Dynaudio Special Forty vs. Contour 20

@james_w514 that all said, I'd love to hear what you thought of these speakers! I'm still very interested in the SR1's but need more time with them.

Hey James, it's a fair point, and I totally agree that there's no substitute for a long in-home audition - that's why I review things for months at a time after all. That said, with some experience and skill I've found you can parse out some of the environmental factors and get a general feel for the character of a piece of gear. I've gone back to my listening notes from the beginning and end of an audition, as well as heard gear in both a show and home environment, and other than break-in effects and some deeper unpeeling of layers, I've found them to be remarkably consistent.

And not to claim my hearing is superior or anything, but I have a number of years of classical musical training and can usually zero in on things pretty quickly. Without naming names, I've found audible issues with gear early in audition periods that the designers themselves didn't catch until I mentioned it to them. 

Again, just personal impressions, take with as much salt as you like. :)

@james_w514 unrelated question, how do you find the Bryston Cubed amps? I'm considering requesting one for review, but not sure which one to try. I've heard that the 2.5 is the sweetest of the bunch but I'm tempted by more power...

@mobilesax I think I've reached the end of the road with the Merlins. I'm sure the Black Magic upgrade is great, but I'm looking to make a more fundamental change. In particular, I'm looking for something more SS-amp friendly. While the TSM's have gotten more and more accommodating of SS with each successive upgrade, they really need tubes to reach the next level and that's a nonstarter for me.

@nitewulf : like the Merlins, maybe the C20's need tubes to loosen up (the Stereophile review also alluded to this). That said, there was something about the driver integration that bugged me. I actually thought the Forty had a smoother-sounding crossover than the C20. 

@mattmiller : that sounds about right, based on my quick listen they could definitely benefit from a powerful, lean SS amp that can exert a lot of control over the woofer. (Maybe Bryston?) That said, I don't see how you get around the apparent resonance/coloration in the upper bass, regardless of amp. It really sounds mechanically underdamped to me. I don't doubt you can massage that with some tweaking but I'm not sure you can completely overcome that sort of tuning issue. 

@james_w514: sounds like you go through a lot of speakers. :) I haven't heard ATC, I should get around to that. What are you using now? How did you like the Audiovector?

@james_w514 thanks for the input. Interesting, I thought the Audiovector SR1 (in Avantgarde Aretté form) had very good bass - not thunderous by any means, but very "true" in that you mostly don't notice it, but it really hits you with speed and trueness of tone when called for. I thought piano and cello sounded great, though pop/rock sounded light. I'm coming from very lean Merlin TSM's so my bar for bass is probably low. I agree that in terms of raw speed and resolution, they are really tops, better than the majority of megabuck stuff I've heard at shows.

I will seek out an ATC dealer and if they seem like they might float my boat, see if I can get them in-house... 

Hi @cortes - thanks for the kind words about the blog, always happy to hear if it's useful at all. I've fallen a bit behind on reviews the last few months (day job keeping me busy) but try to keep up with more regular updates on my Instagram/Facebook.

I haven't heard the active version of the Audiovector. No idea about the internal amp, but I can drop Mads Klifoth @ Audiovector a line to ask. It's possible with the flexibility of active, the integration between drivers will be even better - it's quite excellent as-is on the passive SR 1 Arreté, but with perhaps a bit of energy loss that my colleague Martin DeWulf referred to at the end of his quick take review. I've taken some rough in-room response measurements and see a little room for improvement in the 2-3kHz range that seem related to his (and my own) listening observations. That said, still a superb speaker, and IMO a meaningful step up in resolution and accuracy vs. the Dynaudios.