female vocals sounds the best

r u kidding?..if u have these n think somethin is wrong, check your other components n accesories

the ones i have are the 52's..the dealer in spore had a runout sale cos dynaudio are comin out with the real wood version..it was a bargain...sounded fantastic outa the box..after running in 4 500 hrs...it was heaven equipment arcam cd 72 cd player rega brio amp cyrus interconnect chord carnival speaker cables LAT international AC power cords soundstage is exceptionally wide n deep (even in my small room)..vocals r sweet like honey n the highs r intoxicating..u can hear every ping n ting...bass is fluid n very timely...overall sound is very natural...just close your eyes n b taken 2 heaven..keep in mind these r not very expensive speakers n listen 2 the sound they make...blown away

Similar Products Used:

monitor audio b2-cheap budget speakers, well worth their money but pales very much in comparison to the dyns in every aspect

almost savage clarity detects every twang of the strings, every movement of the cellist's feet, every resonance in the piano whether played or not - these are not "sweet" speakers that blur the sound - you have to be listening

fairly useless for boring ambient sound and quite challenging when the performance is mundane - they show the difference between Brendel and the rest

I am a lover of chamber music and I have a reasonable quality Arcam CD unit coupled with a really ancient Philips Black Tulip amp and pre amp which I cannot better with modern equipment under £1000. I took this kit to the shop with my old mission 500 speakers and we changed everything - cables, leads, CD player, amp, stands, the lot. Not until the guy said, how about some better speakers did I hear any significant transformation. Suddenly, everything was ten times more alive. The only other power on earth so great is Alfred Brendel.

Similar Products Used:

always Mission in the past, admittedly cheaper ones

Good price for the quality!!

Sound kind of rough if compared to Contour line's

Dynaudio Audience 52 is the replacement of Audience 50. Many say that, Audience 52 sounds as good as Contour 1.3 Mkii or Contour 1.3 SE. On the surface, this statement is correct. However, when one really listens both speakers attentively, these two speakers are different tremendously. Contour 1.3 has better control and also smoother than Audience 52. In addition, the imaging also a little better than that of Audience 52. One will be able to listen to Contour for along period of time. However, considering the price of Contour, which nearly 3 times of Audience's, I will pick Audience over Contour if budget is a constraint.

Similar Products Used:

Contour 1.3 SE

dynamics, balance, detail, accurate, wonderful on vocals, REVEALING.

Inefficient, forget about using this thing with ss or tube amps under 100 WPC. only as good as the signal you feed it (a universal rule with good speakers). REVEALING.

I have these paired with a Rotel RB 991 amp, JVC cdp, NAD C160 pre and JPS ultraconductor cables. These are some of the sweetest sounding speakers I''ve ever heard. They may not have the ultra-liquid midrange of a few high-end speaks (read 5k+), but they get everything right, and if you feed them enough power they have plenty of quality bass (though not too low - but hey they''re monitors). They like quality electronics and JUICE from your amp. I have yet to try them for home theater but they''re sheer pleasure for 2 channel audio. They will be the last thing I upgrade, as it will cost a small fortune to better them. And btw, YOU CAN''T HAVE IT BOTH WAYS, REVEALING SPEAKERS MAKE POORLY RECORDED MUSIC SOUND LIKE POORLY RECORDED MUSIC, AND THE GOOD STUFF SOUND LIKE YOU GOT INTO HEAVEN EARLY.

Similar Products Used:

Castle Acoustics Richmond - too laid back and polite. B&W CDM1NT - not impressed for the money, slightly laid back.

Clear, taut highs and midrange. Very musical presentation for this price point.

Vinyl finish. Level of bass may not satisfy rockers.

Let me begin by saying that I agree with most of what has been said below: these are phenomonal speakers and an incredible buy at less than $1000. When I began auditioning speakers (which I did for more than a year before coming across these), I was looking for a first system and wanted to spend no more than $1500 total on speakers, integrated amplifier, CD player, and cables. The problem with that plan is that, although I was new to audio equipment, I am a professional classical musician. I make my living by listening and am very, very picky. It should surprise no one here that I wasn't having too much luck with my search.

My luck changed when I found a Dynaudio dealer. I started with the Audience 40's, which better fit my spending plan (I was going to divide my money roughly equally among the major components). While I loved the clarity compared to most of the other brands I had heard, I found myself wanting more presence overall and becoming increasingly aware of the point at which the bass fundamental was no longer present. The 50's, to my ear, were a vast improvement. The sound was fuller and meatier, but gained a musical quality which is impossible to describe without hearing them. The bass was clean and well balanced, with the exception that bass instruments in instrumental music can frequently dip below the point where the fundamental is louder (as it should be) than some of the audible overtones. This is a very subtle point, but one that I'm used to listening for (floor standing speakers in Dynaudio's Contour line don't have this issue at all). At the same time, the quality of bass is superb for speakers of this size.

As you've probably guessed by now, I skimped a bit on my other components (Denon integrated, Sony lower-ES CD), and I believe that I will benefit from some upgrading here. Still, the intense beauty of these speakers has given me a system that I enjoy very much. Definitely try them.

Similar Products Used:

Auditioned against B&W, Paradigm, Mirage, more. . .

Clear Highs, very clean sounding speaker

Limited Bass

I hope I don't get jumped all over for this, but here goes...

I walked into the local audio specialty shop and told the rep that I was in the market for some home theater speakers and I was wanting to spend about a grand. He first played some PSB's for me, and then these little guys. These speakers are exceptionally clean sounding, I ran through a few CDs and they brought out every tiny flaw in the recording of John Lee Hooker, and Annie Lennox sounded like she was in the room with me.

Now we come to the "But..." part.

But I was looking for home theater speakers. When watching movies, I think these don't have what it takes to bring you into the experience. The salesman nodded approvingly when I told him that these sounded clearer than the PSB's but seemed baffled when I told him that I thought they didn't have what it took to make a really great home theater system. We moved on to the Audience 60's which sounded much better than their measly $200/pair higher price point. I ended up going with neither of them, and am still auditioning speakers.

I recommend giving these a listen if you are in to music more than movies, but think the 60's are probably a better value in the same price range. So my value rating isn't going to be so hot.

Similar Products Used:

None, apparently.

Refined, smooth, musical, balanced, non-fatiguing, revealing.

Condidering price, None!

Once used to accurate full range transparent sound (as provided by my Legacy Classics, which I can longer use having moved to a smaller house for now), It is difficult to be satisfied with anything less!. These Dynaudio Audience 50's are proving to be a life saver (or at least a "hobby" saver...). They are that enjoyable to listen to. I just know they will provide me with hours of enjoyment eventhough I have only had them a very short time now. I find there are two indicators of great speakers: 1) you can't stop listening to them, and 2) when you do stop, you find yourself "playing" the tunes in your mind as you remember hearing them: These speakers do that.

In summary, these speakers will often bring out the emotion in music, sometimes give you goose bumps, occasionally bring tears to your eyes! Enough said!!!

My system:
Rotel RB991 amp (300W into 4 ohm)
Purest Sound System dual mono passive pre-amp
Marantz CD67SE CD player.

Similar Products Used:

Legacy Classics, Mirage, Kef, B&W

very clean sound, good bass for their size

no real weaknesses

These are very nice speakers! I have owned a number of types by a wide range of manufacturers over the years and these are some of the best. My wife just couldn't deal with speakers the size of a house and I couldn't deal with tiny invisible speakers so these really fill the bill. Previous speakers cost about the same for one as a set of the Dynaudio. If you don't insist on "killer bass" you'll be satisfied with the bass on these small speakers too, it is really pretty good. Note: They definitely need "burn in". I ran mine off in a closed room for nearly a week and the changes were pretty substantial. I'm not sure they are broken in yet. I suspect I will be even happier with the 50's after they have been around a while. If you want quality sound for a very reasonable price you can't go wrong with the 50's.

Similar Products Used:

Infinity Kappa series

Coherence, imaging, smoothness

slight boxiness

When I installed Dunlavy SCA IV-A's
as my main channels in a Lexicon-derived
surround system, I soon realized it was
time to upgrade the surround channels
but my budget was getting tight so I
was delighted to find the Dynaudio
Audience 50's which blend superbly with
the Dunlavy's at a fraction of what an
all-Dunlavy system would cost. The little Dynaudio's need time to break in
and work best in my system 44-45" off
the floor to add an excellent illusion
of height as well as surround. The
tweeter is superbly detailed and non-
fatiguing. Bass detail is amazingly full. The two drivers blend perfectly.
The speakers are capable to throwing a
very big, full, beautifully focussed
soundstage.

Similar Products Used:

Fried Q2, Dyna A-25

Bought these over three months ago. Listened to Def Techs, Paradigm, Energy, PSB, and others. Even took a couple home to listen. They were good and I was leaning toward the Def tech 2004 because of the bass response. When I heard the Dynaudio's they sounded great. The price shocked me ( I first heard a comparison of the PSB300 to the Dyn 40's) But I then listened to the Contour 1.3. The dealer said these matched with a nice sub would be great. Well they sounded fantastic. They were also hooked up to some nice gear with expensive interconnects, but the sound was so much cleaner. I agonized for 2 months not knowing what to buy. My budget was about $2000 for a home theatre set up. The 1.3 without a sub were $2,300. Well I went back and listened for hours and settled on the Dynaudio 50's. They have that great Dynaudio sound for $900 a pair. When I played them for my wife, even she could tell the difference. The next purchase was to be a sub. I was going to go for an HSU for about $1,000 but ran out of money. The 50's did not have enough bass for my room large 15x25 with ajoining room and vaulted ceiling. Don't cringe but I went with the Audiosource 15 sub for a bandaid, and it works quite well in my large room (15" driver 200 watts) At least until I can save up another $1,000. It is a steal for $200 at costco. Other equip:
Denon 5600 (140x5 channels)
Phillips 880 CD recorder
Pioneer PD-F1007 300 CD changer
Kenwood 2050 cassette deck
Dynaudio 50's speakers
Audiosource SW15 sub