Dynaudio Evoke 20 vs. Totem Signature One vs. Acoustic Revival Adalante 3

Look at the PMC Twenty5 22i speakers. I bought a set for the basement, fill that room all without a lot of effort.

I have a set of Dyn Emit 20's out in the garage, decent little speaker running them with a 200 watt amp. They sound decent out there.

The sound will change once you get them home, how much room treatment do you have? You can alway add room treatment to make the speakers sound better.

You are right, the Dynaudio and Totem are similar, hard to drive but sweet a relaxed with the right amp. I think it's weakness is the bass. After having the Evoke 20s for 3 years as my main speakers, I think it's overpriced for what it does, there are better options for the same price range, and their retail value sucks. The Revival has great reviews and the MoFi may be a good option too for that room size.

Other speakers in the 2000-25000 USD price range

Q Acoustics 5050
Wharfedale AURA 2
PSB Imagine T65
Dali Menuet
Ohm Walsh Microwalsh Short
Arendal 1723 MONITOR S THX
Indiana DIVA 660
KEF R3 Meta
Tannoy Tannoy Autograph Mini
B&W 706 S3
Monitor Audio Silver 200 7G
GoldenEar Triton Two
Spendor A1
Fyne F500 SP
Gato FM-15
Creative Sound Sol. Criton 1TD-X
Paradigm Founder 40B
Klipsch RP-8060FA II
Legacy Studio HD
Salk ELLIS 1801
PSB Passif 50 

What specifically did you not like about the Omega and Harbeth speakers?

retail = resale

That was quite a mouthful!

I only know Dynaudio speakers, especially their former flagship Consequence, which I owned for ten years. These sound best with a LOT of power.

If I were you, judging from your sound preferences, I would think about a tube amp in the future, and go with the most easy to drive / tube friendly speaker, all else fairly equal.

Greetings-I owned both the Dynaudio Evoke 20s and Revival Audio Atalante 3 speakers. I do not have any experience with Totem.

The Evoke 20s were paired in my system at the time with the Yamaha A-S2200 integrated and sounded energetic, lively, and dynamic. They imaged well, good sound stage, and were fun to listen to. I upgraded from these to the Evoke 50s and continued to enjoy this sound. I currently have the Dynaudio Confidence 20s paired with the Hegel H600 and am very happy with the Dynaudio sound. I would recommend the Evoke 20s especially at a used price point of probably about $1200. They are well built, solid, larger, and heavier than most speakers this price.

In another system I had the Atalante 3s paired with a Rogue Audio Cronus Magnum III integrated. I would describe the sound as detailed and slightly warm and forward in presentation. The cabinets are beautiful, really well built. They could play loud and not sound fatiguing. I enjoyed my time with them. The Atalante 3s will cost more used probably.

Both were very enjoyable speakers in my experience.

The Dynaudio Consequence speaker was quite extreme. I used a Krell FPB600 amp, the best in class at the time, but even this was not enough to get it to wake up fully and dance and sing. It had been developed with an in-house 1200 watt amp I believe. Like two of my Krells. Later I have heard less power hungry Dynaudios including good monitors. But I suspect that the quantity and quality of the amplification still means a lot for how good they sound.

I gradually got tired of the Dynaudio Consequence. Even if the speaker was good and innovative - a sybaric double bass solution at the top, with drivers arranged from larger to smaller downwards to the highest treble - at the bottom!  A speaker designer asked me, is that really the case. Doesnt the sound become the wrong way up? But no, it worked. What did not work was that they were "over-controlled" (the way I thought about it) - needing very much power, like 2 x 1200 watts. For example, compared to the Proac 3.8 floorstanders, which I also tried, that woke up to dance and sing at a much lower volume level. i tried the Consequence with quite powerful tube amps, Atmasphere MA-1. It did not work out. They would have to be twice as powerful or more, the get the speakers into their comfort zone. I ended up selling the speakers and keeping the tube amps.

Later I heard a pair of Dynaudio monitors that really made an impression, quite different from the Consequences. Cant remember the model right now, but it was a special edition something. They were set up very well, on stands, with a well-treated and damped room. We were three friends listening, and we all commented on how the monitors seemed to disappear, the music coming from a larger soundscape. This was with a Cayin integrated amp, maybe 40 watts or so. I thought Dynaudio speakers with tube amps was a lost case, no good, but this  showed otherwise. It depends on the model. 

Funny you should mention those three speakers. Here's a YouTube video that, if you have a decent computer set up, can give you a good idea as the sound differences are readily apparent, despite the flaming that will result form me posting this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8t6sdLnhLTs&t=112s

Also, Daniel Emonts, who owns Revival Audio and designed the Atalante 3, was lead speaker designer at Dynaudio for 7 years and the Evoke 20 was one of his creations. His drivers are proprietary and everything is designed and made in France. 

I have the Atalante 3 and will never part with them unless I get a bigger space and then, the Atalante 5 will replace them.

All the best,
Nonoise

Great choices in speakers. My two cents: I recently put my Dynaudio Special 40s on consignment at my local hifi store. I’ve owned them since 2019 and really enjoyed them----UNTIL I heard the Atalante 3s. I helped the store owner unbox them in the store recently and they really intrigued me from the get go. Build quality is excellent---and they are pretty! Laser etching on the side. Nice stands too. They are slightly bigger than the S40s, bigger driver and slightly more efficient. Once I got them home and hooked them up to my system, I knew they were keepers. I absolutely love the sound of these speakers. I didn’t think I would part with the Dyns but i instantly had an emotional reaction to the Atalante 3s. AND, your Tellurium Q speaker cables are a perfect match for the Atalantes. Also, I posted the pics of my speakers on a FB Revival fan page and Revival liked my pic and requested my address, etc. They sent me a beautiful coffee mug. Never had a company do that before. Let us know what you decide---good luck!

I was never too impressed with the Dynaudio Special 40s as much as with the Contours and Evokes. Never heard the Heritage.

I am a huge believer in FRITZ speakers. Have had the Carbon 7SE version for 2 years now complimented with a SVS SB3000 in a smaller room, Just Rock and Roll. Very dynamic and accurate, not harsh at ALL. Would not trade it, period!!! 

  I also believe he offers a 30 day trial period. Mine took a while to break in, Nirvana!

Robert TN  Ps they are driven by a Top notch DAC and very Strong Solid State ATI 6002 AMP   my 2 cents

Here is a very recent youtube video comparing 11 monitor speakers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xV_Fm_TUro4  Many fine comments about the EPOS ES-7N which are in the 2K USD price point. Some well known brands did not fare as well - you might be surprised at the results. It was a well done video.

@hilroy48 

Thanks for the suggestion. I have just the normal domestic room treatments of drapes, plants and carpet. Eventually I will be  looking for some diffusors or absorption panels that are WAF friendly. 

@grislybutter 

Thanks for the recommendations. That MoFi speaker has always interested me, I have a fan of point source drivers.

@jpipes 

Thanks for the input and I'm glad to hear you are liking the Dynaudio sound signature.  Any reason for moving on from the Adalante 3?

@soix

I find the Omega SAM speakers picking about amplification. Louis disagrees. I most enjoyed the Linear Tube Audio ZOTL 10 MK2 tube amp that I mainly used with those speakers (regret selling of course). I have also had good luck with vintage Marantz gear. Other amps such as the HiFi Rose don't bring any of the musical qualities out of these speakers. They sounded good in the near field, but music lost it's flow for background listening and oddly, considering that they are high efficient speakers, were a hard drive for the RS520.

The Harbeths were quite detailed, easy to drive, dynamic and very balanced sounding from woofer to tweeter, but they just made the music bright sounding. Mid range just didn't have the meat I am used to and sounded lighter in both timbre and pitch. 

@o_holter 

Thanks for sharing your experiences. I have owned tube amps in the past, and like many people, love the sound, hate the maintenance. It is why I moved from an LTA ZOTL 10 tube amp to the HiFi Rose. Next amp purchase might possibly be Naim or Moonriver.

@nonoise 

I had a feeling I would hear from you, I read your review of the Adalante 3 and I am happy you have found your "it" speaker. Ironically, I came across the link you shared here after I had already narrowed my search down to these 3 speakers. In all honesty, they all sound good. HiFi House by MSound is where I will be demoing the Acoustic Revival speakers at. They don't seem to have an actual showroom with normal business hours, so scheduling a listen has been difficult. I doubt they carry Dynaudio anymore, but with any luck I will be able to do side by side comparisons to the Totem (and maybe a left over Evoke 20).

@bluorion 

Thanks for sharing. The Adalante 3 seems to be a special speaker, I am looking forward to listening. 

@gramophone_canada 

Thanks, I will check out the link with some headphones this weekend. 

@robshaw Thanks for the recommendation. 

@billynine 

Will your hifi dealer let you audition the speakers at home with your own equipment, cables, etc? Let us know how it goes and what you end up getting. BTW, if you have good speaker stands, you can get the Atalante 3s without the stands which should be around $2700 (~$3100 with stands). I got the stands with mine and the dealer put them together for me.

@bluorion 

I will keep you posted. I am living in Myanmar and will audition in Bangkok, so a home audition is not possible. The price is slightly higher in BKK.

As context, I have Dynaudio Evo 50s in my main room and happy with the sound.

For your search here is another thought:

In my secondary room I have Watkins monitors and really really like them. Interesting company and guy.

In my office I have Harbeth P3ESR - I was looking for warmth (but see you eliminated that).

I was considering Fritz in both those locations too.

@twhitezzz I have never heard of Watkins. They look at little like a Totem Sig. One with a deeper cabinet. Thanks for the recommendation.

@billynine I greatly enjoyed the Atalante 3s, but sold them for practical purposes, not because I did not like them. Probably TMI but I have a daughter getting married soon and needed more cash flow. Otherwise they would have stayed in place. Someone else above noted, both the Evoke and Atalantes were designed by Daniel Emonts, so you can't go wrong. Probably more of an outward aesthetic difference than a sonic difference IMO.

gradually got tired of the Dynaudio Consequence.

What kind of goof names his speaker "Evoke", "Consequence", etc?

Is there a model called "flatulence" from Dyndaddy? If not, he may have missed out on a great marketing opportunity.....Dynaudio Flatulence.....rings well, could become a top selling model.

Did someone wake up on the wrong side of the bed? 🤔

from here on out, I will only buy products that have "me2", "woke", "blm" etc. in their name 

from here on out, I will only buy products that have "me2", "woke", "blm" etc. in their name 

@grislybutter   Did you hear there's this other guy naming his speakers Sabrina, Alexia, Sophia, Yvette, etc...nomenclature almost sounds like names of lasses who may have rejected him when he tried to be a passport bro or something, eh?

Oh hang on...let me go listen to my Yvettt..uhu...(hope she doesn't lack synergy and sound like a sad boo boo diday).

@jpipes Congratulations and good luck on the wedding!

@deep_333

I would imagine Schiit has already copyrighted the Flatulence moniker.

@ghdprentice nooooooooooooooooooooooooo :)

I'm waiting for Schiit to release the Eater as a product name.

@grislybutter haven't heard most of the ones you put out there- but have owned the Gato FM15 (and their PM6). Sold both of them last week to make place for 2 other speakers. I have listened to, and bought and sold a few speakers- the FM15 are the only ones I miss.

Hi everyone, I thought I would post an update. 

I was finally able to audition the Adalante 3 speaker in Bangkok and the excitement was palpable. They certainly sounded good on first arrival. And even though they sounded great as I played some of my test tracks, it was apparent, these were not the speaker for me. 

I listen to a lot of alternative, indy, classic rock and I guess what might pass as non-audiophile music. Some of the test tracks that I play are specific to see how the system will reproduce distortion and ambient sounds. An example would be Creep by Radiohead. At about 2 minutes in, the song switches to its chorus with a heavily distorted guitar. This still has to sound good, because it really does belong in the song. Unfortunately, on many highly resolving systems (and less resolving systems), you would never play this song again, it’s too loud and forward. While listening to the Adalante 3, I didn’t necessarily want to turn the music down, but I wouldn’t really want to play this song again. There were more examples of this, from Wilco’s Yankee FoxTrot album, to the background rings, whistles and buzzing noises in Phoebe Bridgers’ Scott Street - the speakers highlighted detail without making it a cohesive part of the mix. I found myself listening to the speaker, not the interested in the music. 

At a different shop, I was able to listen to the Dynaudio Evoke 20 for the 3rd time. On this occasion, I was fortunate enough to demo with the same amp I own, the RS520. This speaker works for my ears, as well as with Hifi Rose gear. It’s not as detailed as some speakers I have heard, but the body, timbre and naturalness of music is all there. Neil Young’s live Massey Hall has the fullness and intimacy I was hoping for. Micro details aren’t highlighted to the point of sounding unnatural, but presented in a way to add nuance and texture. Even though the top end might lack some airyness, the delivery is blended in a way that makes this speaker enjoyable to listen to. 

As for the Totem Signature One, I didn’t get a chance to listen this time around. I am skeptical of the aluminum dome tweeter and already kinda ruled them out, perhaps unfairly since a part of me still thinks this might be the better valued alternative to the Dynaudio Special Forty. 

In the end, I did not buy a speaker. The Dynaudio is only available in blonde and black finish in Thailand, neither of which is my preferred choice. 

I also decided I want to demo a pair of Mofi Sourcepoint 8 before pulling the plug on a new speaker. I also believe the Wharfdale Linton speakers might be an audition.

Thanks again for all the advice.

Thanks for sharing your journey. I’m a DynAudio fan… be interested to hear what you settle on.