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Special Forty?

So, I am an unabashed fan of Dynaudio.  I recently purchased a pair of Special Forty's with the stand 20.  At first, I thought...wow...did I make a mistake?  I added more sand to the stands, I changed their position several (read hundreds) of times, and even "tried" to rearrange the furniture.  All with the same outcome.  The sweet spot was miniscule.  It was there, but boy was it hard to find.  Then, I did something smart.  I moved them to an appropriate sized room.  And I again thought...wow.  but this time, in a completely opposite and positive way.  Oh my gosh.  These speakers (when placed in the appropriate room) are an amazing addition.  I absolutely love the sound they produce and the imaging is wonderful.  Rooms matter.  Room treatments matter.  And these Dynaudios will be staying right where they are.  My favorite new spot.

fmiller37
glenmschneider
38 posts
 

I had such a similar experience except it was with the Pearl Audio Sibelius speakers. Completely underwhelmed when I set them up in my large living room space. I was back and forth with P.A. countless times changing positions, room treatment, gear. Was ready to return them at the end of the trial window when I decided to try them in a different room that was more like a standard enclosed large bedroom, and wow, Instant bliss. Loved them there. Same gear, different room. I’m a room believer now. 

dwest1023
247 posts
 

@DRUBIN, I had the Dyn special 40 and upgraded to the Heritage special. Using my Passlab 250, I did not like the Heritage and ended up selling them and purchasing another pair of special 40's.  In fact the person I purchased the Heritage from, took my dyn 40's in trade. Not saying its a bad-sounding speaker, but for my ears it was too bright. The dyn 40 is one of my favorite speakers in my collection. My PS audio F5 will outclass it mainly because of the ribbon tweeter. I have a pair of Buchardt

E50's on order so I will see how they compare. Regardless the Dyns will stay in my collection.

socalml528's avatar
socalml528
146 posts
 

I first found Dynaudio while speaker shopping at a local high end shop. I was so impressed with the sound and really wanted the bigger towers, but I opted for bookshelf Special 40s since my listening room is small (13' x11').  

Once I got them home, I loved the sound, but wanted more lower end so I traded them for a used set of Contour 20s. I found the Contours to be the perfect match with enough punch to fill a larger room if necessary.  Speakers are 7' apart (3' from back and side walls), and  6.5' each from the seated listening position (almost a triangle). They sit bolted to Dynaudio Contour 20 stands filled with sand. Toe-in is set so tweeters point directly to the listening position, but I have tried them without toe-in and they still sound great.

Since I'm banned from filling our much larger living room with audio equipment, I waited for the opportunity when the wife would be away for a week and relocated the McIntosh/Dynaudio set up into the larger living room; where I also rearranged the furniture to suit audio, not guests. With the extra space the system showed its greater potential, treating the neighbors to a live Led Zeppelin concert. Eventually, I retreated back to my listening room and I'm still very happy with the Contour 20s.

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