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The search for a new speaker begins

James, take a look at LSA1 as well, I really like my LSA2 and in my travels I have owned Mission, Heybrook, Isobariks, Cadence Amaya, Opera Superpavarotti floor and stand speakers (which I still have) and my ML Aerius i (and listened to various including later B&W Tron style, Linn, Naim, Meridian, Vandersteen to name a view)I would happily look at the 1s if I needed a stand mounted speaker.
 
Sonus Faber Cremona Auditor M ab fab with acoustic/jazz etc, superb soundstage. Heard other Sonus Fabers with beryllium tweeters and not to my taste, harsh especially on bright recordings. The new amp gets excellent reviews. Good luck with the search
 
+1 for Sonus Faber Cremona Auditor M. As mentioned great with acoustic but I find them superb all rounders. Mated to REL T5i sub they integrate beautifully. They’re also a stunningly good looking speaker especially paired with the dedicated stands - high WAF.
 
Out of all speakers demoed (other than the small Spendor 4/5s I own now), the Dynaudio Special 40s were probably my favourite. That was in comparison to: Kef R3, Kef Ls50, ATC Scm11, Spendor A4, Pmc22, Spendor 3/1, Q Acoustics concept 300, Dynaudio Evoke 10.

The Special 40s excel at being fun to listen to, with great drive and rhythm in the midrange. Most other speakers sounded boring in comparison.

Fairly natural in tone, bass goes pretty low but they need to be well away from walls. Treble was super smooth, but they were definitely quite explicit, and to my ears, slightly too pronounced in the presence region. And it was that which was the deal breaker for me. But...that was demoed with naim and rega amps some time ago. I'm kicking myself for not trying them again with my current Arcam SA30 amp, as perhaps that would have solved the above problem.

Not heard any proac unfortunately. Again, would like to.

Hope this helps.
 
Thanks again for the feedback and suggestions. If the S40 does not work out, the the Cremona Auditor M is a very interesting option, as are Diapason. Frankly hoping my search comes to an end soon, my wife is fed up with my obsession.
 
The S40s are in the house and breaking in, seem to be a new pair in fetching ebony wave.
It is immediately obvious that the openness and bass control are a step above the Tablettes, they can be played much louder without pain to the ears. Not sure they have quite the tonality and bite, but there is an ease and rightness to the sound that is very desirable. So let’s see how it goes over the next few weeks, the real test is when I plug the Proacs back in...
 
My time so far with the S40s has been one of the more interesting auditions.
I had been listening with the room correction on, but there was an artificial quality to the midrange, so I figured best to re-calibrate. That is when is realised the sheer bass power these are capable, the low end frequency sweeps literally made the room shake, I had to flee the room to protect my ears!

Anyway, while the bass is totally brought under control, I was still not happy with the mids, so just turned off the correction. Now voices, strings etc sounding more natural, but the bass was just too much. After a bit of online reading, I noted mention of foam bungs, so a quick rummage through the packaging was in order.

Bungs in place, what a relief, they don’t affect the mids/treble, other than to make them much more in balance. Sounding really very good with instrumental music, they have the scale, detail and pace I like.

However...the vocals. There is something magic about the Tablettes that so far the Dyns can’t match. That feeling that a real person is there with you. With some recordings, the Dyns do sort of get there, but seem to need more volume to bring the vocals alive.

So hoping that some more break-in sweetens them up.
Get the feeling the wise words of @Gervais Cote might be on the button, and the Proac D2 have to be heard before a final decision.
 
Bronzeage said:
My time so far with the S40s has been one of the more interesting auditions.
I had been listening with the room correction on, but there was an artificial quality to the midrange, so I figured best to re-calibrate. That is when is realised the sheer bass power these are capable, the low end frequency sweeps literally made the room shake, I had to flee the room to protect my ears!

Anyway, while the bass is totally brought under control, I was still not happy with the mids, so just turned off the correction. Now voices, strings etc sounding more natural, but the bass was just too much. After a bit of online reading, I noted mention of foam bungs, so a quick rummage through the packaging was in order.

Bungs in place, what a relief, they don’t affect the mids/treble, other than to make them much more in balance. Sounding really very good with instrumental music, they have the scale, detail and pace I like.

However...the vocals. There is something magic about the Tablettes that so far the Dyns can’t match. That feeling that a real person is there with you. With some recordings, the Dyns do sort of get there, but seem to need more volume to bring the vocals alive.

So hoping that some more break-in sweetens them up.
Get the feeling the wise words of @Gervais Cote might be on the button, and the Proac D2 have to be heard before a final decision.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I know what you mean about the bass. I had the S40’s on home demo for a while; on the end of a Rega Elicit R and a Naim Uniti Nova. That was in a 4x4m bedroom set up, fairly high ceilings, but suspended wooden floor with carpet on top. The bass was propulsive and alive, but also prone to being overwhelming if they weren’t well away from any walls. And even then, they couldn’t be described as bass-light (for their size).

Sealed speakers are definitely worth exploring too – personally I think I’d struggle to go back to ported designs (in the current room), as the tightness and control of a sealed box is quite addictive once you’ve heard it.

As for tone – again, I do agree, having auditioned a number of speakers since the S40s. Compared to the Kef R100s I had prior to the S40 demo, the latter sounded more natural in tone on voices and instruments than the Kefs, which had a tendency to sound slightly metallic or sheeny. But it wasn’t until I demoed some ATC SCM11 and Spendor Classic 4/5’s that I was truly wowed by vocals and acoustic instruments; quite a step up from the S40s. I think the combination of sealed box (tight, controlled and natural bass), and polymer cone / silk tweeter are what does it. I suppose it depends on how important naturalness of tone is to the listener.

As you say, Proac (DB1 or D2R) seem to be a great further avenue to explore. I’ve not heard them, but routinely read about them excelling in the naturalness stakes. Would be interested to hear your thoughts on whether the bass on the D2R is more controlled than the S40's.

Maybe Kef LS50 Meta worth a listen too? Not heard it, but apparently they redress some of the upper treble / lower mid glare and brightness of the previous ones.
 
Oh lum, I completely filled the foam bungs, and now I have a different set of speakers. Not sure if this is my imagination, but they have really perked up this morning, this is something I can happily live with. The vocals are now more intelligible than the Proacs, something I would have thought impossible a few hours ago. Do new speakers need ‘burn in’?
 
Bronzeage said:
Oh lum, I completely filled the foam bungs, and now I have a different set of speakers. Not sure if this is my imagination, but they have really perked up this morning, this is something I can happily live with. The vocals are now more intelligible than the Proacs, something I would have thought impossible a few hours ago. Do new speakers need ‘burn in’?
Click to expand...
IME they do.
 
Bronzeage said:
Oh lum, I completely filled the foam bungs, and now I have a different set of speakers. Not sure if this is my imagination, but they have really perked up this morning, this is something I can happily live with. The vocals are now more intelligible than the Proacs, something I would have thought impossible a few hours ago. Do new speakers need ‘burn in’?
Click to expand...
my dynaudio evokes took several weeks of being on all day (albeit quietly while working) to loosen up and they went through noticeable changes almost daily. the bass got tighter first, then the mids came further forward and the top got more sparkle but they seemed to swing between sounding awesome to hmm ok, almost daily. But now are consistently perfect for my room and supernait 3.
 
How are the S40s coming on?

Have you tried them with the bugs removed again?

How have you got them setup, close to rear wall or far out in the room?
 
Cereal Killer said:
How are the S40s coming on?

Have you tried them with the bugs removed again?

How have you got them setup, close to rear wall or far out in the room?
Click to expand...

Bungs are still in, about 4ft from rear wall. They seem to have settled down, they don’t have any annoying traits, just let me get on with listening to the music. One of their strengths is they sound good across a very wide range of volume levels. If they were a car, they might be a Lexus.
 
Bronzeage said:
Bungs are still in, about 4ft from rear wall. They seem to have settled down, they don’t have any annoying traits, just let me get on with listening to the music. One of their strengths is they sound good across a very wide range of volume levels. If they were a car, they might be a Lexus.
Click to expand...
Pics? Are they the new dark gloss/reddish stripe?
 
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