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Dynaudio C-4 or Revel Salon 2

I'm thinking of getting either one of these speakers to use in my current system which includes Innersound Ref 500 (500 watt amp) and Innersound ref preamp. The Innersound components aren't all that well known but I ultimately chose them over my Parasound JC-1/Ayre K1x combo so I feel like my electronics are up to the task. I have a Nottingham Dais table and MHDT Paradisea + DAC fed from a mac mini music server. Cables will likely be addressed after the speakers are chosen.

My room is huge 26x19 and opens into a kitchen and upstairs so needless to say getting overwhelmed with bass won't likely be a problem. Auditioning these in home is out of the question so I'm going to be taking a leap of faith here.

I have had Von Schweikert VR 4SRs, Dunlavy 4s and currently have Dynaudio S3.4 in this room. I've had various other smaller speakers as well. The bass was the best with the Von Schweikerts.

I want a speaker that hits hard and can rock the house. I listen to all kinds of music and even some (gasp) mp3s even. Most listening is not done seated in the sweet spot but just sort of playing music all the time that I am home. So the sound out of the sweet spot is very important not to be dull or lifeless.

I think I have a pretty good grasp on the Dynaudio house sound. I have a set of Audience 42 speakers in my bedroom hooked to a Creek Destiny integrated and the punch I get from those speakers in my bedroom is what I want in my big room. I hear the Dynaudio as slightly laid back. I have bought a set of Revel M20s to see if that might help me get a grip on the Revel sound a little before I take the plunge on one of the two brands.

I have read quite a bit about how the C-4s can overwhelm a room with bass. I don't think this will be a problem for me and is one reason I am thinking of them. But will they do rock good? I really like the looks of the C-4 over the Revel but I have a feeling that the Revel might just be a little more of what I am looking for. Basically a speaker that can put out some big bass, will rock and sounds pretty darn good on anything else too.

If anyone has some opinions on these speakers against each other I'd greatly appreciate it.

Thanks, Ryan Stratton
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tmsorosk
1,013 posts
 
The C-4 always sounded harsh to me , so the Salon is a big improvement in my eyes .
goatwuss
877 posts
 
Dynaudios that sound harsh are poorly setup Dynaudios
mapman's avatar
mapman
21,925 posts
 
I know that can be the case with my Dynaudios. With proper thought and setup they are awesome. Otherwise, they might tend towards harsh.

This is a good thing. The Dyns have the ability to do it all for teh most part. The task is to get them set up right so as to tame them properly. An addition by subtraction kind of thing for sure!
rower30
211 posts
 
C4's harsh? Is this a seriuos comment? The Esotar2 tweeter was nothing but SMOOTH when I listend to records and even red book CD's for hours. The C4 series II speaker was far removed from cold or lifeless...they were what the source was.

I did not like the 800 series B&W's as they force you to listen to the "out front" sound over anything else. I'll take-in my music as I want to, thank you. Wilson Sophia's had a nice but much "smaller" sound and the midrange was too transparent. Good bass. UGLY rode look the only option, why?

The C4 II just imaged better and melted away, had a right sized neutral soundstage presentation, and had excellent dynamics and bass punch. C4 II's SHOULD do this for what they cost...and they do. I was using 150 watt SS Levinson amps and they were PLENTY loud. Sure, you can go to the moon on BIG amps, but the smaller amps sound better, so UNLESS you want SPL over quality, be my guest. More stuff in the audio path equals worse sound. There is no way around it. Almost perfect time almost perfect is less perfect. There is no perfect.

I'd live in the 150-200 watts range in a high current SS amp. The C4 II's are pretty efficient, a 75 watt tube amp would do to 85dB SPL or so.

If the C4 II is the DynAudio sound, I'm all for it! I may enjoy other products, but this speaker is in the sit and listen a long time category in my book.
odokme
5 posts
 
Hi, I did not have time to respond past couple of days.
Here is what I think: Dynaudio C2's probably are not a contender to Revel Salon2's. The C4's on the other hand probably are. Sapphires were not (I auditioned them extensively and prefer my current setup). And to answer Vinw, I haven't listened C4s as they were slightly more expensive than the Salon2s and I had no more room to go otherwise I would end up getting divorced. That was the reason of my original post asking Ryan how he compares the two.

On the other hand to Rower30, I have Gamut D3i pre amp and D200i power amp that I think matches with Salon2s very very nicely. By experience, in no way 150watts is good enough for this range of speakers (and I do not play loud). The same probably applies to C4s as they are not known to be efficent speakers. I think 200w/ch is bare minimum in this range otherwise you end up loosing significant detail. So I totaly do not agree with the generalization that "smaller amps sound better"

Now having said all of this, and this is very subjective, I find Contour S 5.4 the most bang for the buck in all Dynaudio range (I used to have Dali Helicon 400 MkIIs and listened to Contour 3.4 and 5.4 for comparison). Above that you get more detail and more clarity for a significant more sum of money, from what I heard from people that owns and trades high end gear frequently. Some but not all of them also mentions what I confirmed by listening Sapphires (lifeless). And yes definitely to my ears they are unnecessarily brighter than Salon2s. I know this is subjective but this is what I think.
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