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REVIEW: Dynaudio Contour 1.3 MKII Speakers

Model:	Contour 1.3 MKII
Category:	Speakers
Suggested Retail Price:	$2400
Description:	Two Way Bookshelf Loudspeakers
Manufacturer URL:	Dynaudio

Review by bullethead on February 24, 2008 at 09:24:12 IP Address: 72.89.174.127

Add Your Review for the Contour 1.3 MKII

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Dynaudio Contour 1.3 MKII Bookshelf Stand Mounted Loudspeaker Review

Going down the "audio" path, with all of the options out there is like traveling through a forest. You can follow the trails or you can tighten your boot laces and venture out off the trails into the deep woods. I have chosen the latter in my 10+ years as an audio enthuasiast, slowly building my system towards an "audio utopia" which I have obtained, and yet am trying constantly to improve as I get older and notice where improvements can lie through experience. Call it research if you must, it's the most fun and frustrating at times as the "audio" hobby as I see it has become an important part of my life. I use music to escape, and the means to get out of the cage of modern life requires audio equipment. Hence my purchase of Dynaudio Contour MKII's.

Let me start off by explaining my humble system. It is a product of hard work and attention to detail in most aspects, and it is an art in others. My equipment is multi-national in origin. The Slimdevices Squeezebox v3, the Bel Canto DAC3, the Musical Fidelity A3 CD transport, a Windows Vista Laptop, a Project Debut III turntable with slight modifications, the Audio Electronic Supply AE-3 Preamp with 6SN7 VT-231 tube power, and the heart of the system is a Dussun v6i (4ohm 300watt) amplifier. The amplification is extremely important when using Dynaudio speakers such as these. They require power and a lot of current to "bloom" into life, and they are not sensitive so you do need quite a bit of power and volume to fully enjoy them.

I hooked up the Contour 1.3 MKII's to the amplifier using Analysis Plus Oval9 speaker cable via bananna plugs. The binding posts are something to mention on these speakers. They are of extremely high quality. After about 400 hours of break-in I learned that the speakers require a lot of heavy playing to fully settle, as the sound has substantially improved since they were taken out of the box.

So what qualities do I hear. Well for one, a holographic three dimensional soundstage. Another is a quality of the vocals, female and male vocals sound extremely lifelike. Listening to Pink Martini's first three albums made an impact. So many times through the sessions have I said "WOW" in amazement as the vocals moved me, and gave me a sense of "fright" deep into my chest as the music turned into a wonderful powerful life like presentation. Scary at times indeed, but that element brings out the emotional door the Contours open on various types of music.

Bass is what I call "real". The upright bass sounds like it does in real life. The boxes are not over tuned for bass, the cutoff is the cutoff, there is no fake tuning by manipulating the port setup. The sound is accurate, while the Contours don't go extremely low, they do go low enough as to which you might not need a subwoofer if you can get away with it. Midrange is full but a bit laid back when using digital preamplification (I used the Bel Canto DAC3 and the AES AE-3 Tube preamps in my setup, switching from time to time). I sense the laid back sound a symbol of the speakers neturality as when I plugged in the tube amp the sound came out more into the room with all the qualitites that tubes are good for. Quick sound, no doubt these speakers are neutral and bring out the sound of every component, down to the wires you are using.

I consider the Dynaudio Contour MKII's a great buy, as they are discontinued now and replaced by newer models you can find them new online or used online pretty easily if you do your research. I was fortunate enough to pick them up new at a full cost of $2,400, but you can find them used for around $1,200-$1,400 on various web sites. While they may be improved by the Contour 1.3 SE's and the new 1.4's, the MKII's still perform excellent years after their final production. Truly a gem of a loudspeaker.

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Product Weakness:	old-school look
Product Strengths:	neutrality

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Associated Equipment for this Review:

Amplifier:	Dussun v6i
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	AES AE-3
Sources (CDP/Turntable):	Squeezebox, Musical Fidelity A3 CD Player
Speakers:	Dynaudio Contour 1.3 MKII
Cables/Interconnects:	analysis plus, audio quest
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	various
Type of Audition/Review:	Product Owner

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