Hey everyone was just wanting your opinion - As you can see they use nasty aluminium connectors for the speaker spades.
I have some furutech gold plated connectors tho. Would it be a worth while upgrade? Or fine as is?
I have some furutech gold plated connectors tho. Would it be a worth while upgrade? Or fine as is?
The very act of disconnecting and reconnecting spade or crimped connectors will expose fresh metal and reduce corrosion problems.
I'd leave them as they are. Dynaudio seem to know what they are doing. As long as the connections are tight, it all ought to work nicely.
I'd leave them as they are. Dynaudio seem to know what they are doing. As long as the connections are tight, it all ought to work nicely.
I have Contour 1.3 in pristine condition. They sit on stands that I filled with sand and led (!). Just the stands are 20kg each. It sounds absolutely lovely. The rest of the system is Aleph J and Holo May DAC. No pre-amps. High-quality XLR interconnects / ribbon speaker cables.
Over the last year and a half, I played a lot with Aleph J and my streamer (NUC11). I tuned Aleph J to sound nice, and I built a very low-noise liner power supply for the NUC. This all added nicely to the overall sound quality, especially the linear power supply. The sound is stunningly real, both in harmonic presentation and with regard to dynamics and left-right / top-to-bottom extension. The sound is superbly balanced.
I am now contemplating either the Heritage Special or Confidence 20. I listened to Heritage and it is exactly what I am looking for. Same signature as my Contour 1.3, but with all aspects of that sound character just sounding better, overall.
I have also attempted to draw the crossover - see attached.
My recommendations for you, to tame the high frequencies, would be:
1. If you also use the streamer, invest in a low-noise linear power supply. Use low-switching voltage CPUs (laptop CPUs). The latest NUC11 with an i7 CPU is perfect. You could run it at a very low frequency, but you'll still be able to run an excellent DSD modulator at 256DSD in HQPlayrePro... whatever suits your needs.
2. Replace the C1 with copper-in-oil Mundorf cap. If you like the improvement, the next step would be to replace the C2 with the same type of capacitor. If you still like what you hear, replace the C3 & C4. Somewhere along this path, you'll hit the sweet spot. You could also try the silver-in-oil type.
3. The last option would be to increase the value of R1.
Good luck. Let us know what you decided, and the result.
The issue becomes space - the aluminum evo oil caps are very small for the values. The supreme range does not fit...
Yeah... jump from MCap Evo Oil 3.9uF 25 x 27mm to MCap Supreme EVO SilverGold Oil 3.9uF 46 x 34mm. (bummer, they do not make Supreme copper in oil anymore.. why?????)
You could potentially if you wanted... install the MCap Supreme EVO SilverGold Oil 3.9uF vertically, so that it rests on the surrounding L1, and then "in the air" the C1 would connect to R1 <- which you'll also have to lift one end off the PCB. It can work...
So, instead of R1 and C2 being positioned horizontally & connecting together on the PCB, they would be positioned vertically and would connect together in the air. The C1 would rest on L1, the R1 is sturdy... the whole thing wouldn't move much. You could also use a bit of Blutack just between C1 and L1.. while evaluating the result, and once you are happy ->, put a bit of silicone.
Of course, this would void the warranty.
You could potentially if you wanted... install the MCap Supreme EVO SilverGold Oil 3.9uF vertically, so that it rests on the surrounding L1, and then "in the air" the C1 would connect to R1 <- which you'll also have to lift one end off the PCB. It can work...
So, instead of R1 and C2 being positioned horizontally & connecting together on the PCB, they would be positioned vertically and would connect together in the air. The C1 would rest on L1, the R1 is sturdy... the whole thing wouldn't move much. You could also use a bit of Blutack just between C1 and L1.. while evaluating the result, and once you are happy ->, put a bit of silicone.
Of course, this would void the warranty.
Just trying to keep up with this.... 🙁
These things are not cheap at $155.88 including 0% savings!
Since Capacitors are Capacitors, and nobody has ever measured anything significant at all except 0.1-0.5R ESR in NPE types to disprove this, my own idea is just to buy the cheapest...
I could be wrong on this...
Best regards from Steve in Portsmouth, UK.
😀
These things are not cheap at $155.88 including 0% savings!
Since Capacitors are Capacitors, and nobody has ever measured anything significant at all except 0.1-0.5R ESR in NPE types to disprove this, my own idea is just to buy the cheapest...
I could be wrong on this...
Best regards from Steve in Portsmouth, UK.
😀
Well, not really. There is a huge difference between aluminium foil and silver foil sound.
One of the reasons I suggested moving from aluminium foils is because... the copper or silver in oil will sound much better.
I think Aluminium foil is probably the worst choice for that Esotar. Even copper in oil would sound more tamed, spacious, and extended.
One of the reasons I suggested moving from aluminium foils is because... the copper or silver in oil will sound much better.
I think Aluminium foil is probably the worst choice for that Esotar. Even copper in oil would sound more tamed, spacious, and extended.
Use of Forbidden Fruit in the outer layer of the WonderCap will improve the stereo image even more. Etheric oil, however. is a suitable alternative.
All the inductors are still unknown here: "BL140" and "BL50" simply indicate us their wire diameters and don't tell us their part values!
They seem to be custom builds for Dynaudio.
Also a L1 = 1.4mH for a 4Ohm woofer and C1 = 3.9µF with an 8Ohm tweeter don't give a reasonable combination for a 6dB crossover in my view.
They seem to be custom builds for Dynaudio.
Also a L1 = 1.4mH for a 4Ohm woofer and C1 = 3.9µF with an 8Ohm tweeter don't give a reasonable combination for a 6dB crossover in my view.
Many variables.
The tweeter 8 ohms gets added to the first resistor to lower the frequency.
The tweeter resonance impedance peak would extend that further.
The baffle step might make this dip usable.
The woofer impedance rise may stretch the response.
The tweeter 8 ohms gets added to the first resistor to lower the frequency.
The tweeter resonance impedance peak would extend that further.
The baffle step might make this dip usable.
The woofer impedance rise may stretch the response.
FYI I have modified my HS with a felt square around the tweeter like the LS3/5a models from Kef, Rogers etc. As I use the HS with the fronts on I placed the felt square between the frame of the fronts. I must say a huge improvement, the tweeter hasn’t got this piercing highs anymore, sibling is gone, this is just what this HS needed.
I bet that 1.4mH is actually 1.8 - 2.2mH. Those 0.5mH should be a bit more 0.7 - 1mH.