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building a system around dynaudios?

Hello Audiogoners,

I’ve gotten so much amazing advice here getting my first nice systems set up. With your help, I finally set up a system for a small listening room with the new Creek Evolution 50a and the Epos Elan 10 (still awaiting the new Creek Evolution 50CD) which is just lovely. I also bought a pair of used Silverline Minuet Supreme Plus’s here on Audiogon and have them working as a great desktop system with the Marantz PM5004 amplifier and CD5004. Needless to say, I like going to work a lot more than I used to.

So having been bitten by the bug, I am now assisting a friend to set up another system. We were all set to go with Dynaudio Excite x12s with the Rega Brio R, Apollo R, and eventually, the RP3 turntable. I know a lot of people really swear by the Excite x12 + Rega combination.

However, I just heard the Rogue Sphinx amp this past weekend, and was really impressed. So now we are considering an alternate system which would be the Dynaudio Excite x12 with the Rogue Sphinx, perhaps the Sony XA5400ES cd player (Oppo also an option?), and a Rega turntable.

As a newbie to audio, mixing and matching of course makes me a little more nervous than, say, an all Rega system. But I was really taken with the Rogue amp. Does anyone have any experience driving the Dynaudios with the Rogue Sphinx, or other advice to share to help us make the decision?

Many thanks,
MC
mcanaday

Showing 2 responses by mapman

mapman's avatar
mapman
22,568 posts
 
Have not heard either amp, but regardless the Dynaudios will like the additional power that the Class D hybrid Rogue has to offer. If it were me, I'd go with that over the Rega as a no brainer based on the published specs. The Rogue tube hybrid design will likely be another plus+ in that column, though I'm sure the Rega would sound very good as well, just more limited with less power apparently.
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,568 posts
 
Its true, Sphinx delivers a lot on paper in a small and affordable packages, and I have never heard any Rogue gear sound less than very musical (I have heard various other integrateds and amps, but not SPhinx yet), so I am a big Rogue fan when it comes to value, but no doubt Dynaudios typically can deliver the goods best with the best gear, so a bigger budget if possible would likely pay dividends as well.

BTW, Sphinx uses Class D power amp technology which is the most efficient amplifier technology available and enables a lot of power and current and I have found out top notch sound as well out of a small and often very affordable package. More power and current is what Dynaudios feed on mainly to deliver the goods, but of course there is always more to it than that. But in general, I have the utmost confidence in any product from Rogue until something comes up otherwise, and I have not seen nor heard that yet.

I use 500w/ch Class D amps (BEl Canto ref1000m) with my Dynaudio Contour 1.3 mkII monitors. This is an excellent matching! The Dynaudios deliver a just slightly laid back sound with just a touch of warmth, energy and lots of air and is most extended and clean top to bottom for speakers their size. They love the power and current! They open up to the max well away from walls. Really good stuff! I also use them with 180w/ch TAD Hibachi monoblock amps, another pretty good matching, though dynamic headroom at higher volumes does lag in comparison to the BCs as one would expect as a result in the discrpency in power and current delivery capability.

My Dyns are probably a bit beefier in terms of overall build quality output capability compared to the lower cost ones of interest here, but similar to Sennheiser headphones over the years, Dynaudio speakers always deliver the goods I have found!
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