I’m considering buying pre owned Dynaudio special 40 speakers but I’m unsure how critical placement is.
My room is 4m wide by 6m long and they’ll be firing down the longer length, they will be about 2.5m apart but the max distance form the rear wall is about 40cm and 70cm from the side walls, this is my concern.
Trying them first isn’t an option as I’m buying used.
I have a Naim Nova driving them.
Your thoughts will be appreciated especially from Special 40 owners.
Hi Dalmatian,
I know nothing about the Dynaudio Special 40 except that it has excellent reviews and is clearly a very capable loudspeaker. What I would say is that given you don’t have the option of trying before you buy then I would proceed with extreme caution. We all know that speakers can be extremely room sensitive and what performs well in one environment may simply not in another. Whatever anyone else says is in a sense irrelevant since it’s your particular room they will be in. It could be a resounding success or a very costly mistake. You will be taking a risk here - obviously it’s your call. Good luck anyway, I hope it works out well for you.
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Only 40cm from the rear wall is quite a gamble with those big rear firing ports imo. Even more as the wall are not that far away either.
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Can’t speak for the Special 40s but if they are like the Contours (also rear ported) they need plenty of space from the rear wall and the sides to perform optimally. Once given that space they will sound lovely.
My Contour 60s (much bigger floor-standers) are about 55 inches from back of speaker to rear wall, which I found to be optimum. These are also firing ‘long ways’.
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I consider this a borderline case, these are about the distances where I’ve placed my Special Forty’s as well … more than happy with the end result, but please be aware that mine are driven by a NAP 250 DR which might have its effect on things like bass output.
If I were you, I’d go for them, especially if the price is right - if in the end you’re not happy with hthem, you should be able to pass them on easiliy …
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not the same but i had dyn evoke 10’s and i could only give then 25cm from wall and at low vols they were brilliant but at higher vols the bass swamped… room 3.5 x 4.5. You may well be ok in a bigger room, oh and my room is new build so drylined which can cause bass issues.
I used to own a Nova and special 40s in a 7mx5m room and they were fine at about 45cm off the back wall.
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I have my S40’s around 60cm (obviously measured from the back) from the wall which seems to work well. They would probably sound better with more distance but I am very happy with the sound. Both with the Nova that I had previously as well with my existing SN3 / NDX 2 setup.
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After reading all responses here, I guess you would be fine with 40cm from the rear wall. Compromises are common in life and we’ll just have to make do with what we can do or achieve. The sound or performance may not be 100% perfect but you can optimise the placement to the best of your ability.
Based on my experience with both front and rear port speakers, they all sound best when pushed out into the room. My rear port speakers currently have 76 to 79cm from the rear wall, exact dimensions (toe-in). My front port speakers used to have more than 70cm from the rear wall too but after they are moved to a new room, they now have 40cm from the rear wall. Performance took a dip but there are compromises that have to be made. Sound is still good though, not stellar but good. I initially lived with 30cm for several months but gave them an additional 10cm when the bass sounded unnatural to my ears.
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I’ve owned the Special 40 and had the Nova on demo at a different time so unfortunately not together, but from experience and best guess the two might not be an ideal combination? I think the Nova will drive them and bass will not be lacking (you also have the rear port plugs that would help with somewhat closer to wall placement) but I am afraid it might never feel at ease, there might not be nearly enough spark and life at medium/low volume for the medium and higher frequencies, and they might sound too subdued? So I would suggest if you try, to have the option to demo and return.
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Hi there,
I have the dynaudio special 40s and was running them off of a Nova. Great combination in my opinion. I have subsequently upgraded to SN3/NDX2 and they have grown into that combination as well.
Speaker placement isn’t optimal in my room with the rear of the speakers 30cm from the wall, I am managing things with the partial bung supplied with the speaker.
Clearly different rooms sound different but I thought I would share where I am if that helps you in your decision process.
Good luck!
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