Amp suggestions for Dynaudio Confidence 5

[daws0n]

Struggling to find recent opinions on these due to age... It seems a lot folk were using absolute monster amps to power them back in the late 90s / early noughties.

Unusually for dynaudio they are a sealed box with an isobarically loaded woofer, effectively making them a 4 way design. Ideal for room placement but no doubt will put a lot of demand on partnered equipment. They look stunning and I hope they will work out well for nearfield listening without too much trouble - am thinking a decent high wattage class D (hypex monos, lyngdorf tda) should make them sing? They can throw out hundreds of watts in 4 ohm, but they're not exactly big amps compared to the back breaking Mark Levinsons monoblocks etc.. I have seen these speakers photographed alongside.

Listening room is not particularly large and concert level SPLs not required.

Any comments from (ex)owners would be most welcome - cheers guys.

[walpurgis]

Depends on budget, but the Quad Artera should drive those easily and have the smoothness that Dynaudio speakers seem to need.

There's one on the forum: https://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?60377-IC-Quad-Artera-Stereo-Power-Amp&p=1024172#post1024172

[daws0n]

Cheers Geoff, I'll have a read :)

[Macca]

I'm not an owner of them (although wish I was, they look to be outstanding speakers) but looking at the spec they are insensitive and not an easy load. I think the people using monster solid state amps with them knew what they were doing. It's not about volume it's about control. A big class D might work but I'd want to try the combination at length before I paid out. Otherwise I'd go for Krell, Mark Levinson or something along those lines.

[daws0n]

Thanks Macca. I think they are harder to drive than the newer c2/c4. They are 20 years old now but were a flagship design.

The contour series still great now so not bothered by the age. Class D is a great match with those but these are in a different league altogether.

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

[Macca]

yeah the age of them is meaningless, a good speaker is always a good speaker.

[Firebottle]

Hi Dawson, I have some new monoblocks (nicknamed 'miniblocks') that are class D. You are very welcome to try them at no obligation.

https://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?60744-Sneak-preview-New-Miniblocks

[Yomanze]

Exposure 3010S2 monos would get my vote. :)

Dynaudio drivers respond well to power, and I think your speakers are a very low 83db sensitivity, which for me, means at least 125W into 4 Ohms, and and high current delivery.

Incidentally I have some 83db Royd RR3s, which really woke up and became more effortlessly controlled with more power, more so than usual 88/89db speakers. I fear Class D can be dry sounding and so prefer AB.

[Yomanze]

I’ve noticed some more interesting Class D stuff recently though, like:

https://www.nordacoustics.co.uk/product-page/nord-one-se-up-nc500mb-mono-block-black-single

Also SPEC and a new LFD unit. All seem to be tuning the units in order to bring back the distortion characteristics that we find musical, and hide the ones that we don’t. ;)

[ianlenco]

I used to have a pair of Dynaudio Contour 1.8 Mk2's which I tried with a few amps. As now, the advice seemed to be that the Dynaudios needed lots of power but I found a Sugden A21SE suited them very well indeed. 25 or so watts of Class A but presumably with a stiff power supply, my brother still has this combination and it still sounds great. I'm wondering if a Rogue Sphinx might suit - valve pre but Hypex power amp with a high damping factor. I have one which I'm very happy with.

[Pigmy Pony]

Hi Dawson, there's a Krell integrated for sale in Private Exhibitions that might be just the ticket. Or how about one of the earlier Musical Fidelity amps? The A1000 comes to mind.

[hifinutt]

Hi Dawson, I have some new monoblocks (nicknamed 'miniblocks') that are class D. You are very welcome to try them at no obligation.

https://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?60744-Sneak-preview-New-Miniblocks

i was about to suggest your hybrid monoblocks but not seen these

[daws0n]

Setup yesterday after much kerfuffle - they are heavy cabs to lug about!! Taller than expected but the finish is stunning and makes up for their somewhat imposing stature IMO.

I reckon these could go very loud and easily fill a large space without sound, and for that you'd need a big amp. Fortunately my lyngdorf class D seems comfortable driving them to a comfortable level within the confines of my small living room. Sound wise I had expecting them to dominate and over power, but they work far better than expected near the back wall with just a few feet between them.

I've had a couple of sets of Contours in here over the years and these behave differently to their ported 2 way designs... The contours are very capable, their only downfall being they like to be played fairly loud for the drivers to come on song. If the same were true with the C5s, I'd be knackered - fortunately it's not the case. The sound they produce at all volumes is much the same, and they are a joy to listen to. The first thing that struck out was how natural and life like vocals sound, the ESOTAR midrange driver easily rivals a good full range single driver for clarity. They have a sense of solidity and effortless I've not heard before.... I threw everything at them from Ella Fitzgerald to Underworld and they handled it all with the ease. There isn't a hint of strain or congestion anywhere, picking up every detail and nuance in their stride.

A few comments online suggest they need a subwoofer but I disagree. The bass they produce goes very low but doesn't resonate like a rear ported design. Typically a bass note will swell and "ooomph" around the room but being a sealed cab it appears to be a quicker more tuneful and "in time" character. This will take some getting used to but that's about as close to a criticism as I can come up with on first impression.

Buying them was a blind punt and potentially an expensive mistake, but the gamble looks to have paid off :)

[Macca]

Sounds like it's all working well then.