After 6 years with the wonderful SL-2s I decided to try some standmounts.
Absolutely nothing to do with the SL2s which remain one of the most musical speakers I’ve ever heard and a design innovation that is just incredible. I just fancied trying something different.
I heard the Dynaudio Heritage Specials at a dealer in Birmingham 18 months or so ago and I haven’t been able to get the sound out of my head.
I also considered Titan 505s but felt they might be a bit big for my small room. Having decided to try to locate a pair of the DHS I called around the handful of dealers that stock them in the UK. It was an almost comical experience. Dealer one sold his last pair yesterday and the penultimate pair the day before. Dealer two had one pair left and had a guy coming in to audition them later today so call back later to see if he went for them. Of course he did. The dealer said that anyone who demos them buys them and he was no different.
In the end I came across a lovely chap who runs a growing car audio / hifi business and is a Dyn dealer in Fareham. He does quite a bit of very informative YouTube content. Of course he sold his last pair two days earlier(!) but he’d have a think about whether he might be prepared to sell me his personal pair on an ex demo basis. A day or so later he confirmed he would so if I was still interested he’d sell them. I now have a pair of the most beautifully finished stand mounts I’ve seen. The build quality is just outstanding. I’ve had them warming up through the 552DR/300DR and most importantly they sound utterly sublime. Now need to work out selling the SL-2s.
Funny, i watched his comparison with the Confidence 20 yesterday
I also bought a used pair yesterday from a Dynaudio dealer in Germany, and as you i love the speaker(s) i use at the moment. I am very curious to try them but now i have to decide which speakers have to go…(Proac Tab10 Sig, Neat Iota Alpha, Harbeth P3ESR XD) and which i may keep for a second system in the future. They are all speakers which are absolutely fun to listen to.
The 12au7 NOS (new old stock) can last between 5000 - 10000+ hours… the Mullards EL34s can last a very long time. They give a 5-10000 hour life but people have had them decades.
I tend to buy them when ever I see good NOS tubes to build up a stock. Once they’re gone they’re gone and current production tubes don’t last anywhere near as long as the old stock ones!
It replaced an inexpensive Pro-Ject Phono Box S2 Ultra, that I bought at the time I purchased the DG-1, it was only meant to be temporary for a few months until I could get the Vertere Phono. So probably not a fair comparison considering the price differential.
Unfortunatly the dream of listening and owning these speakers just vanished as the pair i received had a kink in the tweeter, which obviously somebody tried to repair at some point.
Also, i got used to smaller speakers which make the Heritage really look huge and unapproptiate.
So, packing and sending it back! The P3ESR XD stays for now!
Collected the LP12 from its stay in the health farm. Had a quick listen to it in the shop and it was sounding great.
Surprised at how many boxes it came home with.
About to be unboxed and enjoyed.
It will hopefully be joined by the 222/300 next week.
@NorfolkT - they look absolutely stunning. I think a lot of stand mounts speakers are let down by ugly stands but those stands are a fabulous match. Best of all, I can imagine they sound even better than they look. Nice one!!
Thank you @1GiantLeap that’s very kind. The sound they produce is fabulous with the midrange particularly impressive and it certainly helps that they are lovely things to look at. Listening for hours….
Curious as to how the Dynaudo speakers are sounding this close to your back wall? With the large rear port I may have incorrectly assumed they would need to be placed further out into the room.
They sound great but I am thinking exactly that and will try to move them a bit further out to see if there is a difference. I’m obviously limited in what is a small room.
