My Line Arrays and Dynaudio monitor - where to go


I’m close to pulling the trigger on a pair of Dynaudio Confidence C1’s but I’m hesitant.

I was at the CES show in Vegas to listen to a variety of speakers. We (wife and I) came away with the feeling that we weren’t getting what we wished for in our current line array speakers. There seems to be an emotional bond to the music that just doesn’t get communicated in some types of music. Some speakers we heard at the CES show had a 3D holographic image that was just mesmerizing. In particular the Dynaudio monitor line and the Opera monitor. Vocals as well were realistic and the image was simply “you are there” quality and this was the line under the Confidence series. Also great were the Silverline Boleros.

The line arrays I have are great and an unbelievable bargain but sometimes feel that the sound staging which is rather flat, vocals which are less than human and overall high frequency energy which is a bit unbalanced IMHO.
A few days before the show I dropped my Oppo BDP83 SE player off with Rick Schultz of Tweakaudio for some additional mods. He offered a solution to the excessive HF energy by felting around all of the tweeter drivers, there are 12 of them. I allowed a few days of break in for the player (caps were involved in the mod) then felted around the drivers. Between the mods which were spellbinding by themselves and the felting (done afterwards), we have some amazing sound coming from the line arrays. These may be the most dynamic speakers I’ve ever heard and I’ve heard a lot of them. Now I seemed to have tamed the HF problem as well. Imaging had greatly improved though not nearly the level of the Dyns or other fine speakers we’ve listened too. Vocal too still aren’t to what I’d wish they be. As well these line arrays are giants, 28 drivers in all and reaching at least 6’ high. But these speakers swing dynamically with bass way down low and highs into the Netherlands.

Reading the reviews on the C1’s they appear to be a world class speaker with amazing bass capabilities given the right amplification. I use Nuforce 9 SEV2 monoblocks (soon to be V3’s) and a Cary SLP05 tube preamp. My amps will register 160 watts with a damping factor of 4000. The perform amazing bass duties on the line arrays, stunning in fact. The Dyn’s from what I’ve read need current. I’m unsure how current equates with the Nuforce’s. I’m unsure in fact in I won’t miss the dynamic capabilities of the line arrays. I thought if I missed the low bass on the C1’s and go locate a HQ sub which, doing double duty as a HT system, wouldn’t be a bad idea anyway.

Just curios what the knowledgeable folks in this forum thought about a speaker change and in particular the Dynaudio C1’s.
128x128desalvo55
I took ownership on the Dyn's last week and have been tweaking the setup in our room which now seems larger than smaller.

What an interesting contrast between David (C1) and Goliath (LS6).

As one would expect the dynamic swings we've grown very found of are no longer. Did get me wrong as the C1's deliver an amazing amount of drive for their size, it's simply at a smaller scale. Trying to play Depeche Mode was a failure. It almost seemed as if my Nu force's couldn't handle the power needed for a clean low bass note. I heard some for lack of better descriptor, bottoming out of the low end. I couldn't tell if it's an amp issue of simply "smaller speaker desalvo, get over it". The Nu force's have 190WPC and soon to be 160WPC if I go the upgrade V3 version.

On the flip side listening to old Elton John was a mind bending experience. It was beautiful. Even the tunes i didn't like were beautiful. Vocals - amazing. Backing symphony - stunning. I moved to an SACD of Elton and was even more enthralled. My wife is total in love with the sound as is my dad.

On a cut last night, part of the Elton audition, low bass came from seemingly nowhere. It would come then go rather strangely. Yes it was part of the song but seemed somewhat disconnected, not what I'm used to hearing. I though room interaction but our room is heavily damped so more playing is needed.

I'll try to perform a writeup of the 2 very different speakers in our room along with pics.

Like to get some feedback on amplification for the beauties.
When I got my C1s, I had Nuforce mono blocks along with some other amps. I did not care for the Nuforce with the Dyns, though I don't recall the specifics. Just seemed "not right." I used GamuT for quite a while and am now using Ayre, but the search continues. I think lots of power and solid state is the way to go, but there are a lot of choices.

Thanks for posting this follow up.
I'm taking a hard look at the Plinius line, specifically the 301B (I think). Pass labs wouldn't be out the question and for a lot less money the Odyssey Stratos Mono Extreme's look good. I actually auditioned someone's Stratos in my home and was very suprised how close it sounded to my Nuforce. I had other amps on hand as it was a audio get-to-together, so many were rotated around my line arrays.

I really enjoy my Nuforce's and the company behind them. I don't know how to convince myself that more power is needed other than an audition with a more powerful, equally refined amplifier.
" I think lots of power and solid state is the way to go, but there are a lot of choices. "

No doubt. SS power (and current) is the ticket.
Not meaning to hijack the thread, but I'd be curious to hear from anyone who has listened to Dynaudio (especially the Confidence line) with Bryston, Spectron or any of the ICE amps, such as those from Bel Canto or Wyred4Sound.