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Item: Dynaudio Focus 160 Stand-mount/Bookshelf Loudspeakers
Location: Adelaide, SA
Price: 1650
Item Condition: Excellent - with the caveat of some marking on the bases being present from the stands. Can provide more pictures. 
Reason for selling: They were bought to evaluate the returns available in moving up the line. Conclusion - well worth it over the similarly sized Excites or BM actives - or even over the Focus 110s if you need more headroom/bandwidth though they are also a lovely speaker also I think, within their limits. 
Payment Method: Pickup with Cash, Shipping with Paypal, Direct deposit or by Checkvault escrow payment. I've used them as a buyer and they were great. Flat fee of $25 with the only penalty being the extra funds clearance delay of a day or three at www.checkvault.com.au (I have no affiliation of course - just a happy customer.)
Extra Info: I have spent some time with these fantastic speakers. They are everything people say they are, and to my ears, compete well with the Kef LS50s for finesse without being without the worry about a bit of bass content damaging the drivers. Dynaudio have a long history of high power driver production and they continue to shine. The tweeters are, well, I tried to explain them to a friend and all I could come up with was "perfect". They have all the charm of the lower tier Esotecs and the old D28II without any of the subtle (?), musical, but ultimately artificial, perhaps even etched sounding "hi-fi" sparkle that those used to have. They're just extremely natural at all playing levels. Certainly they're an upgrade from the Esotec tweeters in the Excite range. I bought these from another SNA member, Mercado1008 and he from another SNA'er - the original ad is here:

 

 

The bases have some marking from stands - as they came to me - but that's not visible in normal operation and the rest of the cabinets are pristine and just beautiful in Rosewood, and I think they look much more luxurious than in the gloss black or white - drivers are perfect and they will ship in the original box and packing. 

 

Oh, I thought I'd add one comment that was made about the Focus vs Excite crossovers I read which I thought confirmed my listening experience - on the difference between the lines a chap from Dynaudio said:

 

"The capacitors in the Focus are all Solen film type. The Excite are a combination of Bennic electrolytic and BC film. 
The coils in the Focus are all air core while the Excite will have at least one iron core coil.
And the resistors in the Focus are ceramic but they are chosen for their resistance to temperature drift. The ones in the Excite are your basic ceramic types. 
Hope that helps."

So perhaps there is more than just the better tweeter contributing to the audible improvement over the X18 in particular which has the same bass unit? Air cored inductors allow lower distortion playback, especially at higher levels, than iron cored ones which allows them to retain their composure and open soundstage in complex passages. Longevity is also improved capacitor-wise. All good reasons to invest the extra cash in going to the Focus line generally. *end muse*

 

 

Edited June 29, 2017 by treuben

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*Edit* Dynaudio reps confirm that the bass unit is not the same either between the X18 and the Focus 160. The X18 does however have a "Focus class" with respect to former, voicecoil etc, bass driver - but it's a different unit and not interchangeable. So with different tuning (X18 is midrange centric for better sub integration - Focus 160 is fuller in the bass for better standalone operation), crossover components, cabinet construction and drivers about the only respect that the X18 replaces the Focus 160 is in being about the same size.. and perhaps in a sales pitch toward someone who isn't going to buy from the Confidence series or the quickly becoming ancient and heavily discounted Contour series.

I think it's pretty well accepted too that the improved Focus series speakers are almost single-handedly responsible for the nosedive in the prices of the older, more difficult to drive and overall less balanced designs like the S1.4LE - it seems that guys are stuck trying to sell their secondhand pairs (and even of the older S1.4s as they sold for even bigger $$$ prior to the new Focus lines) for almost the same prices you can get run-out stocks of the "new"/discontinued ones for. 8/   

While that might be regarded as a downside for some, I think we can all agree that you can get huge value out of the Focus line and that new converts to the Dynaudio brand have much better dollar value in the Excite and Focus series than they had previously with DM/Audience ranges - and that's going to be a good thing for most of us who have enjoyed, and will continue to enjoy, their products. 8) 

Edited June 25, 2017 by treuben

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Sold locally. Oddly. That never happens! 8)