Thread: Confidence 50

Anyone heard the Dynaudio Confidence 50 speakers? I listened to them today and the Wilson Sasha DAW and the QLN Prestige 5 and the Dynaudio Heritage. Great day of audio shopping and listening.

Sounds like you went to Ember Audio. What did you think of the Prestige 5.

As a matter of fact I did and enjoyed the music and great conversation with Chris. QLN show great promise to my ears and embarrassed the Wilson. The Dynaudio are just sledgehammers of sound.

Originally Posted by Jack

Sounds like you went to Ember Audio. What did you think of the Prestige 5.

That's good to know as the QLN's have my interest and to me they are the most attractive of the three. Just not sure if that room at the current house in Greenville is wide enough to let them breathe. May have to make the three hour drive over there after the first of the year and see them in person. Are they going to be showing them at Capfest or is Mark Sossa going to do it himself along with Innuos and Qualiton?

Sorry Jack I cannot answer about QLN being at CAF. Unless you have a closet sized room I don’t see the Prestige 5 being restricted. I think they were definitely worth my time to go listen, as a matter of fact I want to go back for a second listen. I don’t think they are at Kharma S7 or DB7 level. Hope this helps.

Originally Posted by Jack

That's good to know as the QLN's have my interest and to me they are the most attractive of the three. Just not sure if that room at the current house in Greenville is wide enough to let them breathe. May have to make the three hour drive over there after the first of the year and see them in person. Are they going to be showing them at Capfest or is Mark Sossa going to do it himself along with Innuos and Qualiton?

Don't know anything about the Kharma sound so don't know how they would or wouldn't compare. To hear both would take a good bit of driving in two different directions with a good bit of time in between. We'll see how it goes after the first of the year.

I have CF50's in my system for about a year. I couldn't ask for anything more from speakers. They have really great balance of dynamics, transparency and resolution on one side and smoothness and musicality on the other. I can listen to them for hours with zero fatigue despite their pretty high level of details. The soundstage is wide and deep with most of the sound projected behind the speakers - they are pretty detailed speakers, but their sound is not "in the face" type of sound.

It's quite obvious that I like them very much


@nc42acc
How do they compare with other speakers you've listen to them with - in the same space and system?
What's the rest of the gear?

They were the best of all I listened to at this particular store. Wilson Sasha DAW and the QLN Prestige 5 were the other contenders. I want to ask if I can go back for a second listen and bring my power amps. I understand the confidence 50 have a pretty low impedance load.

Originally Posted by Delija

I have CF50's in my system for about a year. I couldn't ask anything more from speakers. They have really great balance of dynamics, transparency and resolution on one side and smoothness and musicality on the other. I can listen to them for hours with zero fatigue despite their pretty high level of details. The soundstage is wide and deep with most of the sound projected behind the speakers - they are pretty detailed speakers, but their sound is not "in the face" type of sound.

It's quite obvious that I like them vefy much


@nc42acc
How do they compare with other speakers you've listen to them with - in the same space and system?
What's the rest of the gear?

That's a good plan. Even better would be a test in your room, of course, but that's pretty hard to arrange.

I can say they are a pretty good match with my Devialet 440 Pro.
They are also great match with Simaudio MOON amps - I have listen to CF30's with 700i v2 integrated and P-8 preamp and W-7M amps.

They are not too heavy load, but just like the most of the Dynaudio speakers, to give their best they do need amps which could provide enough "juice" - especially current.

Congratulations on your confidence 50s. So far they have been great, great enough to halt my move to a pair of Kharma. Not too fussy about room placement but to me sound best with toe in. The Constellation amps are a great match with the Dynaudio. They are not a sizzle boom speaker but produce everything as they should without drama. Hope you enjoy yours as much as I have.

Originally Posted by SuperMax

@nc42acc, I do see you have ended up buying the Confidence 50 (judging by your system in your signature), and I am having a similar setup with yours, with Constellation Audio Preamp 1.0 and the Stereo 1.0, instead of your Mono 1.0's. Can you please let me know how do you find the Constellation Inspiration/Dynaudio Confidence 50 matching, as I know both tend to eer on the neutral-warm side. Also, how fussy are the Cf50's about the room and do they requiere lots of space around them?
I am reading that they are less critical about both partnering power amps and room placement compared to the older C4's, which I know demanded loads of current from the power amp, and were not that (medium) room friendly .
Alao, would be interested how do they cope with low volume listening, as older CF models needed to volume.to be cranked up a bit to make them "sing".

I would just add - they will create "drama" if there is drama on the recording. They won't make up the drama - unlike some other speakers.

My room is huge and they fill the space well. I auditioned the Confidence 50 using SIMAudio gear and it did a wonderful job driving them. Speakers at this price I would highly recommend demo them in a store or another audiophiles home.

Originally Posted by SuperMax

I haven't bought the CF50's yet, sorry if I made it sound so They are on my short list, and seeing you have the Inspiration series, I thought of checking with you on it.
I do see the current Confidence series usually matched with Simaudio Moon, Pass Labs, even Accuphase and Boulder, but have not seen it paired with Constellation until I found this thread
PS: if you don't mind, what is your listening room size? Thanks!

Very true and what I meant to portray.

Originally Posted by Delija

I would just add - they will create "drama" if there is drama on the recording. They won't make up the drama - unlike some other speakers.

Hard to definitively say they are “warm”. Maybe neutral would be a good adjective? I don’t think I would pair them with any gear on the warmer side of the spectrum.

Originally Posted by SuperMax

That I know, and that is a very good remark about these speakers, btw. Still, I feel their tendency is still a bit towards the warmer side, and they can benefit a bit more being more dynamic, but their presence factor is second to none. It seems they're also quite different from the older C4's, with a fairly different sound character and much easier to drive and setup.

What Kharma's are you looking at?

I was considering the DB9-S or DB11-S. Mike is the only dealer I would consider buying from and the logistics of an in-depth demo session didn’t materialize.

Originally Posted by Delija

What Kharma's are you looking at?

What are your other options in lieu of the Confidence 50s?

Originally Posted by SuperMax

I did audition them paired with an Aesthetix Atlas stereo power amp and found that to be a great matching pair. That amp is also known to be on the neutral-warm side

I have used about 6 other amps with my Confidence 50s and the Constellation always comes out on top.

Originally Posted by SuperMax

I would be tempted to say both Simaudio or Constellation tend to eer on the neutral-warm side of things, while other amps from the likes of Audionet, Spectral, CH Preciosion or even Octave tube amps (distribuited in US by Dynaudio) tend to be leaning towards the more clinical side of things. That's why I was really curioys about the Constellation-Dynaudio Confidence tonal match

Originally Posted by nc42acc

I have used about 6 other amps with my Confidence 50s and the Constellation always comes out on top.

Could you please share what other amps have you tried - if possible, with some description of the sound with each. Thanks.

I will list the amps tried but will limit my subjective opinions to keep from being bludgeoned to death here.

Two different makers of Hypex NC500 mono amps
Two versions of the Purifi amp
Ice edge 1200AS2
Parasound A21
Audio Research REF75 KT150
Rogue ST100

All my opinion with the Confidence 50, your results will vary.
All Class D too dry and analytical
A21 good bass and midrange, soft and closed in on top
REF75 not enough balls
ST100 not as refined as any above but drove speakers surprisingly well

Originally Posted by Delija

Could you please share what other amps have you tried - if possible, with some description of the sound with each. Thanks.

Thanks, Marty.