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Which amp for Dynaudio Contour 1.8 MKII?

I need your help. I invested in a new pair of Dynaudio Contour 1.8 MKII 6 years ago, paid 10% extra for beautiful birdseye maple for $2700. But I stay in an apartment, long story short, unfortunately an old lady moved in shortly after and the speakers went back to the box all 6 years. That's because the Dyns will sound good only at louder volume.

Anyhow, I've moved and it's time to buy the proper amp to go with it. I would love to hear the Plinius's warm house sound, so Plinius 8200 MKII and SA-100 MKIII are high on my list. I am also considering a dark-horse, the Bel Canto eVo2i integrated and Bel Canto eVo4 genII. All these amps go for less than $2k which is at the top end of my budget.

Plinius main advantage is great synergy with Dynaudio. Bel Canto has size advantage (compared to SA-100), runs cool, efficient, great review, plus the eVo2i has a nice preamp built-in with it kinda like the 8200 MKII. But I don't know if anyone have tried driving Dynaudio Contour speakers with Bel Canto. I appreciate your feedback and suggestion, and thanks in advance.
lkean
7 responses Add your response
s7horton
1,077 posts
 
Look at the sim audio line of integrateds as well. Should mate quite well with your Dynaudios.
lkean OP
12 posts
 
Thanks for the response, I thought about the Sim/Moon too. I remember reading some comments in the past that Sim and Dyn combo could come up very neutral without any coloring. Comments on your experience?

I love the sound of the Dyn because when I auditioned it, the sound was liquid smooth, warm with the right amount of decay, and bass was tight and clean. I believe I can achieve the same sound with Plinius SA-100 albeit huge electric bill. 8200 MKII integrated is known to produce pretty good results mating with the Dyns, but having difficulty finding one around at Audiogon.

The only reason I consider Bel Canto is because there's one for sale. Plus it has good efficiency, performance, looks, and good preamp to go with it. One poster has good experience with 1.3 MKII. But that amp is pending sale, I will have to look for another amp.

I will search and read more on Sim with the Dyn. Thanks again for reminding me about Sim.
fdesro
14 posts
 
When I first auditioned my dyn contour 3.4 they were connected to a sim w5 amp and i loved the sound and had to have the speakers.

when i got them home i found a good deal on a plinius SA100MK3 (here on agon) and have been using that amp ever since.

i think they sounded a little better with the sim w5 but the audition was in a perfectly tuned room and my room is nothing like that.

good luck.
lkean OP
12 posts
 
Fdesro, thanks. Sim w5 is a great amp, of course that's slightly out of my budget. If you are happy driving Contour 3.3 with SA-100, that's very good to hear. I'm just waiting for a good deal to come up, I won't have to worry about a preamp if it's 8200 MKII. I'll buy a preamp later when budget permits if I end up buying SA-100. Thanks again.
perkadin's avatar
perkadin
286 posts
 
I have the same speakers and have used them with a variety of amps, and my favorite so far has been Sim Audio. I wouldn't describe the sound as neutral though. It has a slightly forward presentation and a very fast bass decay which makes it seem fast and liquid smooth. It's hard to describe but it sounds awesome. The reason they work so well is dyn's can sound really sleepy with the wrong gear and the sim does a great job opening them up. I'd go with a used sim i3 or i5, both have enough power to bring out the best in your speakers. One note of caution though, I've yet to find an amp that can open them up at lower volume, so make sure the old lady is gone.
lkean OP
12 posts
 
Perkadin, thanks for sharing. It's great because I know there aren't too many owners of the 1.8 here, most went for 1.3. I agree and just repeating what you've said, Dyns need the right amp at high volume to achieve its potential. After extensive search, I believed that the Dyns will sound weak at low volume. From what I've read, seems like high sensitivity speakers could sound good at low volume, unlike Dyns. So I've given up on that thought. I've moved out, now the neighbors are younger folks.. so I've finally gotten a chance to enjoy the sound that I've longed to hear. I final comment about the 1.8, positioning can alter the experience big time. From experience, I need to least 11 feets away from the speaker for best sound. Anyhow, thanks for the info, appreciate it.
dpac996's avatar
dpac996
714 posts
 
LKean,
Not sure if you are still interested, but I have the 1.8's and they are being driven by my ARC 100.2 power amp. The amp easily drives these speakers (in fact it easily drives the newer S3.4s as well) and seems to bring out the best in the dyns (and vice versa). Neutral yet interesting, rich, organic mids, and sweet trebles. I agree that these speakers tend to sound bigger and more exciting at higer volumes (image seems to grow spherically), but the lower level performance can also be fun. In general this combo very smooth and easy on the ears.

I agree that they benefit from proper setup (took me weeks of placement tweaking for best average sound among my favorite collection). I listen about 10 feet away and they are about 7.5 feet center to center (4 feet from rear wall), and i have a weird L shaped room, so the left speakers is about 3 feet from left side wall and the right, as such, is many many feet from its "wall".

This is an atypical setup but they sound great and I would recommend the amp in a heartbeat for these speakers.
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