Speaker Asylum: REVIEW: Dynaudio CONFIDENCE 5 Speakers by BHAGWAN72 General speaker questions for audio and home theater.

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Model:	CONFIDENCE 5
Category:	Speakers
Suggested Retail Price:	$ 10,000/-
Description:	3 WAY SEALED BOX ISOBARRIC DESIGN
Manufacturer URL:	Dynaudio
Model Picture:	View

Review by BHAGWAN72 on January 30, 2002 at 19:43:35 IP Address: 203.94.232.96

Add Your Review for the CONFIDENCE 5

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08th August, 2001.

DYNAUDIO CONFIDENCE 5 LOUDSPEAKER

Serial Number :- 729879 & 729880.

Date of Purchase :- 05th May, 1999. [70 % Advance Paid]

Date of Delivery :- 06th June, 2001. [YES ! THE DATES ARE CORRECT, IT IS NOT A TYPING ERROR. I SHALL EXPLAIN LATER]

Price Paid :- US $ 7,961/- + transport cost from Denmark to Mumbai [Bombay] 900/- + Customs Duty & Local Taxes [Indian] 2,500/-.

SUBLIME, SEDATE, ACCURATE, FATIGUE FREE, TRANSPARENT, WELL BUILT, FAST, DETAILED are some of the adjectives that come to my mind the instant Confidence 5 is mentioned.

One of the finest dynamic drivers have been used in the making of these lovely loudspeakers [I am tempted to call them ‘musical instruments’]; THE ESOTAR DOME MIDRANGE & ESOTAR DOME TWEETER. Of cause there is the Scanspeak ‘Revelator’ & the Focal ‘Titanium inverted dome Telar 57 pole-piece’, The Seas Magnesium etc., but none in my opinion can come close to, let alone perform better, than the ESOTAR. It is the closest one can get to any Electrostatic or Ribbon / Planner driver. Smoother than a 18 year old ‘The Macallan’.

The Confidence 5 is a ‘Time Alligned’, ‘Phase Coherent’, ‘Impedence Compensated’ ‘Isobarically Loaded’ floor standing loudspeaker. The speaker plays very ‘REAL’ Bass, although the ‘Anacoheic’ response says 43 Hzs. the
actual ‘in-room’ response is much lower and the speaker plays well below 30 cycles @ - 12 dB. Considering that the speaker is a compound enclosure [2 bass drivers, 1 behind the other] in a sealed box, the bass is really ‘fast’ and does not have any ‘boomy’ ‘hang-over’ characteristics. In fact this is the only ‘sealed box’ design loudspeaker in the Dynaudio stables.

The speaker is rather in-sensitive @ 86 dB and hence requires a ‘high current’ very powerful amplifier to drive it. Mono Blocks are a preferred choice. The speaker has a 6dB per octave crossover topology and is therefore very placement critical, rather the ‘sweet spot’ is a very small area. Setting up the speaker right is very crucial and extensive exercise, not to mention time consuming and arduous. However when you get it right, then, it is in a different league by itself.

Any person with a budget of US $ 10,000/- for a speaker must audition the Confidence 5 prior to choosing any JM Lab Utopia, B & W 801N or 802N, Vanderstine Model 5, Aerial Acoustics Model 10 T, Dunlavy SC IV A, Theil’s etc.
I recommend the speaker with all my heart, I have spent many an hour listening to my favourite music through the Confidence 5 and I shall only replace them for the ROCKPORT TECHNOLOGY or WISDOM AUDIO M-75’s [which in my humble opinion are ‘exceptional’ ‘cutting edge’ ‘revolutionary’ loudspeakers]

The speaker has monitor like attributes, if it gets a CD with a poor recording it plays it ‘as it is’, no ‘cover ups’ here. It also needs top class electronics and complimenting cables. Please do not mis-interpret the ‘pedigree’ of this speaker.

With regards the delivery time, I paid an advance of 70 % of the value of the speaker to Dynaudio directly on the 05th of May, 1999 and the speaker was delivered to me only on the 6th of June, 2001. The speakers arrived into India [at Madras / Chennai] in December, 2000 & the Local Distributor / Dealer Ms. Intech gave the same to me only in the month of June, 2001. Hence all prospective clients of Dynaudio products, please, do not part with your money until you get the delivery of the speakers or else you shall have to face the same ordeal of making an advance payment of more than 70 % and having to wait for 26 months for your speakers to be delivered to you. Very sad, yet very true.............

Testing and review carried out with :-

A] Equipment [I own and use]

Simaudio Moon Eclipse CD Player [Returned back]
Electrocompaniet EMC-1 CD Player [Current CD Player]
Ultech Audio UCD-100 CD Player + Sonic Frontiers SFD II [DAC] Spare
Simaudio P-5 Pre Amplifier [Returned back]
Bryston BP-25 Pre Amplifier [Returned back]
Pass Labs X-1 Pre Amplifier [Current Pre-Amp]
Bryston 7B ST Power Amplifier
Dynaudio Confidence 5 Loudspeakers
vdH [Van den Hul] ‘The Second’ Balanced XLR Interconnect
vdH [Van Den Hul] ‘The Revelation’ Speaker Cable
vdH [Van Den Hul] ‘The Mainstream Hybrid’ Power cable

B] Music

M.A. Recordings - Begona Olavide / Mudejar MA042A
Water Lily Acoustics - Tabula Rasa WLA-CS-44-CD
ECM Records – Making Music / Zakir Hussain ECM – 1349
Moment Records – Ustad Sultan Khan MRCD – 1006
Reference Recordings – TUTTI ! RR-906CD
Telarc – A tribute to Oscar Peterson CD – 83401
Chesky Records – The Raven/Rebecca Pidgeon JD 115
Mercury – Essential / Yello 512 390 – 2
Pope Music – Entangled Devotions PM 1004 -- 2
The Grapevine Label -- Mary Black – Best of…GRACD 012

Mazher Bashir JAFFAR

08th August, 2001.

Mumbai [Bombay] INDIA

e-mail :- schwinn@bol.net.in

www.schwinnwarehousing.com

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Product Weakness:	Low Sensative @ 86dB [Needs crazy amplification] Placement critical Requires 'blue blooded' front end and electronics Sitting position is very critical, ears to be at woofer height
Product Strengths:	Small Foot Print Clean Mids & Highs Tight Fast Bass Build Quality Instruction manual very vague and non-discript

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Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier:	BRYSTON 7B ST
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	PASS X1
Sources (CDP/Turntable):	ELECTROCOMPANIET EMC-1 & AUDIOMECA MEPHISTO II TRANSPORT & ENKIANTHUS DAC
Speakers:	DYNAUDIO CONFIDENCE 5
Cables/Interconnects:	vdH [VAN DEN HUL] THE SECOND [INTERCONNECTS] THE REVELATION [SPEAKER] THE FIRST ULTIMATE[ DIGITAL]
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	CLASSICAL [WESTERN & INDIAM]
Room Size (LxWxH):	11 x 10 x 20
Room Comments/Treatments:	CUSTOM SHAPE MODIFIED AND DIFFUSERS IN ROOM
Time Period/Length of Audition:	8 MONTHS
Other (Power Conditioner etc.):	vdH [VAN DEN HUL] THE MAINSTREAM HYBRID
Type of Audition/Review:	Product Owner
Your System (if other than home audition):	AUDITIONED AT HOME

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