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Dynaudio Emit M10 Review (bookshelf speaker)

amirm

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This is a review and detailed measurements of the Dynaudio Emit M10 bookshelf, 2-way ported speaker. It was kindly purchased by a member and drop shipped to me. The one I have is open-box sample. New, they cost US $800 and come in both white and black.

The enclosure is fine but I am not sure it is any better than cheaper speakers:

Dynaudio Emit 10 Review speaker.jpg


The speaker terminals felt a bit cheap to me as well:
Dynaudio Emit 10 Review bookshelf speaker.jpg


Measurements that you are about to see were performed using the Klippel Near-field Scanner (NFS). This is a robotic measurement system that analyzes the speaker all around and is able (using advanced mathematics and dual scan) to subtract room reflections (so where I measure it doesn't matter). It also measures the speaker at close distance ("near-field") which sharply reduces the impact of room noise. Both of these factors enable testing in ordinary rooms yet results that can be more accurate than an anechoic chamber. In a nutshell, the measurements show the actual sound coming out of the speaker independent of the room.

I performed over 1000 measurement which resulted in error rate of around 1%.

Measurement temperature was 60 degrees. Speaker was kept at 72 degrees prior to testing.

Reference axis was center of the tweeter. I tested it without the grill.

Measurements are compliant with latest speaker research into what can predict the speaker preference and is standardized in CEA/CTA-2034 ANSI specifications. Likewise listening tests are performed per research that shows mono listening is much more revealing of differences between speakers than stereo or multichannel.

Dynaudio Emit M10 Measurements
Acoustic measurements can be grouped in a way that can be perceptually analyzed to determine how good a speaker is and how it can be used in a room. This so called spinorama shows us just about everything we need to know about the speaker with respect to tonality and some flaws:

Dynaudio Emit M10 Measurements frequency response cea-2034 bookshelf speaker.png


Looks like they went after a modest version of "showroom sound" with slightly boosted upper bass and treble and recessed mids. Off-axis response shows more of this:

Dynaudio Emit M10 Measurements early window frequency response cea-2034 bookshelf speaker.png


Putting these together we get:

Dynaudio Emit M10 Measurements Predicted In-room frequency response cea-2034 bookshelf speaker.png


From my own preference, I like to see speakers get 100 Hz to 3 kHz right and this is somewhat opposite of that.

Company advertises first order crossover and it shows in low attenuation of the woofer resonance:

Dynaudio Emit M10 Measurements driver response.png


They have done an excellent job however in keeping the port resonance pretty low and below crossover region as to reduce its effect.

I was impressed with the low distortion of this speaker:

Dynaudio Emit 10 Measurements Relative THD Distortion bookshelf speaker.png


The mid-range to tweeter is headphone level of distortion at 86 dBSPL which is impressive for a speaker.

Here it is as absolute (now at both levels):

Dynaudio Emit 10 Measurements THD Distortion bookshelf speaker.png


They advertise an impedance of 6 ohm and that is true:

Dynaudio Emit M10 Measurements impedance and phase.png


Edit: forgot the directivity plots in the original review:
Dynaudio Emit 10 Measurements horizontal beamwidth.png


Dynaudio Emit 10 Measurements horizontal directivity.png


Dynaudio Emit 10 Measurements Vertical directivity.png


Dynaudio Emit M10 Listening Tests
My impression of the M10 was that it was bright. I tried to develop an EQ to fill in the wholes and pull down the highs but after 15 minutes, I gave up. It continues to sound bright making some of my reference clips unlistenable. I *think* this may be due to lack of deep bass which is screwing up the balance.

Dynamic capability was superb. Despite being a small speaker, it could play very loud with no hint of bottoming out.

Conclusion
Objectively the Emit M10 deviates from targets we have. The deviation is not huge though but what is there had me stomped in listening tests. As I noted above, I usually expect bookshelf speakers to produce a good experience stand-alone and these come short. The overall tonality is that of brightness but not nastiness. I know, this is not making much sense. But this is all I have for you. :) You have the data, you decide.

I wouldn't buy this speaker for myself as there are cheaper speakers with much more balanced tonality. So can't recommend the Emit M10.

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As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.

Appreciate any donations using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/
 

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Ilkless

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Dynaudio has always struck me as an engineering brand that unnecessarily ties one hand behind itself (eg. the slavish obsession with first-order slopes), focusing on aspects with dubious audibility while compromising aspects known to be very audible indeed. We can see some of that ability in the distortion and decent control of the port. They have that massive "Jupiter" chamber anechoic down to 20Hz of course, so they could easily get high-res measurements and iterate. And they've probably long-amortised the bulk of development for that large voice-coil midwoofer design of theirs, with subsequent improvements being incremental within that archetype.
 

ROOSKIE

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Look like some pretty nicely designed drivers - especially the tweeter.
Dynaudio is a world class driver manufacturer so that shows here IMHO.
$800 USD a pair is a bit steep compared to the competition, to be said you are getting some good in house manufacturing.
In Europe these cost less.
Can't say I would buy these, however paired with a subwoofer (or ideally 2) to fill in the lows (crossed at 80-110hz) and an HP to clean up that small woofer I think one would have a pretty tight system that while not "punching out" of their price class are perfectly legit.

I certainly also wonder about those overly simple filters they use as well. I guess that is a thing they believe in. Some folks claim to hear things that 1st order gets right that other designs fail to present. Who knows? Right now it is what it is and Dyn uses those style filters in their expensive stuff as well - although those high end Dyn drivers usually have pretty good natural roll offs so the acoustic slopes are often 2nd order or even more.
 

bunkbail

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Hi amir, do you have the spins data for these speakers?
 

dfuller

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Dynaudio has always struck me as an engineering brand that unnecessarily ties one hand behind itself (eg. the slavish obsession with first-order slopes), focusing on aspects with dubious audibility while compromising aspects known to be very audible indeed. We can see some of that ability in the distortion and decent control of the port. They have that massive "Jupiter" chamber anechoic down to 20Hz of course, so they could easily get high-res measurements and iterate. And they've probably long-amortised the bulk of development for that large voice-coil midwoofer design of theirs, with subsequent improvements being incremental within that archetype.
See what's really interesting is they don't bother with low order crossovers in their actives - they're using 4th or 5th order active analogs in their BM line and full-on DSP in the LYDs and Cores. It's just their passives.
 

Ilkless

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See what's really interesting is they don't bother with low order crossovers in their actives - they're using 4th or 5th order active analogs in their BM line and full-on DSP in the LYDs and Cores. It's just their passives.

Pricing on the active line is also more competitive, though I expect woodworking to not be quite as pretty as the home line.
 

vkvedam

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Aha, I expected a better one from Dynaudio, never mind. Would be good to see the other ones with in their portfolio :)
 
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dfuller

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That port design is about the best I've seen. Like, almost devoid of resonances. Distortion performance, also excellent. At $800, though... I'm inclined to get BM5As for $1000/pr if I want Dyns. Then, at least, I get more bottom end and don't need an amp.
 

solderdude

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A question for @amirm
Does the Klippel test take into account that when this is supposed to be a bookshelf speaker ?
A port on the rear would be weird though as bookshelf speakers are generally placed close to a wall utilizing some bass boost gained this way.
Would such a speaker be better of not being on a bookshelf ?

I like Dynaudio speakers, very dynamic and clear sounding but IMO need to be the active ones with at least 17cm woofers.
 
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amirm

amirm

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Hi amir, do you have the spins data for these speakers?
Hi there. You mean the exports? If so, it is enclosed in the review.
 
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amirm

amirm

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A question for @amirm
Does the Klippel test take into account that when this is supposed to be a bookshelf speaker ?
Klippel treats the speaker as a black box emitting sound waves. It doesn't know or care how it is made.

A port on the rear would be weird though as bookshelf speakers are generally placed close to a wall utilizing some bass boost gained this way.
Would such a speaker be better of not being on a bookshelf ?

The predicted in-room frequency response is supposed to incorporate the power response of the speaker in a "typical room." In other words, the bass energy coming out the back is also included in the bass response of that graph.

I don't understand your last question. :)
 
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amirm

amirm

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Blue lines? What has happened to ASR?!?
Laziness. :) I use whatever color is already set in photoshop from last editing event. Brings some variety to the visuals! :)
 

MZKM

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Sensitivity: 82.9dB (spec: 86dB)
2nd passive Dynaudio tested and is also not meeting sensitivity spec (error is about the same of ~3dB). I’ll just repost the comment I gave in the past thread:

With such an amazing testing facility:
The-Jupiter-testing-facility-is-the-largest-in-Europe.jpg

IMG_2235.JPG

I am disappointed by their specs not being accurate
 

solderdude

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The predicted in-room frequency response is supposed to incorporate the power response of the speaker in a "typical room." In other words, the bass energy coming out the back is also included in the bass response of that graph.

I don't understand your last question.

I meant a lot of folks place such small (bookshelf) speakers very close to a wall or even against it blocking the port.
When a small speaker is close to a wall it tends to sound 'fuller' than when used on a stand but usually not better.
Having a port on the rear may not be the best thing for a true bookshelf speaker is what I meant.

Or.. do you mean the small size lacking a stand makes that specific sized speaker a 'bookshelf format' ?
 
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