Review: Dynaudio Contour 1.3se Monitor

Category: Speakers

It was time to address my “lack of pure listening enjoyment” that was occurring while listening to my current 2-channel system. (75% 2-channel, 25% Dvd playback). I have owned and auditioned many loudspeaker systems over the last 20 years. So I read the reviews, talked to many different dealers, spoke with fellow music/audiophile friends, and spend months auditioning many fine lines of product. However, after the dust settled – my wife and I couldn’t have been more shocked with the results from the company called Dynaudio.

I had been an avid B&W fan for many years… but my brand loyalty was out the window the day I heard the Dynaudio Contour line. (It also helped that I couldn’t quite stomach the “bright-edginess” of the new Nautilus tweeter no matter what equipment and cabling I tried) To be fair, I will say that I had many countless hours of enjoyment from my B&W Matrix805’s and B&W Matrix 802sIII’s as well as my WilsonAudio Witt’s ( too big and heavy for my house and required too much breathing space ). So, after countless hours of auditioning, we selected a new pair of Dyn’s 1.3SE’s (Special Editions), hooked them-up, and broke them in for approx. two weeks of low, then medium/moderate play volumes.

The following weekend my wife and I sat down in our living room with high expectations of our newly broken-in Dynaudio’s. I had hoped that my wife ( with very discriminating ears ) would not be quickly turned-off. As she usually knows very quickly when auditioning loudspeakers whether they are “keepers” or not. So we sat and played some music, a few favorite tracks, some jazz, pop, instrumental, vocal, and soundtracks – then we stopped.

We were totally dumb-struck. We were at a loss for words. But – we both knew instantly that the 1.3SE’s had hit the mark. What we experienced was : a clarity of sound, with such a natural presentation that we were stunned. What we heard and continue to hear daily is: “realism”. With the 1.3SE’s there is a sense that when an instrument plays – it actually sounds like the instrument; i.e. it doesn’t sound like a loudspeaker at that moment. We also notice that there were many more “musical layers” happening vertically and depth-wise within the recordings that we had not heard before.

Bear in mind we have now lived happily with these 1.3SE’s for almost 2 years and are constantly surprised with every new cd we try. ( In comparison to the Nautilus 805 which at first use had some very “exciting” behavior – but not for long term enjoyment. Our initial excitement with the N805 quickly diminished as we listened for longer periods of time and at louder volumes, needless to say we sold the B&W805N’s off within a couple months… )

The 1.3SE’s have depth/height/and especially very wide imaging, a true soundstage beyond the physical size of the box, a very quick articulate mid to lower bass response – much lower than you could reasonably expect from such a small box, unbelievable high frequency reproduction. The “texture” and “realism” of instruments and vocals is truly fantastic. We have been “startled” many many times when something comes through the 1.3SE’s and sounds REAL, it’s kinda spooky. Additionally, the speakers sound just as good at low to medium volumes, and are easy to drive.

In summary: the Quality of Sound from the 1.3SE is the most Natural and Realistic that we’ve had in our house, almost shocking at times. Don’t let the size fool you – bigger is not always better. These little buggers sound better than a lot of floor-standing exotics we’ve heard and owned. We have owned many speaker systems, many of them more expensive and exotic – but we never listened for such long periods of time, and enjoyed listening to all kinds of music and recordings as we do now with the Dynaudio 1.3SE.

The Dynaudio 1.3Special Editions are highly recommended.
System: Plinius 8200mkII integrated, Transparent MusicWave Super Speaker Cable, MusicLink Super Interconnect, Target stands, Sony DVD & TV

Strengths:
Creates the illusion of real musicians and instruments better than many (and more $$$) full range floor-standing products, and other monitor types I’ve heard and owned, imaging is overwhelming, sounds are never fatiguing, size and ease of placement are very user/house friendly.

Couldn’t expect anything better for a speaker of it’s size and price.

Associated gear
System: Plinius 8200mkII integrated, Transparent MusicWave Super Speaker Cable, MusicLink Super Interconnect, Target stands, Sony DVD & TV

Similar products
Owned: WilsonAudio Witt, B&W Matrix 802sIII, B&W Matrix 803, B&W Matrix 804, B&W Matrix 805, B&W Nautilus 805, Mission, BostonAcoustics and others.