This is a fantastic loudspeaker!It took three years for my wife to finally give me the green light to upgrade my speakers and I took full advantage of the opportunity. I auditioned the dunlavy sc-III, IV's, B&W Nautilus 802 and 803, Proac 2.5, 3.5, 3.8, Thiel 2.3, 3.6, etc, (with my wife- who has golden but rather reluctant ears) - and found that the dynaudio countour 3.3 and 3.0 were the best (I had not read the reviews to that point). The Thiel 2.3 were too analytical and bright, and my wife says, not coherent. The Proac 2.5 had a lovely, lush sonic signature but were not very open. The 3.5 and 3.8 sounded somewhat "hollow". The Nautilus 802's were the very competitive but I think were a bit much at $8000. The Dunlavy III and IV both had great soundstaging and imaging but did not go very low, despite my dislike for loud music and earth-shattering bass. The Dynaudio's, driven by both a Classe as well as a Pass setup were phenomenal in all respects. The highs were open, extended but not etched or excessive; the midrange was so natural - there's no other word for it; and the bass was very tight and tuneful. They had an addictive coherence that served all musical venues. While I am sure there are better speakers out there, I have not heard one for $5K!
(p.s. the cabinetry - cherry, rosewood, or birds-eye - is stunning)

Just listened to the Dynaudio 3.0 and the 3.3's and to my surprise (and was even verified by the salesperson in the shop) the 3.0's had everything the 3.3's had, except the mid range was a bit more full. I thought I would definately lose the bass extension on the Erykah Badu cd when switching over to the 3.0, but I did not. The detail, clarity and soundstage were all there on the David Benoit, Julian Bream and Madame Butterfly cd's we sampled. Here's where we saw a big difference...with cd's that rocked. Chris Cornell's new CD Euphoria Morning sounded thinner and more harsh on the 3.3's, while it had a fuller (but in no way bloated or muffled) on the 3.0's....same with the ZZ Top Antenna cd. Other cd's we listened to where Elton John (Captain Fantastic), DAngelo (Brown Sugar), Special EFX (Masterpiece), Oscar Peterson (Live in Paris), Muddy Waters (Folk Singer), TJ Kirk (If four was One), Marvin Gaye (greatest Hits). I would say that if you have more of a wide range of musical tastes, definately check out the 3.0's. They do not color the music (which is one the little quirks I have with B&W's 801/2/3). Both models offer a clean, transparent and full top to mid to bottom sound, but we both thought the 3.0's had a distincly noticable advantage in the midrange. To some $4,000 may seem like a lot, but to others $4,000 will be a steal. I think these speakers are very fairly priced at $4,000. I would be challenged to tell you something I didn't like about the 3.0's. They are now high on my shortlist. FYI, I have been using NHT VT-2's for a year and a half and have now been considering the following speakers::: ProAc Response 3.3// NHT 3.3//Wilson Watt Puppies 3.2 and now surely these Dynaudio 3.0's.

The equipment we listened to these on were all Levinson gear (which I'm sure helped a bit). Listen to these they are nice (although plain looking)speakers.