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Would the dynaudio special 40's be a noticeable upgrade over the ELAC UF5?

Hello

I've been running the Elac Unifi UF5 (towers) on a yamaha A-S801 integrated for a year now and have been mostly happy with the sound but recently I've been looking into upgrading my speakers just to see what is out there, how much better does it get, or what am I going to hear that I'm not hearing now?

I found a good deal on a pair of mint Dynaudio Special 40's for 2K and have been considering getting them, but wondering whether is it going to be a noticeable upgrade or am I better saving longer for a bigger jump like the KEF Reference 1?

My source is Amazon music HDl being streamed from a bluesound node 2i, connected via optical to one of the two integrated that I have home right now
   The Yamaha A-S801
   A McIntosh MA8900 (loaner till next year only)

My Room is an 18x26 open floor plan that opens up to other rooms in the house. The ELAC's are currently places 2ft away from rear wall and 4.5 ft from the sidewalls and my listening position is ~8ft measured from the from the speakers.

As for the McIntosh, I borrowed it from a friend that was not using it since he sold his speakers and will take a few months to get his new set; I connected the ELAC's to it and I had the impression that it sounded nicer, but honestly couldn't pin point and after 2 weeks of listening I went back to the Yamaha and didn't feel I was missing much. When I mentioned that to my friend his answer was: "You need better speakers". So here I am. :)
asilvr
mesch
3,501 posts
 
I should add that speakers add much to the character of a system, more so than other components. One has to understand what character best suits oneself first, then seek a  speaker having the best quality of that character based on budget. Higher quality speakers tend to 'call' for higher quality components to drive them.

I own the Yamaha A-S701 which I use in a 2ndary system. A very good amplifier at it's price point. I would think it capable for identifying a speaker of choice. After living with it driving a much higher budget speaker one might likely want to search for an upgrade in amplification. 

Again, identify speakers 1st.

Good luck in your quest.
hilde45's avatar
hilde45
4,974 posts
 
+1 @mesch and @mcmvmx 
Controlling the conditions of the auditioning is crucial. 
And P.S. about the 40's -- I heard them in sequence with the others I mentioned in the Evoke line. There is really a different sound in the 40's but they are clearly Dynaudio siblings.

mofojo
2,300 posts
 
hilde,

Curious to what you mean about different sound to the 40s? Colored but fun? Did you find the 40s were superior to the Evoke? 
Thanks
dtapo
73 posts
 
Probably an upgrade in SQ, but I would be concerned that the Dynaudio’s are a much smaller speaker and won’t fill your room like the floor standers, even if they may be more refined and revealing ECT. I have floor standers (Tekton) in a similar sized room (16 x 30), and when I put in my Dynaudio Emit 20’s to compare they sounded like a small speaker in a big room. I really like the Dyn’s in the smaller room, but not so much in the large room, they still sounded refined, but the bass dropped off dramatically.
hilde45's avatar
hilde45
4,974 posts
 
Here's my experience with the Dynaudios: 

Evokes: I listened to them in a couple rooms -- both pretty large, at a dealer in Colorado. 25 x 16 feet at least. The startling thing about the Evokes were how big they sounded -- really room filling. I also had the Evoke 30 floor standers at my home (similar size room but lower ceilings); these were decent but not as interesting to me. They certainly didn't sound as "big" as the floorstanding Focal 936's I tried in that room. My guess is that dtapo is making a valid point, here but don't underestimate the Evoke 10, 20.

Regarding the 40's, I heard them at that same dealer. They had a kind of midrange nuance, subtlety, soundstage holographic magic not present in a lot of other speakers. I don't remember what the amplifier or DAC was with those speakers, but they were different. So, take the description for what it's worth -- I cannot say for sure the role played by electronics.
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