I’d like to know the strategy used to get large speakers through the WAF. I’d have zero chance of getting amazing speakers like that in my house.
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Well. Give and take I guess and I think she likes them. They aren’t that big in the surrounding.
/ Anders
@Flachead - I own a pair - no negatives as far as I can hear, though they do need careful placement, away from walls (mine are about 56cm out into the room).
I was blown away within the first minute of hearing them at a demo late last year. Amazing speakers for the money, astonishing bass for the size and a lovely build and finish to boot.
I agree @SJT - everyone who’s been round has said how good they sound, how handsome they look, and how amazing the bass is for such a small box.
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Easy, just put aside the same amount of money you would spend for the speakers and use it to buy her a gift she always wanted. Better start saving…
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Flachead, the reviews are spot on. I’ve never regretted buying the Special 40s. I’ve not heard anything better below the £4,000 mark.
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The reviews are all very positive, except for Stereophile. Stereophile claims there is a cabinet resonance or something similar. It’s curious that they are the only ones to have found this “flaw”.
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I guess Dynaudio didn’t make their ad buy quota with the magazine. 
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I am just a beginner here, with Dynaudio. I bought Excite 12s from a local shop that seems to specialise in end of line deals. I got on well with them, and traded up to Focus 160s when they had a pair at a silly price. I love them and having upgraded the electronics from 202/150x to 282/250.2 then the 160s have continued to impress. I am auditioning Special 40s and Contour 20s soon. With my preference of Pop, rock and electronica then I have, from the reviews, already arbitrarily decided that the Special 40 is likely to give the presentation that I am after. The evokes are a potential wild card, but if Dynaudio has their product range organised then the Evoke should not intrude on my choice!
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From some posts I’ve read from previous owners it seems the move from 160 to S40 is more of a sideways move than upgrade. Contour 20 is an upgrade. I decided to keep my Contour 20 and save some cash instead of upgrading to Contour 30. They play rock extremely well. Enjoy your demo.
I have seen that comment made, and then others that claim it is a truly positive step. There is also the chance that I will opt to keep the 160s and spend the money on a DR upgrade to the 250.2!
Do the DR upgrade. I did it to my 250.2 and it’s a nice upgrade. It has better grip on the bass and more refined and richly textured midrange, and a smoother high end. You will feel like the speakers are upgraded after that.
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Oh dear, now the speakers I’d like cost twice as much!!
Out of interest how are the S40’s with poorer recordings or lower Rez sources?
Yes indeed! Mine are shaping up nicely and I keep finding old records to play through them for the first time to hear new things - I am loving it. Lots of precision bass (pun intended), airy smooth top end, sharp 3D imaging, “real” sounding and very agile. Niiiice
One thing I have noticed about how the red ones look is that they are less lairy in real life than in pictures. In the pics I have seen they look very bright red, but in real life they are more subdued - a deep red that in my room night-time lighting looks a bit like mahogany and in bright sunlight they look like a red apple.
I am going to have to shut up as I am coming over like an evangelist…
BTW in my stand 20s I have 1 1/2 tubs of atabites in each - this comes about halfway up I reckon. I have 2 more tubs on order so that will make 2 1/2 tubs in each stand and each will weigh 20kg then. I will be interested to see what difference this makes. I am glad my floor is concrete…
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@Hollow I played a Led Zep bootleg (def not hi-fi) through mine earlier and it all sounded jolly good. I never play anything lower than 16/44 so I can’t comment on lower-res files.
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My demo pair were red, and while I agree that they are more subtle in real life than in pics, I opted for the grey as we think they will match a wider range of interiors in the event of a move or redecoration .
My current Naim + Dynaudio combo, finally 100% happy with it.
I started my journey with a UnitiLite BT and Emit 20’s, a very potent combo already. After a year I’ve upgraded my UnitiLite with a NAP 200DR and there began the trouble… Not much later I’ve upgraded the Emits for Excite X18’s, the UnitiLite upgraded to the NAC-N 272 and there was my (nearly) sweet spot. I was very happy with that combo but my hands were itching already after half a year.
I’ve listened to a lot of speakers, highlights were the ATC SCM19’s, Audiovector SR1 Avantgarde Arrete, Dynaudio S40 and the Contour 20. I nearly bought the Audiovectors, but I couldn’t cope the fact that I left Dynaudio for something else as I was really loving the sound of those Danes. So I did a second listen of the Contour at a different dealer and there it was… I was in love again.
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Nice setup,but I can’t help wondering if you are getting a focused image.The right speaker is awfully close to the wall,and the left one appears to have a wide open space beside it.First reflection point off the wall could be smearing what you are hearing,check the Dyn manual,they usually include a diagram on where or where not to place the speakers.
there is also a very helpful video all about speaker placement in detail here:
I learnt a lot from it
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