Dynaudio vs B&W

[KatongPrataMan]

INTRO

I have only just started shopping for my audio requirement. This will be for a room that is about 6m wide by 9m long so i believe any of the floorstanders can cover it. I am now auditioning for a star lead singer (front L and R speakers) while building the band around it.

 

REQUIREMENT

I won't call myself an audiophile but I always enjoy a good acoustic experience. My family would play vocals/bossa nova in the background during weekends and meals. I myself would love to have the speakers playing acoustics and abit of rock, jazz. I don't buy/change audio setup almost at all, so this exercise, I want to indulge abit but not going to extreme. Thankfully, my CO agree to the idea of a floorstanding speakers after we visited B&W. So I be sticking to floorstanders unless we see another bookshelf speaker alternative which is as appealing in terms of sound quality. But floor always sound much better, psychology plays a part i believe.

 

OPTIONS

B&W 603 -  Promotion currently going on for their 5.1 HT set up for $6,999 . Seems quite a buy and it sounds pretty good to my un-trained ear but am trying to find out more alternatives.

B&W 704 - $5999 for speakers only. Heard this at Funan. VERY nice! But out of budget as I still need to spend on Sub, amp. i have to put this outside of consideration for now.

Dynaudio - I heard this at AV One(Adephi) and believed it was Evoke 30? close to $3000 per pair. We also hear one more which I think might be Evoke 50. But Either way, we were very very impressed with this brand. The instruments were clear, even at very soft volume.

 

At this stage, 2 points are clear. Budget would not be more than $7000 for full set up, while for the pair of floorstanders, i draw the line at less than $4000. Would appreciate any brand/models/pointers to look out for. Thank you.

 

 

 

 

 

[Pismo Mac]

What you heard are just the speakers. You will need also amplifier and a music source and the cables to connect all these together.

 

And if you think you want to replicate the exact sound that you heard from the showrooms, then you need to ask them what amplifier, cables and music source used and the costs involved.

 

There are Dynaudio and B&W discussion threads in this forum. If you have read the Dynaudio thread, you would realize that to maximize the output from this brand of speakers, you will need an amplifier that could provide sufficient power to drive these speakers.

 

Hifi and home theatre is not about a single component but the synergy involved in putting together all the components. This would be determined by your budget and your listening preferences.  List down what you might need to achieve that sound, then get the best bang for your buck.

 

It won’t be an easy decision or a journey but if you enjoy good sound, you would be rewarded.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[SGX50X]

The Buchardt S400 might suit your requirements.  There are a handful of useful reviews online comparing them with floorstanding speakers. Overall within your budget as well.

 

Sent from my SM-N975F using Tapatalk

 

 

[Doggie Howser]

I haven’t heard the Evoke but traditionally Dynaudios need good power. So it’s not something that would sound good driven by most AVRs.

 

The cheapest amp I’ve heard that partners well with Dynaudio is the Arcam SA20. In the past you’d have to try amps like Densen or Plinius to get a good match.

 

And Class G AVRs are very expensive.

 

For the money I think 603s are just great bang for the buck. I reckon you’d have to go up to the 702S2 to get a good upgrade over the 603.

[Eric Teh]

Have a look at the Atohm speakers currently being cleared by Ban Leong (their listings are on Carousell). While they are within your price range, like any good speaker they will need a quality amp to drive them and proper placement. As much as you like floorstanders, if you are going to push them into the corner or against the back wall, you will get sub-optimal results.

[KatongPrataMan]

I haven’t heard the Evoke but traditionally Dynaudios need good power. So it’s not something that would sound good driven by most AVRs.

 

The cheapest amp I’ve heard that partners well with Dynaudio is the Arcam SA20. In the past you’d have to try amps like Densen or Plinius to get a good match.

 

And Class G AVRs are very expensive.

 

For the money I think 603s are just great bang for the buck. I reckon you’d have to go up to the 702S2 to get a good upgrade over the 603.

 

If among Denon AVCs, which do you think would be suitable? If any of them is suitable at all.

[ajitmoses]

You could also consider active speakers. Takes most of the guess work away if that is what you want. A buddy of mine who listens to classic rock and jazz has the Elac Navis speakers. They come in both bookshelf and floor stander forms. You can check them out at Alpha Audio in Adelphi.

 

I have heard the Dynaudio actives and they sound very good as well. I also have first hand experience of the Kef LS50 wireless  stand mounts. Very capable speakers and should be auditioned.

 

I have heard the Dynaudio Emit 10s with a Cyrus integrated and I felt it was a little dry. The contours and the special 40 were very good.

 

I have never heard good sound from a B&W sadly. This is my personal opinion. I have heard them in 3 places. Their stand alone shop in lavender. Auditioned the D8 series with some rotel mono blocks. Didnt like them at all. Then again in Millenia walk with the rotels and didnt like it. And again in Adelphi. Thin sound and lacked bass. Not sure if it was the amp pairing. I really wanted to like them but didnt work for me. They are an iconic brand and im sure they do something right just didnt work for me. So take your time in listening to them. Dont focus on the brand.

 

If you want to go the passives route the options are endless, from my experience do not buy a very hard to drive speaker because they surely sound their best with high quality amplifications. A one box amp/streamer would be a good choice. Naim Uniti Series, Marantz PM 7000N, NAD M10, etc have good one box solutions. Pay attention to the software. If you are using Tidal, stick to Roon based/BlueOS/Naim os. If you use spotify then make sure the amp has spotify connect.  All reccos from above users are sound choices. There is no one size fits all. Take your time to listen to many systems. The chase is better than the kill :-) All the best.

[Doggie Howser]

If among Denon AVCs, which do you think would be suitable? If any of them is suitable at all.

 

If you really want to use Denon, get one that can handle up to 11 channels of processing. Like the 6000 series and get an Emotiva XPA multichannel amp. 3 or 5

 

 

[Doggie Howser]

I have never heard good sound from a B&W sadly. This is my personal opinion. I have heard them in 3 places. Their stand alone shop in lavender. Auditioned the D8 series with some rotel mono blocks. Didnt like them at all. Then again in Millenia walk with the rotels and didnt like it. And again in Adelphi. Thin sound and lacked bass. Not sure if it was the amp pairing. I really wanted to like them but didnt work for me. They are an iconic brand and im sure they do something right just didnt work for me. So take your time in listening to them. Dont focus on the brand.

 

 

The new 800/700/600 with the Continuum drivers are IMHO much better than the older Kevlar ones.

 

More importantly B&Ws always sound great for 80s rock. I think B&Ws sound good with Audiolab and Arcam and Marantz, better than Rotel IMHO.

 

 

[ajitmoses]

 

More importantly B&Ws always sound great for 80s rock. I think B&Ws sound good with Audiolab and Arcam and Marantz, better than Rotel IMHO.

 

In my head, I always felt that the B&W house sound was quite forward so a more relaxed amp would have good synergy. I have not heard Audiolab or Arcam gear but I can understand why you think Marantz might work. Cheers

[Pismo Mac]

If among Denon AVCs, which do you think would be suitable? If any of them is suitable at all.

 

A Denon AVR, on its own, will not be able to drive the 600s on all 5 channels.  If you are thinking of using only the Denon AVR8500 to drive all 5 channels, then you’re looking at the smaller MT series of B&W speakers.

 

The alternative would be to get the 600s for the front left, centre and right speakers, get mid ranges Denon AVR with pre-outs and connect to an external 3 channel power amp like the Emotiva XPA-3 or if you intend to use the 600s for all 5 channels, then get it the Emotiva XPA-5.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[ginamos]

This can be a decent setup:

 

Denon AVR-X3600H - 1065

B&W 603 - 2800

B&W HTM6 Center - 1000

B&W 607 for surround - 800

SVS PB-2000 Pro - 1699

Total: SGD$7364

 

Nice addition:

Bluesound Node 2i Music Streamer - 799

Tidal Hifi - 19.80 per. month

[drzero]

i used to never be impressed by the older B&W but i must say their newer 7 series are pretty impressive for the price

 

I wanted a minimalist setup for my bedroom so i shortlisted a few speakers, tried both B&W 606 and 706 S2 (i actually bought BOTH second hand lol lol as this was during CB)

 

706 S2 is significantly better than the 606 (better tweeters) so i sold off the 606 and kept 706 S2 after weeks and weeks of audition at home (best use of singapore circuit breaker)

 

amplifier is Devialet Expert Pro 140 (using ROON which is built in)

 

Now i am super tempted to upgrade to 705 S2 if theres a good deal haha....

 

 

[Amon86]

I personally using a SP40 by the end of the year might upgrade to 805D3 i did consider upgrade to 705 S2 signature version but the price difference to 805D3 is a no brainer...prestige edition on the other hand is too expensive rather save up for amplifier upgrade.....the sound difference can be heard in this youtube video

 

my current setup is a dyna

 

btw TS B&W 704S2 had a good bass you no need to have a sub if you drive it well with a very good amp

[kenshin07]

If among Denon AVCs, which do you think would be suitable? If any of them is suitable at all.

 

Hi,

 

I am using the denon 8500 as pre amp and the aragon 8008 to drive my dyna contour 1.4. I can only say it sounded decent but not too great for music. Nothing beats a nice good amps purely for stereo.

 

Cheers

[Pismo Mac]

TS, if you’re just looking to do an audio/stereo setup, then don’t worry too much about the AVR - decide on the pair of front left and right speakers, find a matching stereo amplifier, get the right cables and music source and you have your system.

 

If you want good home theater plus good stereo combined, then it is likely to be a preamp/processor (AVR) with a power amplifier to drive all 5 speakers, or at least the front left and right speakers and the center speaker.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[JamesTan]

At this stage, 2 points are clear. Budget would not be more than $7000 for full set up, while for the pair of floorstanders, i draw the line at less than $4000. Would appreciate any brand/models/pointers to look out for. Thank you.

 

I have something totally different from your list. Recently I audited 10 over bookshelf speakers and 2 stand out from the rest and I believe their floor standing speakers should be as good if not better. You can try auditing these 2 speakers and both can be found at Adelphi.

 

1) Triangle Esprit Gaia Ez

2) Revel Performa3 F206

[Guest wusplay]

With a fix budget, if given the choice of

1.) Higher end 2.1 setup with B&W 700 series + sub + integrated amp or

2.) 5.1 or 9.1 make up by B&W 600 series + sub + AVR

I'll go for quality rather than quantity