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In the far field the dispersion pattern can be described in terms of angles and a constant (1/R) term. Meaning the radiation pattern is independent of the distance. In the near field, this is not the case. The radiation pattern is dependent on the distance.

What the hell does all this mean to us?

What it means is that a person sitting 3' away from the speaker will hear something different than a person sitting 10' away, even if they are at the same angle to the speaker. How then do we get a fair measurement…

Driven by a Naim CD player and Naim amplification in a fairly large room, the loudspeaker impressed…

Sound
In my approximately 3100-ft3 room, finding the positions where the Confidence C4s worked optimally was more problematic than it had been with the other speakers I've reviewed recently. In particular, getting a…

Description: Three-way, reflex-loaded, floorstanding loudspeaker. Drive-units: two 1.1" (28mm) soft-dome tweeters, two 6" (150mm) Magnesium Silicate Polymer (MSP) cone midrange units, two 8" (200mm) MSP-cone woofers. Crossover frequencies: 730Hz, 2kHz (8kHz from two to one tweeters). Crossover slopes: 6dB/octave, first-order. Frequency response: 27Hz-25kHz ±2dB. Sensitivity: 90dB/2.83V/m. Nominal impedance: 4 ohms, 3.3 ohms minimum. Impedance phase shift: -57 degrees to +21 degrees (20-200Hz), -4 degrees to +24 degrees (200Hz-20kHz). Long-term power handling (…

Analog source: Linn Sondek LP12/Cirkus/Trampolin/Lingo/Ekos/Arkiv LP player on a Sound Organisation table.
Digital sources: Mark Levinson No.31.5 CD transport; Mark Levinson No.30.6 D/A processor; dCS 972 upsampler; Technics DVD-A10 DVD-Audio player; Musical Fidelity Nu-Vista 3D and Ayre CX-7 CD players.
Preamplification: Linn Linto phono preamp, Mark Levinson No.380S line preamp, Z-Systems rdp-1 digital control center (updated to handle 96kHz sources).
Power amplifiers: Mark Levinson No.33H monoblocks.
Cables: Datalinks: Kimber Illuminations Orchid…

The Dynaudio C4's voltage sensitivity was to specification, at 90dB(B)/2.83V/m. However, as the speaker's impedance magnitude (fig.1, solid trace) drops significantly below 8 ohms for three octaves in the lower-frequency range, where music has a considerable proportion of its energy, it is fair, I feel, to consider it as a 4 ohm load. The electrical phase angle (fig.1, dashed trace) is generally benign above the lower midrange, but the combination of -46 degrees and 5.1 ohms at 73Hz will rule out the use of amplifiers that are not happy with low impedances.

At 69" (1770mm) high by 10" (255mm) wide by 17.5" (450mm) deep, the $18,000/pair Dynaudio Confidence C4 definitely falls into that category of loudspeaker known as "freaking large." So I was startled when, after I'd had to replace them for a short period with speakers half their size, my wife referred to the C4s as "not so big."

"But these are smaller."

"Yes, but they actually occupy a larger footprint," she observed. "And the Dynaudios are so slender, they seem to disappear into the room. Besides, the…

Digital Source: Ayre C-5xe universal player, Slim Devices Transporter WiFi D/A processor.
Preamplifiers: Ayre K-1xe, Krell Evolution 202.
Power Amplifiers: Ayre MX-R, Krell Evolution 600, Portal Paladin (all monoblocks).
Cables: Digital: Stereovox XV2. Interconnect: Krell CAST, Shunyata Research Aries. Speaker: Shunyata Research Lyra, Stereovox Firebird. AC: Shunyata Research Anaconda & Orion.
Accessories: Audience adeptResponse power conditioner; Ayre L5 AC line filter; Furutech eTP60, Shunyata Research Hydra power distributors; FP20A…

The loudspeaker Wes Phillips reviewed before the Dynaudio C4 was the similarly sized but almost twice-as-expensive Canton Vento Reference 1 DC (Stereophile, November 2006). As I had published a complete set of measurements of the Confidence C4 with my original review, I thought that, to accompany Wes's Follow-Up, I would measure its response in his listening room, using the same spatial averaging technique I have used for the past 20 years. (I take nine spectra across a rectangular window centered on the listening position; the average, weighted slightly…