These just sound so clean, yet smooth, and real, emotionally involving. Best partnered with tube preamp and solid-state power amp. On its own, excellent bass with all the air intact. Combined with the REL Strata, perfect bass ! Real holographic presentation.

To roughly quote Absolute Sound magazine - "these are best small speakers at ANY price that I am aware of, and ar far superior to many very much higher priced high-end exotica". I fully agree !

Price in Singapore is only S$ 1,330.00, while that of USA is US$ 1500 (about
S$ 2,500). Real big difference !

Neutral and natural sound, gorgeous tweeter, excellent bass for its size

At this price? ummmm...

I started out with the Rogers, which sounded good in its time, but has since been revealed to be bass 'thuddy' and somewhat midrange shy.

In shopping around for replacement speakers, two names stuck out: Dynaudio and Sonus Faber. But I'd also heard good things about the FB1s and their renowned 22kHz bottom end. Okay, here's the deal - they do have a nice even bass down to further than I can think of, but 90% of the time, clearer highs are more crucial than deep sea lows, and compared with Dyn's tweeter, PMC's metal dome just doesn't cut it. Or should I say, cuts too much! And I could not live with that from a speaker twice the price of the 1.1.

I had been considering SF's Concertinos but the shop had only the Concertos at the time so we gave those a listen. In isolation, very nice, especially with voices; kind of gives one a smoky jazz club feeling. However in the context of the Dyns they are shown to be just coloured. Again, more expensive than the 1.1s, which meant the Concertinos didn't even have to show up. A pity then, because I really liked them before.

The Audience 50s sounded like I had heard them before, fast punchy, neutral. But when I gave the Contour 1.1s a listen... oh, that sweet, beautiful tweeter! The way Sarah Mclachlan sang made me catch my breath. Any strings at all resonated with a natural glow and yet subtle incisiveness I had not heard before. And the bass... these small boxes have no right to put out bass like this. We could finally make out the semitone difference in the bassline of one of Radiohead's Kid A tracks. And the magnitude and scale of an orchestral piece (can't remember which) made all of us jump.

Detractors who point to the 'soft' character of these speakers have not heard Madonna's Music. The four of us on my sofa kept banging into each other because we were moving so much. I tell you, this bass starts and stops on a dime. If this is what living without the last octave is like, I say keep it.

Ultimately though, we had to get itchy and try the Contour 1.3SEs. That, my friends, is another story for another day. I'll only say that one of my friends that day was half regretting recently buying a new car, which made him unable to purchase those beauts. PMC? No contest.

At the price I got the Contour 1.1s for (S$1500 or US$870), I really don't see a better deal. I'm still burning them in and they're sounding better all the time. Definitely, definitely Dynaudio.

Similar Products Used:

Rogers LS88
Sonus Faber Concerto
Dynaudio Audience 50
Dynaudio Contour 1.3SE
PMC FB1

Very Musical and entertaining, distracts you from HiFi

Needs good source and amp

This review comes from a non-owner, I am currently trying to build a system from scratch. So have started out on the demo trail. Listened to lots of budget and high-end kit and have been amazed how much expensive stuff leaves me cold. These speakers were in the dem room on the floor, I was listening to the Dynaudio A40 and A50 and they sounded like HiFi not music. Got the Contour 1.1s hooked up and the contrast was amazing! Forgot about trying other amps, CD players and speakers, just drifted away to the music. The demo used the MF X-Ray CD and XA-2 amp. I will probably purchase the 1.1 and partner it with an Italian hybrid amp (valve input - MOSFET output). It has been said that you should build a system from the source to the speaker but not this time, these speakers are so good they will govern which components I purchase. Try them with your favourite music, only your bank balance will suffer! not your ears.

Similar Products Used:

Spendor BC1/BC3 not similar in size but good speakers

This is my second pair of Dynaudios and I love them. My first pair were a kit pair that I put together about 14 years ago. The surrounds on the driver finally gave out and this gave me an excuse to get the 1.1 pair. It is a shame that they are not more well known on the West coast. They are worth every penny. I paid about 1,500 for the floor model. Please listen to these speakers before purchasing another brand. I can give a list of flowery ajectives to discribe these, however I would use many of the same words as those before me.

smooth, detailed, very easy to position, good bass for such a small speaker

need good partnering equipment to get the most out of, long break in period

I had these 1.1's for about 4 months & I did not make a review until I had these broken in. Now, they are broken in & all I can say, is that, I love these speakers. First of all, there are very neutral, smooth, very good bass, and the sound is huge! I have brought several friends to my 5m x7m listening room & they cannot believe that the big sound coming out of the room are from the Dyn's 1.1. Its amazing what this small guy can do.

See my review on the Plinius 8150i for the partnering equipment.

Nonetheless, I highly recommend these speakers. Its needs careful partnering since they are quite revealing. I also heard these speakers with Gryphon + Mark Levinson amp. Its sounded somewhat thick. THe Plinius 8150i was perfect for these speakers. Another friend set his 1.1's with Classe CP60 pre-amp and Krell 150i power amp, not bad too.

Nonetheless, with these speakers, you can get by using VDH's The Wind Speaker cables, no need to go for the more expensive cables.

Good luck to you guys, but no regrets with these.

Similar Products Used:

Dynaudio Audience 40, Sonus Fabers