New Dynaudio Heritage Special..?..!

Seems like this thread is turning into a make fun of Steve Huff thread.

As an owner of the Heritage Specials, if anyone has any specific questions I can answer, please ask.

@kenjit probably not actual wood- mdf ; easier to route and less variance run to run on CNC machines; Based on volume buys I bet raw BOM cost for these handsome cabinets is about 1k;  Add in the NRE of engineering design to get that BOM, COGs just sky rockets; 
Inflation is here btw;  
Try buying 2x4's and sheets of plywood; Crazy town

@wjob, I'm considering purchasing the Heritage Specials.  You mentioned that these are the best monitors you've ever heard.  What monitors have you experienced prior (owning or testing)?

How would you describe the tonality of the upper midrange and the bass? I love a little of the V curve (tilted up in treble and bass) but mostly desire neutral tone. 

Would you say the speakers work well with most types of music especially orchestral pieces?  My hope is that it has great soundstage that extends beyond the boxes from sided to side and back and front.  Imaging is important to me as well although it doesn't have to etch out and place each instrument or musician in its place.  Could you speak to how the Heritage Specials do with soundstage and imaging?   

Thanks for all your help...your assessment will be super helpful!

I was at a dealer who has had this line f speakers for many many years.  I told him that they were never on my wish list.  He told me that they have now come out with an "i" version of their lineup and he felt that they would sound excellent.  I did not get the opportunity to hear them but they are supposed to be a complete change from the other models and not just an upgraded product for what it is worth.

@bgchiu  - I've heard a good number of monitors - most of the Dynaudio line and several at different price levels from the major brands such as Mission, Elac, and Klipsch.  A few high-end more exclusive brands at dealers that are impressive at first and then...maybe too much of a good thing?  Also several professional powered speakers.

If you want a V-curve, that is not these speakers.  They are basically flat, maybe a little mid-range centric.  Very, very good tone.  Very fast tweeter and woofer - resolution is excellent.  Music that can congest a lesser speaker is well resolved on the Heritage Specials.   Bass is fast; the speakers can give some punch when the track calls for it.  Some music may sound a little thin and you wonder about the bass, then you hear it on the next track.  This makes you realize some of the perceived bass on the previous track was perhaps slower woofers on your old speakers. Treble is not fatiguing - took at least 20 hours to break in though.  These speakers are going to expose what is driving them - if there is harshness in the chain, that is going to come through. The flip side is that if by V-curve you mean you want to hear everything, these will do that without the typical penalty.

They are extremely addictive with the speed and tone - you just want to keep listening.  Driver coherence is excellent as well. Really, it is the 'just one more song' addictive nature to these speakers that is special. I've had them long enough now to know this is not just novelty but are just really satisfying.

I just placed them in my big room system tonight - they've been in my office system.  In the big room (20'x30') they play loud enough and imaging is great - and this without me playing much with placement.  Just put them where my other speakers go and wow, it just works. Speakers disappear with the right track and soundstage extends beyond the speakers.

If you like Dynaudios, I suspect you will like these.  For me they are perfect.

@wjob, thank you for the thorough assessment and breakdown of your experiences with the Heritage Specials.  Your description of each aspect is tipping me over the edge to 'Yes.'  I'm going to schedule an appointment with a local dealer to demo them and will keep you posted!  Enjoy those speakers and please feel free to share how your experience goes!

@bgchiu  - enjoy the demo!  Be sure to give yourself time - when I first listened to them, I thought "this is different."  The speed makes things sound a little different in a way that is hard to describe at first.  Also, note that I bought the Dynaudio Stand 20s with the speakers.  A natural combination. 

No affiliation to Huff, Dynaudio or anyone else but I was in Denver last month and went by Crescendo, the Wilson Audio and Dynaudio dealer. Demo’d the Heritage Specials driven by DCS front end through Audio Research Ref6se and Ref160m monos. The Heritage Specials are damn good speakers. I presently have Wilsons and Devores at home and the Heritage Specials are an extraordinary achievement. They play in that league for sure and they can fit in the boot of your car.

Now, some may believe that a stand mount speaker shouldn’t cost $7,000 and that’s all fine and well. What these speakers are capable of is quite simply extraordinary though. Who knows how they would sound when not driven by $90,000+ of front end gear, I didn’t ask them to hook them up to another setup. The store personnel however didn’t hesitate to hang them off the end of that rig and everyone in the store stopped what they were doing. They punch waaaay above their weightclass. Another customer was there demoing some Sasha DAW’s and we both looked at each other and just shook our heads at what we were hearing. Heck, the Transparent Ref speaker cables cost more than the Heritage Specials!

Will they change the audio industry? Probably not but to summarily dismiss them would be a mistake. Of course, no deep bass but what was there was really there. The mid and upper bass was quite convincing in a large demo room, the midrange and the upper end was sublime. Go listen, they may not be your cup of tea, they may be at a pricepoint below or above what you are looking to spend but they are absolutely a bargain in my opinion.

@ghasley thanks so much for your personal anecdote, fun read! The more I know what I’m getting into, the better.  I've always been curious about Devores so interesting to see that comparison.

The speaker looks awesome. I wouldn't expect any less snooty responses from this crowd. They make coffee snobs look like angels. This entire website needs electroshock therapy. 

Im sure they will come out in a different color down the road just like the 40's. That HAS to be an improvement.

I think the American Walnut looks amazing. I had bird's eye maple 1.3SEs back in the day but these look equally as good. 

@wjob, I forgot to ask - how are the Heritage Specials with low listening levels?

@bgchui - pretty darn good with low listening levels!  The resolution they have is an asset here.  I generally listen at moderate volumes (I always find dealers do demos way too loud!); when I turn down from there to very soft the music I get still induces toe-tapping.  Lacks a little punch at very low levels, but that is true of speakers in general.  

Dynaudio's usually have to be played louder than your average speaker to get the most out of them. It's part of the brand's makeup...unless THESE are the exception to that trend. I got rid of my Contour 30's for that reason.....not good at low-mid listening levels. Have friends who said the same about the confidence line speakers they had. All agreed they sound wonderful at higher volumes.

Not my experience with these or the Excite line I own...probably also system dependent.  I think Dyns like current...

I'm loving the looks of these speakers.  But I'm wondering if I'm going to get any improvement in sound quality from my Thiel 2.4s.  Anyone have first hand experience with HS and Thiels?

Just received my pair of Heritage Specials yesterday. Currently hooked up to my Audio Note OTO Phono SE Signature (4 ohm taps). Initial impression is very good. Coming from fully updated Klipsch Chorus II's.

Not missing any dynamics at all. Bass is a touch less but better defined and more controlled. Treble extension is excellent. Midrange every bit as good as the CII's if not not smoother.

Curious as to where other Heritage owners have their speakers set up dimensionally from the front wall and side walls?

Ghasley, great writeup. There are just so many luxuries in life. Can’t possibly listen or own them all and this new Dynaudio Heritage is one of them. From the reviews of people who have listened to them, I believe these are first-rate speakers that punch well above their price range (although few may regard these as overpriced). Despite few criticism of the seemingly plain wooden box, I actually like the way they look. Clean lines, real wood veneer, they actually look better than some high-gloss finish speakers with ostentatious or fancy looking shapes.

I actually favor standmounts for their minimalistic approach. Elegant looks and easy to carry or move around in comparison to large floorstanders. Also, equivalent floorstanders would usually cost a lot more than standmounts in the same category. The Achilles heel of standmounts is in bass reproduction but designs with 7" or larger main/bass drivers are usually quite decent, going down to 40Hz or lower.

Most all speaker perform at there best has far as possible away from both front and side walls, my dynaudio S 25,s are 8.5 ft from the front and 6 ft from the sides leaving 7 ft apart in a 19x33x10.3 room.

I would imagine the heritage in my opinion is a modern day s25 would be best with lots of space as well.

3 years ago i bought a pair of used contour 3.3 for 1200 euro. They sounded wonderful! Before i was used to listen to music with my Grado PS500 headphones. After getting the contour 3.3 i completely stopped to listen with the PS500. 
Then i sold the contour 3.3 and bought the new contour 60 confident to improve my listening experience. Wrong. My hifi system is turned off since many months and I'm back listening to music through  my Grados. I do not think dynaudio is anymore capable to produce high quality speakers. 

I have my HS pair in a small room, at one end of the long wall.  The left speaker is about 2' from the side wall, the right is basically open by comparison.  I have absorber panels for the early reflections from the left speaker. (Some additional base traps and other absorption/reflection - nothing too much.)  Imaging is fine - speakers disappear and good depth.  Sound extends beyond the speakers.  This is, of course, going to also depend on your upstream components - me, two ss monoblocks, tube hybrid preamp.

Sorry to hear that daros71

I just acquired a preowned PASS INT-25 and am enjoying the Heresy IV’s that were previously  driven by a Luxman SQ-N150.

I know nothing about the Heritage Specials but at7K I’m wondering what other bookshelf speakers in the 5-7 K range might be an option or comparable. Any suggestions? And yes I like the IV’s. 

@maholl50 At a similar price range one might cross shop with the Harbeth 30.2 and priced above these two are Wilson Audio Tunetots. There are pros and cons and I have experience with each. No affiliation with any of the three companies.

The Heritage Special form factor is narrower, shorter and deeper while Harbeths are a visually larger speaker albeit more shallow for placement purposes. The Tunetots are taller than both, in between both on width and more shallow than either. Harbeths are front ported without alot of port energy concerns, the Dyns are rear ported and alot of energy exists at the ports although they come with port plugs. The Tunetots are uniqely slot ported in the rear and the port plug implementation is pretty advanced. The Tunetots sounds like two completely different speakers with/without the ports plugged but sound great in either configuration depending on placement forced on the user.

Harbeths are a little easier on a given amp to drive and slightly warmer but with the Dynaudios there is more there there in terms of detail. The Dyns feel faster, more agile. I personally believe the drivers in the Dyn are at another level entirely from the 30.2’s. The Tunetots are warmer than the Heritage Specials while being more complete sounding than the Harbeths. The Tunetots are more dynamic and amplifier friendly than both to my ears. The Dyanudios would probably require double the amp horsepower than the Tunetots to perform at a similar level.

The Dyns image and soundstaging is far superior and the bass is far stronger than the Harbeths but the Dyns take a little more work for setup. The Tunetots are not as placement fussy as the Dynaudios. Say what you will but the Harbeths kindof work wherever you place them, the Wilsons are nearly as simple to set up and the Dynaudios require still more. The Tunetots can be placed almost anywhere and have a whole extra performance level above the Dyns, which have the edge on the Harbeths. My feeling is that the Harbeth price increases and USA pricing is now beyond the value sweetspot whereas the Dynaudio Heritage Special is really, really great for the price asked. The Tunetots with their iso stands, etc really jump the price. If my room had no placement issues it would be hard to not consider Sabrinas vs Tunetots since the pricing gets pretty close.

I have two pair of Wilson Audio Tunetots and in the right room and the right ancillaries, they are objevtively far superior to both the Harbeths and the Dynaudios PROVIDED you are comfortable integrating a sub if your musical tastes lean that direction. The Dynaudios do not need a sub unless you are a heavy bass head. The Tunetots are a specialty product and they accomplished their design goal. They really can give a high end experience in a compromised room. I have one pair in my office and one pair in a TV room, in a bookshelf and they really shine. In my office they are drive by an Audio Note el34 tube amplifier and in my TV room the other pair of Tunetots are driven by a Boulder 866 (holy cow!!!! what an amp). The Harbeths in the exact same spot as the Tunetots never remotely satisfied.

Depends on what you are after but the capabilities of the Dynaudio Heritage Specials are levels beyond what the Harbeths can provide. The Tunetots on the other hand are levels above the Dyns except in the deeper bottom end. The unique port design of the Tunetots belie the bottom end specifications. In my rooms they dig alot deeper than I ever expected. At the pricepoint of these three monitor speakers I have mentioned, you really should seek them(and others) out and listen and arrange for a home demo with your gear. They are each at a pricepoint where floorstanding options are available for similar money so make sure you are after what these monitors do really well. The particular TV room to which I referred earlier has a serious bass suck in the exact position where floorstanders soundstaged the best. Since in our home we aren’t willing to live with the interior design downsides to treat the room to the extent required, we chose the Tunetots in their designed optimal positioning and then placed a small KEF KC62 sub optimally. We utilized a REL Airship wireless transmitter/receiver and it works wonderfully. No bass augmentation necessary in my office.

As I’ve said before (which is also not the norm in the Audiogon community), our hifi must live with us rather than the alternative. Good luck in your search. Peace.

The Wilson Tunetots only go down to 65Hz but they cost $10,000 a pair. They must be very special high-end speakers.

At a price range up to $7,000, you may look at the Marten Oscar Duo other than Dynaudio Heritage. I own the Harbeth SHL5+ and listened to M30.2 at the dealers. I understand it’s all subjective but similarly I find the Marten to play at a higher league than the Harbeth. I’m not surprised that the Dynaudio Heritage is a more talented speaker than the Harbeth M30.2 as there is a 30.1 owner who just upgraded to the Heritage and found it to be superior to the Harbeth in many ways.

If not planning to use subs (usually a pair is recommended for music), I would suggest getting a speaker which is able to go down to about 40Hz @3dB. Both Dynaudio Heritage and Marten Oscar Duo are such candidates.

@ryder all valid and excellent points. I’m not quite sure how the Tunetots were measured (ports open or closed, free space or closer to a boundary). I did not expect much low frequency energy but they are quite satisfying by themselves.

The Heritage Specials are indeed special and I have also heard great things about the Martens although I have not experienced them in person. What a great time to enjoy audio, the gear is better than ever.

Ghasley, well said. Good gear is surely capable of bringing us closer to the core of the music. I own the Marten Duke 2 but have not experienced the Dynaudio Heritage or Wilson Tunetots. All these high calibre gear especially the Tunetots surely look great.

At the meantime, I will continue to enjoy the hifi that I currently own, all newly assembled last year. The gear is not particularly high-end but it does deliver. My days of buying luxuries are over but great gear keeps appearing which is useful for people who are looking for an upgrade.

Newsflash.....Mr Huff has listed his Dyn Heritage and is going back to Klipsch. You read it here first

kenjit1,418 posts11-22-2020 9:27pm7k bucks for a wooden box. looks like a DIY job done in the garage.

~~~~~~~~~~~~
Typo error
700 not 7G's, 
For 700 not bad. But  I can do better for 700. alottt better.

wait a  minute, I just researched,
 a  pair sold  the other day asking 6500, not sure final price, sold in 1 day..unreallll
for 5G's you can get a  AER, Feastrex, Voxativ
 For 7G's  you can get Fieldcoils. 

riaa,
Really not surprising. I'm sure that the Heritage is a really fine speaker, low distortion, very good imaging and impressive bandwidth for it's size, but I personally don't thing that that can make up for the lack of realistic dynamic contrasts that the Cornwalls have, being a horn speaker.
Once you experience that, small dynamic speakers just seem to be lacking. At least that's my experience. 

Huff is a schill and a drama queen. Bloviates till he is bored and moves on to a new flavor.

None of his reviews are to be taken to seriously. 

earlflynn,
I actually agree with you on that. Whatever he rave reviews is the "best thing ever" until the next one comes along and it's better. 
He is the boy who cried wolf.

wjob
hey I just purchased the special 40s and have a Manley stingray tube amp and also purchased the Aurelic g1 DAC 

with that I have the kf92 sun from kef 

I have time left to return these and get the heritage special 

I may splurge but was wondering your thoughts of having them with a sub? 
Thanks ! 

I don't use them with a sub - not needed in my room.  I think they would integrate well with a good sub though.  I've heard both the S40 and HS.  The Heritage Specials are in a different league, although the S40 might appear to be a bit more fun at quick listen.

riaa_award_collectors_on_facebook829 posts06-20-2021 5:04amNewsflash.....Mr Huff has listed his Dyn Heritage and is going back to Klipsch. You read it here

Missed this earlier. Really? I used to read about his enthusiasm with the Dynaudios, Pass Labs INT-25 and Luxman L-590AXII, saying that they are likely to stay in the system forever. The Luxman has gone, so now it’s the Dynaudio, next the Pass Labs?

This is no surprise at all. You would think that he would be embarrassed after a while, but again and again he makes these "best ever" proclamations and sells the gear a couple of months later. 
How can he think that anyone trusts his opinion?

Huff sold his Int25 and has an Int250 right now. In his latest klipsch review he is usingbthe preamp outs into a pair of XA60.8 monos. Imagine if he used a proper preamp.

Said years ago he’s not a reviewer and shouldn’t be considered one. Surprised people still read him.

@keithr How true. I peruse his writings from time to time because he is seemingly a nice guy AND, perhaps more importantly, his "review" history is actually more of a chronicle of what he is hearing as a normal hifi enthusiast as he moves up the equipment ladder. Just something to read to avoid the latest headlines on covid or Afghanistan or politics or other similar topics. LOL. I hope you are well and enjoying your new Fyne's.

Not to defend Huff but maybe he is just addicted to audio equipment and has a lot of time and effort in it and likes to try new things. He does say often that he wishes he didn't sell particular items and even mentioned purchasing the same item again. Just a thought 

I've got special 40's and love love love them...hooked to a benchmark AHB2, great amp with just enough juice, though you know with Dyns you can alwasy feed them more...

 

Question - Should I get another AHB2 for bridged operation, or spend the money on upgrading the speakers to the Dyn Heritage?

 

Any opinions? Thank you!

 

JKT

Not sure I'd recommend either upgrade path - if you love the S40s, why upgrade?  The HS is IMHO a better speaker, but a different sounding one.  Still a Dynaudio, but a more refined/laid-back vibe.  

I haven't heard the Benchmark, but it is a powerful amp. Thinks would probably improve by doing monos in a pair, but again, not sure what you are trying to improve?  If you love the sound of the S40s and the amp, I'd look at spending money on sources, power, acoustics before adding an amp or changing the speakers.

I'm the OP...😉

just took delivery of a pair of Heritage Specials.

nice surprise.

Great news. I am a fan of mid sized monitors too. The Heritage Special should offer an improved and grown up sound from the S40 that you currently own. 

Enjoy ~

Joseph Audio Pulsar Graphene is 9K and Silverline SR17 Supreme is 7.5K,.

It's not as if the Heritage Special is in a price category of its own. 

I wasn't aware that affordability was a hallmark of this hobby!

@ianrmack - Congrats!  Do share your observations when they have settled in.