Hi All, I am currently running 282/250.2 into Dynaudio Focus 160 speakers. I like Dynaudio and so I am planning to stay with the brand for my next upgrade. My problem is that my local dealer is a great guy, but home auditions might prove tricky. Never mind, I will listen to a couple in his studio. My first choice could be the Special 40, I will try Contour 20 and I am waiting for Evoke 20s to arrive. My thinking is that as I listen to pop and rock, then the Special 40 should be the toe tapper, the Contour 20 is the cultured alternative but possibly more sophisticated and needing a while to appreciate. Of course, the Evokes are all promise at the moment, and might not even upgrade from my Focus. I will trust my ears, but I know that the dealer does not have a 250.2. Therefore, which power amp should I get him to use for the audition? I believe that the 250DR is a different presentation. Is the 300DR closer to the 250.2? Oh, and which speaker is going to win my hard earned cash?
I found the 250 and 300, both DR, to be relatively similar in overall presentation. I did audition a 250.2 some years ago; the 300DR didn’t remind me of it at all tbh.
I’ve heard a pair of Contour 20s on the end of a 300DR and it sounded very very impressive. That was with a 252 but I’m sure your 282 will be brilliant. What source are you using?
I have a Bluesound Node 2 through a Chord Qutest.
The 250 DR has better bass focus and more richly textured midrange than the 250-2. I did the 250-2 to DR upgrade last year. FWIW: I ran the 250-2 and 250DR with a pair of Contour S3.4 with Esotar2 tweeters. Since upgrading to 250DR I upgraded my Contours to Confidence C2 Platinum. The sound is sublime. 
The 250-2 will sound great with any Dynaudio speaker from the Confidence C2 on down.
250DR is up to the task for Countour 20? or 250DR/Special 40 is a more balanced combination?
I use Special 40s with a Nova which sounds very good so the 250DR should be a good choice.
Yes 250DR is up to task of powering Contour 20. I have that combo and it’s more than capable. SN2 is up to powering Contour 20 as well.
250-2 is more than adequate to drive either C20 or S40. I drive Confidence C2s with one.
Audition with you have at home or your placing too many variables into your audition!!!, which may mean you have to take part of it with you, which can always be difficult. Personally, whether he’s a nice guy or not id move on to next dealer which will allow you to audition your options at home, shop auditions are fine to a point but will never give you the sound you have to live with. But that’s just me! but I would never buy from a shop audition alone, especially if they don’t have the equipment i have at home
Thanks for the on topic reply. My next closest dealer is 50 miles away and it all proves complicated to get everything arranged. Hopefully, my local dealer will let me drop off my 250.2 so we can use that.
True, especially for speakers, which can sound different (and/or better or worse) in dealer environment than at home.
I have had those issues before, auditioned Epos K2 and sounded great in dealership but bloated at home. Now stick to standmounts as they seem to suffer less from room coupling issues (but I might have just been lucky).
FWIW: I have been able to get my C2s to work really well in my smallish room 5m x 3.5m, but it took a lot of work getting the best speaker positioning. Just changing toe-in by a cm makes a difference. Fortunately they are way too hard to move for anyone to change the position without being very deliberate about it.
Personally, I think 50 miles is a piece of cake if this provides access to a dealer allowing home demos. Getting speakers wrong is quite a nightmare — much worse than 50 mile drives…
50 miles isn’t all that far tbh with the amount of money your planing on spending. Take other half out for a nice meal at ten same time keeps everybody happy
I understand, and in the uk I would have been fine. Overseas, with reliance on public transport, then it all becomes more difficult. Hence my need to at least limit the number of speakers for audition
I use Special 40s with an olive 250 and Hi-Cap. Great combo - fast and fun, but detailed and cultured as well.
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