If you are committed to keeping the S40s, I would play them as much as possible over the next few days/weeks and then reassess things. Then plug in that sub!
Are the S40s new? Dyns take a while to break in and can sound horrible during the process. At least from my experience. That said I’m very happy with C20s bass and my understanding is S40 isn’t far off from that.
Yeh I would give them some time; leave them running during the day if you can
@TheKevster I found these in the boot of my car! Up and running now, first impressions mixed, a little disappointed with the grey birch in the flesh - I thought they would be a bit lighter as I’d only seen the red at the demo, the grey looks a little dull, Sound wise it’s early days - what can I expect in terms of running in?
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S40s will get better. I’ve had mine 8 months and they sound really good. I’ve listened to speakers costing twice as much and they are nowhere near as entertaining. A very good match with Naim.
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Yeh they’re already opening up after 2 hours!
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Contour 30 purchased to replace my Contour 20. May get lucky and get them before the weekend.
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Hi @Hollow i really like the grey finish, mostly for the neutrality - it goes with most decor. I’m sure they will grow on you.
They do need a bit of running in - I found at least 72 hours for them to sound good, and a couple of months for them to really open up. When I first got my S40s I followed my dealer’s advice and placed them on the floor, facing each other closely with one speaker out of phase and with the radio on at low volume for four days while I went away on a break. Seemed to work well.
Don’t forget to experiment with placement. I found 55cm (no toe-in) from a supporting wall wall works best for me.
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Ok thanks, yeh the grey is growing on me already, I guess it was an initial shock as it wasn’t quite what I was expecting, now that they’re up on the stands it all ties together well with the grey finish, black cones and black stands - smart. I’ll leave them running during the day and see how we go but already they’re sounding good and opening up, they were a bit ‘meh’ initially, definitely an easier listen then my spendors which is what I was hoping for, maybe lacking the precision of the A7’s but that can be a double edged sword in terms of fatigue, they can only get better so I guess I’m happy so far. What do you use for isolation under the speakers - I’m using the supplied pads but I guess they could be improved on? I currently have them 500mm off the wall but will mess around with positioning over Easter
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@Hollow - I found blu-tack under the speakers worked best for me. Tightened things up a bit. Even with trebly CDs, the S40s are never fatiguing, just always entertaining.
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If I may chime in - Dynaudio provide some advice I found very useful on speaker positioning - I put a link to a video from Dynaudio on this subject in this thread back in Feb. Dynaudio also have a video on the philosophy behind their stands, which I found very informative.
I have red special 40s I got in Jan and I think they are run in now. They are about 1m out from the back walls, 50cm from side walls and toed in so I can just see the inside sides of the speakers from my listening position - this is pretty much following Dynaudio’s advice, and it sounds good to me. One thing I found very important was to make sure the speakers are firmly on the stands and the stands are firmly spiked to the floor.
HTH
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I second the blu tack method!
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It’s amazing how the sensitivity is changing over just a few hours, when I connected up first I had to give the volume on my Nova a good yag to get things moving, I’m now gradually turning it down
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DYnaudio speakers are a real roller coaster ride to break in. They go up and down. One moment they sound glorious, another you wonder what you were thinking to buy them. Finally they settle down to sounding fantastic.
It’s even worse with the Esotar2 tweeters. My C2 Platinum took 500+ hours to burn in before they sounded consistent. They are now glorious, full-time.
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hi Hollow, how are you finding the low end so far on your s40’s compared to the spendors?
thanks, pete
@Fizzgog It’s early days as I only have about 4 hours up on them, I left them running at home while at work today so I’ll see later on. First impressions on the bass is that its ok, certainly no shortage generally but not as low or tight as the Spendors but they have a few thousand hours up, as a standmounter I’m not expecting the S40’s to match the spendors bottom end but I’m presuming they’ll tighten up with time. I havent spent much time re placement either as yet. Any improvement with yours?
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How does the 3.4 & the c2 sound at late hours low volume. What i mean not just ok but do they excel in this respect.
A lot of that depends on the amp.
I had the S3.4 and now have the C2, and use a 250DR with them. I play them late after my wife goes to bed all the time. At about 65db they sound fantastic. I don’t typically play orchestral music that low, but just about everything else I play (mostly acoustic jazz and classical) sounds great.
New or used? Are those the old style feet?