Dynaudio Owner's Thread - Page 603

congrats, I got my 160s a month ago, but they were my christmas present also.

Every Wilson speaker I've heard has been amazingly impressive in terms of sound and build quality, but their prices are very high and climb every year. I briefly toyed with getting the WATT/Puppy 6 or the Sophia years ago but I just couldn't bring myself to spend that much. I'm really more of a value buyer than a cost no object buyer, and that's clearly not Wilson's target customer.

Every one I've heard has been amazingly unimpressive in sound quality and amazingly ugly. I've no doubt the ugly factor is intentional, as anyone silly enough to spend that much money on a speaker does so not for how it sounds but for how it looks. No one's going to be blown away by their sound, but they will comment on the looks, giving the owner the opportunity to expound on how expensive they are.

If ugly is expensive then all the speakers on your site must cost a fortune.

Then don't build any of them and we'll both be happy.

Hey everyone; in the spirit of the season, I wanted to give the Dyn group a little heads-up that I will be listing a very good NAIM Nait XS-2 IA on AVS soon. It was part of a 3-IA shoot-out at the CD household, and was edged-out by the $6500 Conrad Johnson CA-200; so it can hold its head high, lol.

Even then, it was likely a matter of speaker matching and system preference. With my new Harbeths, I preferred the C-J...but with something else, I could see the NAIM being an excellent match. Especially something rumored to be pretty clean and neutral; like the Excite and new Focus line comes to mind. I can certainly see why NAIM and Dyn are thought to be a nice pairing...as I'm sure Dean and George can confirm.

This unit is near new; though I'm the 2nd-owner, it is only about 4 months old (the first owner immediately traded-up to NAIM separates, and you know my story, lol). Make a wonderful gift to yourself; and the little woman doesn't even need to know, lol. PM me if interested.

http://www.avsforum.com/t/1446355/naim-nait-xs-2-l-k-near-mint
Edited by CDLehner - 12/19/12 at 5:22pm

Someone with Dyns should jump on this. The Nait XS is an outstanding integrated and very big bang for the buck.

I wonder how the XS might have stood it's ground against the C-J if you had added a Flatcap XS?

Dean, fwiw...had this unit been staying with me, I most certainly would have looked into the excellent option of adding external power/capicitance (akin to an Octave BlackBox I believe). I find the NAIM units to be quite expensive (although, like most kit...there are bargains to be had on the used market), and heard quite good things about the units from Teddy Pardo, at a fraction of the cost; often refered to as TeddyCaps http://teddypardo.com/Products/Power%20Supplies/PowerSuppliesForNaim.html

Ever had a chance to compare?

No, I've never had a TeddyCap. When I got my NAC202 I bought a Flatcap XS to power it, but never even connected it. I went straight to a HiCap2 and a NAPSC instead.

My Contour 5.4's and SCX have arrived!

 

Loving them so far.

Looks awesome Bro!

Thanks Callas! It's sounding awesome too!

 

Still haven't really tested out the center yet, just going to run it in all channel stereo overnight with just the amp for the center turned on until Saturday afternoon. I'll run Audyessy Pro and start working on the stack of unwatched blu's that I've accumulated while I didn't have a center. Thinking of watching The Dark Knight Returns first. I may have to rearrange things a bit depending on what position the 5.4's measure the best in, hopefully I won't have to.

 

How was Batman on your system?

Running it overnight for a few days would be good to help break in the drivers and get going. Im sure once you have the system calibrated it will be a whole other story. Im sure you have plenty of blu-rays to run thru and just as much music to mess with to keep you busy for a few days to say the least.

Batman was good. I need to rewatch it tho. The first time I thought there were some great scenes that tested the system well, but there were some scenes that I thought just came up a little short of spectacular, and its not that my system couldnt have dealt with those scenes but just that the mix wasnt there for those scenes. But Ive only seen the movie once, so maybe if I watch it again I could feel differently, but you'd have to let me know if you felt there was a scene or two that could have been mixed better. Cant wait to know what you think of your system and the way it handles movies, especially the center channel.

The 5.4's are digging much deeper than I thought they would. Just kind of threw them in place to start, I'm sure playing with the positioning a bit I can get them measuring better before any eq. Looks like I might want to try out the port plugs and see if it'll tame the bass a bit.

 

Forgot to save the first graph so I could overlay them, I think you'll get the point though.

Edited by weird 23 - 12/19/12 at 11:53pm

wow, the bass jumps up from 20-100hz quite a bit. Im surprised with all those acoustic treatments that you have that much room gain, but I guess it could be the size of the room also, being that is smaller then the other room they will eventually go into. were you expecting that much room gain? probably not. Time to bump some music, sade or deadmau5 let that 20 hz rock. im not surprised given the response the 110s were giving to 30 hz.

These speakers are totally overkill for this room but are much more appropriately sized for the the other side of the basement. That was decision that I'll have to live with for the next 6-7 months though, didn't want to under buy and want to switch them out when things get moved.

 

I pretty much knew about the big time room gain down low, that's how I get the strong response down to 10hz with the subs. The eq does flatten it out nicely and gives a much smoother response, not boomie like you might think. It can still be improved on but that's going to have to wait for the move. You should see the response without all the panels and bass traps, it's really bad.

 

Give me a minute and I'll try out the port plugs, see if that tames the bass at all.

S5.4s! Cool. I would love the hear those, but they might overwhelm my room. The S3.4s seem to be just about right.

Are these new? If so, you have quite some breaking in to do.

Anyone has experience with Dyn Ocos? I've never known they existed. Care to share your experience/impression (long/short term) if you have them and which Dyn speakers you hook them up with? Thanks.

Khin, I almost had Mick twist me a pair! FWIW...it's not terribly expensive; but I don't know anything, first hand, beyond that.

If you do a search on this thread I'm pretty sure the Occos cable was discussed once before, and not too long ago.

Congrats! I said it when you got it but an uptight mod in another thread who can't spell deleted the post almost instantly. I think he was going off Callas previous posts. Some seriously uptight people online. Get off the computer once in awhile and live life instead of hiding behind a screen/power tripping. You ready to buy my Sapphires? You have overtaken me on changing up ht equipment drastically. Lets keep it going!! Buy my speakers! Haha

Thanks Sean!

 

I'm really enjoying them so far and think my days of switching gear out at a fast pace have come to an end. I have a couple of additions I'd like to make over time but no more drastic changes. Although I have said that before haven't I?

 

It's vary unfortunate you seem to have become a target for certain people.

Well if Sapphires are in your future let me know. I'm really in no hurry to sell them and I'll be fine if I do keep them. There is a scenario that tempts me if I can sell them to a private party, but other than that I don't care. I'm going to buy a few things here and there ht related, but mainly paying off bills and fixing up the house is my main concern right now. I figure come spring I'll have a major home theater itch to go all out again.
Edited by seanmf - 12/21/12 at 11:25am

Thanks Racetripper!

 

The SCX was new and the 5.4's were trade ins that I bought from Next Level Audio. So only the center needs any break in.

 

So far the 5.4's don't overwhelm the smaller room that I've got them in, I do prefer a bigger sound so they work perfectly for me so far.

My S3.4s are in a 11'x17' room. I wanted a bigger sound for classical, which is why traded up from the S1.4s. Enjoy your S5.4s. I have no doubt they sound fantastic.

weird 23, Congratulations! The system looks great. I have the C2s, SCX, and the 1.3s driven by BAT VK-6200 and CBIII. My system is too much for the room. My room is
20' x 12' x 8. I've been meaning to get a photo of my system on this site. I'll get around to it ...perhaps in the next couple of days or so.

What are you using to power your system? What kind of music do you listen to? I've been considering the S5.4s for my room and brining the C2s to another room (2-channel). I heard the S5.4s a long time ago. MAN, it blew me away. I never forgot how they sounded. The music was open and airy. Just wondering which cables you use in your system? Very nice system!!!

sparks81

Thanks Sparks.

My room is 15 x 16 in the basement of our house and don't feel the speakers are overwhelming. I think I may have different tastes and goals for my system than the typical Dyn owner in this thread, then again maybe not so different. I don't really listen to typical audiophile music, Kid Rock, Metallica, Stevie Ray Vuaghen, Deadmau5, Wolfgang Gartner, Paul Van Dyke to name a few. Don't really care about mangling the signal as some would say with eq, look at what the room is doing to it anyway. As long as I can get the sound I like it doesn't really matter to me how I get there and will use any tools available to reach my goal.

My system besides the Contours is as follows,
The surround speakers are the Focus 110's and Paradigm Atom Monitor.
Integra DHC 80.2 with Audyessy Pro
Emotiva XPA-1 x 3, Emotiva XPA-5
Oppo BDP 95
PS Audio PPP x 2
Oyaide Cables
Seaton SubMersive Hp x 2
ATS bass traps/acoustic panels

I'm actually using some Blue Jeans Cable speaker wires right now, the Oyaide's are too long, one day I'll get around to shorting them and put them back in service.

I've tried other mid-fi power amps such as Anthem and Parasound Halo before the Emo's. Don't feel I'm giving up anything by using these amps. They're not the best by any stretch but they get the job done for me.

If you feel the C2's are too much for your room I'm not so sure your going to feel any differently about the 5.4's, you may want to look into something a bit smaller. I like to crank my system up for movies so the added output of the towers is an attribute that I was specifically looking for, the 5.4's keep up to the subwoofers well and work together well to form an impressive combo. I did have the C1's at one point in time and found them to dynamically limited for my tastes.

What is it about your system that makes you think it's too much for your room?

What kind of levels do you listen at?

This may determine how large or small of a speaker you'll need.

Could I please get recommendations for a NAIM integrated (with optical inputs) that would match well to not only my current 2.0 X16 setup but possibly to a future 2.0 setup featuring Focus 160 speakers?

Danke!

Naim UnitiQute
Naim UnitiLite
Naim Unit2
Naim SuperNait
Naim SuperUniti

All of these, in a MSRP range from $2400 - $6000 will do what you want. I think the UnitiLite at $3K might be your best bang for the buck.

GT, why not get a DAC and a good, Naim IA; like...IDK, my XS-2.

DACs are improving, at a rapid pace. I wouldn't want a DAC that, a) I couldn't discern and b) I couldn't upgrade, because it was tied to my IA. I know Dean will probably disagree...because he loved his Uniti; but who's the digital guy here, lol.