Dynaudio Confidence C1's and Special 25's

While I cannot give you any impressions re/listening to the Dyns with Mac gear, I have heard the Special 25s and C1s a number of times.

An audiophile friend of mine just sold his Special 25s. He drove them with an ARC VT200 power amp and SAS 10A (all tube) preamp. These were the first pair of Dynaudio speakers I had heard and was very impressed. He listened to alot of female vocals and jazz. The Special 25s did these types of music extremely well with his equipment. One evening, I brought over a pair of Atma-sphere MA1 Mk 2.3 monoblocks to try on his Special 25s. This combination, while a bit shy in the bass (possibly due to the Dyn's 4 ohm load and not using Paul Speltz's zeroformers), was outstanding in that complex musical passages were completely revealed. I could hardly believe a 2 way mini monitor was capable of such sound.

Enter the C1s. I have heard these at 2 different audio establishments. In my opinion, the C1s had a slightly more relaxed, fuller presentation than the Special 25s, something that appealed to me. The Special 25s seemed to be a little more forward, but not harsh or bright. The C1s are the best mini monitor I have personally heard, IMHO.

I too own a pair of C2s. That said, if it were up to me, I would spring for the C1s. To me, they are nonfatiguing and have a great naturalness to them. BTW, the C1s that really sounded good to me were being powered by Chord equipment.

I've had the Special 25's for 18 months now and they've driven me crazy with their forward presentation in my room. They've cost me a lot of money on power cords, interconnects, 3 pairs of stands, new CD player, new amp (now Bel Canto eVo2i). You see, I bought them without hearing them. I had auditioned the 52SE and S1.4 at the local dealer and loved them, so when I saw a pair of Special 25's on here for the same price as the S1.4's I jumped on them.

The Special 25's I think are the odd one out in the Dynaudio range with their forward balance. I ended up getting 2 pairs of Contour SR's to use one as a centre and the other pair as rears, but I tried them out as mains and thought my God, there's that smooth midrange that I was after.

I have now just got in the S5.4's (from here actually, and disappointed in their physical condition, but I won't go there just yet)and they have the same more laid back relaxed balance of the little SR's.

In my room, the 5.4's walk all over the Special 25's. The bass is excellent, the midrange smooth and the treble so much more detailed and airy. I can't believe its the same tweeter.

I've never personally heard the C1's, but I strongly suspect from people I've spoken to, that they are the one to get. I only spoke to someone on the weekend who trialed the C4's at home, and he felt the C1's were the nicer speaker. He just couldn't get the C4's to sound right.

So yes, I'd go C1's.

I should have done this post after I sold the Special 25's, not before. God I'm stupid. No, go the 25's, I have a pair here, excellent condition.

Trevoroptom - I wouldn't worry about being able to sell the Special 25s - They are a great pair of speakers, but are picky with setup and electronics.

I own the S1.4s, and have heard them rightalongside the S25s with a Sim w5 amp. Though the 1.4s are great, I found the s25s to have more lower-midrange resolution, went a bit deeper in the bass, and had more "airy" highs. The sim w5 is a fantastic match for them.