Dynaudio Excite X12- early thoughts

[paulsue38]

I have had a pair of x12's in Goss Black for arouund a month so for those who are intersested and may be thinking of investing in standmounts I have balanced out my opinions of them to date.
Positive
They are clearly very well built and in the gloss black very attractive. They are also compact. I have not found them difficult to place in my small room, they dont seem to be affected by side or rear walls at all.
They are not difficult to drive, which I was concerned about. People seem to be running them well with Rega Brio R and I can understand why. They are very analytical, and tthey image well. They come alive at higher volumes and can amaze at times with good recordings. They are very neutral, smooth and well balanced. They are still running in so may improve further (although sounded good out of the box)

Negative
The finishes could be improved in terms of colour choices. Beware the so called 'cherry' it is very dark. I was forced to pay extra for Gloss black because of the limited nature of the alternative finishes. In addition, magnetic grills would help because the grills are diffiuclt to remove.
The speakers are very unforgiving, give them a poor recording and they dont respond well. They can sound very average at this point they almost sulk!
They do need a little volume so perhaps not the best at lowest listening levels.
Are they keepers? Not sure, will wait until they are fully run; in they are clearly very capable detailed and neutral but not fully convinced yet. My electronics are reasonable but probably not doing the speakers justice. I am wondering whether to sell the x12's and invest in some compact floorstanders, so dont be surprised to see them appear on a popular auction site!
Paul

 

[plastic penguin]

I have had a pair of x12's in Goss Black for arouund a month so for those who are intersested and may be thinking of investing in standmounts I have balanced out my opinions of them to date. Positive They are clearly very well built and in the gloss black very attractive. They are also compact. I have not found them difficult to place in my small room, they dont seem to be affected by side or rear walls at all. They are not difficult to drive, which I was concerned about. People seem to be running them well with Rega Brio R and I can understand why. They are very analytical, and tthey image well. They come alive at higher volumes and can amaze at times with good recordings. They are very neutral, smooth and well balanced. They are still running in so may improve further (although sounded good out of the box) Negative The finishes could be improved in terms of colour choices. Beware the so called 'cherry' it is very dark. I was forced to pay extra for Gloss black because of the limited nature of the alternative finishes. In addition, magnetic grills would help because the grills are diffiuclt to remove. The speakers are very unforgiving, give them a poor recording and they dont respond well. They can sound very average at this point they almost sulk! They do need a little volume so perhaps not the best at lowest listening levels. Are they keepers? Not sure, will wait until they are fully run; in they are clearly very capable detailed and neutral but not fully convinced yet. My electronics are reasonable but probably not doing the speakers justice. I am wondering whether to sell the x12's and invest in some compact floorstanders, so dont be surprised to see them appear on a popular auction site! Paul

They sound interesting

Could you please clarify? You say they're "not difficult to drive" then you say ""they come alive at higher volumes", which indicates what I've always said: They need a gutsy amp to hear the best of them.

"They do need a little volume so perhaps not the best at lowest listening levels"

Given your Kandy has a 120 watts per channel, would I be wrong to say that a amp above 80 watts per channel would be ideal?

 

[BigColz]

I think the cheaper Roksans can be decieving as they have 120 watts but low ampage.. COrrect me if i'm wrong but I think the M2's are 70 watt a channel but would drive the speakers better than the L3 or K2.. I quite liked the x12's but due to their size didn't go low enough.. I demoed them with an x power which although 70 watt per channel it drove them great

 

[paulsue38]

Hi PP Happy new year!
I have never had speakers as low as a 4ohm before so was worried that they would be really hard to driive.(they are actually higher than 4ohm in reality- closer to 6ohm) I have been pleasantly surprised that they can be driven to high volumes with ease. As they are not run in I have taken care not to crank up the volume too much but suspect that they can go very load. However, like no other speaker I have owned they wake up and take off with a small increase in volume. In terms of your question about watts per channel, I am rapidly becoming convinced that an amps wattage is best viewed as a guide only and that every amp should be judged on its merits. Although the Roksan is meant to be very powerful I am not sure it makes best use of the available power?
I suspect that these speakers could flouriish with very good (and expensive) electronics and not be out of place.
Hope this makes sense.
Paul

 

[plastic penguin]

Hi PP Happy new year! I have never had speakers as low as a 4ohm before so was worried that they would be really hard to driive.(they are actually higher than 4ohm in reality- closer to 6ohm) I have been pleasantly surprised that they can be driven to high volumes with ease. As they are not run in I have taken care not to crank up the volume too much but suspect that they can go very load. However, like no other speaker I have owned they wake up and take off with a small increase in volume. In terms of your question about watts per channel, I am rapidly becoming convinced that an amps wattage is best viewed as a guide only and that every amp should be judged on its merits. Although the Roksan is meant to be very powerful I am not sure it makes best use of the available power? I suspect that these speakers could flouriish with very good (and expensive) electronics and not be out of place. Hope this makes sense. Paul

Happy 2013 to you...

I agree in the main about higher wattage not necessarily the best to drive speakers. However, your LIII retailed at £650, while, for example, the Rega Brio-R is a tad under £500. I know technology moves on but I would be shocked if a 50 watt found a speaker with low ohms easier to drive than a 120 watter.

Don't get me wrong, I love Dyns. Likewise I'm a huge admirer of Rega but every component has its limitations.

 

[paulsue38]

I wonder whether reviewers and even manufacturers could adopt a traffic light system for components? For instance on a 0 - 10 scale you could judge an amps power, current and relative warmth. For instance, the Marantz Peal Lite could receve 5 for power a 7 for current and an 8 for 'warmth'. Obviously although the first two can be measured fairly easily the third is more subjective and would require the consensus of a panel!

Paul

 

[Hi-FiOutlaw]

Hi Paul:

i don't agree with your initial review of the Dynaudio Excite X12, you say that "I have not found them difficult to place in my small room, they dont seem to be affected by side or rear walls at all."

I did have difficult to place mine proporly, i've almout 90cm (from the front the front of the speaker) away from rear wall and side wall and there is still a litle conflict in the lows. Maybe that's way you have to rase the volum up for they to shine. I have a lot of hours at medium levels, 2/3 o'clock and some times i think I have the sub on!

And the X12 need at least 300hours to be full run in, the voice coil become mutch more detailed.

And if you want a detaild/revealing speaker then with bad recording they can not give you what it is not there, i do find that same problem, but they give me so much plasure to listenig to!

This weekend i've bought some vinyl records and connected my old turn table and the result of that, was my wife asking me how mutch was that RP3 that I was reading about... :dance:

that is the result of all my system together Rega Brio R/Dyns.

You have to try them with another amp, my Dyns are keepers, thats for sure!!! 8)

:cheers:

 

[paulsue38]

All rooms are different and in my small room they do not appear to be affected at all, really unfussy about placement. In terms of how they deal with poor recordings they are unforgiving. This is only a minor criticism it is because they are so revealing that they do not respond well to poor digital recordings. (they love Vinyl though!)

 

[shafesk]

I fell in love with the Excites after a demo, listened to the MS Aviano 8s and Tannoy DC6ts but they just didn't compare to the excites. I think matching is quite critical with Dyns in general. I tried them with various Cayin amplification and these scaled up with the most expensive Cayins very well. I think they are a great match for powerful tube amps, I haven't heard them with solid states so I can't comment on that. I think if you pair them with tubes, the analytic problems you mentioned might go down as well. If it were me and I just bought a pair of excites then I would change my setup according to them....give them good electronics matched carefully and they do really reward you. I did find them a pain to position though, boomy near walls and corners. All that being said, you haven't really broken them in from what I can gather....maybe you should give them some time and see how they work at your usual listening levels. Sometimes a bit of placement change and toe in, not to mention interconnect changes can be just the ticket.

 

[Hi-FiOutlaw]

I fell in love with the Excites after a demo, listened to the MS Aviano 8s and Tannoy DC6ts but they just didn't compare to the excites. I think matching is quite critical with Dyns in general. I tried them with various Cayin amplification and these scaled up with the most expensive Cayins very well. I think they are a great match for powerful tube amps, I haven't heard them with solid states so I can't comment on that. I think if you pair them with tubes, the analytic problems you mentioned might go down as well. If it were me and I just bought a pair of excites then I would change my setup according to them....give them good electronics matched carefully and they do really reward you. I did find them a pain to position though, boomy near walls and corners. All that being said, you haven't really broken them in from what I can gather....maybe you should give them some time and see how they work at your usual listening levels. Sometimes a bit of placement change and toe in, not to mention interconnect changes can be just the ticket.

i think you almoust got the problem, if he place the speakers a litle far away from the walls and let them smooth a litle more he will be rewarded with a great speaker!

The Brio R have got a tube design from his conseption, can handle difficult speakers to power.

I only wish he got a few more watts unther the hood...

Today i've been in my rega dealer to price a RP3 with my wife... :cheer:

a litle more pacience, it is going to be her decition.... :twisted:

:cheers:

 

[paulsue38]

I fell in love with the Excites after a demo, listened to the MS Aviano 8s and Tannoy DC6ts but they just didn't compare to the excites. I think matching is quite critical with Dyns in general. I tried them with various Cayin amplification and these scaled up with the most expensive Cayins very well. I think they are a great match for powerful tube amps, I haven't heard them with solid states so I can't comment on that. I think if you pair them with tubes, the analytic problems you mentioned might go down as well. If it were me and I just bought a pair of excites then I would change my setup according to them....give them good electronics matched carefully and they do really reward you. I did find them a pain to position though, boomy near walls and corners. All that being said, you haven't really broken them in from what I can gather....maybe you should give them some time and see how they work at your usual listening levels. Sometimes a bit of placement change and toe in, not to mention interconnect changes can be just the ticket.

Good advice thank you. I have never heard tube amps to be honest so I will inestigate further.. My electronics are getting a bit dated and do need upgrading. Moved the speakers around alot tonight found no differences at all in the sound quality. Not found any problems with booming at all to be honest.

Best wishes

Paul

 

[ABM78]

I would have to agree with the fact that these speakers can sound a bit dull with poorly recorded music as they are smooth but they can really bring out the detail...if its there. I recently added the Quad 909 power amp and that brought these to another level and shushed my thoughts of upgrading to the focus 160's (although may still happen in time). I guess they are easy to drive to sound good, but give them what they really deserve/or simply need and they are above good. They do seem to sound better as the volume increases, and when I do this they never fail to make me smile. They are keepers in my opinion, I would not sell them, just use them in a second system as even being simply good they very much produce the sound that personally appeals to me, and unless I discover a better speaker at similar price I stand by them, they are great good fun musical little gems!