Magico S3 mk2 vs Dynaudio Contour 60

Dynaudio has several lines, more than most. Since 2002 they introduced the DM series which targeted more of a budget consumer. They introduced the new Focus series as well as the Focus XD, now a new Contour. I'm not sure what year the anniversary Sapphire came out and the Temptation. It's remiss to assert Dynaudio hasn't been active. In addition, you seem to have overlooked or ignored it was pointed out that Dynaudio was the leader in the powered speaker with built in DAC arena, and, I'd say offers more models to choose from in that market. than any other manufacturer. They came out with the Excite series, that's been a while though, not sure what year.

So Dynaudio holds up pretty well against the list of speakers you gave. It's interesting you mention Revel, how long have the Ultima been around? Also, goes to show if you have a good product why change until necessary. They did just not long ago introduce the new Concerto series and a while before that the Performa 3, which in my opinion wasn't an improvement over the prior P2.

I personally have to respect a company that builds themselves every aspect they can of their speakers as Dynaudio.

Many speakers companies are finding it financially beneficial to get into auto companies. Harmon has really been there with Infinity, JBL, Revel and the Levinson name.

At least Dynaudio aren't in Best Buy like B&W or all over the internet retailers yet.

Just bringing out some points so hope my post doesn't seem confrontational.

Not at all. I respect all views and recognize the active speaker component, but there were many before them in that arena (Meridian for example). I guess I'm just disappointed because the C2/C4 was one of my faves many moons ago and seems so long in the tooth now. I will tell you a funny story, I had the Salon 2's at the time and my wife and I went to audition the C4's. We were listening to this Bob Dylan track - The Man In The Long Black Coat - and my wife turns to me and says, "these sound better than YOUR speakers!" Ouch.


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Well, even outside of the active stuff Dynaudio's Excite series came out in 2013, Confidence Sig/Platinum in 2014, and Contour in 2016.

It would be nice to see an Esotar3 at some point :)
 
Some of the newer lines of Dynaudio are a bit easier but typically they require an amp with ample current to sound the way they were intended. The best I've heard Dyn sound was when our dealer used to carry Krell.

That is true. The Dyn Consequence Limited Edition are very difficoult to drive - I believe they are only 81dB efficient. My friend used to drive them with the giant Vitus SS-101 integrated, which run out of steam, so he had changed to D'Agosting Progression monos which I believe are 600wpc or so. The Temptations were much easier to drive, although those were seriously limited in LF performance.
 
Speaking of Dynaudio standmounts. I had the Dyn Special 25 at home last year. It is a 2-way, with their top of the range Esotar2 tweeter and top of the range 8-inch woofer with neodumium magnet - so pretty much their statement 2-way. I cannot say I was disappointed per se - they sounded pretty good and could play suprisingly loud for a 2-way (thanks to 8-inch bass driver), but they were worlds apart from my Magico S5 mk 2.
 
Speaking of Dynaudio standmounts. I had the Dyn Special 25 at home last year. It is a 2-way, with their top of the range Esotar2 tweeter and top of the range 8-inch woofer with neodumium magnet - so pretty much their statement 2-way. I cannot say I was disappointed per se - they sounded pretty good and could play suprisingly loud for a 2-way (thanks to 8-inch bass driver), but they were worlds apart from my Magico S5 mk 2.

The Special 25 cost like $5k back in the day and was voiced bright to me. The C1 always sounded better.

But why are we comparing $40k speakers to decade+ old, $5k ones?
 
The Special 25 cost like $5k back in the day and was voiced bright to me. The C1 always sounded better.

But why are we comparing $40k speakers to decade+ old, $5k ones?

Special 25 have been reintroduced a ~4 years back due to the high demand. And they still had their best woofer and tweeter ... despite the modest price.

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The Special 25 cost like $5k back in the day and was voiced bright to me. The C1 always sounded better.

But why are we comparing $40k speakers to decade+ old, $5k ones?

Because they might sound better. Price doesn't always dictate.



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An update: I am now an extremely happy owner of a pair of S3 mk2s! In stunning bronze m-cast. I bought the show room pair at a reasonable discount which helped me get comfortable with the outlay. They have around 100 hours on the clock and were delivered in 2 days, so no need to wait the 4-8 week delivery time on a new pair.

Given my listening room is also my lounge I could only place them about 1.5 feet away from the rear wall. From my listening position they sounded best about 3 feet away but that didn't work very well space-wise. The soundstage is not quite as deep but it is still amazing. They are about 7 feet apart slightly angled in.

As predicted by the dealer the bass sounds a bit bigger in my room compared to the show room. I think the bass from the Dynaudio Contour 60s would probably be too big for my room. And as I posted previously, I have grown to like the tighter, more defined bass from the S3s as compared to the Dynaudios. With the slightly bigger boom given my acoustically-imperfect room, I feel like I have the best of both worlds.

I tried some of the other ported speakers I mentioned previously but overall I preferred the S3s.

One thing I noticed compared to the sound they produced in the show room (with a Soulution pre and power amp and Vovox Textura Fortis cables) is that the upper mids and treble don't quite have the same 'sparkle'/crispness with my Devialet Expert Pro 220 and (very) cheap speaker cables. A cable upgrade is the next step in this very expensive (but enormously pleasurable) hobby.

Very, very happy!

AJR
 
AJR, congrats! Great choice. And even a great color (totally biased comment) [emoji3].

Based on my experience the sparkle in the highs will come back, as I would attribute that to the burn-in process which will take about 400-500 hours to complete. I have noticed that all drivers are varying their characteristics at different times during the process, but the end-result will be a lots of music listening joy. Let us know how they develop. That said, Magicos are known to be merciless regarding what's upstream, so you will definitely get more out of your new toys if you ensure the cables are up for the task.

I'm sure you'll be another happy mk2 owner appreciating the diamond coated beryllium and all-graphene technology trickle-down from the M Pro.

Again, congrats and I wish you a lots of happy music listening.


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Congrats ! Bronze is by far my fav M-Cast color (both my S5 mk 1 and S5 mk 2 were in Bronze M-Cast).
 
So what albums/tracks have you been playing through your lovely new speakers? What differences are you noticing when playing a certain track?

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Brilliant choice. They will work beautifully in your room and give you lots of enjoyment. Congrats. Let the speakers get to 500 hours before you start monkeying with cables. [emoji444][emoji106]
 
An update: I am now an extremely happy owner of a pair of S3 mk2s! In stunning bronze m-cast. I bought the show room pair at a reasonable discount which helped me get comfortable with the outlay. They have around 100 hours on the clock and were delivered in 2 days, so no need to wait the 4-8 week delivery time on a new pair.

Given my listening room is also my lounge I could only place them about 1.5 feet away from the rear wall. From my listening position they sounded best about 3 feet away but that didn't work very well space-wise. The soundstage is not quite as deep but it is still amazing. They are about 7 feet apart slightly angled in.

As predicted by the dealer the bass sounds a bit bigger in my room compared to the show room. I think the bass from the Dynaudio Contour 60s would probably be too big for my room. And as I posted previously, I have grown to like the tighter, more defined bass from the S3s as compared to the Dynaudios. With the slightly bigger boom given my acoustically-imperfect room, I feel like I have the best of both worlds.

I tried some of the other ported speakers I mentioned previously but overall I preferred the S3s.

One thing I noticed compared to the sound they produced in the show room (with a Soulution pre and power amp and Vovox Textura Fortis cables) is that the upper mids and treble don't quite have the same 'sparkle'/crispness with my Devialet Expert Pro 220 and (very) cheap speaker cables. A cable upgrade is the next step in this very expensive (but enormously pleasurable) hobby.

Very, very happy!

AJR

Congrats AJR on an extraordinary pair of loudspeakers! You made a terrific choice. With only 100 hours of break in time, you should continue to hear steady improvement for the next several hundred hours. I hope you are as happy with your S3 Mk2's as I know Kuoppis is with his!

Enjoy,
Ken
 
Wow. Every single inch I (reluctantly, from a room cosmetic point of view!) I bring my bronzed beauties in from the wall, the sound improves quite significantly!

Will take Mike's advice and play with cables later
 
Am getting thru my favourites. Hard to describe how much better they sound. A LOT better is all I can say right now. A whole new level.
 
Awesome AJR! You now own some of the best speakers on the market today :thumbsup:
Just one thing is missing ..... We would love pictures :D
 
Regardless of music preferences, I urge everyone to listen to "the numbers" by radiohead on your sound systems. Stunning.
 
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