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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
james63
534 posts
 
Anyone that tells you that you need to buy a lesser speakers because you listen to heavy metal has their head in the sand. There are lots well recorded hard-rock and Metal albums out there. A lot of the metal poor recording are just old digital... the genre does not make them bad.

In reality heavy metal is very hard for speakers. There is a lot of dynamic swings and tons of information. You may just need to look for speakers with more dynamic range. Which almost always means large speakers... I have never heard dynaudio so I can not comment on the speakers.

How much are the C1s and how big is your room?

Best of luck hunting.
jibbonacci OP
31 posts
 
Thanks James. My room is about 19x15x8, so I'm not sure if it's considered medium size. The C1s would cost me about 6000 new with stands.

You mentioned dynamic swings... Is this something that a good power amp would help with, or does it have to so with the speakers more. To me it seems like a good power amp would help more since it would be able to respond better to these changes without bogging down. I could be wrong here since I've just started getting into this hobby more seriously.
cdc
1,773 posts
 
Go active. No passive speaker can approach the impact of what an active speaker can do. Take the ATC active 100's for example. Rated for 40 hz. Yea, right. Not all 40 hz is created equal.
Don't believe it? Go listen to an active Dynaudio BM15.
If you don't want to buy an active speaker, find a speaker you like and take out the crossover. Put in your own external x-over before the amps.
steidlguitars
90 posts
 
Jibbonacci,

I think you owe it to yourself to try an amp with more power amp. I am certain that you will be able to tell the difference between amps easily.

I have never owned the C1s, but I own the Contour 3.4s, and they reflect changes in the downstream chain readily.

Now the question is which amp! For starters, many like Dyns paired with Simaudio, but there are lots of options.

Good luck.
Bob
brf
1,715 posts
 
Next time you are at your dealer try the Cary again except this time flip the switch from triode to UL (thus doubling the power)for your metal needs.
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