Dynaudio Audience vs. Contour

I am facing the same decision myself. I ended up buying a new pair of Dyanudio Audience 52 with maple finish when the local dealer had a sale. The problem with Contours 1.3 Mk2 is that it will require more amp power to sound good. This will end up costing way too much in the ever costly upgrade path. I believe system synergy is more important than any single one componet in the chain.

They are currently in the bedroom system being broken in right now.

Jet also had a good point about going into a home theater system later. There is no small Contour speaker that has front port design. That makes them difficult to ceiling mount in the rear.

Dan, I have heard Dynaudio speaker with lesser electronics before and they just don't sound as good as they should. The issue is especially true if you plan on using a surround receiver. When all five speakers are going, there just isn't enough clean power being deliver to the main speakers.

Croos over to a high quality powered sub at 50-60Hz will solve the amp power issue, but you will also need a good digital processor with very clean bass management.

So the best way to go would be to have a good CD/DVD transport sending a digital signal to the surround processor and have the surround processor to adjust the cross over. Some of the newer surround pre/pros have variable digital bass management that can even solve bass loading problem. Check out B&K Ref50 or Anthem AVM20 or the newer Rotel pre/pro. I think the Rotel receiver can only do a fixed cross over at 80Hz and it might not be done in the digital domain.

The other option is go with a dedicated amp and just use the receiver as a preamp. You can pick up an used McCormack DNA or Aragon 4004/8008 for $1k. You can get have the cake and eat it too.