Dynaudio vs. Vienna Acoustics

I happened to hear the Vienna Beethovens with Krell amplification recently and was very impressed with the depth and control of the bass, the effortless dynamics and the overall excellent tonal balance of the speakers. They did a great disappearing act in a room crowded with other speakers, and were just fun to listen to music through. Very surprising speakers; I don't think you'll need a sub with them. The Dynaudios I've heard are also excellent, but (other than the Evidences) perhaps a little more to the cool or analytical side, compared to the Viennas. Which one you like will depend on your tastes, as well as the amplification.

the mahlers are nice. i heard them with some jeff rowland stuff and i was impressed. it's a lot of speaker (literally) for the money.

Only look at the confidence line from dynaudio. It is so much better than the countour line its scary. The confidence 3 as small as it is, is miles better than the big contour 3.3 in every way but bass quantity. However i prefer the confidence 3s bass because it is much tighter and faster. I have never heard the Vienna acoustics speakers. If you think the contour line was even remotely comparable to the vienna acoustics than the confidence line would be much better then them. They are that much better than the contours. I liked them so much i bought a pair. (Confidence 5s) I also own a pair of Talon Peregrine Xs but that is a whole other story.... - Ian

Thanks for all the comments. Sounds like there are different opinions on Dynaudio. My brief audition of Dynaudio (Contour 1.8, I believe) gave me the impression they might be fun for rock/pop, but left me questioning the Dynaudio sound with acoustic or jazz music. My audition was not thorough, however, and is thus inconclusive. I am not familiar with Meadowlark, but will do some research and attempt to audition.

Again, thanks for your input. More comments welcome.

I would consider Meadowlark Audio Blue Herons 8800.00 One of the best out there and the best under 10k.

Dynaudio Contours 3.3 or Confidence 5. The 3.3's are an amazing full range speaker (no sub needed with these). The 5's produce the best vocals of any speaker I've heard.

I like Dynaudio Confidence 3.0, but I must say I've been impressed with Vienna Acoustics. Tough decision. Let your ears decide. I am performing my own experiment right now with REL integration (A Strata III with B&W N804s). So far I like it. I'm still tweaking the sub with placement and crossover frequency. The sub provides not only the low frequency bass, but it also helps to create "room size and air".

Vienna Acoustic's Mahler or Vandersteen V's. Both very musical. Both have solid bass.

You need to give Dynaudio Confidence 5 a try. It is the best in this range.

As a former owner of both the dyn 3.0 and the vienna bethovens I would give the nod to the bethovens buy a wide margin, they are a very sweet and musical speaker with tight base, IMO, dyn audio is way overhyped and overpriced, but I would also offer a further bit of advice, if you are seriously looking for 2 channel, the Tyler speaker line is the best speakers for price and performance, IMO, good luck