DYNAUDIO Confidence C1 II
Stand mount monitors
The slim Confidence C1 II speakers look like a monitor that was coincidently placed upside down. For some terrific and for some terrible design unites the listeners once it comes to how it sounds. The C1 II are among the finest stand mount speakers on the market.
Function and form
The mid-bass driver (MSP, magnesium-silicate polymer cone with the 75mm voice coil) is above the tweeter so the center of gravity is high, and the cabinets have very narrow footprint, just 10cm. So it is so easy to knock the speakers down. That is why the original Dynaudio stands (Stand4) provide the possibility to bolt speakers to them. It is really necessary as when audiophile grade speaker cables (read thick and heavy) are connected to the Dynaudio's WBT posts, the instability of the cabinets is considerable.
Bass management
The bass (that is supported by a rear-firing bass reflex port) of the Confidence C1 II is accurate, fast and on the drier side of neutrality. With a double bass the C1 II highlight strings rather than the body, which is something to be expected considering their size. For the very same reason the deep bass does not live there either, yet in the small room, where I auditioned them, the -3dB point was around 33 Hz, which is an impressive value. The mids are great yet I can imagine that they could be even better if the midrange had its own dedicated driver.
Clarity & delicacy
Dynaudio improve their Esotec and later Esotar driver generation by generation. This silk dome tweeter is slightly modified for each model - for the Confidence C1 II the Esotar2 was optimized for high output and had to be mounted into a separate aluminum subpanel to dissipate the heat of its motor assembly.
The highs of the Confidence C1 are like a mountain stream. The clarity of recordings is palpable against very dark background - the C1 II are among 'quietest' speakers in that sense. I have no explanation for this, it is better to hear.The more you play the better the tweeter gets. Out of the box the playback was too much 'mechanical', only after 150-200 hours the drivers started to relax. The first one hundred hours I just let the speakers play, facing each other, with inverted polarity. By this I could track the improvement to their sound of 'before' and 'after'. It was like two different speakers.
Tonal accuracy
The C1 II are not the love at first listen. Those who just stop for a minute at a show to give them a listen will probably not recognize how good they are as their performance lacks any typical audiophile baits. Instead impressing by superficial sonic elements that become fatiguing in long run, they play with modest confidence and high fidelity.
Spatial resolution
I love the test disc from Chesky Records that features the track a bunch of people with hand held instruments, marching around a microphone. As easy as this track may seem it is one of the best indicators of whether or not a loudspeaker can reconstruct the three-dimensionality without sounding fuzzy. It also says how much is the loudspeaker good tonally and how resolving it is. Actually it says everything you need to know.
The Dynaudio C1 II drew the marching players one by one, with amazing focus on their relative positions within the soundstage. I could follow anyone and say where he is at a given moment. With a but of imagination it was possible to say in which hand the player held the instrument. The depth and its layering was unbelievably analog-like, the event happened in continuous space, not in separate layers.
Recommended resellers
Audiostudio s.r.o., Olomouc, tel. +420 608 752 475
Manufacturer's website: http://www.dynaudio.com
Associated components
- Sources: Accuphase DP-78
- Amplifiers: Accuphase A-60, Pathos Logos, Xindak XA-6950
- Interconnects and speaker cables: Krautwire Fractal, Silver Audio Silver Symphony, HTMD (copper wire)
- Power conditioning: Nordost Thor, Gigawatt PC-4, Monster Power HTS2600, Nordost Valhalla and Furutech Powerflux
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