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Dynaudio Heritage Special - end-game bookshelf speakers?


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Has anyone had a chance to listen to the new Dynaudio Heritage Special? 

 

   https://www.dynaudio.com/home-audio/heritage/heritage-special

 

After many years of collecting music, last year I finally started improving my Hi-Fi. I'm looking at more 'end-game' grade bookshelf speakers due to limited space in my home. Hopefully the choice will be something that lasts me at least ten years (minimum). 

 

They are pretty pricey at around $11k RRP.

 

So far everything I've bought is second hand at reasonable prices off SNA members (thanks awesome members of SNA!). I'd usually be looking at second hand for speakers too, but after reading very positive reviews of the Heritage Special, loving the aesthetic, and seeing it's not likely to be available in large quantities, I'm wondering if it's likely to be a good choice.

 

Unsure about linking to other sites, so I won't here, but the Steve Huff review of these is extraordinarily glowing. This made me raise an eyebrow though:

 

> Think of it as buying a speaker that will lose very little value (if any) over many years. You could listen for 15 years and sell for the same or maybe just a tad less than you paid.

 

Does that seriously ever happen with hi-fi gear? In my limited experience, it seems like good equipment is worth about half RRP a few years later.

 

My current setup is VAF i91mk2 speakers through a Devialet Expert Pro 220. I love VAF speakers, and I'm not unhappy with this setup, but I do feel like I might be able to bump up the speaker side.

 

Happy to receive constructive opinions, and answer questions if I've not provided enough info.

B2164A93-A101-4585-974D-015B8553AC3F.jpeg

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It looks really nice and should sound fantastic but I doubt whether it will retain the value you are expecting. At those high price levels for a bookshelf speaker and what is effectively a conventional design speaker with good build and parts, it’s not unique enough.

 

Used gear at that price or $3-6k is more affordable for the masses and less risk in terms of devaluation.

 

Is there any reason why it has to be a bookshelf two way design, why not three way design that would have better midrange performance.

 

Ive just acquired a VAF I-91 myself and reviewing it, so far quite nice seems to thrive on tube amps, good bass and musical.

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I own C1's and a pair of KEF LS50W's. The concentric driver in the KEFs beats the Dynaudio's on imaging. The VAF's you have seem to also have a concentric driver and these Dyn's are just a square box so I would at a guess say they're not going to image any better than the VAfs. The Dyns will deliver very good bass, especially if they get SAMed by Devialet. The mids and highs are setup dependent. Your D220 should do very well. I went from a D200 to Od'A and, although the latter is better, the difference really isn't worth the increase in price. A second D220 will help at lower volumes though; the Heritage only has a sensitivity of 85dB with 2,83Volts going into a 4Ohm load. That requires power to drive. Play them loud though and I don't think you would be able to know the difference; the room interaction will have more of an impact on SQ than the relative distortion.

 

As for value; I bought mine second hand and they haven't dropped much since I got them, but I did get them at quite the discount compared to new.

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To me the heritage is a very similar speaker to the Special 25. Just like the special 25 used the best Dynaudio drivers at its time, as does the heritage.

 

Addressing the value question. The special 25 was a limited run speaker at around 8k. It was made just before the first version of the C1 came out. Here is a special 25 selling at below 3k (I bought it).

so pls don’t expect them to not loose value, they will;

 

 

Aside from this the special 25 had better bass than the C1, but that was about it.

 

if you want an end game bookshelf that will probably retain its second hand value, look at something like the Raidho’s listed here;

 

 

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To clarify in case I was misunderstood, I didn't expect that if I bought speakers at RRP that they would maintain their value; it's a quote from the review that I read, and I didn't really believe it. (admittedly I hoped that my take was wrong). 

 

I'm pretty space limited, and it seems like most that fit within the dimensions are 2-way. I don't have much distance from the wall to play with, and I don't generally sit down at the apex of an isosceles triangle to listen, so feel free to add any thoughts into the mix. Including "save your money".

 

I have been watching the classifieds for a while, and it's been fun to deep dive into what comes up to see if it might fit the bill.

 

I had noticed the Raidho D-1s (thanks @Ray H) especially because they're within a few kms of my home, and did some research into them. I wasn't sure about the missing stands for them, and I'd read they might be a little fussy with positioning. Also, it seems the going rate is cheaper overseas; around AUD$8k with stands. Maybe that's expected. There have also been at least two iterations of releases since the D-1s; the D-1.1s, the TD-1.2s, so again I wasn't sure how a three generation old D-1 that had an RRP of USD$28k several years ago might compare with advancements of early 2021 RRP AUD$11k Dynaudios. Sure, I'd like to buy something and have it hold value, but at this kind of price out of pocket and an intention to keep them for a long time, if the Dynaudio sounds better, I'd probably lean that way. It'd be nice if I could compare both, in my home, with my setup and music. Bet I'm not the first person to think that...

 

Other contenders I've seen on here recently were a pair of JBL L100 Classics. They were too large, though I love the retro look. And a pair of Sonus Faber Olympica 1s, but again, wasn't quite sure based on reviews. They sure look nice too. And the pair of Q Acoustic Concept 300s that were half price, which also didn't seem quite right for my needs. 

 

Happy to get more feedback. Thanks for the comments so far!

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Sonus Faber Elector Amator with the Dynaudio Esotar tweeter and modified 7 inch Scanspeak woofer is very good around $3-5k used and looks nicer than any square box Dynaudio, also Kef Ref 1 $13k rrp is extremely good sound, images well and very sweet.

Edited by Al.M
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Well, they say not to go and check out a puppy/kitten unless you plan to bring it home. I learned the same can apply with speaker demos. I went to check out some speakers yesterday and ended up with some Magico A1s which blew me away. I had to get out of the seat to make sure what I was hearing came from just those two speakers. 

 

They sound great in my home, but my next quest will be to tweak all the things to try and make them sound as incredible as they did in the sweet spot of the listening room at the hi-fi store :)

 

Thanks for the advice to those who contributed above. 

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On 21/02/2021 at 10:24 AM, mbd said:

Well, they say not to go and check out a puppy/kitten unless you plan to bring it home. I learned the same can apply with speaker demos. I went to check out some speakers yesterday and ended up with some Magico A1s which blew me away. I had to get out of the seat to make sure what I was hearing came from just those two speakers. 

 

They sound great in my home, but my next quest will be to tweak all the things to try and make them sound as incredible as they did in the sweet spot of the listening room at the hi-fi store :)

 

Thanks for the advice to those who contributed above. 

Congrats on those Magicos. What amplification are you using?

 

and yes, we need pictures......

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2 minutes ago, mbd said:

I’m using a Devialet. My positioning needs a bit of work in the room. Something to start thinking about… :)

 

 

0ED2169E-6CD8-4CB6-9001-292FA70DF10B.jpeg

Congrats on the purchase, although that shelf setup really won’t do them proper justice. Link for proper setup below, an $11k bookshelf should have some decent solid stands, placed in proper listening triangle and spaced from rear wall.

https://uturnaudio.com/pages/speaker-placement

 

 

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11 minutes ago, Al.M said:

Congrats on the purchase, although that shelf setup really won’t do them proper justice. Link for proper setup below, an $11k bookshelf should have some decent solid stands, placed in proper listening triangle and spaced from rear wall.

https://uturnaudio.com/pages/speaker-placement

 

 


Thanks for this! I’ll definitely read through this. 
 

Luckily the record cabinets are on big castors so I’ve been wheeling them away from the wall a bit to make some space behind them. Not to say that I don’t have more work ahead of me. I’m mindful that the tweeters are too high compared to my sitting position, for example. 

 

Maybe an amateur hour question, but what does a metal speaker stand filled with sand do different to a massively heavy MDF record case filled with heavy vinyl and with sound isolation platforms? Or did I answer myself above with the tweeter height comment?

 

My current reality is that this is not a listening room and I may need to make some compromises given the other humans I live with who also use the living room. I’ll certainly be doing more than I have so far though ?

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A shelf has potentially bad reflections due to Rolf Harris like musical instrument wobble phenomenon, vibrates more than proper stands, has no pointed feet to decouple things, distances in the triangle will not be exact, thereby affects imaging/voice/bass quality and price of mangoes.

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35 minutes ago, mbd said:

 

Maybe an amateur hour question, but what does a metal speaker stand filled with sand do different to a massively heavy MDF record case filled with heavy vinyl and with sound isolation platforms? Or did I answer myself above with the tweeter height comment?

 

 

I reckon speaker stands should essentially “not be there” as acoustic surfaces, they should cause no additional diffractions and reflections, and not enlarge the front baffle of the speaker. Ideally they should be trusses made from thin members. Stability requirements would usually dictate that these are made of metal. The problem with contraptions like these is that they can ring like a xylophone. This is where the heavy, self-damping filling (sand, lead shot) comes in.

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To me, speaker placement is number 2 in terms of sound quality improvements, with no. 1 being a speaker upgrade.

 

Biggest improvements in sound I've heard short of moving speakers and eq is proper speaker placement. There's probably still some debate on stands and all the magical properties they imbue, but for me proper stands decouple from the ground and whatever substrate is under them, as well as free you up for optimal speaker placement.

 

The other thing you've got to consider as well is room and boundary effects, which will factor into placement because of how the speakers interact with the things around them and the room itself.

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On 22/02/2021 at 10:02 PM, mbd said:

I’m using a Devialet. My positioning needs a bit of work in the room. Something to start thinking about… :)

 

 

0ED2169E-6CD8-4CB6-9001-292FA70DF10B.jpeg

love your A1. Have you try other amp with the A1?

On 19/02/2021 at 8:47 PM, mbd said:

Has anyone had a chance to listen to the new Dynaudio Heritage Special? 

 

   https://www.dynaudio.com/home-audio/heritage/heritage-special

 

After many years of collecting music, last year I finally started improving my Hi-Fi. I'm looking at more 'end-game' grade bookshelf speakers due to limited space in my home. Hopefully the choice will be something that lasts me at least ten years (minimum). 

 

They are pretty pricey at around $11k RRP.

 

So far everything I've bought is second hand at reasonable prices off SNA members (thanks awesome members of SNA!). I'd usually be looking at second hand for speakers too, but after reading very positive reviews of the Heritage Special, loving the aesthetic, and seeing it's not likely to be available in large quantities, I'm wondering if it's likely to be a good choice.

 

Unsure about linking to other sites, so I won't here, but the Steve Huff review of these is extraordinarily glowing. This made me raise an eyebrow though:

 

> Think of it as buying a speaker that will lose very little value (if any) over many years. You could listen for 15 years and sell for the same or maybe just a tad less than you paid.

 

Does that seriously ever happen with hi-fi gear? In my limited experience, it seems like good equipment is worth about half RRP a few years later.

 

My current setup is VAF i91mk2 speakers through a Devialet Expert Pro 220. I love VAF speakers, and I'm not unhappy with this setup, but I do feel like I might be able to bump up the speaker side.

 

Happy to receive constructive opinions, and answer questions if I've not provided enough info.

B2164A93-A101-4585-974D-015B8553AC3F.jpeg

I have not heard heritage  before but I believe dynaudio is never end game speakers

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Re speaker stands; I don't really have room for speaker stands unless they're really going to be a need, at which point I will have to venture into redecorating the room...

 

For now, I have isolation stands that the speakers sit on top of, so they are clearing the space of the flat surface underneath, somewhat. I've also (last night) pointed the speakers slightly downward, as the tweeters sit above ear level. (Note again, that I can wheel the record cases out away from the wall so that instead of the 50cm distance seen here, they can get to 70-80cm)

 

81809337_ScreenShot2021-02-24at3_49_29pm.png.2899c4d679000248e311baa1059ca532.png

 

9 minutes ago, audiome said:

Have you try other amp with the A1?

 

No, I don't want to. This amp has ticked so many boxes for me, especially around the desire for simplicity, and high quality. And it looks kinda cool too :). In fact, the amp is probably the reason I went for higher end speakers, as it had kind of leapfrogged the ones I had...

 

 

I think this is kind of cool, but the gentleman from the hi-fi store that sold the speakers to me (Class A Audio) sent an email yesterday offering to drop by and have a look at my setup/layout and to use his experience and knowledge to help make some suggestions. Will try and report back after that to see what comes of it. ??

 

 

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Did you get to compare the A1's with the Heritage or did you just listen to the A1's and decide they were the ones to have? I'm asking because a mate of mine is looking at buying new speakers and he's mentioned the Heritages.

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3 minutes ago, Pim said:

Did you get to compare the A1's with the Heritage or did you just listen to the A1's and decide they were the ones to have? I'm asking because a mate of mine is looking at buying new speakers and he's mentioned the Heritages.

 

I couldn't get a listen to the Heritage. I tried a couple of places that listed them and it was generally 'need to try and order them, and if they have them, they won't be on demo'. I'd heard good things about them, the Magicos, Sonus Faber, etc. The ones I heard were the Magicos and they blew me away, so I was happy to get them. I'm not as seasoned with this high-end level of speaker, so I have a suspicion that I'd have been happy with any of the known contenders at this level, setup properly.

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13 minutes ago, mbd said:

 

I couldn't get a listen to the Heritage. I tried a couple of places that listed them and it was generally 'need to try and order them, and if they have them, they won't be on demo'. I'd heard good things about them, the Magicos, Sonus Faber, etc. The ones I heard were the Magicos and they blew me away, so I was happy to get them. I'm not as seasoned with this high-end level of speaker, so I have a suspicion that I'd have been happy with any of the known contenders at this level, setup properly.

I don’t think u need to try any other bookshelves at that price range. The build and the sound is unreal from A1. It’s so 3D and realistic 

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On 19/02/2021 at 8:47 PM, mbd said:

 

Unsure about linking to other sites, so I won't here, but the Steve Huff review of these is extraordinarily glowing. This made me raise an eyebrow though:

 

> Think of it as buying a speaker that will lose very little value (if any) over many years. You could listen for 15 years and sell for the same or maybe just a tad less than you paid.

 

Does that seriously ever happen with hi-fi gear? In my limited experience, it seems like good equipment is worth about half RRP a few years later.

 


I am not sure any piece of consumer electronic can retain same value after 10 years unless it makes by gold or Aussie dollar will drop unprecedentedly (which noone likes that)
 

 

 But looking into the many Mundorf components on the crossover board of this Dyn Heritage, I trust they will last at least 10 or so years as you are planning to keep 

 

 

9000D818-DC23-4A95-B4F3-9382D3CC3899.thumb.jpeg.951b4b45ec7d5ae178a7323dd5ef7764.jpeg

 

 

 

Edited by ikhuong
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