A few words on a quick dem I had, courtesy of a friend which allowed me to sit in to compare them with AVI's ADM9.1's.
Very
small, even for bookshelf speakers, they are nicely built and look good even with the grilles off. Those proprietary drive units look both unusual and smart.
Bass
is plentiful. It really is surprising considering the tiny dimensions
of the driver/cabinet and we even had to turn it down, again via the EQ
on the back. A very useful feature to assist the placing in different
rooms. They sound good at low volumes due to the slight loudness effect
and the bass, if anything, integrates even better when volume goes up
ie. is more in proportion with the rest of the frequency range as it
can seem a tad soft when not pushed.
We both concluded that the tweeter could either be regarded as clear
and detailed or slightly upfront and detached. It crosses over at a
very low 1300hz and clearly does a lot of work. I happen to like the
balance and it can be further tweaked with the EQ on the back panel. Sound is both open and punchy.
They go relatively loud considering the amps are 'only' rated at
50w each for the woofer/tweeter per enclosure. In the absence of a
dedicated pre-amplifier we've used a MacMini. Better results can
probably be achieved with the former or something like a DAC from
Benchmark and the likes which includes a good pre-amplifier section.
Compared
to the the AVI's with dedicated sub (approx. £1900) the Dynaudio's have
a fuller balance due to more upper bass. Midrange is slightly more
forward and treble more etched and not as extended which has the effect of giving a more 'in between the speakers' sound stage. This is not necesseraly a negative, just a different presentation which some may prefer. Some (lower treble) hiss was emphasized but the flip side is that they will never sound reticent. The precise nature of presentation is
slightly complicated because of the rear EQ function but we used both
treble and bass turned down so it's probably a fair assumption that by
turning them up the above traits will be more noticeable. All this comes at a small price ...
... they
lack the transparency, refinement and headroom of the AVI's, seeming to
strain a touch under pressure and surpressing dynamics probably a
result of the relatively low powered amplifiers and diminutive size. This was not a huge problem and was more noticed by the other listener though I did hear it occasionally. The AVI's ability in that respect did'nt help the Dynaudios though compared to many passive amplifier/speaker combinations I've heard they certainly dont feel wanting. Again, using a MacMini
probably did'nt help the matter either and using a quality Pre-amp will yet
give better results but also increase cost considerably. Bass, whilst tuneful and with decent impact did'nt go as low as the AVI/Sub but I certainly did'nt expect them to. For many the quoted 45hz, which seems about right, will be enough, making the use of a sub somewhat less important than with the AVI's.
Although not cheap at £1600 I
could imagine many will like the very listenable, musical balance of
these actives. Ideal for
desktop use and smaller rooms, further helped by the EQ adjustability.
Very
small, even for bookshelf speakers, they are nicely built and look good even with the grilles off. Those proprietary drive units look both unusual and smart.
Bass
is plentiful. It really is surprising considering the tiny dimensions
of the driver/cabinet and we even had to turn it down, again via the EQ
on the back. A very useful feature to assist the placing in different
rooms. They sound good at low volumes due to the slight loudness effect
and the bass, if anything, integrates even better when volume goes up
ie. is more in proportion with the rest of the frequency range as it
can seem a tad soft when not pushed.
We both concluded that the tweeter could either be regarded as clear
and detailed or slightly upfront and detached. It crosses over at a
very low 1300hz and clearly does a lot of work. I happen to like the
balance and it can be further tweaked with the EQ on the back panel. Sound is both open and punchy.
They go relatively loud considering the amps are 'only' rated at
50w each for the woofer/tweeter per enclosure. In the absence of a
dedicated pre-amplifier we've used a MacMini. Better results can
probably be achieved with the former or something like a DAC from
Benchmark and the likes which includes a good pre-amplifier section.
Compared
to the the AVI's with dedicated sub (approx. £1900) the Dynaudio's have
a fuller balance due to more upper bass. Midrange is slightly more
forward and treble more etched and not as extended which has the effect of giving a more 'in between the speakers' sound stage. This is not necesseraly a negative, just a different presentation which some may prefer. Some (lower treble) hiss was emphasized but the flip side is that they will never sound reticent. The precise nature of presentation is
slightly complicated because of the rear EQ function but we used both
treble and bass turned down so it's probably a fair assumption that by
turning them up the above traits will be more noticeable. All this comes at a small price ...
... they
lack the transparency, refinement and headroom of the AVI's, seeming to
strain a touch under pressure and surpressing dynamics probably a
result of the relatively low powered amplifiers and diminutive size. This was not a huge problem and was more noticed by the other listener though I did hear it occasionally. The AVI's ability in that respect did'nt help the Dynaudios though compared to many passive amplifier/speaker combinations I've heard they certainly dont feel wanting. Again, using a MacMini
probably did'nt help the matter either and using a quality Pre-amp will yet
give better results but also increase cost considerably. Bass, whilst tuneful and with decent impact did'nt go as low as the AVI/Sub but I certainly did'nt expect them to. For many the quoted 45hz, which seems about right, will be enough, making the use of a sub somewhat less important than with the AVI's.
Although not cheap at £1600 I
could imagine many will like the very listenable, musical balance of
these actives. Ideal for
desktop use and smaller rooms, further helped by the EQ adjustability.
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