good mid-band, very acurated and detailed sound

none

The sound of this small loudspeakers is really great, more if we have in mind the price, I listened it with an integrated amplifier Audio Analogue Puccini SE, and a CD player, model Paganini (Audio Analogue too)

It is distinguished because flat frequency response, with little level of coloration, in sum, this is the kind of sound that I like definitely.

I think these loudspeakers are better than others more expensive, I like very much than the B & W design, in which I find the high frequency a bit hard, and over all the bass have a tendency to be “fat”.

There are ideal to be used in small rooms, associated with goods equipment. Besides, it could be used in near field monitoring.

Similar Products Used:

B&W CDM-1 SE,Cabasse Pianosa

good mid-band, very acurated and detailed sound

none

The sound of this small loudspeakers is really great, more if we have in mind the price, I listened it with an integrated amplifier Audio Analogue Puccini SE, and a CD player, model Paganini (Audio Analogue too)

It is distinguished because flat frequency response, with little level of coloration, in sum, this is the kind of sound that I like definitely.

I think these loudspeakers are better than others more expensive, I like very much than the B & W design, in which I find the high frequency a bit hard, and over all the bass have a tendency to be “fat”.

There are ideal to be used in small rooms, associated with goods equipment. Besides, it could be used in near field monitoring.

Similar Products Used:

B&W CDM-1 SE,Cabasse Pianosa

Open, natural sounds, good bass punch

Ugly

I found the B&W too harsh even tho they had an interesting effect on the msic picking out things I had not heard before. This effect though, whilst interesting, was unrealistic. The Kefs had a beautiful middle range and jazz vocals were superb but i found the bass week and the speakers generally a bit reserved. I was impressed by the Monitor Audios and took them home to audition with the Dynaudios. The Dynaudios in the small demo room sounded the most real, natural and dynamic without being too "in your face". The one bad thing against them was that in the small, hard walled demo room the bass had a tendency to boom.

Once the speakers were home I found them both impressive. The Monitor Audios are gorgeous looking and I really wanted to love them however the dynaudios are simply superb and in a real room with natural levels of absobtion and with the speakers out of the corners there are no problems with boom. Everything the MA silver 4's could do the Dynaudios could do better. The open, natural sound is just so pleasing I cant resist them pity they look so boring but I'm going to buy the Dynaudios in the morning.

Similar Products Used:

Monitor Audio silver 4i, B&W 601mk2, Kef Q15

Startlingly natural top end, unobtrusive size & appearance, precision sound

Can be too clinical, merciless to bad recordings, can be boomy in a bookshelf.

This is just my quick take after a little less than a week of intensively auditioning a well broken in pair of these speakers in my home.

Given the right recording, these speakers can be stunning. Acoustic guitars sound *real*, which can be unflattering if it isn't a really nice and well-played guitar. Cymbals sound like cymbals, brass sounds like brass and strings sound like, you guessed it, strings. All of this realism depends on the source material having captured that sound in the first place, something which can't be taken for granted. On the other end of the musical spectrum, I've never heard The Art of Noise sound anything like this good. A very difficult test for any speaker system is the spoken word, something the Audience 40's do with ease.

The bad news for me is that there are some recordings that don't respond well to this kind of treatment -- Tears for Fears' "Seeds of Love" comes out very piercing and harsh, and anything grungy need not apply. My room doesn't help in this regard, but the speakers' natural tendency is to reveal all the good and bad in anything they reproduce. Imaging is another problem -- if the recording itself isn't precise in this regard, the speakers won't help the situation. In general, I am always aware of a pair of very nice tweeters that are pointed at me. With good recordings, however, the imaging is incredibly focused and has height & depth that belies the size of the speakers.

A home theater based on these speakers requires a center channel and subwoofer. Bass output is very good for the speakers' size, but there is only so much you can expect from such a small set of drivers. My old speakers (Polk Monitor 6's) image extremely well, to the point where I never needed a center channel -- everything that was supposed to come from the center did, even when seated fairly well off-center. Therefore, factor in the cost of a center channel speaker if you are considering these speakers for more than music listening.

I highly recommend these speakers to anyone considering a bookshelf system, especially since the introduction of Dynaudio's Audience 42/52/etc. versions has driven down the price of these gems. I will be returning these (they are shopworn demos) and getting a new set of Audience 42W's with a 42C center channel. If they are an improvement over the 40's, as is claimed, I will be a very happy camper indeed.

Equipment used in this review:

Dynaudio Audience 40's placed in bookshelves.
HK AVR500 receiver
HK FL8350 CD changer --> coaxial digital to receiver
Sony DVD --> Optical digital to receiver
Velodyne CT120 powered subwoofer

Similar Products Used:

Auditioned or have: Polk Monitor 6, B&W's lower & mid lines, All of Paradigm's smaller speakers, and a bunch of Circuit City/Good Guys speakers that don't bear mentioning.

These speakers is just fantastic they sound effortless with voices and guitar strings. They have a lovelyTweeter that never becomes sharp or unpleasant to listen at, just packed with details. The bas unit is small
Just 15 cm but it produces some very impressive loudness capabilities, this due to the very big voice coil
7 cm witch keeps the woofer in place. If your music taste is Jazz and instrumental works then this could be
“the” only speaker that you’ll ever need. Buy it and trust your ears !

About three years ago I bought a pair of speakers, which started annoying me very soon. So I wanted to get new speakers. I've spend quite some time looking for speakers which were not that expensive, but of course they had to sound tarrific. I chose for the Dynaudio Audience 40. I think it's a marvellous speaker for it's price. Very clear sound, but not too hard and indeed also the bass is great. With good stands they really sound terrific. A very excellent bass without the booming-effect. I now have these speakers for over a month and still they thrill me every time I listen to them. Especially with George Michael's album Older.

I tested the Audience 40s against most of the other big recommendations for small speakers in the UK (Linn, Nuneutron, etc) - they are by far and away the best I heard. Very natural and very detailed, utterly unflappable if driven hard, but capable of great subtlety. Bass for the size of enclosure is impressive, and may be all the bass most people need. [This is not a silly point - a great many listeners perceive a full bass as excessive and a great many rooms (mine included) cannot take a deep bass speaker without a horrible booming sound]. I'd stick my neck out and say that if you aren't bothered about deep bass, the 40s may be all that you need. Lest I scare people off thinking that the 40s sound tinny, I should stress that there is still bass there - put something like Massive Atttack's Mezzanine on, and the bass is there in plenty (and how!). What is lacking is a feeling on very involved dance tracks of a huge pulsing bass line every single moment(personally I can live without this quite happily). However, what do you expect from a small speaker anyway? For those who must have the windows rattle with deep deep bass, seriously consider these teamed with a subwoofer.
Where the 40s truly shine is in simple acoustic recordings. What is truly impressive is the way they can tame apparently 'crash bang wallop' pianists like many of the Russian school apparently are. Get a pair of 40s and you'll suddenly realise the genius behind what is being done. Furthermore, I've never met another set of speakers (of any size or price) so good at conveying room acoustics. Try the 40s out with confidence. The 50s and further up the range are good too - a little bit more of everything each time, but be warned that the bass may be a little excessive for some room acoustics.

The Dynaudio 40s are my first speakers and they make me proud of my decision. When I was buying my new system, I auditioned quite a few speakers including B&W, Energy, Infinity, PSB, etc. But as soon as I listened to 40s, I couldn't stop smiling. The demo system which my dealer used was Linn Klassic (if I spell right) and it sounded beautifully.I have listened to them for nine months now and the sound is getting even better. Especially you can expect a certain amount of improvement in bass. They are quite amazing speakers and I really recommend them.

Last month I bought an amp (Naim Nait3R) together with a pair of Dynaudios Contour40. The amp sounds very musical and shows you lots of details and the Dynaudios just fit for that kind of amp. They are honest (Danes don't lie :) and don't emphasize bass or hight like other speakers might do. The hights sound very clear and exciting. For a speaker of that size the bass reaches impressingly deep.
Those Dynaudios are very recommendable if you're lookin for a small, honest pair of speakers. Only the bass is limited because of the size of the speakers. But on the other hand it does not make sence to use a huge pair of speakers with deep reaching bass in a small room (like my 16 m2).

I've listened to quite a few speakers before I made the decision to buy this speaker. After listening to other speakers of comparative price and range, I returned to listen to this pair of speakers once more. I find that they still sounded the best. I was almost fooled by its small size. Despite its size, the sound it produces is very clean and accurate. The bass is also very warm, even without a subwoofer. It made me enter into that high-end market, that at one time, most of us could barely afford to dream about. The craftsmanship and attention to detail coupled with the solid sonic performance makes the Audience 40 system a winner. Dynaudio, welcome to the neighborhood.