Dynaudio Heritage Special

[Fahrradfahrer]

Nothing new. Nevertheless, every Amp sounds different. So: Which Amplifiers you enjoy most with the Heritage? Is here someone who is using the Krell in combination with the Heritage?

 

[Doodski]

every Amp sounds different.

No, they do not. I have compared hundreds of different models in a sound room with a switchbox for instant comparison and most of them sound the same when operated within their capabilities. There are some that sound a tiny bit different but they are rare.

 

[VintageFlanker]

Welcome,

Nothing new. Nevertheless, every Amp sounds different.

You should try reading this thread first.

 

[JoetheLion]

Which amplifiers you´re using currently?

NAD C298. I am very satisfied with that. In the sense of Doodski a good amplifier because it is absolutely neutral. Like probably every Purifi amplifier, all of which are certainly recommended.

 

[Wezzy]

Nothing new. Nevertheless, every Amp sounds different. So: Which Amplifiers you enjoy most with the Heritage? Is here someone who is using the Krell in combination with the Heritage?

I am using a Rega Osiris with my HS, love the sound.

 

[Fahrradfahrer]

No, they do not. I have compared hundreds of different models in a sound room with a switchbox for instant comparison and most of them sound the same when operated within their capabilities. There are some that sound a tiny bit different but they are rare.

That`s means no need to spent thousands of dollars? At least it shouldn´t be the cheapest one and should have enough of power to drive the boxes? Never had the chance to make such comparisons.

Welcome,

You should try reading this thread first.

Thanks. Will do, as i never came across such a topic in an audio forum.

NAD C298. I am very satisfied with that. In the sense of Doodski a good amplifier because it is absolutely neutral. Like probably every Purifi amplifier, all of which are certainly recommended.

Thank you for the recommendation.

I am using a Rega Osiris with my HS, love the sound.

Here the same. Thank you. Will take a look into this model.

 

[Doodski]

That`s means no need to spent thousands of dollars? At least it shouldn´t be the cheapest one and should have enough of power to drive the boxes?

The need to spend thousands might be there and might not it depends on your speakers' requirements, the room size and the sound pressure levels that you want to achieve.

 

[ROOSKIE]

That`s means no need to spent thousands of dollars? At least it shouldn´t be the cheapest one and should have enough of power to drive the boxes? Never had the chance to make such comparisons.


Thanks. Will do, as i never came across such a topic in an audio forum.


Thank you for the recommendation.


Here the same. Thank you. Will take a look into this model.

Way back in the day there was much more variation between amps. Sometimes it was a very large variation especially with tube amps as they interacted with various impedance loads.
The frequency responses could be off my several DB+/- (which is horrible by todays standards)and also many amps had high levels of distortion and low power ratings so they often were driven into clipping and when driven into clipping amps vary wildly in how they sound. Some sound good with even 6db or 10db of added SPL past clipping and others a total nightmare.

A very high % of contemporary solid state designs in price ranges exceed the limits of human hearings abilities to distinguish minor variations in most common situations.
Now with a good quality solid state design (including class D) with enough power, amps in wildly varying price classes should sound very, very, very, very similar.

Notable differences would be extremely poor designs whether intended or not and many tube amps which can vary wildly. I have read of blind testing that showed very minor differences in typical quality amps so I would not be able to say there is zero sound differences between all decent products, it is again likely very low. There is again likely some house tuning built into many consumer products that will add a bit of this or that.

The industry makes a lot of money telling you to buy expensive amps. Generally that is BS.

It must be stated that if you want 'technical' perfection that may still cost extra money and measurements are the only source as technical perfection is a measured perfection not a subjective one. 'What goes in must be the only thing that comes out but louder' - this must be measured.

Subjectively it is very easy to alter your experience based on unconscious and even conscious biases and again some products are colored on purpose and one would want to know that based on measuring.
Again, blind testing, at least that of which I have read about, typically reveals very little difference if any between basically good amps and truly well measuring ones without house/designed coloration should sound identical.

In my personal use cases I prefer very powerful amps to less powerful. I listen loudly frequently enough that I never want to run out of juice and prefer 400 watts to 40 even if overkill and spend my money on power vs snake oil claims and pretty boxes (though I do appreciate good looking gear of course). Your needs may vary though in a medium or bigger room and at louder listening levels 40watts is not enough with many contemporary speaker designs which are often 82-87db sensitive.

 

[Freshman1966]

That`s means no need to spent thousands of dollars? At least it shouldn´t be the cheapest one and should have enough of power to drive the boxes? Never had the chance to make such comparisons.


Thanks. Will do, as i never came across such a topic in an audio forum.


Thank you for the recommendation.


Here the same. Thank you. Will take a look into this model.

I am running an Atoll IN300 on my HS and I am super happy with it. There's not too many amps I could try out before - a Taga Hybrid and the Elac amp combination (don't remember what he model was but they only have one ) The hybrid was definitely not powerful enough with 80 W and did sound to warm with a blurry bass.
The Elac pre amp/amp (class D) is quite expensive but sounded horrible - I am not very good in describing sound but maybe you can say "bloodless".

The IN300 was a guess because I read a few good reviews about the IN200, also in combination with the HS. The IN200 should be completely sufficient for the HS and would have been my choice if I hadn't come across a good deal on the IN300

BTW, I also really love the minimalistic looks of this Atoll series.

From your username I guess you might be located in Germany. If you are close to Berlin, send me a PM and we can arrange a listening session.

Cheers, Stefan

 

[Extreme_Boky]

Finally!
The universe has provided from the most unlikely source!

I also have the Contour 1.3 in the exact same finish & in pristine condition. It sounds really good.
How does it compare to Heritage Special?

 

[aschen]

Sold my contour 1.8s after 25 years of ownership last week. They still sound fantastic to me. I think dynaudio was a bit ahead of their time in the 90s. Hadnt used them in a while since I have c4s. Would be fun for somebody to send an old contour to amir for klippel action.

 

[UCrazyKid]

Hi all, here is another member of a Dyn Heritage. Got more or less two 2 questions:

1) Which amplifiers you´re using currently? Did you tried few amplifiers until you found the right one for the Heritage?

2) Got currently the AVM CS 2.3 (Class D). Thinking about to buy the Krell K-300i, which is pretty hyped in this forum. Unfortunately it looks like nobody is using this combination? When both (Heritage + Krell) get together, the sound could may be to warm? What do you think?

Do you mean integrated amplifier, or power amplifier? I have never heard anyone ever describe Krell as warm sounding. Classé, yes but Krell, no.

 

[jasoncd]

I read through most of the thread, but apologies if I missed any discussion on this.

Measurements were linked to from this website:

Dynaudio Heritage Special

Kdekdo se ve svých propagačních materiálech ohání slovy jako „tradice“, „historie“ nebo „odkaz“, nicméně dánští Dynaudio mají s více než čtyřmi křížky na krku rozhodně nezpochybnitelné právo taková slova používat. Rozhodli se je vsunout rovnou do názvu jednoho ze svých modelů – regálovka z...

www-hifi--voice-com.translate.goog

I attached the frequency response of the separate port, woofer and tweeter. I am far from an expert, but the drooping woofer response and the big peak from the port at 600hz look...not great to me. To the point where I think I am missing something here. The frequency response with THD graph from the same website looks much smoother than I would think it would be based on the attached graph. Even with the port pushing up the woofer around 600hz I'm surprised it wouldn't be a more pronounced peak.

Any thoughts? I get this isn't supposed to be a 8351b competitor, but having the port output within 4ish db of the woofer output around 600hz seem bizarre.

 

[Extreme_Boky]

 

[jasoncd]

View attachment 243588
View attachment 243589

No idea if this is in response to my post - I’m not that smart with this stuff. Maybe this is saying ‘first order crossover’ to explain the early woofer roll off?

Or maybe that’s me being dumb

 

[Mr. Widget]

No, they do not. I have compared hundreds of different models in a sound room with a switchbox for instant comparison and most of them sound the same when operated within their capabilities. There are some that sound a tiny bit different but they are rare.

Sorry to drag up an old thread and then an OT discussion on top of it, but this is a frequent topic and is steeped in deep controversy.

For years Stereo Review's Julian Hirsch maintained that all properly functioning amplifiers sounded identical. Most audio enthusiasts disagreed and called him deaf. Well, I certainly do not think that a highly praised audiophile amp will allow me to hear the breeze through the tulle of a ballerina's dress while a typical receiver will only let me hear the notes of the music... I will say that I have heard some very subtle and some less subtle differences.

Take a vintage McIntosh MC240. I have heard these amps play through vintage Altecs and JBLs as well as modern speakers and this amp doesn't have the upper and lower extension of most modern amps and the bass sound is fuller and woolier. All of this is most likely due to the autoformers... but it is real and measurable. I have also heard vintage OTL amps that sounded just plain odd.

I agree that in the solid state realm the differences are typically extremely subtle or nonexistent. However I had an unusual personal experience.

My girlfriend who listens to live acoustic music regularly and has a very critical ear had a system with a vintage Kenwood solid state integrated amp. When it failed after decades of faithful service, I decided to save the day and bought her a Rotel RA-1570. I ordered it through the dealer accommodation program at work so I could get it for below dealer cost. I had never heard one, but what's not to love, a simple stereo amp with a bit of digital processing included from a reputable brand.

A week later the amp arrives, I take it to her home and unbox it. The gleaming brushed aluminum chassis was gorgeous. I was also gleaming as I fired up some of her favorite music. She didn't smile. She said, "I think it's broken. Those violins sound terrible." I tired a few settings and could never please her. I contacted the rep and he assured me that this was the correct way to deploy it and asked how we could not love it... I boxed it up, kept it the requisite year and dumped it on eBay the next year. To save face, I quickly bought another used Kenwood for her on eBay. (this was before these things became hip again so it was only about $100) and she loved it. Eventually it and the stereo was replaced by a computer and a pair of powered JBL 305Ps... which she also loves.

 

[Extreme_Boky]

What we need to do is to be able to capture and measure what is it exactly that she likes about Kenwood vs Rotel - and show it undeniably black-on-white.

 

[40th Anniversary]

I haven't heard the Confidence C1 in a while, but I would say that it just doesn't scale as well with complex music at high volumes as the newer models -- the Contour 20/20i is superior in this respect, the Confidence 20 better still. The tweeter is also showing its age vs the Esotar 2i, Esotar 40, and Esotar 3 -- it sounds a tad under-damped and less precise, a little fuzzier like there is just a wee bit more driver breakup and resonance. It's also pickier about toe-in than the more modern models, suggesting the directivity might be less good.

The Special 40 bass tuning is just slightly fat and plump, with a higher Q, which gives it the impression of sounding deep from a small box in a small to medium sized room, at the expense of some bass accuracy and ability to play loud in larger rooms -- the driver is being asked to do a lot for its size and cabinet volume, so it eventually runs out of gas at higher volumes in a big room. In a small room, you're not likely to hit the limit before it gets louder than you want to listen.

The Special 40 is also tuned a bit more "pleasant" than neutral -- the Contour 20 sounds more neutral and studio monitor like. The Special 40 is just slightly more laid back / down-tilted than it is accurate.

SP 40 bass: I would have to agree having listened to it extensively. I love it and it depends on preferences. Have they addressed that with the Heritage, to make it more accurate while retaining the musicality of the speaker?

 

[Extreme_Boky]

I listened to Special 40 and was very disappointed with the sound. Compared to the Contour range, it sounded utterly terrible. The salesperson mentioned that many customers who come to audition Special 40, have very high expectations based on immensely overinflated reviews - but then get very disappointed when they hear them in action. He told me that he was going to remove them from the Dynaudio range because it was giving Dynaudio a bad reputation. I also listened to Contour 20, Contour20i and the Heritage Special. The Heritage was very good but actually, the 20i was what I deemed at that time to be a worthy replacement for my Contour 1.3. Later on, I replaced the source, which immediately warranted a better amp, which I upgraded as well. In the end, I decided to stick with Contour 1.3 - mainly because it has the best overall sound balance in my system and in my listening room.

 

[40th Anniversary]

Contour 1.3 is known to be good speaker and a keeper, as is the Contour 20 series.
There is a German audio review where they affirm the Contour 20 is their best speaker and a reference for a few years now.

Being the current owner of a Dynaudio Special 40 and 'wishing' to upgrade to the Heritage Specials, 'utterly terrible' is not what the SP 40s sounds like in my home. After going through many speakers, they are the best that have graced my living room in years. And not fussy, I just connected them and they sounded great from day 1; they still sound great!

I reference this link:

The link provided shows how some Dyns compared to others. There is a distinct ease of flow to the sound with SP 40 and Heritage Special which I find is missing with the Contour in the above noted video. Now granted, this is just an online listen. I've never heard them for real, that's why alternatively I make reference to the German review (I can't find the link at this time).
From the video above, I'd clearly pick the SP 40 or Heritage Special. Relatively speaking, the entry level Dyn speaker sounds lacking and if you have the budget, more money gets you better sound. There are other reviews that evaluate lower entry points of various speakers and include the Evoke series in that comparo.
Speaking of money $, I've had the opportunity to try NHT superone 2.1 speakers and they sounded amazing, albeit small. $350 Canadian at the time: sometimes money can't buy you great sound (or love). Crazy! but I digress.

So I'm sitting here in my living room, addicted to my stereo and music and all, loving the finish of the cabs of my Grey Birch Dyns SP40, how they embellish the living room, driven by one (at this time) AHB2 via an RME ADI-2 DAC spinning Edward & the Magnetic Zeroes; I'm loving the warm, detailed sound and I think they fit the room perfectly with just enough room to breathe well to avoid sounding too bloomy or boomy. They don't fare as well in my smaller room downstairs, too much bass. In my living room they don't struggle with volume and drive. I guess I'm lucky to feel happy about that. They replaced a pair of Harbeth P3ESR.

Utterly perfect here and I'm struggling to part with them for Heritage Specials as that next step is a BIG ONE from a $$ perspective.

They are not perfect. They are 'Special'.