Dynaudio Owner's Thread - Page 625

Hey Dean
Well I'm going into the Naim world. My Meridian G08 is dying a slow death so I decided it's time for a music server. I just ordered through Tyler a Naim Unitiserve 2TB - Naim Dac and a Naim XP5 XS power supply. Now Tyler also made me a package deal to upgrade the the Octave V110. Should be 3 - 4 weeks for it all to come in. Should sound pretty good.

That sounds like a really sweet setup. Naim digital front end with Octave pre/pwr. No doubt that will sound awesome. Now you need a great turntable.

My system is sounding really great these days. I still need to sell my Naim NAC202, but the upgrade to a 282 was a great decision.

thats awesome george. the 110 is the new IA they anounced not to long ago right? Paired with the Naim that will be a great system.

I sure hope the sound of the Naim setup is better than the Meridian G08. I like Naim a lot but never directly compared it side by side with the Meridian. It will be real nice not to have to get up off my butt to change CD's As far as the V110 yep it is the newest integrated that uses the KT120's. It also has a switch on the back to go to 6550/KT88's. If it didn't I never would have even considered it. I have too many 'vintage' 6550/KT88/KT90's. I don't think going from 70 to 110 watts will make any difference - but we'll see.

Obviously ODD has some game. I need some toob advice; who are the glass-heads in here?

Nevermind; I don't need a show of hands.

So...I have finally taken, my first foray into tubed power. I have a couple of basic questions:

I was going to ask about this blue, gassy haze...with only one of the output tubes; but a little Google seems to have produced a suitable answer (http://www.thetubestore.com/Blue-Glow#blueglow)



How about this...are 6550s and KT88s, pretty much interchangeable? TIA
Edited by CDLehner - 3/9/13 at 3:47pm

Cool pic cd!

Hey CD the blue glow means there is oxygen in the tube. It does NOT mean it's bad. All SED 6550/KT88's tubes have that blue glow. They just can't/didn't evacuate all the air. What tube is it? That being said I did have one SED KT88 with an excessive blue glow and it did arc over. Be careful not to push the volume too high. That's when mine thought it was the 4th of July LOL. Also make sure you bias is within the normal limits.

Hey Jax - still waiting for your review/thoughts of the C1 MKII's.

Is this an authorized dealer? Is selling this way on audiogon approved by dyn USA? God I hope so. Could it be the nut is finally cracking wide open? Internet selling at discount from authorized dealers? That would be a very big move in the right direction for high end audio....

http://app.audiogon.com/listings/full-range-dynaudio-focus-340-piano-black-lacquer-pair-free-shipping-2013-03-09-speakers-19970-millville-de

Will do. Just want the new speaker euphoria to wear off before I give my thoughts.

Do a google search on elegant audio video and look at the better business bureau - Hint they are rated an F

For some reason Avsforums seems to change the link when I submit it
Edited by OctaDyn_Dude - 3/10/13 at 8:44am

Linky not working.

Well it's not me - Same goofy link shows up in another thread
http://www.avsforum.com/t/335964/anyone-dealt-with-*****************-com-they-have-the-nad-t763

^^^ Ha; these guys are in my backyard. About 30 miles from my home, and I do business in the Rehoboth Beach, DE area...they're in proximity to...all the time.

My dealer has warned me about them, so I haven't even bothered to check for a B&M, etc. That...combined with the F rating...leads me to believe they are very un-authorized Jax. Keep dreaming (though what do you care...you're at the top of the mountain bro. Oh wait...you want C2s. Me too...maybe; new room a'comin')

It's the principle of the thing. B&M for high end audio is dead.

Jax I want to disagree. Here in the Chicago area we have several high end B&M stores. I don't want them dead either because it makes for an easy return for service if you should need it (either in or out of warranty). I can't imagine sending my Octave back to Germany or the Dyns to Denmark or even the Meridian or Naim back to England. If man made it - it will break and it's not a question of if but when. They also give you the chance to compare products side by side (providing they have the products you want to compare). I mean you can ask on the internet questions regarding sound but you will get both positive and negative answers regarding a component. An example would be the Dyn S25 is fantastic - The C1 is fantastic - but they are 2 very different sounding speakers. Since you have had both the S25's and now the C1's I think you can agree on that statement. Both have good and less desirable qualities when comparing. Personally I would love the punch and slam from the S25's low end coupled with the smoother mids and highs of the C1's. We need more Borderdog type of reviews.

That being said I agree B&M stores are on the decline but we need them. I like everyone loves a huge discount but personally I would rather pay a bit more to keep these stores around and hopefully get some discount..

^^^ Well, I think this illustrates the point perfectly; we need both! We need to keep our B&Ms, and what they offer...for guys like ODD; and we need some ID convenience, for guys like Jax.

I know it's probably scary, for the long-established brands of the hi-end...to try it. After all...B&Ms mean an actual guy, that Mick can boss around; and make sure he's not giving away the store.

J/K; I'm sure it's more about protecting territories, and making sure everyone plays by the same rules (and...doesn't give away the store). But I think they've got to try and find a way to make it work. As time passes, it just becomes more and more passe. I'm sure, some still find it to be "charming"; a nice throw-back, to the hi-end they know and love. But you can't count on everyone to feel that way; and we all know things can be the opposite too.

How many sales, do you feel are lost...because some guy was made to feel like at idiot; at one of these B&M salons.

Like most everything in the Western world, it's dying but I wish it weren't so. I cherish my remaining B&M dealers.

hey guys, need help deciding which dynaudio speaker/monitor pair to get for my room.

my room is about 30 x 18

I will use them primarily for listening. looking for well balanced, non harsh/fatiguing treble. its ok if the treble has some sparkle, but I actually prefer a slight roll off or neutrality on the treble.

good bass presence but not overemphasized.

also might go for floorstanding instead if you think they suit me better. some amp recommendations would also be nice if speakers are passive

I think some more info is needed before any good suggestions can be made:

That is a pretty good sized room, so how much bass do you want to fill the room with?

Do you want to try to go with or without a subwoofer?

What is your budget?

no sub

budget is flexible, but trying to keep under 2,000 (no problem with buying used)

don't really want that huge of a bass presence. just good extension and impact., but not too bass heavy. don't really want something that is going to shake the walls at moderate listening volumes.

I was originally looking at the DM2/6, but Im aiming to make this a one time purchase, so figured I might as well go a couple of steps up to keep me satisfied.

or maybe I would be satisfied with the DM 2/6 ?

Well, I've been pretty impressed with my Audience 82s(you can see them in my avatar pic) in my decent sized bedroom. They are not current models, so you would have to pick them up used. They are rated down to 26Hz and can produce some nice bass slam and impact without a sub. The mids and highs are nice as well, to my ears. The nice thing is that I got them used for $1200, with an original retail price of $2500. They also make a smaller floorstander, Audience 72 and 72SE, which are well thought of. IMO, it's hard to compete in a used speaker with the Audience 82 for ~$1200, if you want a fairly full range Dynaudio.

If you're considering monitors why not go for the Focus 110/140/160 used ? Couple of steps up from the DM series. Just be patient if looking on the used market
Best of luck whatever you decide
I've never heard the DM's but as a C1 Sig owner there is no bad sounding Dyn speaker. I have had the Audience 42's in my home for a while as was very impressed especially for it's price point.

Sounds like a Contour to me.

+1

And used S3.4s are now dipping down into the lower $2K range. I've seen them on Audiogon for $2300.

My suggestion would be to go with the Excite X16s or X32s. They have good bass extension, they can provide bass is asked for, but arent as deep as the 160s or 1.4s. They are also a little warmer and slightly laidback then say the Focus line thats more neutral. You could get a great deal with them used, about $1k, and then you can get a nice integrated amp like the Naim Nait 5i(used on audiogon.com for $1k) or a PeachTree Nova(new on amazon $1200). Theres a pair of Excite X16s on ebay for $1250 obo.

The DM2/6s are nice speakers, but IMO they would get lost in that room of yours.

long time no post.
started testing an Audio Refinement Complete (YBA design) amp yesterday on the Confidence 3s. I feel like I haven't really listened to these speakers until now. this $1000 amp is incredible. and I mean incredible. huge step forward. I've literally stood up a few times in awe.
Edited by gn77b - 3/13/13 at 6:38am

these impressions are dying to get out...
I mostly bought the Confidence 3s because I was offered a very good price (1/4 of new price) and because the reviews said they're great speakers. but during the past 2 years when I've owned them, I kept saying to myself that these don't exactly sound like $8000 speakers. the following is going to expose my foolishness
I've been borrowed the ARC almost by accident. I read the reviews and they are glowing, but I said well, hype, nothing new. but I'd be hard pressed to find a relatively cheap (less than $1000 new) integrated that has so many positive reviews in so many publications.
they are right.
YBA (Yves-Bernard Andre is the name of the owner/designer) is a small French company. as I understand all products are hand-made. the Audio Refinement brand markets a range of slightly down tuned but much cheaper products. Lexus and Toyota if you would.

so... $1000 amp with $8000 speakers? that can't be right.

no upgrade so far made me stand up and go WTF. there were times when I needed to pause the song, get out of the room and grab a beer because I started thinking I'm imagining things.
tonal richness, deep and fast lows, slicing transients, imaging, sound stage depth, presence, detail, balance.
in short, exactly what I felt I've been missing for a long time.
you know the feeling when you listen to a song, you hear a note and feel that no way the artists intended it to sound like that? well I used to feel that. but no more. what I perceive like the spice of music became exactly that: tiny sounds that seem to jump from the overall picture, but only for a moment, just enough to add subtle flavor.
I used to hate listening to instruments made of wood. they sounded like synthesizers. that wood resonance is now where it's supposed to be.
before I used to skip songs, because I didn't like what I heard. I used to think that it's because of bad recording. right.
now I don't want music to stop. the "I feel like listening to my music collection all over again" cliche.
the amp outputs 90W but sounds way more powerful, at least compared to my ex amp which is 150W/4 ohm. the Confidence 3's have a benign impedance curve (doesn't drop below 4 ohms) and they're impedance equalized from 200 Hz to 20 kHz. I guess that helps.

one thing that changed in an awkward (but good) way is the perception of volume. before I used to crank the amp and the sound was loud. the ARC made me understand that only a part of the sound used to get loud. the wrong part.

any problems? obviously. it can get a bit aggressive with recordings that are already made that way. beyond a certain volume it starts distorting pretty abruptly but that's already beyond sane levels. and sometimes it sounds like it melds what should be separate sound entities into one but somehow that still sounds good.

I'm wondering how an YBA amp sounds like...

all in all, I feel like I won't be upgrading for a pretty long time. found my audiophile peace, at last.
Edited by gn77b - 3/13/13 at 8:27am

The Audio refinement amp is supposed to be very very good, world beaters supposedly at any price but they never caught on in North America I think, I heard Audio Refinement with JMLab Utopia and it was a fantastic system.

I think they could be just that. never believed it to be possible until I powered the thing up.

I think there are a lot of gems that don't catch. some companies have good marketing departments, some have none. and there's the avalanche effect, just make sure you repeat a brand name enough times. others will follow, they will be followed by others which will get more followers... etc.