Sony is a Japanese company that specializes in various electronics products, including HiFi audio equipment.

Sony

McIntosh Laboratory, Inc., often referred to simply as McIntosh, is an esteemed American brand renowned for its high-quality audio equipment. Founded in 1949 in Binghamton, New York, McIntosh has established itself as a pioneer in the high-fidelity audio industry. The brand is synonymous with enduring build quality, aesthetic elegance, and unparalleled sound performance, making it a choice of audiophiles and music enthusiasts worldwide.

Known for its distinctive design, McIntosh products feature signature black glass front panels, aluminum end caps, and the iconic "McIntosh Blue" watt meters, which have become a symbol of audio excellence. Their product range encompasses a wide array of audio equipment, including amplifiers, preamplifiers, speakers, turntables, and other audio accessories, each crafted with meticulous attention to detail and acoustic perfection.

McIntosh's dedication to producing high-quality sound reproduction is evident in their use of advanced technologies and precision engineering. Their products are often the result of extensive research and development, ensuring that they not only meet but exceed industry standards.

In addition to sound quality, McIntosh is committed to the longevity and durability of its products. Many McIntosh units from decades past are still in use today, a testament to their build quality and the company's commitment to sustainability through longevity.

Whether for home audio systems, professional studios, or luxury car audio, McIntosh provides an audio experience that is both immersive and emotionally engaging, offering a level of performance that is as close to the original recording as possible. Their legacy and ongoing innovation continue to set the standard in high-end audio, making McIntosh a prestigious and revered name in the world of hi-fi audio systems.

McIntosh

Pro-Ject is a brand that specializes in manufacturing high-quality turntables and audio equipment.

Pro-Ject

Ortofon is a Danish company that specializes in the design and production of high-quality audio equipment, particularly phono cartridges and styli. They are known for their precision engineering and superior sound reproduction.

Ortofon

Marantz is a company renowned for producing high-quality audio equipment, particularly catering to audiophiles who appreciate detailed and nuanced sound. Their product range includes amplifiers, receivers, CD players, and turntables, all designed with a focus on delivering superior audio fidelity.

Marantz equipment is known for its distinctive sonic signature, often described as warm and rich, which appeals to those who value musicality over analytical sound reproduction. Their products combine high-quality components and meticulous engineering, with an emphasis on preserving the integrity of the audio signal.

In terms of technical specifications, Marantz devices often feature advanced digital-to-analog converters (DACs), precision engineering in their turntables, and robust amplification circuits. This ensures minimal distortion and a clean, clear sound. Additionally, many of their receivers and amplifiers include modern features like network connectivity, supporting various streaming services and digital formats.

Aesthetic-wise, Marantz equipment typically sports a classic, elegant design, often featuring brushed metal finishes and minimalistic control layouts. This design philosophy reflects a balance between functionality and visual appeal, making their equipment a preferred choice for those who value both performance and style in their audio setup.

Overall, Marantz represents a blend of high-fidelity audio performance, modern functionality, and timeless design, making it a favorite among audio enthusiasts who seek a rich and immersive listening experience.

Marantz

Dynaudio is a brand known for producing high-quality audio equipment, including speakers and headphones.

Dynaudio

At the High End Show, we spotted an impressive Dynaudio audio system setup that exudes both elegance and technical prowess. The centerpiece of this setup is a pair of Dynaudio Focus 50 wireless streaming speakers, perfectly positioned on either side of a minimalist wooden shelf. These speakers, with their sleek black high gloss finish, stand tall and are designed to deliver high-fidelity sound. On the shelf sits a Thorens turntable, its clear dust cover revealing a record spinning gracefully, hinting at the collaboration between Thorens and Dynaudio. The turntable's integration with the Dynaudio system highlights a seamless blend of modern wireless technology and classic vinyl playback.

Focusing on the turntable, it's evident that Dynaudio and Thorens have crafted a piece of audio art. The turntable is based on the renowned Thorens TD 403 DD direct-drive mechanism, known for its precision and reliability. It features a sophisticated black-anodized aluminum finish, giving it a modern and premium look. The onboard RIAA preamp, along with modules for digital and Bluetooth output, ensures versatile connectivity options. Pre-fitted with a custom Ortofon Concorde Music Blue cartridge, the turntable promises exceptional sound quality, making it a perfect addition to any audiophile's collection. The overall setup is a testament to Dynaudio's commitment to combining aesthetic appeal with high-performance audio technology.

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Dynaudio and Thorens Collaboration

Dynaudio Turntable

Focus 50

Showcased at the revered Munich High-End Show, the collaboration between Dynaudio and Simaudio introduces an exceptional audio system tailored for audiophiles. The setup features Dynaudio Confidence 60 speakers, lauded for their sonic accuracy and expansive soundstage, paired with two powerhouse components: the Simaudio Moon 891 Network Player and dual Moon 861 Power Amplifiers. This pairing promises an aural experience that captures every nuance of sound with striking clarity and depth. The Confidence 60 speakers, equipped with sophisticated driver technology and the Esotar3 tweeter, deliver an audio experience that is as pure as it is impactful.

At the core of this system, the Simaudio Moon 891 processes digital audio with unrivaled precision, while the dual Moon 861 amplifiers provide a robust and controlled output, ensuring an immersive listening experience with dynamic and detailed sound. Enhanced by Nordost Valhalla 2 Reference Speaker Cables and the QBASE power distribution system, the setup exemplifies the pursuit of sonic fidelity—delivering a performance that is not just heard but deeply felt, embodying the pinnacle of audio engineering celebrated at the Munich High-End Show.

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The Dynaudio Confidence 60 and Simaudio Moon Masterpiece at the Munich High-End Show

Nordost QBASE Reference

Nordost Valhalla 2

Ultimate performance. Ultimate quality. Ultimate innovation. Meet the flagship of Dynaudio’s most advanced speaker range. Sometimes size does matter. The Confidence 60, the flagship of the Confidence family, towers above the outgoing Confidence C4 model. It’s unashamedly big; it’s unselfconscious hi-fi royalty. And it sounds like nothing else you’ve heard. Pull up a chair.

While your ears are captivated by the Confidence 60’s astonishing power, scale, and detail, your eyes will probably be drawn to the single Esotar3 28mm soft-dome tweeter in the middle. Then the twin 15cm MSP midrange drivers with Horizon Surrounds. And, finally, to the two 23cm MSP NeoTec Woofers.

The drivers are all updated and they’re all part of the next generation of our innovative DDC (Dynaudio Directivity Control) sound-shaping technology platform. This focuses the sound waves radiating from the speakers into a tight vertical ‘beam’ that avoids reflections from floors and ceilings while maintaining a wide horizontal image. That means a bigger sweet spot on the couch, a happier audience, and the knowledge that you’re only hearing what the drivers are producing – and not what the room itself is bringing to the party.

The star of the show is the DDC Lens – a machined aluminium waveguide integrated into the precision Compex composite baffle. This ingenious part (the result of hundreds of hours of simulations, prototyping, and listening tests) works in conjunction with the baffle shape, the tweeter, and the midrange drivers (notice their Horizon Surround, also part of the system) and the woofers to focus sound waves where they need to go: you.

In fact, everything in the Confidence 60 is designed precisely for that purpose. Even the gasket that decouples the baffle from the cabinet and the screws that hold everything in place. The Esotar3 28mm soft-dome tweeter takes over 40 years of Dynaudio expertise, plus plenty of learnings from the development of the award-winning Esotar Forty unit – and rolls it all into the finest tweeter we’ve ever created. A powerful neodymium magnet system, innovations in airflow routing, the resonance-busting Hexis inner dome … it all combines to increase detail, clarity, and sensitivity.

The 23cm NeoTec MSP woofers also have neodymium magnets under the hood and use three layers of glass-fibre in their voice-coil formers for optimum stiffness. The voice coils themselves are copper, which provides extra moving mass for tighter, more powerful, and more controlled bass in this specific driver design. And the entire woofer motor has been designed to harness airflow using an innovative venting system that’s been machined directly into the magnet.

The Confidence 60’s MSP midrange drivers are a big departure from previous Dynaudio designs. They use a radical surround design – the Horizon – that follows the cone’s shape right to the edge of the driver. This reduces the surround’s first resonant mode to effectively increase the whole playing surface area and improve performance. They also sit flush with the baffle to reduce diffractions from the diaphragm and the adjacent tweeter.

Behind the scenes, the basket has been given a lightweight organic design – one that’s resulted from extensive topology-optimization simulations. It increases airflow, maintains its stability and rigidity, and reduces weight simultaneously without sacrificing performance. And it’s all finished in our trademark Danish-designed, furniture-grade cabinetry. Perfect performance, perfect quality.

Confidence 60


The setup stands as a testament to the harmonious fusion of high-fidelity audio with modern living space aesthetics. Anchoring the space are the Dynaudio Special 40 speakers, their wood veneer finish presenting a touch of organic warmth against the crisp, contemporary lines of the white media console. The speakers are flanked by the Simaudio Moon Neo Ace, an all-in-one amplifier that promises a sound as pure as its design suggests, and the Technics 1210 Mk5, a turntable revered for its precision and durability, ready to spin vinyl into audible gold.

Positioned meticulously within the room, each component is not only chosen for its technical prowess but also for its contribution to the room's visual symmetry. The artwork, "The Moon" from the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, acts as a backdrop, adding depth and context to the setup. It creates an environment where the blend of sound and space invites a full sensory appreciation. The carefully selected vinyl on display hints at a broad musical palette, while the ambient lighting ensures that the room's atmosphere is as meticulously crafted as the audio that fills it.

by: ShogunzBlazin

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Sound and Aesthetics — A Study in Harmony

The ACE is acclaimed for its intuitive and user-friendly design, being Spotify Connect compatible and Roon Ready. It supports all major audio file formats, including DSD and MQA, accessible through local files or TIDAL Master files. As an all-in-one music system, the ACE has won awards for its ability to connect simply to a pair of speakers and the internet, enabling seamless music enjoyment. What sets the ACE apart is its fidelity to the renowned MOON sonic signature, characterized by visceral tight bass, transparent midrange, precise natural highs, and lifelike sound, ensuring a memorable listening experience every time. Additionally, vinyl enthusiasts can utilize the built-in moving magnet phono stage, making the ACE a versatile system that enhances the audio quality of any vinyl record.

Laurels aren’t for resting on.

We still surprise ourselves. Some people might be content to sit back and be complacent about their successes after 40 years of constant innovation. We aren’t. In fact, we only get hungrier for new techniques and technologies.

That’s why we developed the Special Forty: we wanted to revisit those innovations and see what we’d do differently this time. What you won’t find here is anything revolutionary. Instead, you’ll discover a look at our past – along with some special sneak-previews of the future. The Special Forty is classic Dynaudio: all the craftsmanship, attention to detail and total love of authentic sound you’ve come to expect. It’s the connoisseur’s choice – a simple pair of passive hi-fi speakers. But it isn’t about looking back, misty-eyed, at past glories and leaving it at that. It’s about using those glories as a platform from which to launch our next set of breakthroughs.

Greatest hits… reimagined.

We do compact speakers really well. We always have. So, as a nod back to classics including the Special One, the Special Twenty-Five, the Crafft and the Contour 1.3SE, we kept the Special Forty pure – if incredibly advanced. Of course, it wouldn’t be an anniversary speaker if it didn’t include some of our greatest hits. But we haven’t just got the old band back together to trot out the same old stuff, unchanged. We’ve remixed, remastered and rearranged things to bring those old favourites into 2017 – and beyond. That’s why it has one of our classic first-order crossover designs, incorporating our unique Phase Alignment and Impedance Alignment technologies. The crossover expertly marshals the input signal between the woofer and the tweeter – so each driver gets only the frequencies it’s supposed to, and can perform at its very best. Its specially selected components handle the impedance optimisation and, because both drivers have extended frequency ranges for even better overlap and integration, that performance borders on the mesmerising.

The song remains the same.

The Special Forty uses our proprietary MSP (Magnesium Silicate Polymer) material for its main driver. MSP delivers precisely the right combination of rigidity, damping and stability for the most faithful sound reproduction. And, unlike other cone materials, it doesn’t change over time – so your Special Forty speakers will still be singing just as sweetly come our next anniversary. The cone itself uses a painstakingly developed symmetrical excursion for even better midrange performance. Behind it sits our asymmetrical spider – our passive harmonic rectifier. It minimises upper harmonics to further tighten the performance and make it possible not only to pick out individual parts in a piece of music, but even individual instruments in an orchestra. (So now, finally, the Third Violin section can have its day in the sun.) And, like all our other MSP cones, it’s a one-piece design (you can tell by the special balance ribs around the central dust-cap). This gives it an incredibly solid connection to the voice-coil, as well as stabilising its form – which is crucial when you decide to turn it up to 11. It all sits in our special AirFlow Basket – the bit that holds the whole driver motor securely in place in the cabinet. Its development was one of those ‘Eureka!’ moments our engineers seem to get a few times a week in Dynaudio Labs (you can often hear them cheering from across the road in our factory). We asked them to reduce internal reflections and increase air movement without compromising the basket’s stiffness or stability, and this genius design is what they came up with.

Airflow is king.

The new Esotar Forty tweeter takes air-movement to another level. It moves the air in typically sweet fashion in front of the DSR (Dynaudio Secret Recipe) precision-coated soft-dome, of course, but there’s a lot of engineering going on behind it as well. Take the new pressure conduit. It’s a shaped vent in the back of the hybrid magnet system that allows more space in the rear chamber. That space lets us pack in more damping material and reduces back-pressure, while the shape itself optimises airflow coming backwards from the rear of the dome. Then there’s the outlet; the aero-coupled pressure-release system. It sits underneath the voice-coil and reduces unwanted pressure build-up that could affect its movement. Stopping those pockets of air from forming reduces resonance – and less resonance equals even greater potential for detail.

Flux optimisation and beam control.

We love playing with the laws of physics. Physics wins in the end, of course (usually), but we almost always manage to bend it to our will along the way. Just like we have with our magnet systems. The magnet turns electrical energy that flows from your amplifier into the voice-coil, into the physical back-and-forth movement of the driver diaphragm. These movements are very small and very fast (especially in the tweeter), so they need a lot of finesse if you want to hear all that luscious detail and emotion in your music.

Behind the woofer.

In the woofer, we’ve achieved that finesse in two ways: by placing the magnet inside the voice-coil, and by playing with magnetic energy itself. Other manufacturers typically put it around the outside edge, leaving the voice-coil hollow. Putting the magnet inside keeps the magnetic energy (or flux) in the optimum position for getting itself wrapped around the voice-coil – where it should be. That means we can use more of its power for a given weight. It also reduces internal reflections because there’s less material for sound to bounce off inside the driver. Second, we use a hybrid magnet for even greater control over the flux and voice-coil movement. An incredibly powerful neodymium rare-earth magnet provides the muscle and flings flux around with abandon, while a ferrite magnet tempers that enthusiasm by gently moving the flux back to exactly where it’s needed most. The result? Symmetrical excursion, a reduction in second-harmonics, and an even more accurate, authentic sound.

2020 finish update.

Dynaudio’s award-winning anniversary speaker, Special Forty, has been given a makeover with two stunning new finishes. Black Vine is a striking contrast of dark veneer shot through with vivid orange, while Ebony Wave is a captivatingly sinuous take on the classic hardwood. Both veneers are man-made to Dynaudio’s specs, ensuring total consistency between pairs of speakers. And the level of finish possible is simply astonishing – they look as smooth as glass, and as lustrous as a piece of luxury antique furniture. Just as you’d expect from a nation of design-fanatics.

Special Forty

SL-1210MK5

Nestled in a nook where the music's warmth is as tangible as the room's ambient glow, the heartbeats of a turntable duo, the Transrotor Zet 1 and Pro-ject T1, set the rhythm for an auditory odyssey. It's here that vinyl spins tales of soundscapes past and present. The Rotel Michi pre and power amplifiers act as faithful custodians of the audio signal, preserving its purity on the journey to your ears. The Dynaudio speakers, standing proudly on Solidsteel, are not just speakers; they're the final whisperers of hidden melodies. In this corner, every chord is a narrative, every beat a story retold, and every listening session an intimate concert.

by: Roeland Slump (Roeland Slump)

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A High-Fidelity Journey in Sound

AT33PTG/II

Rotel RHA10 Michi

Gold Note PH10

Arm tr 800s

Rotel RHB10 Michi

Wireworld Cables

Contour 1.1

A small but perfectly formed two-way speaker that is specifically designed to deliver high performance results in rooms where the size of the speaker is a consideration.

Primarily intended for bookshelf applications, the Contour 1.1 features a ferrofluid-cooled and damped soft dome tweeter built as a one-piece unit to ensure a perfectly integrated sound. This model also incorporates a bass reflex port and features our famous aluminum voice coils as an integral part of its woofer design. Like all the models in Dynaudio's advanced Contour range, the Contour 1.1 is housed in an attractive wood veneer cabinet and includes detachable front grilles for enhanced listening enjoyment.

Dynaudio HiFi Setups

Popular Brands

Dynaudio and Thorens Collaboration

The Dynaudio Confidence 60 and Simaudio Moon Masterpiece at the Munich High-End Show

Sound and Aesthetics — A Study in Harmony

A High-Fidelity Journey in Sound