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New Dynaudio Evoke 20

Just a brief note on the latest speakers I'm auctioning. The Dynaudio Evoke 20. 
These are very well made and nice looking in piano black. I would have preferred a wood finish but at 20% off for an open box, I'm not $450 enthusiastic about the wood.
First of all, these speakers clean up all the small residual problems I had with my cheaper speakers. They are very good for the price but when I heard the Dynaudios I realized how much I was missing. They are clean sounding with no fuzzy or harsh artifacts. Smooth, dynamic and well balanced. Treble and bass drive are very well coordinated. No excessive treble or upper midrange hardeness. Just effortless smooth reproduction. Excellent sound staging and with the 7 inch woofer, bass is quite credible and more enjoyable than a smaller driver might provide, but then I haven't heard the Evoke 10. I have a bad position for these speakers and even though they are only a foot from the wall, they don't seem to have any negative effects here as that speaker location killed the Bucharest 300s. I am running them with a Muszishare tube amp and a Schiit Raggy 2. Gugnier DAC and an Audiolab 6000 transport. Kimber and Audience cables. If you are in the market for new spaekers, I'd say give these a try. I am impressed. These are staying in the system. By the way, these are 6 ohm speakers and don't seem to sound much different if I use the 4 or 8 ohm taps. I was doing all my listening in triode for now
I put on Cantante Domino CD from Proprius for a friend and with the tube amp, the choral songs were just stunning in ambience and depth. He was amazed. Also the organ was very credible with the bass as it is. I just wish the Muzishare had a precut so I could run my subs with it. I'm ordering some other tubes just to do a little rolling. You know how it is. 
Your mileage may vary. 

fredcdobbs
7 responses Add your response
hilde45's avatar
hilde45
4,974 posts
 
I listened to these extensively, and also the Evoke 10 and the small floorstanders, the Evoke 30. With both solid state and tube. They all sound quite wonderful, and the bass on the 20's is noticeably fuller and more rich than the 10s, but the 10s are quite punchy and clean. I take it open box is about $2k or so. For that money, I think I'd prefer Salks or Fritz. 
https://www.salksound.com/type.php?format=Bookshelf
https://www.salksound.com/type.php?format=Monitor
http://www.fritzspeakers.com/DreamWeaverFritzCarbon7Mk2SpecPage.asp
fredcdobbs OP
128 posts
 
$1750. I had to leap. I guess I could go on forever but I'm on my tenth home audition having bought two cheaper but good (For the Money) speakers. I'm approaching $600 in return shipping fees. Need to park it somewhere. 
mesch
3,506 posts
 
Congrats on your new speakers. Finding a pair that you can live with for the long haul will make the return shipping costs worthwhile. 
hilde45's avatar
hilde45
4,974 posts
 
@fredcdobbs -- That sounds like a great deal and they're lovely speakers. At a certain point, the choice becomes unbearable. I will say that the Evokes you settled on really stick out in my mind as delightful speakers which were easy to listen to but had a deep expressive ability which different amps brought out of them.

Just curious -- what were the cheaper speakers you got? I did the same thing while I was auditioning. I got the Klipsch RP 600 M.
fredcdobbs OP
128 posts
 
Let's temper this with a caution that at the time I tested these speakers, I had other things going on in the system that were annoying me. I also didn't have the front end and amplification now have. (I've also tested a lot of amps and some DACS)  All of it seemed to improve incrementally and with what I have now, if I resisted these speakers I might have a better fit. I'm particularly sensitive to harshness and too much energy in the upper end. One thing for sure, all of the speakers I tested had their merits and with good equipment matching I could see any given person liking any of them. Cheapest were Klipsch 600 (did some almost holographic things but were too bright at the time), PSB XB, Warfdale Evo 4.1 and 4.2 speaker's, A Revel pair at about $900. I forger the model number. I tried Elac B52 and the Carina speakers. I also ordered a pair of Buchardt 300s that struggled with my setup parameters. The ones I bought and were living with previous to thes Dynas were the Elac Debut Reference DB62 and Triangle Borea Bro 3. I coupled these with a pair of Outlaw M8 subwoofers. 
My listening room is in my work shop and the speakers sit on a very sturdy 2' x 8' work bench/shelf attached to the wall so the speakers can only be a foot away from the wall. 
The Dynas were an open box pair from Safe and Sound. 
fredcdobbs OP
128 posts
 
This is endless, I just heard a rave review of some Fyne Audio 500 speakers that has me curious. That said, I've been burned by one off rave reviews too many times to get too excited. 
Another speaker I am curious about and may audition sometime in the future is the Acoustic Energy 500 speakers with carbon fiber woofer and tweeter. Both of these have limited distribution. I have discovered is that I prefer soft dome tweeters vs metal dome. I have heard some really nice EMITS on the Warfdales though.
I'm going to compare the Dynas to the Elacs and Triangles once again, and may sell both making room to audition something else. Keeps me from getting too Covid bored. 
zufan's avatar
zufan
563 posts
 
@fredcdobbs I bought a set of Fyne 501 two weeks ago. My local buddy had them and was downsizing. He let me home demo and I was instantly gobsmacked. They are *astoundingly* good. I'll be doing a separate thread/review on them sometime soon. See pic in my system. 
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