Magico S3 mk2 vs Dynaudio Contour 60

[Melbguy1]

The Vitus monos I heard at Munich and they were singing sweetly. The Pass is 1/5 the price here and has a sweet, full, ballsy sound. Both are excellent. I just found that the more power I give the S5 mk2's, the better they perform. I think Bud might be on to something with his big Pass monos. The Bryston's with a proper preamp (sweet tube) is "holy crap" good! The speakers come to life. I hope you can try an amp with some major power. You will be shocked.

Thanks for that feedback Mike. My S7 friend has the Vitus SM-102 mono's & MP-L201. The last time I heard his system the music had all the usual Vitus qualities & was dynamic as hell, with deep bass and that wall of sound you talk about. Though at the time he was running the Torus Infrasonic generators which made the sound fuller (ie: before his room changes). So I see the connection.

In Australia, Pass Labs gear is quite a bit more expensive than the US. The X350.8 for example is $26.4kAUD, though the biggest Pass amp I could fit in my current rack would be the INT-250. Then the new Vitus SIA-030 comes into strong contention. I'd like to throw the ARC Ref 40th Anniversary pre with some cryo'd EH 6H30 gold pins at the 28B's just for fun. I loved my Boulder 1060 with Ayon tubes up top. Best of both worlds.

 

[Mike]

Thanks for that feedback Mike. My S7 friend has Vitus SM-102 mono's & MP-L201 & the sound was dynamic as hell with deep bass and that wall of sound you talked about. Though at the time he was running the Torus Infrasomic generators which made the sound fuller (that was before his room changes). So I see the connection.

In Australia, Pass Labs gear is quite a bit more expensive than the US. The X350.8 for example is $26.4kAUD, though the biggest Pass amp I could fit in my current rack would be the INT-250. Then the new Vitus SIA-030 comes into strong contention. I'd like to throw the ARC Ref 40th Anniversary pre with some cryo'd EH 6H30 gold pins at the 28B's just for fun. I loved my Boulder 1060 with Ayon tubes up top. Best of both worlds.

I like that!


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[AJR]

@AJR:. What electronic music do you listen to? I like similar music to you from what you said in an earlier post.

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A mix of old school (Aphex Twin, Underworld, Boards of Canada), and Dub, Massive Attack, downbeat generally (am showing my age now!) to German electronic (Monolake, Plastikman), to Dub Step (Burial, Mala, Zomby), to rock (Tool, Radiohead, The National). But also some jazz and classical sprinkled in! Currently digging Victor Wooten!

 

[AJR]

Also, since in $30k, just curious if the dealer had any other Dynaudio like Confidence or Evidence? Of course, most in that line would be imposing in your room, just wondered how you liked those. The C1 is a nice stand mount, less money than the Contour 60, it would be interesting though to hear a comparison with the Magico. Not that the C1 would come close to being better, the balance may be closer though as a stand mount.

Good question. They have the Confidence Temptations. Ruled it out immediately based on the aesthetic.

Agree re the C1s. Am encouraging a friend to buy them. He has a small room and I think they would be perfect. Didn't listen to them though but will do soon.

 

[Hessec]

Good question. They have the Confidence Temptations. Ruled it out immediately based on the aesthetic.

Agree re the C1s. Am encouraging a friend to buy them. He has a small room and I think they would be perfect. Didn't listen to them though but will do soon.

I had the c1 with Boulder 1060/1010/1021 and they were awesome! Then moved to magico v2 and s5 and regretted my decision. They are more "accurate" but the jump factor and fun was long gone. The C1 is an incredible speaker. They really shine on elelectronic music as well. Don't let their small size fool you. They can pound out bass in a large room. I want to get another pair for my office. Have not heard they new dynaudios but have heard the M3 and s7. Based on your music selection..... go with the dynaudio.


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[AJR]

I don't think that's a fair comment. I try very hard to keep things balanced and I'm the first to congratulate new Wilson owners. We have a lot of Magico owners, but we have loads of Wilson, Rockport, etc. owners too. Magico and Wilson owners are passionate about the science, technology and engineering involved in their speakers and the world class companies behind them. If others prefer speakers like BBC monitor types out there, then all the power to them.

As for DynAudio, they have failed to innovate (as far as new two channel top end speakers are concerned) over the past 5-10 years and their US Distribution has been in complete disarray. They didn't know if they were supposed to be selling DynAudio for the German parent company or distributing for T+A and Octave for their friends in Germany. It was embarrassing walking around their room at Munich. Their staff were busy talking about anything but audio and they had NOTHING to show as far as two channel high end was concerned. Are they making a transition to CI and car audio? Don't know...maybe they are already.

At the outset, I found it odd to even consider DynAudio in the same breath as Magico. Wilson? Sure. Rockport? Sure. Gryphon? Sure. Gauder, Vivid, Estelon, Marten, Kharma, etc. are all others worth looking more than DynAudio IMO.

Back to the OP, I hooked up the S5 mk2's to the Bryston 28B3's with the VAC preamp and they came to life. Give them 1800 watts and look out! Bass galore!

That's a great post.

I agree it is a bit odd comparing the C60s to the S3 mk2s on face value. BUT, IMHO the C60s punch well above their weight. Their soundstage was IMHO very good but I think about 15-20% below the Magicos. But I liked the bass. 2x 10" drivers and 2 rear ports. It sounded great and I could feel the bass, not just hear it. But I have concluded that the bass is too predominant and so that originally perceived advantage has gone.

 

[Melbguy1]

Their soundstage was IMHO very good but I think about 15-20% below the Magicos

"..Electricity is 50% of the sound for me...you know that!" :lol:

 

[Mr Peabody]

Mike, I was only teasing with the forum statement. I thought "LOL" would be enough to show. I know my humor can be dry at times. In addition, I don't think you've seen me take shots at people in my posts.

You don't have to tear down Dynaudio to make Magico look better. I agree, their marketing stradegy in the States can be strange. I remember they dropped the price on a set of speakers by $1k just to make room in the line for another model and to have the price points at a reasonable step apart. I happened to own those speakers and bought them before the price drop. Talking about losing value.

Dynaudio was also bought not so long ago which may contribute to some of their issues.

A sincere question as I've heard Magico but don't know that much about them. Do they make their drivers or any of their speaker components themselves?

The Magico needing more power makes sense as being a sealed enclosure by design needs more power.

 

[Mr Peabody]

Dynaudio has pretty much stuck with their basic cabinet design but they have had several new series and revamped some in the last tens years, you statement isn't accurate. In fact, they were one of the first, if not the first, to have a line of powered speakers with built in DAC. Long before KEF and others followed.

I don't think that's a fair comment. I try very hard to keep things balanced and I'm the first to congratulate new Wilson owners. We have a lot of Magico owners, but we have loads of Wilson, Rockport, etc. owners too. Magico and Wilson owners are passionate about the science, technology and engineering involved in their speakers and the world class companies behind them. If others prefer speakers like BBC monitor types out there, then all the power to them.

As for DynAudio, they have failed to innovate (as far as new two channel top end speakers are concerned) over the past 5-10 years and their US Distribution has been in complete disarray. They didn't know if they were supposed to be selling DynAudio for the German parent company or distributing for T+A and Octave for their friends in Germany. It was embarrassing walking around their room at Munich. Their staff were busy talking about anything but audio and they had NOTHING to show as far as two channel high end was concerned. Are they making a transition to CI and car audio? Don't know...maybe they are already.

At the outset, I found it odd to even consider DynAudio in the same breath as Magico. Wilson? Sure. Rockport? Sure. Gryphon? Sure. Gauder, Vivid, Estelon, Marten, Kharma, etc. are all others worth looking more than DynAudio IMO.

Back to the OP, I hooked up the S5 mk2's to the Bryston 28B3's with the VAC preamp and they came to life. Give them 1800 watts and look out! Bass galore!

 

[Narayan]

I don't think that's a fair comment. I try very hard to keep things balanced and I'm the first to congratulate new Wilson owners. We have a lot of Magico owners, but we have loads of Wilson, Rockport, etc. owners too. Magico and Wilson owners are passionate about the science, technology and engineering involved in their speakers and the world class companies behind them. If others prefer speakers like BBC monitor types out there, then all the power to them.

As for DynAudio, they have failed to innovate (as far as new two channel top end speakers are concerned) over the past 5-10 years and their US Distribution has been in complete disarray. They didn't know if they were supposed to be selling DynAudio for the German parent company or distributing for T+A and Octave for their friends in Germany. It was embarrassing walking around their room at Munich. Their staff were busy talking about anything but audio and they had NOTHING to show as far as two channel high end was concerned. Are they making a transition to CI and car audio? Don't know...maybe they are already.

At the outset, I found it odd to even consider DynAudio in the same breath as Magico. Wilson? Sure. Rockport? Sure. Gryphon? Sure. Gauder, Vivid, Estelon, Marten, Kharma, etc. are all others worth looking more than DynAudio IMO.

Back to the OP, I hooked up the S5 mk2's to the Bryston 28B3's with the VAC preamp and they came to life. Give them 1800 watts and look out! Bass galore!

One would reckon that since the takeover and new capital influx, Dynaudio should have upped its game, some can seemingly rest in the laurels, although to be fair they did introduce wireless speakers before other high end manufacturers back in 2012 with the Xeo line.

http://www.chinagoabroad.com/en/recent_transaction/china-s-goertek-takes-over-dynaudio-for-50m

 

[Alpinist]

Thanks for that feedback Mike. My S7 friend has the Vitus SM-102 mono's & MP-L201. The last time I heard his system the music had all the usual Vitus qualities & was dynamic as hell, with deep bass and that wall of sound you talk about. Though at the time he was running the Torus Infrasonic generators which made the sound fuller (ie: before his room changes). So I see the connection.

In Australia, Pass Labs gear is quite a bit more expensive than the US. The X350.8 for example is $26.4kAUD, though the biggest Pass amp I could fit in my current rack would be the INT-250. Then the new Vitus SIA-030 comes into strong contention. I'd like to throw the ARC Ref 40th Anniversary pre with some cryo'd EH 6H30 gold pins at the 28B's just for fun. I loved my Boulder 1060 with Ayon tubes up top. Best of both worlds.

I'm partial to the ARC Ref 10 preamp. I went for it and have never looked back.

Ken

 

[Mike]

Mike, I was only teasing with the forum statement. I thought "LOL" would be enough to show. I know my humor can be dry at times. In addition, I don't think you've seen me take shots at people in my posts.

You don't have to tear down Dynaudio to make Magico look better. I agree, their marketing stradegy in the States can be strange. I remember they dropped the price on a set of speakers by $1k just to make room in the line for another model and to have the price points at a reasonable step apart. I happened to own those speakers and bought them before the price drop. Talking about losing value.

Dynaudio was also bought not so long ago which may contribute to some of their issues.

A sincere question as I've heard Magico but don't know that much about them. Do they make their drivers or any of their speaker components themselves?

The Magico needing more power makes sense as being a sealed enclosure by design needs more power.

There's no tear down of DynAudio. I like them, the IIc's are great, but they've done nothing substantial in years in terms of their top end speakers.

Magico designs their own drivers (I've seen them myself on the CAD program). They have another company assemble them.


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[Showroom Dummies]

A mix of old school (Aphex Twin, Underworld, Boards of Canada), and Dub, Massive Attack, downbeat generally (am showing my age now!) to German electronic (Monolake, Plastikman), to Dub Step (Burial, Mala, Zomby), to rock (Tool, Radiohead, The National). But also some jazz and classical sprinkled in! Currently digging Victor Wooten!

Aphex Twin, Massive Attack and Tool. Some of my favourites as well.
Kraftwerk is my number 1.
Your system must be unbelievable when playing some of that music

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[Narayan]

There's no tear down of DynAudio. I like them, the IIc's are great, but they've done nothing substantial in years in terms of their top end speakers.

Magico designs their own drivers (I've seen them myself on the CAD program). They have another company assemble them.


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Maybe Dynaudio doesn´t deem it necessary to renew their speaker range or to put out a new top of the line speaker as often as other competitors, I´m all for innovation if it translates to better sound quality, as in it clearly sounds better, not just different. If innovation is mainly at the service of charging ever rising prices then there´s no point (the last sentence was meant for all audio manufacturers).

If you manage to take off the Magico goggles, you´ll see a world where other companies also work hard and try to innovate, not up to Magico level? Possibly, but you´re making it look as if Dynaudio is a stagnant dinosaur and that is unfair, Dynaudio tweeters have garnered more praise than any Magico tweeter up to today.

https://www.dynaudio.com/dynaudio/technology

 

[Mike]

I've obviously touched a nerve, but I stand by my comments. They've done next to nothing the past 5-10 years and their US Distribution is a mess and their display at Munich had nothing new to offer and did you notice? It wasn't mentioned anywhere. For good reason. If they're such an innovative company, then innovate and don't stand still.

The Evidence and Temptation were introduced in 1999. C2/C4 were introduced in 2002. I think my Grandmother may have had a pair.

 

[KeithR]

There's no tear down of DynAudio. I like them, the IIc's are great, but they've done nothing substantial in years in terms of their top end speakers.

Magico designs their own drivers (I've seen them myself on the CAD program). They have another company assemble them.
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That's because Dynaudio's target market is sub-20k. The new Contour series sounded fantastic at RMAF last year. They just released the Special Forty at $2995. I do think the Confidence v2 release a couple years ago was somewhat lame. Dynaudio is well known for having longer product cycles in general.

I think we sometimes forget that the average Stereophile reader's system is $25k. We need more Contours and less M3s in this business.

 

[Mike]

That's because Dynaudio's target market is sub-20k. The new Contour series sounded fantastic at RMAF last year. They just released the Special Forty at $2995. I do think the Confidence v2 release a couple years ago was somewhat lame. Dynaudio is well known for having longer product cycles in general.

I think we sometimes forget that the average Stereophile reader's system is $25k. We need more Contours and less M3s in this business.

Don't misunderstand what I'm saying. I have always liked the C2/C4, etc. but we just haven't seen anything new and exciting from DynAudio in years (since 1999/2002). If their focus has changed to CI/auto, then that's great for them.

But I've seen this story play out before when companies ditched two channel for the new flavor of the month: home theater. Remember that? I won't make apologies for being a staunch defender of everything two channel. I like to support those companies that support us.

Even in their market (price) - their competitors: KEF, B&W, Focal, ELAC, Harbeth, Devore, Tannoy, Golden Ear, Revel, and dozens of others have refreshed their lines and come out with new products - at least since 1999.


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[KeithR]

Don't misunderstand what I'm saying. I have always liked the C2/C4, etc. but we just haven't seen anything new and exciting from DynAudio in years (since 1999/2002). If their focus has changed to CI/auto, then that's great for them.

The new Contour series is "exciting" to many of us. And I believe it's always been the company's biggest selling line.

I think with the change in ownership they had to rework some timelines, so that probably extended things a bit but hopefully they are back on track.

 

[Mr Peabody]

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 he 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.

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

 

[Mr Peabody]

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.