Speaker Choice - Dynaudio?

[kdogg]

I need some recommendations for an upcoming purchase. My brother works for an audio dealer and gave me his old Rotel RB1080 and a RC1070 pre-amp, so now I want to get some descent speakers to match.

He recommended B&W, but I heard Dynaudio Audience 72 and 82 and liked them a little more overall than the B&W he had.

I have heard good things about Thiel CS1.6 or 2.4, Totem Sttaf and Hawk, Vienna Bach, Jamo D450 or E855.

Any thoughts on these compared to the Dynaudio Audience 72? I am trying to step into hifi on a budget, but I definately want the best speaker I can get. Are these speakers a good range to look at, or are they all just ok.

Please add you opinion based on the current equipment I have.

Thanks

[kdogg]

Forgot to mention:

Room is 18' x 25'

I listen to Orchestra, Jazz, Classic Rock, Movie Scores... Almost eveything!

Wire choice is probably going to be Kimber Kable 4VS or 4TC, and their entry level interconnects.

Maybe a Richard Grays 400mkII !

Thanks again.

[Geoffcin]

Forgot to mention:

Room is 18' x 25'

I listen to Orchestra, Jazz, Classic Rock, Movie Scores... Almost eveything!

Wire choice is probably going to be Kimber Kable 4VS or 4TC, and their entry level interconnects.

Maybe a Richard Grays 400mkII !

Thanks again.

And a decent budget so my advice is;

Listen to a whole bunch of speakers before you decide. My guess is that the Theil 1.6's would be a little small for your room. 3.6's would be my preference in a room your size. I've heard the Dynaudio Contours and like them. B&W and Dynaudio both make quality speakers, although they voice them differently.

If your on a tight budget I would very much reccomend a used set of speakers. I've purchased used on Audiogon.com, and still have an old set of Magnepan III's I bought that way.

[NickWH]

B&W is supposed to synergize well with Rotel gear, but that doesn't mean it will sound the best to you in your room. The range of speakers you are looking at are definitely inline with the gear you will be using them with, if not a little higher. One thing is for sure: that Rotel amp has enough juice to power any speaker you want. I would drop Thiel and Jamo off the list. On the Rotel website there is a HiFi Choice review in PDF format of the latest Rotel Integrated and CDP hooked up to Monitor Audio Silver S8 speakers. They spoke very highly of them mated to that system, so you may want to check out Monitor Audio as well.

[Buzz Roll]

Although I do like Dynaudio, I recently auditioned a pair of Totem Hawks and liked them a lot. I haven't tried Thiel yet, but their design makes a lot of sense to me.

I've tried both Kimbers and I liked the TC much better, the VS being a little too dark (on my system). If you don't mind trying another company, I moved over to Analysis Plus Oval 1 interconnects and Oval 12 speaker cables with a nice improvement.

[RGA]

Which B&W? Personally not a fan of the Thiels I heard mnany years ago - people claim they're accurate and better than anything - I dunno.

The Dynaudio 82 is probably the best floorstander for sane money that I have heard - though you should see if you can hear my speakers someplace. But if you want floorstanders the Danes would be my pick - but I have not heard everything so keep an ear out for lesser known gear...if it's lesser known there may be a reason your dealer carries them - quite often I have been way more impressed with the no namer than the marketing machine stuff.

[Mr Peabody]

I'm familiar with B&W and own several pair of Dynaudio. In my opinion Dynaudio is a far superior speaker in every aspect to B&W. I thought their top of the Nautilus paled in comparison to my Dyn Contour 2.1t and the B&W cost twice as much. In a 3 way shoot out we listened to a Thiel, I'm not sure the model but they retailed at $2,200., a pair of Acoustic Energy towers ($699.) and a pair of Dynaudio A52's. The AE's were out classed by both. The 52's had far superior bass response to the other two. I preferred the 52's out of the 3. The Thiels were a sweet sounding speaker, layed back and musical. I like the Thiel sound better than B&W. I prefer Dynaudio because the frequency response sounded wider, more dynamic and quick and very obviously better bass, more of it and it was still accurate and clean.

[zebra]

I'm familiar with B&W and own several pair of Dynaudio. In my opinion Dynaudio is a far superior speaker in every aspect to B&W. I thought their top of the Nautilus paled in comparison to my Dyn Contour 2.1t and the B&W cost twice as much. In a 3 way shoot out we listened to a Thiel, I'm not sure the model but they retailed at $2,200., a pair of Acoustic Energy towers ($699.) and a pair of Dynaudio A52's. The AE's were out classed by both. The 52's had far superior bass response to the other two. I preferred the 52's out of the 3. The Thiels were a sweet sounding speaker, layed back and musical. I like the Thiel sound better than B&W. I prefer Dynaudio because the frequency response sounded wider, more dynamic and quick and very obviously better bass, more of it and it was still accurate and clean.

i'm looking for decent stand or bookshelf speakers myself and your post is making me lean towards the Dynaudio Audience 52s. However the system will be mainly in my bedroom so i was thinking of getting the A42. Other possibilities for me are JMLab Chorus 706 although great mid and highs they are thin on bass so i would probably have to couple this to a sub if i go this direction. I liked the Usher X-719 for its deep bass but somehow detail gets lost in a heavy music program. I read a good review on the B&W 602 S3 on this website. So i'm thinking of auditioning that too.

But in the meantime... i am really hooked on getting either the 42 or the 52 unless there are other good suggestions out there. By the way, I will be driving these speakers with a Yamaha AX-596 stereo integrated amp (100w rms) mated to a DIY Tono brand tube pre-amp. In other words, a hybrid.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

[zebra]

Actually surfing a bit more i came upon a B&W603 vs. JMLab707 thread! Looks like the JMLab is not getting much positive feedback. I have auditioned both the Chorus 706 and 707 and i do like their clarity and analytical sound. Nothing like the JMLab Micro Utopia though. For the buck it looks like the Dyn Audience - with it's better dynamic characteristics - is a better choice over the french speakers. I'll give the brit speakers a try soon and then i'll decide.

[RGA]

I really like the A 42 and 52 - both require fairly robust amplification which IMO receivers don't posess. Then again I'm picky.

For a cheaper easier to drive solution check out the Audio Note AX Two - it is also Danish (coincidence?) anyway it is very easy to drive even by the 8 watt SET amp - and IMO that allows you more of an upgrade path away from SS. Even if you don;t higher sensitivity often tends be able to get dynamics easier.

I posted reviews of the 42, AX Two and 602S3 - all were very good IMO for the money - but the AX Two is worth the trouble to find because IMO it was the best of the lot and the least expensive and most sensitive. RGA Reviews <$2000.00 Page 2, Epos, Audio Note, Paradigm, B&W etc.

[johnnyturbo]

RGA and crew_- I am running an old NAD 2200 PE (100x2) and 1155 pre ( vintage 1987). I My room is 12x15 with 8.5 foot ceilings; 2 doorways . Do I have enough power frot he 52se's? I am only a 2 channel guy. What about the s1.4 which i heard and liked, but a quantum leap in $$$. Also thinking about adding a sub with the 52se. Another thought would be the Vons VR1, again poss. with sub. Finally, the GMA Europas and Callisto's have received solid, though limited forum talk. I would much appreciate any thoughts you guys might have.
Thanks again.