Can ask your dealer if the Contour 20 or Heritage Special is a higher league speaker. The Heritage Special has been getting a lot of praise by people who have listened to them.
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I was looking at speakers at a nice shop in Milwaukee, WI. Dealer is good guy. Dynaudio dealer. He did not have the Heritages but said he could get them…but he advised me not to. Said they were not worth the $
Thanks for the information. Interesting indeed as the Heritage Special costs £5,500/$7,000 and the Contour 20 is cheaper at £3,750/$5,000. The Heritage Special looks a lot better than the Contour 20 to me though.
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his opinion only… many buyers of the Heritage would disagree.
A review of the Heritage Special below taken from another forum.
No affiliation to Huff, Dynaudio or anyone else but I was in Denver last month and went by Crescendo, the Wilson Audio and Dynaudio dealer. Demo’d the Heritage Specials driven by DCS front end through Audio Research Ref6se and Ref160m monos. The Heritage Specials are damn good speakers. I presently have Wilsons and Devores at home and the Heritage Specials are an extraordinary achievement. They play in that league for sure and they can fit in the boot of your car.
Now, some may believe that a stand mount speaker shouldn’t cost $7,000 and that’s all fine and well. What these speakers are capable of is quite simply extraordinary though. Who knows how they would sound when not driven by $90,000+ of front end gear, I didn’t ask them to hook them up to another setup. The store personnel however didn’t hesitate to hang them off the end of that rig and everyone in the store stopped what they were doing. They punch waaaay above their weightclass. Another customer was there demoing some Sasha DAW’s and we both looked at each other and just shook our heads at what we were hearing. Heck, the Transparent Ref speaker cables cost more than the Heritage Specials!*
Will they change the audio industry? Probably not but to summarily dismiss them would be a mistake. Of course, no deep bass but what was there was really there. The mid and upper bass was quite convincing in a large demo room, the midrange and the upper end was sublime. Go listen, they may not be your cup of tea, they may be at a pricepoint below or above what you are looking to spend but they are absolutely a bargain in my opinion.
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So when that dealer heard them, what is it about the speakers that drove him to such a negative opinion that he would tell you they aren’t worth the money? Were they run in yet when he heard them? Dynaudio speakers can sound horrible at times before they’re fully burned in, expecially the better ones with Esotar-class tweeters. They need a lot of time. I know that from personal experience.
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Update, so far I have listened to:
Dali Epicon 2
Dali Epicon 6
Dynaudio contour 20
Neat orkestras
So far, the sound I have preferred is the contours. Still to audition, SCM40s and Kudos super 20As. More to follow
The Contour 30s are worth a listen too if you can stretch your budget. Also, the Contour 20s with a REL sub would be quite a good setup for a 282/250.
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Thanks - Interestingly we discussed adding a sub to the contour 20s. Contour 30s are within budget but just waiting for some to come into dealer
AND THE WINNER IS……….Right - the auditions are over, over the course of the last 6 weeks, many speakers have crossed the threshold to the house:
- Dali Epicon 2s - Loved these, warm sound, great depth
- Dali Epicon 6s - didn’t work in my room, too muddled at the bottom end, sounded a bit woolly - I don;t think the suspended wooden floor help here, as setting the plinths on slate slabs helped, but not completely
- Neat Orkestras - Amazing clarity, but lacked the presence and stereo imaging in my room
- PMC SMC20s - To detailed for my ears
- Focal Kanta 2s - Way too exciting, I was worn out listening to them
- Contour 20s - My second favourites and could have been the winner, were it not for my dealer suggesting I audition….
KUDOS Super 20As - Wow is all I can say, when the first notes of Desperado by Karen Carpenter from my speaker test playlists rolled off I looked up in amazement at where the sound was coming from - it was just there, in the room, not coming directly from the speakers, but all around them. The bass wasn’t as present as the Dali Epicon 6s but as a result worked better with the suspended wooden floor in the room.
So - new pair ordered, 3-4 week wait for delivery and then my friendly dealer will come and install them, probably during loads of tea while we listen intently to make sure everything is working - Oh - and I can keep the demo speakers until the new ones arrive 
. You just don’t get that experience when you buy over the internet…I could have kept the demos and negotiated a bigger discount, but I wanted walnut instead of light oak 
Thanks all for your inputs and suggestions - Its been an enjoyable few months from when I started this thread
MIke
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Thanks for keeping us posted and congratulation on your choice. It looks to have been quite a journey, i hope you enjoyed the process and did not find it too exhausting going through all these options.
Considering your room limitations i think it has been crucial you auditioned all these speakers at home and found the one which works best for you.
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Thanks for the update @VintageMike - always great to hear someone else’s speaker journey and what they’v eventually landed on. There are so many great speakers out there - we really are spoilt for choice. Enjoy the Super 20As, they look like a great option.
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You went about the process of choosing speakers the right way. And it seems you have a very responsive dealer to support you.
Congrats on your choice. You also have knowledge to help and answer questions for current or new forum members based on your experience and findings.
Scott
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Shall keep a note of this as the 282/250 combo is probably close to my ultimate goal.
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thanks @Neil0001 - speakers are a bit like running shoes, its a very individual choice and like shoes, there’s no such thing as a one size fits all - literally! Also my room has limitations - the most notable of which is the suspended wooden floor which basically ruled out any floor standers not on plinths - but I didn’t know that when I started out!
Mike
Actually to be fair, I am spoilt for choice with 3 dealers within an hour of me, all of them very responsive. I’ve shared my business around the 3 of them over the years!
Thanks Mike. I have the same issue with a wooden floor. It’s interesting that the Focal Aria range (One down from the Kanta) which I have, are plinth mounted. Anyway, enjoy your new system! 
The S20’s are also plinth mounted but the port is downward facing. This makes them very tolerant to positioning as the port gap is fixed by design.
Don’t overlook the Kudos C20 either, I’ve owned both and the C20 took me though from 202/HicapDR/200 to 282/HicapDR/250DR and they kept on improving as the system improved. I upgraded to S20’s driven by a requirement to change finish and ‘unfortunately’ a pair of Super 20’s turned up first! The S20’s are better but both speakers are similar and share most of their sonic attributes.
I still have mine and they have just had a new lease of life with a move up to 252/SuperCap DR/300DR and they keep on giving so they are a good long term bet.
Not as well know but Gold Note A6 Evo work brilliantly with that amp, I used it for sometime to good effect and if you improve the amp later the speakers are more than capable of stepping up. They are just about in your price range. Well worth a listen
Thanks - but after 7 different speakers, I’ve landed on my first choice, of etc Kudos S20As
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