Reading Andrew Quint, The Absolute Sound ( May/June 23) review on the Dynaudio Confidence 50 loudspeakers, and how they battled even after careful, meticulous set up, with due consideration given to listening/speaker position and room boundaries, first reflections points etc…
What tool they used to obtain a satisfying end result is unusual and interesting at the same time. Here’s part of the article, hope it illuminates you as it did me, I quote :
”I won't recount all the trials and tribulations of the next twoand-a-half hours—we've all been there——but it was a journey with ups and downs, moments of doubt and self-blame for me (Was my room not as good as I thought?) and, for John Quick, a need to slow down and methodically reconsider things. Quick called up two musical selections he uses routinely for setup that I would become very familiar with, Dominique Fils-Aimé's “Rise” from her Nameless album and Kevin Garrett's spare and moving “Refuse” The speakers were meticulously leveled and their position vis-à-vis room boundaries established precisely with a laser distance measurer. The sofa that's the primary listening location was moved back two inches, then returned to its starting point, then back four inches. We experimented with placing a 4' × 2' sound absorbing panel at the first sidewall reflection point on the right when the image seemed to be skewing that way and removed a switching device I was experimenting with that seemed to be degrading the sound. There were countless small adjustments to the speakers’ positions, moving them closer together or farther apart, nearer or more distant from the listener. A lot of painter's tape saw action. And we were stuck. There wasn't a centered central image, the placement of the secondary vocalists was vague, and there were associated tonal irregularities.
After a moment of introspection, John wondered about the possible utility of a specific track on the 29-year-old Shefield/XLO Test & Burn-in CD. “I've got that one!” I exclaimed and miraculously found the disc in seconds. On Cut 2, Roger Skoff's confidence-inspiring voice is presented in and out of phase: By moving the speakers to get the most diffuse, “sourceless” sound with the latter option, one can achieve the best spatial results with an in-phase musical signal.
It worked. Once the speaker position for the outof-phase Skoff had been optimized, we returned to Quick's two references, and it was immediately evident that we had a “lock.” The overdubbed backup vocals on “Rise” were correctly placed and acoustic bass took on volume, mass, and definition; it was now clear that Garrett was a male singing falsetto rather than a woman with an opaque, roughly textured voice.
Is there a lesson here for potential Confidence 50 purchasers, audiophiles who can't expect an in-home visit from John Quick? Well, Quick spends a lot of time making sure that the 30 or so dealers that sell Dynaudio's products are capable of handling these situations. Most critically, don't give up! There's likely a solution, quite possibly a free one, that will let a great loudspeaker like the Confidence 50s manifest its potential.
RH Comments: In my experience, it's not unusual for a manufacturer to spend long hours, even full days, dialing in loudspeakers for review. I've had many experiences similar to Andy's. The challenges he and John faced don't suggest that Dynaudios are more difficult to optimize than other brands. Rather, Andy's tale reveals the importance of proper setup, along with the value of perseverance to get the best sound from any speaker. Moreover, every set-up person has his own repertoire of test tracks—you don't necessarily need the Sheffield/XLO disc.”
A Quick Fix: Why Expert Setup Advice Is Always Welcome…Even for a Reviewer - The Absolute Sound (May/June 23).
What tool they used to obtain a satisfying end result is unusual and interesting at the same time. Here’s part of the article, hope it illuminates you as it did me, I quote :
”I won't recount all the trials and tribulations of the next twoand-a-half hours—we've all been there——but it was a journey with ups and downs, moments of doubt and self-blame for me (Was my room not as good as I thought?) and, for John Quick, a need to slow down and methodically reconsider things. Quick called up two musical selections he uses routinely for setup that I would become very familiar with, Dominique Fils-Aimé's “Rise” from her Nameless album and Kevin Garrett's spare and moving “Refuse” The speakers were meticulously leveled and their position vis-à-vis room boundaries established precisely with a laser distance measurer. The sofa that's the primary listening location was moved back two inches, then returned to its starting point, then back four inches. We experimented with placing a 4' × 2' sound absorbing panel at the first sidewall reflection point on the right when the image seemed to be skewing that way and removed a switching device I was experimenting with that seemed to be degrading the sound. There were countless small adjustments to the speakers’ positions, moving them closer together or farther apart, nearer or more distant from the listener. A lot of painter's tape saw action. And we were stuck. There wasn't a centered central image, the placement of the secondary vocalists was vague, and there were associated tonal irregularities.
After a moment of introspection, John wondered about the possible utility of a specific track on the 29-year-old Shefield/XLO Test & Burn-in CD. “I've got that one!” I exclaimed and miraculously found the disc in seconds. On Cut 2, Roger Skoff's confidence-inspiring voice is presented in and out of phase: By moving the speakers to get the most diffuse, “sourceless” sound with the latter option, one can achieve the best spatial results with an in-phase musical signal.
It worked. Once the speaker position for the outof-phase Skoff had been optimized, we returned to Quick's two references, and it was immediately evident that we had a “lock.” The overdubbed backup vocals on “Rise” were correctly placed and acoustic bass took on volume, mass, and definition; it was now clear that Garrett was a male singing falsetto rather than a woman with an opaque, roughly textured voice.
Is there a lesson here for potential Confidence 50 purchasers, audiophiles who can't expect an in-home visit from John Quick? Well, Quick spends a lot of time making sure that the 30 or so dealers that sell Dynaudio's products are capable of handling these situations. Most critically, don't give up! There's likely a solution, quite possibly a free one, that will let a great loudspeaker like the Confidence 50s manifest its potential.
RH Comments: In my experience, it's not unusual for a manufacturer to spend long hours, even full days, dialing in loudspeakers for review. I've had many experiences similar to Andy's. The challenges he and John faced don't suggest that Dynaudios are more difficult to optimize than other brands. Rather, Andy's tale reveals the importance of proper setup, along with the value of perseverance to get the best sound from any speaker. Moreover, every set-up person has his own repertoire of test tracks—you don't necessarily need the Sheffield/XLO disc.”
A Quick Fix: Why Expert Setup Advice Is Always Welcome…Even for a Reviewer - The Absolute Sound (May/June 23).
