I’m selling on my S40’s unfortunately, in my setup they just cant match the Spendor A7’s for presence and detail and bass too obviously. They had a good run in period of over 500 hours so I think what i heard was fairly indicative, I found they made everything sound maybe a bit neutralised, forgiving of poor recordings or resolution but likewise never really excelled with good stuff, I never had any wow moments! The Spendors on the other hand show up poor stuff for what it is but good recordings sound excellent and they frequently really grab me. Also I found you really needed to crank the S40’s to make them come alive, admittedly when cranked up loud with rock or electronic they were pretty impressive but that’s enough to make me keep them. Perhaps if I’d bought the S40’s day 1 with the Nova and never heard anything else I’d be completely happy, having two sets of speakers at home to do a/b tests is a head wreck! Expensive little exercise!
When I got my Confidence C2s I just played my streamer 24/7 for a few weeks, turning it down at night.
The treble seems reasonable straight out of the box, but the bass does seem restrained. Still, the running in process is normally great fun as the speaker balance moves around a bit.
So I have put on the radio through my streamer and turned it down low overnight so that it is barely audible. However, it must be exercising the coils etc to a small degree. It might take the speakers longer to loosen up this way but, hopefully, it is counting towards the running in time.
Absolutely! They’re excellent speakers, took a while to get use to the different presentation vs my old Focus 260s but now I don’t think I’d go back to the Focus.
They like power…I had another well regarded British amp that really didn’t drive them well. Replaced with SN2 Whoa!! big improvement
My Nova drives my Contour 20’s perfectly. They Perform better the more oomph you give them!
I am only a few days in, and they already impress. There is more bass extension than the F160 plus the treble sounds effortless. If this is after 5 days, then I am very happy. It feels like my 250.2 has the welly for them too. Running through some of my old favourite albums and there is an awful lot to smile about.
I use a REL T/7i with the REL BassLine Blue hi-Level cable… It sounds great with my S40’s The S40’s have removable foam plugs for the ports. One needs to get optimum bass with speakers only first. Once that’s done and FYI there are two choices for the foam port plugs, full or partial. The REL can be added I run mine at almost the minimum crossover setting like 4 clicks up from Minimum. And then adjust the volume. Anyone with a REL ought to read this:
https://rel.net/how-to-tune-a-rel/
This is more or less how mine are setup. The main difference is I cannot put mine in corners, and since I have C2s I turn the xovers to their lowest settings, and the level is about +10 click from the lowest position. My dealer helped set them up when they delivered the C2s and I have just tweaked the xover and level very slightly from that.
Hello all, first post here I’m using a Nait 5si with the Special 40’s . We are in the process of redecorating so please disregard the cable mess. I’m loving the sound i get from this combination
Welcome Melle.
You gotta love those deep, lustrous red Special 40s.
Gorgeous!
Just powered up my newly DR’d NAP 300 with the Contour 60s. Absolutely gorgeous, a huge upgrade on what was already a very good amp. 300DR seems very well matched with this speaker - and this is before any further run-in benefits.
Better soundstage, top-end, grip, punchiness, all round control and refinement.
Result !
Not totally related to this thread, but I’ve been looking at a “well known auction site”. I want to get a decent pair of speakers for my eldest granddaughter to use with her system.
She has legacy equipment from me -
DVD5 as source, AV2 as preamp, NAP 90.3 as power amp. Currently her dad has hooked up a spare pair of ‘rear speakers’ from a Focal 5.1 set, but I think she needs something rather better. They are distinctly lacking at the bottom end. Obviously don’t work properly without a subwoofer.
Whatever I get will finish up on wall brackets or stands, so …
Don’t really want to spend more than £500, and I noticed a pair of used Dynaudio DM2/6.
How well would these go with her gear?
That sounds like they will end up close to a rear wall. So a couple of possibilities would be N-Sats, or maybe Rega RX1, as both have a dedicated wall bracket made for them.
I am not normally a fan of colours that stand out that much. But that red looks great. Enjoy your set-up — listening to it and looking at it.
I used to listen to Chario Premium and Lynx speakers, they were cherry colored, but imo these kick Chario’s ass both sound ways and looks. I’m not downplaying Chario, but these speakers are in another league.
I think the Confidence 20 have the sound, looks and price tag to better these.
Phil
@filipe Not to be rude but the C20’s cost $13000.00 vs $3000.00 for the Special 40’s That’s such a pointless comparison… Maybe you meant Contour 20’s they are about $5500.00 that’s a valid comparison…
For me, purely on looks the special 40’s win. But i think the Confidence 20 beats the 40’s otherwise. But for now, my purse is made of onions. When i look into it i start to cry