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Dynaudio Heritage Special
- Thread starter watchnerd
- Start date
OP
watchnerd
Grand Contributor
- Thread Starter
- #244
2nd album.
The Esotar 3 tweeter is definitely a step up from the Esotar 2 in the Contour 20. The distortion seems to be even lower, reducing masking effects, and revealing extra detail. But it also sounds a little more airy as if the very top octave is a bit boosted relative to the Contour 20.
This was a good album to test the bass, which I'm still trying to get a handle on vs the Contour 20. It sounds to me like the Q factor is a little different, which affects the overall tuning / voicing.
The smaller box, though, doesn't seem to be hampering the ability to move a lot of air for the size. I could feel a breeze with my hand near the giant port hole, although I didn't hear any chuffing or farting.
The Esotar 3 tweeter is definitely a step up from the Esotar 2 in the Contour 20. The distortion seems to be even lower, reducing masking effects, and revealing extra detail. But it also sounds a little more airy as if the very top octave is a bit boosted relative to the Contour 20.
This was a good album to test the bass, which I'm still trying to get a handle on vs the Contour 20. It sounds to me like the Q factor is a little different, which affects the overall tuning / voicing.
The smaller box, though, doesn't seem to be hampering the ability to move a lot of air for the size. I could feel a breeze with my hand near the giant port hole, although I didn't hear any chuffing or farting.
Helicopter
Major Contributor
I just threw this on the platter. Such an incredible album.2nd album.
The Esotar 3 tweeter is definitely a step up from the Esotar 2 in the Contour 20. The distortion seems to be even lower, reducing masking effects, and revealing extra detail. But it also sounds a little more airy as if the very top octave is a bit boosted relative to the Contour 20.
This was a good album to test the bass, which I'm still trying to get a handle on vs the Contour 20. It sounds to me like the Q factor is a little different, which affects the overall tuning / voicing.
The smaller box, though, doesn't seem to be hampering the ability to move a lot of air for the size. I could feel a breeze with my hand near the giant port hole, although I didn't hear any chuffing or farting.
Helicopter
Major Contributor
I couldn't agree more. This song has a few things that are great for testing, including the spoken word, click, and instruments. It annoys my wife, so it is good for late night (now) and it is so sweet, with the way it is layered together. Glorious!
OP
watchnerd
Grand Contributor
- Thread Starter
- #248
The Heritage Special nails the spoken word so part so well it's almost spooky.
And the even the click track has a snap and sharpness that makes it much closer to timing reference / metronome standard than it's usually rendered.
So I'm going to call the tweeter / upper mids / treble as good as I've ever heard for a dynamic direct radiator dome, in terms of detail resolution and distortion without ringing and fatiguing. I've never heard a better balance from a dome tweeter, including Be.
The bass is still interesting....I'll render final verdict after I play my own recordings of my double bass and electric bass.
Helicopter
Major Contributor
Sounds like they nailed these guys, not just with the external cabinets. I hope this final part goes well. If not, bass is easy. You can always throw in some DSP and Rythmiks if necessary.
Incidentally, now that I am there, 'Contact' is also insanely creative and well executed. I am sure you can also use it for testing.
Last edited:
Hello all! I bought pair 342 of the Heritage Specials which arrived at my local shop last week. I am not a super critical listener but since there's a lot of curiosity about these speakers I thought I would share my impressions. I bought these as an upgrade to my Sonus Faber Venere 3s. I spent a lot of time in the shop comparing them to the Contour 20i and the Confidence 20. All 3 were great speakers, but after the shop allowed me to take their demo Heritage Specials home for the weekend to try out I pulled the trigger. Perhaps in a larger room it'd be different, but in my relatively small listening room (15' x 12' or so) the Veneres got crushed. The Heritage Specials resolve far more detail, are more dynamic, and have significantly higher quality bass. In comparison the Veneres sound overly dark and relaxed. At least with my size room and the kinds of music I like, a subwoofer is definitely not needed.
Downsides? Not many. The styling is really traditional and may not be your thing if you like flashier design. Honestly I liked the look of the Contour 20i better, but the Heritage Special looks good in my somewhat retro-looking listening room and the craftsmanship is top rate. Also, if you're listening to compressed music or poor recordings, these speakers will quickly remind you of this. They will also expose flaws in weaker parts of your source chain. I like this level of resolution, but maybe you won't.
I'll also share my impressions of the Contour 20i and Confidence 20 in comparison to the Heritage Specials. The Contour 20i seemed somewhat less resolving and slightly darker sounding. It also seemed to go a bit lower in the bass. This is not to say they weren't excellent speakers - I think I would have still been completely happy had I bought them. The Confidence 20 was substantially larger and heavier than the Heritage Special and also went quite a bit lower in the bass. The downward facing port might also make placement easier. Otherwise, at least to my untrained ears they sounded pretty similar to the Heritage Special. My shop was selling the demo pair for $2000 more than the Heritage Specials (I think $3000 off MSRP), and I admit that I considered it. For full price, it would have been really hard to justify.
In case you were wondering...I'm driving them with a Rogue Audio RP-1 preamp and Rogue Audio Stereo 100 amp. This amp is switchable between triode mode (~60 watts) and ultralinear mode (100 watts). I think either mode/power level is sufficient to drive these speakers - in most cases I noticed minimal difference between the two modes. Drum hits sounded a bit more pronounced in ultralinear mode. I also use a VPI Traveler turntable and a Chord 2Qute DAC.
I'm happy to answer any other questions. Also congrats to watchnerd on receiving his!
Downsides? Not many. The styling is really traditional and may not be your thing if you like flashier design. Honestly I liked the look of the Contour 20i better, but the Heritage Special looks good in my somewhat retro-looking listening room and the craftsmanship is top rate. Also, if you're listening to compressed music or poor recordings, these speakers will quickly remind you of this. They will also expose flaws in weaker parts of your source chain. I like this level of resolution, but maybe you won't.
I'll also share my impressions of the Contour 20i and Confidence 20 in comparison to the Heritage Specials. The Contour 20i seemed somewhat less resolving and slightly darker sounding. It also seemed to go a bit lower in the bass. This is not to say they weren't excellent speakers - I think I would have still been completely happy had I bought them. The Confidence 20 was substantially larger and heavier than the Heritage Special and also went quite a bit lower in the bass. The downward facing port might also make placement easier. Otherwise, at least to my untrained ears they sounded pretty similar to the Heritage Special. My shop was selling the demo pair for $2000 more than the Heritage Specials (I think $3000 off MSRP), and I admit that I considered it. For full price, it would have been really hard to justify.
In case you were wondering...I'm driving them with a Rogue Audio RP-1 preamp and Rogue Audio Stereo 100 amp. This amp is switchable between triode mode (~60 watts) and ultralinear mode (100 watts). I think either mode/power level is sufficient to drive these speakers - in most cases I noticed minimal difference between the two modes. Drum hits sounded a bit more pronounced in ultralinear mode. I also use a VPI Traveler turntable and a Chord 2Qute DAC.
I'm happy to answer any other questions. Also congrats to watchnerd on receiving his!
- Joined
- Feb 27, 2020
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I have a plan, executing this week
OP
watchnerd
Grand Contributor
- Thread Starter
- #256
I ran into this more this weekend.
I didn't have any recordings that crossed the line into unlistenable, but I did have a few that made me think "this is not as well recorded as I once thought it was", as it was picking up flaws that had been masked before.
Conversely, the opposite also happened -- some good recordings were even better than I thought.
The Contour 20s were more forgiving in comparison.
OP
watchnerd
Grand Contributor
- Thread Starter
- #257
Subjective Nonsense Comment #1:
The Heritage Special sounds better on vintage records than the Contour 20.
But....what could possibly cause this??
It sounds like, maybe, some midrange-dominance of the mids in the mix, as opposed to more full range, and the Heritage Specials are better in the mids and up than the Contour 20s?
Or...is the lower distortion / less masking / better detail retrieval mean that the last little chunks of almost worn down resolution in the old grooves are being picked up better?
Or it's just nonsense.
The Heritage Special sounds better on vintage records than the Contour 20.
But....what could possibly cause this??
It sounds like, maybe, some midrange-dominance of the mids in the mix, as opposed to more full range, and the Heritage Specials are better in the mids and up than the Contour 20s?
Or...is the lower distortion / less masking / better detail retrieval mean that the last little chunks of almost worn down resolution in the old grooves are being picked up better?
Or it's just nonsense.
OP
watchnerd
Grand Contributor
- Thread Starter
- #258
I'm starting to appreciate more how much that big steel plate in the back acts as a cabinet brace.
I feared that the the right angles of the Heritage Special, vs the curves of the Contour 20, would somehow make it have a boxier sound, but that hasn't turned out. Plus it's a 25-30% smaller, which should make it easier to make rigid.
I feared that the the right angles of the Heritage Special, vs the curves of the Contour 20, would somehow make it have a boxier sound, but that hasn't turned out. Plus it's a 25-30% smaller, which should make it easier to make rigid.
ROOSKIE
Major Contributor
Steve Guttenberg just posted his "review".
It has some nice shots and video of the unit.
Obviously take his comments with salt, he sure means well.
It has some nice shots and video of the unit.
Obviously take his comments with salt, he sure means well.