On Thursday, December 12, New York City’s Innovative Audio presented the North American debut of four Dynaudio loudspeakers. The event, held at the store’s Midtown location, featured presentations by Dynaudio executives John Quick and Michael Manousselis. Attendees had the opportunity to experience the sound quality and design of these new models.
Of the four Dynaudio speakers showcased, only two were entirely new: the Contour 20 Black Edition and the Confidence 20A Active two-way monitors. The flagship Confidence 50 floorstanders, while impressive, are not new to the lineup, and the Contour Legacy loudspeakers have been available globally for a couple of months.
The first to catch my eye, as I stepped off the elevator into Innovative Audio’s beautifully appointed space, were the new Dynaudio Contour 20 Black Edition speakers ($8000/pair), supported by Dynaudio Stand 20 stands ($598/pair) and driven by Naim separates.
Rated at a sensitivity of 90dB/2.83V/m into 4 ohms and weighing 32lb each, the Contour 20 Black Edition will receive its official debut in March (location TBD). A premium version of Dynaudio’s Contour 20i monitor, the Contour 20 BE employs the 28mm Esotar3 silk-dome tweeter used in the brand’s top-tier Confidence range. A newly designed 7" woofer, with a cone that uses Dynaudio’s proprietary MSP (Magnesium Silicate Polymer) material, is optimized to mate well with the Esotar3, with a revamped crossover with Mundorf and Duelund capacitors and Van den Hul internal cabling. The 20BE features a curved, heavily braced MDF cabinet with a 1/2" aluminum baffle recessed into the speaker’s front panel.
The Contour 20 Black Edition will be available in high-gloss black, which complements the black anodized baffle and the black, powder-coated tweeter front-plate and mid/bass-driver basket.
Innovative’s corner listening room was playing Dynaudio’s Confidence 20A Active two-way monitors ($24,000/pair), which have amplifiers and controls within their stands. The drivers in the Confidence 20A are the same as in the passive version: a 28mm Esotar3 tweeter and 7" MSP woofer. Pascal of Copenhagen supplied the 20A’s class-D amplifiers; one amp is dedicated to each driver (400W for woofer, 100W for tweeter).
“Given the slightly larger internal cabinet volume—no passive crossover—and DSP/direct amp connection, meaning we control all parameters and know exactly how the woofer will respond to the amp, the downward-firing port was redesigned to allow the system to extend deeper than the passive version,” noted John Quick over e-mail.
The speaker cabinet utilizes a similar curved, heavily braced MDF cabinet and the same Compex composite-foam front baffle as the passive Confidence 20. Each 20A is permanently attached to its dedicated stand.
Eager to delve deeper into the technical aspects, I ventured (crawled, actually) behind the loudspeakers to explore the control dials on the stands.
“With the Dynaudio-designed DSP (Digital Signal Processing) core inside the stands,” John Quick wrote in that email, “you can configure room-boundary compensation filters, input sensitivity, tonal balance and more. [The] DSP Core features Analog Devices digital-to-analog and analog-to-digital converters, manufactured in Denmark to Dynaudio specifications. Upgradeable with Dynaudio-written firmware in the future. The DSP core is also utilized for fully active, digital crossover.”
John Quick and the Confidence 20A active loudspeakers.
Controls on the Confidence 20A stand include Digital Channel (L/R) selection, and more. Sample Rate Conversion can be set On or Off. The DSP core converts to 24/192 when set to ‘On’. When set to "Off", the system will lock to any incoming data stream from 44.1–192kHz natively without conversion. Analog Input Sensitivity choices are High, Medium, or Low, to match the output level of the source. The Position dial offers the usual choices: Wall, Corner, or Free Standing. The Sound Balance control is similar to the Tilt switch option found in the Dynaudio Professional Core range. Indicator Light controls the front-facing power/status indication light. A dCS Rossini APEX DAC/network streamer (not shown in the photo) sent signal directly to the Confidence 20As using its XLR analog outputs.
Dynaudio’s Contour Legacy loudspeakers ($14,000/pair) have been available globally for only two months, but there’s a catch—the speakers are limited to 1000 pairs. Handmade at Dynaudio’s headquarters in Skanderborg, Denmark, the Contour Legacy is finished in sustainable American Walnut. Only 200 pairs from the production run are slotted for North America. Each pair is individually numbered.
The Contour Legacies were supported by an all-Luxman system consisting of a D-10X Super Audio CD Player, an NT-07 Network Transport, a C-10X Control Amplifier, and an M-10X Power Amplifier. All cabling was Transparent Ultra.
Featuring a rated sensitivity of 90dB/2.83V/m at 4 ohms and weighing 71.7 lb each, the floorstanding Contour Legacy uses the 28mm Esotar3 soft-dome tweeter from the Confidence range (with its Hexis resonance-defeating inner dome); dual 7" MSP woofers from the Evidence range; and a crossover using components from Mundorf and Duelund.
"Perforations in the woofer around dust cap ridges aren’t actually perforations," Quick wrote. "They’re ridges that protrude to the rear of the cone to allow for perfectly centering the voice coil former, and to provide additional adhesion points between the former and cone. This is one of the two most significant points of failure in any dynamic driver (the other being overheated voice coil that shorts)."
Streaming Art Pepper Meets the Rhythm Section, the Contour Legacy system exhibited lifelike dynamic range, robust bass response, and a palpable sense of percussive weight. Though not especially precise or analytical, the warm, full-bodied quality of this system provided a comforting counterpoint to the harsh New York winter.
The final Dynaudio presented at the event, the Confidence 50 ($33,500/pair), was auditioned in Innovative’s largest room. The Confidence 50 is sleek, with a thin profile. The center-mounted tweeter is recessed within DDC Lens, adding visual interest while also focusing the tweeter on the listening position; Dynaudio it also helps focus the midrange drivers and woofers. This results, Dynaudio says, in "dramatically reduced reflections from floors and ceilings—which means you hear exactly what the driver system, and not the room, is doing.
Michael Manousselis and the Confidence 50 loudspeakers.
The Confidence 50 “features the best drivers/tech we know how to make to date,” Quick wrote. It "includes the latest generation Esotar 3 tweeter, latest ‘DDC’ (Dynaudio Directivity Control) acoustic design utilizing sculpted/optimized Compex (composite foam) baffle, MSP mids and woofers with neodymium motors machined into rear-wave-friendly baskets and pole pieces. Premium componentry throughout otherwise.”
With a specified sensitivity of 87dB/2.83V/m and a nominal 4-ohm impedance, the three-way Confidence 50 loudspeaker includes two 6" MSP midrange drivers and two 7" MSP woofers. Each speaker weighs 109lb.
The core system in Innovative’s largest room included a dCS Vivaldi Apex Player, which delivered its analog output to a Dan D’Agostino Momentum MxV Integrated amplifier used as both a preamp and amp. The MxV was flanked by a pair of Dan D’Agostino Relentless 800 Mono Amplifiers, but those were not used. Connections were all by Transparent Reference.
Rated at a sensitivity of 90dB/2.83V/m into 4 ohms and weighing 32lb each, the Contour 20 Black Edition will receive its official debut in March (location TBD). A premium version of Dynaudio’s Contour 20i monitor, the Contour 20 BE employs the 28mm Esotar3 silk-dome tweeter used in the brand’s top-tier Confidence range. A newly designed 7" woofer, with a cone that uses Dynaudio’s proprietary MSP (Magnesium Silicate Polymer) material, is optimized to mate well with the Esotar3, with a revamped crossover with Mundorf and Duelund capacitors and Van den Hul internal cabling. The 20BE features a curved, heavily braced MDF cabinet with a 1/2" aluminum baffle recessed into the speaker’s front panel.
The Contour 20 Black Edition will be available in high-gloss black, which complements the black anodized baffle and the black, powder-coated tweeter front-plate and mid/bass-driver basket.
Innovative’s corner listening room was playing Dynaudio’s Confidence 20A Active two-way monitors ($24,000/pair), which have amplifiers and controls within their stands. The drivers in the Confidence 20A are the same as in the passive version: a 28mm Esotar3 tweeter and 7" MSP woofer. Pascal of Copenhagen supplied the 20A’s class-D amplifiers; one amp is dedicated to each driver (400W for woofer, 100W for tweeter).
“Given the slightly larger internal cabinet volume—no passive crossover—and DSP/direct amp connection, meaning we control all parameters and know exactly how the woofer will respond to the amp, the downward-firing port was redesigned to allow the system to extend deeper than the passive version,” noted John Quick over e-mail.
The speaker cabinet utilizes a similar curved, heavily braced MDF cabinet and the same Compex composite-foam front baffle as the passive Confidence 20. Each 20A is permanently attached to its dedicated stand.
Eager to delve deeper into the technical aspects, I ventured (crawled, actually) behind the loudspeakers to explore the control dials on the stands.
“With the Dynaudio-designed DSP (Digital Signal Processing) core inside the stands,” John Quick wrote in that email, “you can configure room-boundary compensation filters, input sensitivity, tonal balance and more. [The] DSP Core features Analog Devices digital-to-analog and analog-to-digital converters, manufactured in Denmark to Dynaudio specifications. Upgradeable with Dynaudio-written firmware in the future. The DSP core is also utilized for fully active, digital crossover.”
The Contour Legacies were supported by an all-Luxman system consisting of a D-10X Super Audio CD Player, an NT-07 Network Transport, a C-10X Control Amplifier, and an M-10X Power Amplifier. All cabling was Transparent Ultra.
Featuring a rated sensitivity of 90dB/2.83V/m at 4 ohms and weighing 71.7 lb each, the floorstanding Contour Legacy uses the 28mm Esotar3 soft-dome tweeter from the Confidence range (with its Hexis resonance-defeating inner dome); dual 7" MSP woofers from the Evidence range; and a crossover using components from Mundorf and Duelund.
"Perforations in the woofer around dust cap ridges aren’t actually perforations," Quick wrote. "They’re ridges that protrude to the rear of the cone to allow for perfectly centering the voice coil former, and to provide additional adhesion points between the former and cone. This is one of the two most significant points of failure in any dynamic driver (the other being overheated voice coil that shorts)."
Streaming Art Pepper Meets the Rhythm Section, the Contour Legacy system exhibited lifelike dynamic range, robust bass response, and a palpable sense of percussive weight. Though not especially precise or analytical, the warm, full-bodied quality of this system provided a comforting counterpoint to the harsh New York winter.
The final Dynaudio presented at the event, the Confidence 50 ($33,500/pair), was auditioned in Innovative’s largest room. The Confidence 50 is sleek, with a thin profile. The center-mounted tweeter is recessed within DDC Lens, adding visual interest while also focusing the tweeter on the listening position; Dynaudio it also helps focus the midrange drivers and woofers. This results, Dynaudio says, in "dramatically reduced reflections from floors and ceilings—which means you hear exactly what the driver system, and not the room, is doing.
With a specified sensitivity of 87dB/2.83V/m and a nominal 4-ohm impedance, the three-way Confidence 50 loudspeaker includes two 6" MSP midrange drivers and two 7" MSP woofers. Each speaker weighs 109lb.
The core system in Innovative’s largest room included a dCS Vivaldi Apex Player, which delivered its analog output to a Dan D’Agostino Momentum MxV Integrated amplifier used as both a preamp and amp. The MxV was flanked by a pair of Dan D’Agostino Relentless 800 Mono Amplifiers, but those were not used. Connections were all by Transparent Reference.
