Dynaudio C1 with more impact


I've just auditioned a pair of Dynaudio C1 hooked up to a Cary SLI 80 and I really liked the speakers, and I was actually very surprised by the Cary since it's a pretty low watt amp which seems to go against the suggestions of many around here. I listened to mostly older rock (Beatles, Pink Floyd, Queen, Zeppelin) and I thought they were amazing for this kind of stuff. There was a lot of detail, and every instrument was very well separated. The only "issue" I ran into was when playing metal, which even that sounded really good. The only thing I wish it had was more "impact", for lack of a better word. All the music was there in front of me, and every instrument was clearly audible and while this is good for most times, there are times when I'd actually like to feel the music hit me, if that makes sense. I realize that they're pretty small speakers and the bass on them while extended and went pretty low, it was refined rather than having any impact.

Am I looking at the completely wrong speaker for this? Don't get me wrong I still liked them very much as they were, but I'm wondering if the issue that I'm seeing has to do with the power provided (is a high watt amp really needed for that sort of this, or is that simply for more volume?), room setup, or does it just need a sub in some instances.
jibbonacci
The C1's have a 3" voice coil and they use aluminum wire which is extremely light in weight. Therefore they are very 'fast' and natural sounding to me when compared to the traditional driver. I power my C1's with a Bryston B100. At moderate listening levels I think they it sounds great. At high levels it sounds great too BUT I know from being at my Dyn dealer more power will make them go even louder and still sound fantastic.

They really like high current so don't always look at watts. What I mean is the entry level Naim integrated at 50 watts sounds louder than my 100 bryston watts. At my dealer we paired up that same entry level naim with the sapphires and all I can saw is WOW. That being said I will admit I bought the bryston B100 before I ever heard of Dynaudio. So if you really like loud then more power is something you want and again at high levels I would think you would get closer to the 'impact' you are speaking of. It's pretty hard to pressurize a room with 6.9" drivers. I do have a REL B3 for a sub and a concern I did have was the bass from the Rel seemed slow. It just didn't seem to match up very well UNTIL I upgraded the Rel cable. I had Nordost make me a baseline sub cable to the 'Rel spec'. Now all lower tones blend in very well.

At 1 time considered upgrading to the C2's and my dealer let me demo his C2's in my home for a week. My first impression was WOW but found they were hard to position in my house for the best overall sound. My room is very strange (26' X 12') and I have to listen near field. After a few days I put the C1's back and for me everything was more focused. My dealer has a better room for listening and the C2's really kick butt at his place and the C4's are even better. So the room does have a huge impact of how they will sound.

If you are serious about the C1's ask the dealer if you can demo them in your home with your equipment. A side note if you do get new C1's be forewarned they will sound great out of the box but between 150 and 200 hrs you will ask yourself why did I just spend 7k for these. From there will will get much better. I had what I considered a flaw in the cabinets on the first pair so I did 'break in' 2 pairs. Between 300 and 400 hrs is what they need to be fully broken in.
Thanks Xti16.

My dealer's pretty good and he will let me audition them home I just want to make sure I don't waste his time. I don't have an amp currently either and I was looking at getting the Cary from them as well. The amp was plenty loud to me. I had the volume half way in triode mode and it was lod enough, so that's why i want to make sure that increasing the watts doesn't just increase the volume since I don't need that. Next time I'll go by I'll try a higher power amp to see the difference.

The main I'm asking this now is because when spending this much money there's a whole lot of other speakers to choose from but I don't know which ones would match the C1 in clarity, definition and musicality.
The main I'm asking this now is because when spending this much money there's a whole lot of other speakers to choose from but I don't know which ones would match the C1 in clarity, definition and musicality.
Personally in that price range the only other speaker I heard that was somewhat close were the Sonus Faber Cremora auditors M. Notice I said somewhat close. A little too laid back and with less definition and clarity for me. The day I heard the C1's I stopped shopping. Never even listened to the Contour 1.4's or Special 25's. I did listen to the sapphires and as good as they are I prefer the C1's. Had the sapphires been priced at 8k I may have considered them. Better bass but a more forward mids.
I totally disagree..If your listening to heavy metal your barking up the wrong speaker tree..Forget the C1s,that speaker outclass what your listening to..Much better speakers out there for a lot lot less money to listen to "heavy metal"...Try an old set of JBLs!!!