the speed of the dyns being so poor, and slightly off midrange, i can imagine there are faster speakers without a doubt, but i dont think they are terrible. I did wonder if you had let them break in enough . Dyns take 200 hours approx to really settle in, at least 50 before criticsl listening, but i and many other reviewers have noticed a change around the 200 hour mark. So i went back to the esrlier parts of your review and saw the bit where you say "after the first couple of hours". If that was your break in time, i would say you should try comparing the speakers again in another 200 hours, as 2 really doesnt seem anywhere near decent enough time to get them working properly .
Although i would say, the dm2/7s , although fine speakers for the money, do have limitations, and i hope to replace mine fairly soon.

 

[dkontos]

Hi,

I did find it a little lean at first, but it has lessened over the 3 weeks I've had it. The LFs were a little lacking but that definitely isn't the case now. It makes the most of my Concept 40s LF output, and in a much more controlled manner than my Nait XS2 did.

If I remember correctly, The British Audiophile did state the IN200 had a bIt of a lift in the high mids, (maybe at the expense of lower mids) , which I would agree with, but again, I would say it has calmed down the more I've used the amp.

It definitely has a fair amount of presence up that end of the frequency range. I think discerning choice of speakers would be advisable, nothing overly bright.

Poorly recorded/mastered material can suffer with this amp, but I suppose it would with a lot of amps.

What it does do, probably down to the dual mono configuration, is give a really nice sense of space and separation of individual track components.

I suppose whether the IN200 is right for someone is down to their taste at the end of the day. it is a nice amp. So far so good

how big is your listening room ?

 

[robdmarsh]

I liked and aporeciated the review. I skipped the parafraphs regarding the size etc and went straight to sound quality. I have owned the dynaudio dm2/7 for about 7 years now, they were the same sized model of the previous iterstion to the emits, a fairly similar speaker. Readi g the review about the speed of the dyns being so poor, and slightly off midrange, i can imagine there are faster speakers without a doubt, but i dont think they are terrible. I did wonder if you had let them break in enough . Dyns take 200 hours approx to really settle in, at least 50 before criticsl listening, but i and many other reviewers have noticed a change around the 200 hour mark. So i went back to the esrlier parts of your review and saw the bit where you say "after the first couple of hours". If that was your break in time, i would say you should try comparing the speakers again in another 200 hours, as 2 really doesnt seem anywhere near decent enough time to get them working properly .
Although i would say, the dm2/7s , although fine speakers for the money, do have limitations, and i hope to replace mine fairly soon.

Thanks for your comments. As far as running in the speakers, I think I had maybe 50 hours on them by the time I sent them back. They definitely improved after about 24 hours but they seemed to plateau after that. I dare say they would have got better with more use but I think they really need more juice in the amp department. The thing I said about agility in a speaker is crucial for me now, however. It makes a difference with so much of the music I listen to.

 

[radiorog]

Thanks for your comments. As far as running in the speakers, I think I had maybe 50 hours on them by the time I sent them back. They definitely improved after about 24 hours but they seemed to plateau after that. I dare say they would have got better with more use but I think they really need more juice in the amp department. The thing I said about agility in a speaker is crucial for me now, however. It makes a difference with so much of the music I listen to.

Yeah thats fair enough. They definitely arent what i would call tight sounding speakers, and probably are a little on the slow side, but yes, after 50 hours they wouldnt change too much.