I've had the Dynaudio Special 40s for about 3 years now, driving them with a NAD C-390DD and they sound incredible. Absolutely incredible. And I listen to a lot of speakers in that price range and higher before I purchased. I understand the measurements but I'll trust my ears and the ears of many reviewers and users who also love them.
Literally the first time I heard spoken a negative sentence about this speaker. I'll have to be honest, the way I heard it, I liked it. And I think it's generally a bit of a specific taste, upgraded or stock.
Sold! - UPDATE - I bought this upgrade. It's easy to install, even for a complete novice. The sound is much clearer and more engaging now. Transients are faster with much more impact. I was actually startled at one point. Female vocalists like Mary Chapin Carpenter now have a lifelike breathy quality and the soundstage is way more open. This is the kind of upgrade I would expect from buying the Special Heritage which cost $7K (co-incidentally, that has similar quality parts to what GR Research offer for a few hundred dollars). Try it and be amazed.
This is good to hear. By "complete novice," what do you mean? Could you please list the precise skills needed to upgrade these? I'm asking because I'm an S40 owner and have never tried to modify speakers. Thanks.
@@RingwurmD you just need to be able to solder and twist the component wires together as shown in the supplied circuit diagram. I had not seen a circuit diagram in 30 years and it was still easy. He has videos on how to solder too. If you want to instal the tube connectors then you need a drill and 7/16 bit (he has a video on that too).
I really would like an actual listening test before and after, just like how cables should be treated. Nothing against measurements, but listening is the real test. At least in my opinion.
That's the thing I feel is missing from the content on this channel. Measurements are great but speakers are made to sound appealing, and measurements are only one part of this.
@@IDontExist14 Obviously, and thats ok, I'm sure that the kits improve the speakers. I suppose since audio is such a subjective thing (what we enjoy) the only way to really "improve" something is to try to use objective means.
@@RyChanneler only noobs fall for this guy, if a flat response is all u want then everyone can make a world class speaker, don't u think dynaudio couldn't get a flat repsonce for 3k dollars, plz consult someone who is well versed in audio and has actually made speakers from sratch
Your channel is becoming one of my very favorites. I absolutely love and appreciate the honesty of your content, you tell it like it is regarding of the brand name. Your content has made me realize that the next time I'll spend a few grand in a pair of speakers it will be a kit that I'll put together knowing exactly what's going into it. I will never again pay thousands for a pile of junk that looks beautiful on the outside regardless of brand name or reviews.
@@jespergth9437 Then i appoligize. But surely you get my drift about spending a relatively small percentage of a speaker's $3000 price to flatten-out such a lumpy & hence "unfaithful to whatever the source's" intended frequency reproduction, of course we don't always get a chance to know of such a potential 'massive' improvement for every potential speaker purchase, but if i'd bought this particular model, because it sounded good in the 1'st place, then after seeing this vid i'd be ultra-keen to take the extra monetary step to extract the best out of it, especially after seeing the before & after graphs showing the magnitude of difference this upgrade made. if it was my main hi-fi listening source, which any $3000 speaker would have to be (in my wealth bracket, or lack of) Good luck
@@The-Spotlight-Kid not so sure about if the "new parts" actually make it sound better. i dont think its that simple. Those "high qualiity" parts might completely destrpy they sound of those speakers. GR-Research is in the business of selling upgrade kits. OFC they claim that simply changing part to another will improve the sound. or changing graph will improve the sound... afaik, its not that simple and straightforward. if it was, most hifi companies would use those parts.
@@franciscoortiz6980 This guy is very funny 😆 I have those speakers for more than a year. They are not perfect but they really play music. Excellent speakers. Very difficult to replace after you got used to their sound signature. I tried.. but still have them. Addictive sound
KS Digital might be the only brand that i have noticed is actually getting better with each generation. if you want non-rip-off companies to thrive, check em out ksd-audio.de/A-Line/A100/
Great job Danny, your doing gods work here sir!! Its downright EVIL to build speakers with budget parts and then charge the customer as if it were made with the good stuff inside. Its bad juju all around if ya ask me. You hold brands feet to the fire exposing these injustices with your expertise and its greatly appreciated.
you all prolly dont care but does someone know a tool to log back into an Instagram account..? I was stupid lost the login password. I would love any tips you can give me
@Frederick Jamal thanks so much for your reply. I got to the site through google and im waiting for the hacking stuff atm. Takes quite some time so I will get back to you later when my account password hopefully is recovered.
This seems like a man who is just trying to sell his crossover kit. It doesn’t really matter how they measure on paper, it matters how they sound. That’s what you’re paying for. And these speakers sound pretty damn amazing and are worth every penny.
These speakers are far from amazing. Our $269 X-LS Encore kit eats them up. And check out the feedback from a customer below that bought this upgrade. " Phantom Plastics 2 months ago I bought this kit and they sound far, far better with the kit."
@@dannyrichie9743 I’m not an idiot. I’ve listened to these speakers myself, and even own a pair of Evoke 20. Dynaudio even says in one of their videos on their TH-cam channel how “what might look right on paper, doesn’t always sound right to the human ear.” They spend years tuning their speakers before putting them out, and you think that you can make them better? LOL. The fact that you even tried to compare Sony with a brand like Dynaudio just shows that you have absolutely no clue what a good speaker sounds like. Maybe you should get your hearing checked. I also use to work in sales myself, so I know the tactics that a salesman uses.
@@blue-ck9ns You are just fooling yourself if you think Dynaudio spent years tuning their speakers only to send them out with an irregular or non linear response with a bunch of ringing at 1kHz. Do you really think that ringing is something they intended? It is an inherent problem with the woofer that they failed to address. And they are loaded with budget level parts. No need to have my hearing checked either. Anyone that is not deaf can hear the improvements this upgrade offers. Check out the response below from and actual customer that bought this upgrade: Phantom Plastics: 5 months ago (edited) Sold! - UPDATE - I bought this upgrade. It's easy to install, even for a complete novice. The sound is much clearer and more engaging now. Transients are faster with much more impact. I was actually startled at one point. Female vocalists like Mary Chapin Carpenter now have a lifelike breathy quality and the soundstage is way more open. This is the kind of upgrade I would expect from buying the Special Heritage which cost $7K (co-incidentally, that has similar quality parts to what GR Research offer for a few hundred dollars). Try it and be amazed.
@@blue-ck9ns People are not worried about their warranty. They want the high quality performance that they thought they would get when they bought these.
I agree the Sony's if you can make them sound great with your upgrade is a greater value than expensive speakers you have to still upgrade. I would consider one of your kits myself
I've used Dynaudio drivers in DIY builds for close to 30 years and I have never seen any of their woofers have a peak like that. Most are very flat over their intended range of use. Not saying your measurements are wrong, just never seen it before. Also Dynaudio cones are not a simple polypropylene.
Truth hurts my man, measurements don't lie, these speakers are junk for 3k, even those cheap Sony's destroy them, especially after his mods. I've seen other people measure these 3k paper weights, nearly the same result...
I'm constantly amazed at how prestigious speaker manufacturers sell expensive products with such obvious design issues. All grist to your creative mill Danny....
Again i thank you for your info!! I love this channel cause i am researcher when buying my products. I want to know what i am getting for my money cause i want to know its good and proper. These reviews are so informative! People miss that in these reviews! Thanks Danny again for info. Awesome how you do this stuff and hope this create more people researching there products for anything they buy and not let the world go to oh just cheap speakers are fine!
The problem with 'upgrading' crossovers like this, is the assumption that perfectly flat is the best way a speaker could measure. What makes a dynaudio sound different from a KEF or a Focal speaker in large part is those little peaks and valleys through the EQ range which either accentuate or soften certain frequencies. Making it flatter isn't inherently better, it's just different. As far as wiring quality, etc. it's been pretty well disproven that that stuff makes any difference at all. That being said, it is pretty sleazy that these companies are selling their top tier speakers for thousands of dollars and still using the cheapest materials inside that they can
Sorry, but that ringing in the woofer cone (break up), and smearing caused by cheap parts wasn't what they were shooting for. Those are not house sounds. They are problems not addressed properly.
So great to see an actual real world RTA of Dynaudio's bass driver, all I've managed to find is their own published charts in their manuals. This response is NOTHING like any of the response charts I've ever seen by them. I was going to buy pair of MW160 or MW170 6.5" or 7" for the car mainly because of the 3" voice coil, I want to run over 500wrms per driver and this should easily handle it thermally, but after seeing this, I think I'll buy the Morels.
If you are running them as a MB driver crossed 500 or below, I think it should still be fine. Either way its been 2 yrs so curious if you used the Morels and how they sound.
Yeah I got the Morel Elate 6, the perfect match for the MT23 tweeters I've had for about 10 years, these older Elate 6 are SUPER hard to find. The mid bass is insane, like totally physics defying. Where I used to have to run 200Hz 24dB HPF (and barely that could contain the xmax), I'm now using an 80Hz 24dB subsonic and a 125hz 6dB on top and they barely move. I know that sounds insane, but I'm running about 40 to 45 volts into them (and the tweeters also, both running active) and they take it all. The car is nightclub loud. If I just use the 80hz subsonic alone, they can take about volume 56 out of 62, which is still pretty loud, about as loud as a normal person running 100 or 150w per front driver. As for the sound, I like them, I don't notice any big peaks, I typically find around 400hz is VERY peaky in front doors, my Alpine DD Linears were terrible, the speaker peaked there + the door seems to resonate there also, but the Morels have worked out well. They still sound "big" because of the door resonance but it's not that big of a deal to DSP that out. I only have an emm6 mic, I need something better, but I am happy with what I have. I would like to buy a 3 inch mod to raise the soundstage and LPF the Elates near 4 or 5 hundred Hertz eventually, but again, I'm happy with what I have. I listen to club music a lot, CD tips to .wave, also I like house music and ambient music, so anything from loud bass heavy dance music to soft detailed music. I have the Elates slammed at down at 4KHz 24dB, they don't have any nasty peaks when they extend too high, but I use the sharp filters for power handling. I chose that high because I only have 2 way and I liked the sound of having a touch more mid, I think they are starting to rolloff naturally by then anyway, plus the closest one is super off axis, whereas the tweeters are dead on Hope all that has some interesting or valuable info for ya lol
@@minus3dbintheteens60 I have never run anything Morel, but considered it MANY times. I have a Scion xB 2006. My doors SUCK!! Midbass is impossible in stock location (doors) Almost no bass sound, cheap doors arent sealed. I tried in door panel and its better, but just for midrange. I took out my dash upfiring stock tweeters and put 5.25" Audax coaxials. The sound is way better and there is some mid-bass, but only 25% of what I want. Id love to hp dash to 400 and have MB in door or somewhere else. I am considering under seat 6.5s Ill look up the Morel Elate 6 to see if I can find some
This really makes you think about all hi end audio products. I'm sure its not just limited to loudspeakers....amps, preamp, integrated amps, etc. If you don't see the "ingredients" which makes the dish, how do you know they're not using the cheapest stuff possible to gain maximum profit possible. There are exceptions I'm sure: Rogue Audio makes exquisite gear for a relative bargain. But it really makes you think...
Danny, A little Texas pride, I love it. I Sport my Texas colors frequently too. Watching your speaker analysis upgrade videos is so fun and revealing. Every speaker I research these days regardless of the accolades and positive reviews, I think to myself, how could Danny improve these babies, are they Unicorns or a bag of issues? I'd like to see you include with you modification kits another option with even higher level of parts, even if the cost no object parts won't fit inside build an external XO. Keep 'em coming Danny, I'm a fan boy of what you do. Much Thanks, Eric Harrelson
Has everyone on here that bashes every brand reviewed ever looked inside the boxes of their electronics or do they also build their own electronics? You're in for a shock if you look inside. Is every kit GR sells beyond reproach or have compromises also been made and further improvements could still be had? Buy what sounds good to you and move on. If the Dynaudios were $2000 would people here be more accepting, not likely, they'd still complain and say they got ripped off. It's hilarious. If you only want to pay the cost of the BOM build your own, I'm sure they'll sound perfect and be super ugly.
You can see that the quality of components used in the Heritage is far higher as it should be for the price. This kit will bring you close to the Heritage for a few hundred.
It kind of makes me wonder if manufacturers even bother testing their products. How is it you can instantly see the flaws? And why at this price level can manufacturers not give customers their money's worth. Every company should make a profit. That's why they're in business. But it almost seems like the higher the cost, the more they just shamelessly rip people off. To that end Danny, thank you for continually showing it like it is, and offering solutions.
The reason it's built like a 18e century piano finish for snobs who can't have something less in their room... Well tells u a lot who it's designed for and guess what, when briefed, the sellers get to know who it's targeted for too. It's a masterpiece of marketing, within a serious and professional brand.
@@vivianvaldi7871 I like a great looking finish too. I prefer piano gloss black. But the first order is great sound. I guess they count on people not really caring about anything but looks. Also people who don't research reviews of products first. They get ripped off and don't even know it. I was once such a victim. I'm here trying to educate myself.
I'm pretty sure they did already. Look at the trade-off made in this kit. He had to pad the tweeter output to make up for the drop-off in the woofer, which means the off-axis peak problem at 3K got way worse in order to reduce the peak at 1K. So you trade off a upper midrange peak for a treble peak. To me that's going to depend on the end user whether or not it was actually an upgrade.
There is obviously an emperor's new clothes dynamic to all of this. When I have test driven very expensive speakers I have always been shocked by how indifferent they sounded and how inferior and less mellifluous they were next to my 1980s counterparts, as well as by the aggression, rudeness and aspersions made on my hearing by irate sales-staff. Watching Danny I'm glad that I stuck to trusting my ears.
I believe these speakers were supposed to be "fun" and were voiced accordingly. Dynaudio certainly has a house sound, much like Harbeth or Sonus Faber, etc. that you either like or don't like. Fixing the cabinet resonance and flattening the curve (especially without consideration of the speaker's polar response or the room) is counterproductive and will absolutely ruin the resale value. If you want a "neutral" sounding monitor you should just purchase one to begin with.
Actually, the polar response has been improved as well. Also, only part of the upgrade is balancing out the response. That nasty woofer resonance is not part of a house sound either. They just neglected to correct it, and it needed correcting. These were also being held back by the parts quality. The upgrade is a transformation from a lifeless and problematic speaker into a pretty decent speaker.
Thank you Danny. Ive always been a big dynaudio fan. As an installer I know quite well theey cheap out on stuff you dont see. Even with the expensive ones. But why is there so much hate here? You dont have to buy them if you dont want to? Danny made the speaker better. Doesnt mean they sound bad. The quality of parts is the one upsetting.
I would love to see a impulse response in adition to a frequency response. Frequency response is just one side of a coin. I witnessed poor sounding speakers wich had a well balanced frequency response.
@@PierreVilleneuve88 It is, but impulse response looks at things from a different way, you might be able to see ringing a little better, than the broad overview that a spectral decay offers. Though it can take more work. He's already doing far more than nearly anyone in the industry, so people should cut him slack for the thousands of man hours behind the scene's.
Hi Danny! Thanks for your speaker upgrades and measurements that explanes much of their benefits. I think subjective responses like the Phantom Plastics, are very interesting, maybe also a comment from you, about each speakers sound after your upgrade.
He has address that already, once you do an upgrade you know exactly what improvements you will get so commenting on each upgrade is redundant and a waste of time. I doubt if Danny spends anytime listening to these speakers after all the upgrades he has done. I am speaking from experience as i did the same to my speakers, no crossover changes just better parts and improvements were instant and obvious since I did the upgrade one at the time and listened to both at the same time. This test left me with no question or doubt.
"I'm amazed that I was able to get it that smooth with drivers that measured that rough." AMEN. I never liked Dynaudios! Everybody raves about them but all the ones I've heard just leave me cold.
This was very informative and I mean VERY. I've been toying with the idea of upgrading to a Dynaudio or ATC book-shelf set and based on the speaker (relevant) education you've provided on both manufacturers ... the choice is obvious. When I purchase the ATC (SCM-11's) I will get your upgrade kit and get someone local to refurbish the cross-over. Danny ... thank you so much ... excellent!!!!
ABSOLUTELY adore and respect your reviews, opinions and "fixes" for the various speakers that land on your workshop desk, Danny! I am guessing you MIGHT like the level of quality innards of the Dynaudio Heritage Specials a little more (despite any shortcomings they may have, to me, they sound crazy good) BUT!!! They sell for 7 g's USD! That's right 7 THOUSAND dollars . . . holy smokes . . . I guess you're paying for the name, the limited number in production and yes, better parts including their Esostar 3 soft dome tweeter. VERY sophisticated sound IMHO. I did hear the "Special" 40 and was not enamoured with it perhaps for the reasons you outline here . . . is the Heritage "worth" 7 grand? Technically speaking perhaps not - but they DO sound like music :-) Please continue with your great and VERY interesting videos!
They're a very respectable company. You pulled back the curtains and showed the truth in the industry. How far does the rabbit hole go? What about a 10,000 or more speaker!
All this upgrade stuff makes me wonder why you wouldn't just make the speaker from scratch yourself from a Kit. I know that's not as easy as it sounds but at least you know the quality of the parts.
Would be great if this "expert" did some fact checking before posting this video, but maybe that's too much to expect! Speaker cable inside Special 40 is NOT cheap! It is VanDenHul The Snowline. Non-electrolytic capacitors are Mundorf capacitors.
Dynaudio does use Mundorf in some of their higher end speakers. However these are probably Bennic. My Dyn 52se's have Bennic I believe. I took a peek in there.
There is no such thing as intrinsic value. There is only the value assigned to a product by the purchasers wallet. If these speakers had included all the crossover parts Danny believes they should would anyone who thinks these speakers are a rip off as is suddenly think they're a good deal? Well, if you answered yes you're not thinking clearly. Yes, the crossover parts Danny recommends are more expensive but not even remotely close to being enough to warrant a $3000 price tag based on parts content alone. If you want great overall value from a parts versus performance price then build yourself a kit. Like, seriously, almost any kit. Buy Danny's kit. Buy a kit from Madisound or Parts Express or any of a variety of other sources and you will definitely get more for your money than any commercial speaker will give you. Every product on earth costs more than it's parts content alone and no one man is the absolute arbitor of what those parts should be regardless of price. Are the parts Danny recommends better than what came from the factory? Technically speaking, absolutely. But will changing out the factory parts for the GR-Research parts make this speaker the performance equivalent of a top notch $3000 kit? Not even close! Heck, many people will prefer the sound before the parts change. As I've said before on this channel. It's your money, spend it how you wish. But all anyone can do no matter how skilled they are with speaker design is change, not fix, the sound. The end result of that change may or may not sound better to you. Some people like a bass or midrange bump. Some people like recessed mids or high or even thin bass. Geez, I think some of y'all would sell your house if Danny came along and found that your wall studs, though perfectly safe and installed correctly were southern yellow pine instead of Douglas fir. If it works, you like it and feel it's worth the money, buy it. But If you're buying $3000 bookshelf speakers in the first place, well, I'd say that no matter how good the parts are inside, your perception of value is too skewed to worry about anyway!
When you spend the money you also invest in a company. The level of components you get for your money is only a fraction of the value you get in return. If you want the manufacturer to pay salaries, rent office space, do research and development etc then you assume your 3k isn't getting you 3k in parts. The product you receive is only a fraction of that. If it weren't, there would be no company to buy speakers from
Wow how disappointing for such a high pedigree speaker! Great review and keep up the good work ! we consumers are lucky to have someone like you exposing these so called hi end companies worts and all! I know they need to turn a profit but that’s robbery.
Strange measurements, as Dynaudio has one of the most advanced measurement systems. These little speakers sound amazing, so how important are the frequency response and the crossover parts if the sound is excellent? I like to see a comparison between the original and the upgraded version, blind tested by an experienced listening panel.
Then they sound have used that measuring system to identify the problems and they should have used some higher quality parts in them for that price point. What they produced is mediocre at best and piss poor for that price point. There is no comparing what they sold to our upgrade.
I am kind of confused after 30 years of Hifi and DIY speaker building looking at all your videos. Seems you think to increase sound of every commercial speaker by flattening the frequency response on axis and 30°. But is it that easy? To be honest: I did not hear any of your own speakers or any speakers modified by you. But I am kind of struggeling to believe becuase from my experience the big companies like Dynaudio know very well about speaker sound refinement. What about impulse response or THD in higher power levels? I cannot believe changing poly caps to more expensive poly caps and corretly rated iron inductors changing to air inductors change the world. (and I have changed many poly caps in my live) From my opinion it is more the developer feeling to understand how to adjust the crossover to get the speaker sound good. And I believe that Dynaudio for sure recruted the best developers for the job.
Hi GR-Research, please give me a response so that I can understand it. I am at least not a complete noop , german diploma in electric engineering since 19 years. so I think I should potentially be capable to understand what you would explain.
@Thorsten Hoffmann Give him a phone call, I called him once because I was having trouble ordering no-rez product on his website. He was nice and helpful. However, I wouldn't expect him to have a long conversation, he's busy running his company.
If the parts are so bad, how the speaker sound so good? Maybe because there are 40 years of research and development behind this speaker? How do you calculate 40 years of R&D into the speaker price?
Still have them. Now with McIntosh. They are kind of dense in the mids but sound good with any music. Bass is perfect. Wanted to replace them with more transparent and expensive speaker but returned to the SP40 after a week. Very musical and pleasant speaker with good bass. This guy in the video don’t really know what he’s talking about. Funny guy 😄😄
the fastest and most resolute speaker that i ever had ... but now perhaps there is the reason why after the initial excitement from those two parameters was a little bit gone i couldn't really enjoy it. Not sure if the changes in the filter done here are also the cure, because is a complex one with suppose time/phase adjustments that are probably gone after this corrections. Th original wire is a vandenhul snowline ... actually not a bad one ;)
Dear Gary, We apologize for the very long answering delay. Our support department has been low in staff for the last couple of months. The situation is better now and we're doing our best to catch up. About this video. Here is our answer (from product management) : Recently we have received numerous comments regarding a TH-cam video shared by a person trying to sell “upgrade” kits for Special Forty. In the video, the person makes dubious claims regarding the build quality of the Special Forty, obviously to make his own product sound like a good investment. For instance, claiming that the cable we use is low quality (it is in fact Van den Hul Snowline, a well regarded product). Making different choices in terms of tuning and material choices does not inherently make the product better, in fact the suggestions made are likely to negatively impact longevity. Obviously, following the suggestions made will void the 8 year warranty that we provide for our speakers. Med venlig hilsen / Best regards / Mit freundlichen Grüssen Nicolas Cherencq
Pretty good upgrade in terms of measurements. Suprised the woofer measures like that. I'm a huge dynaudio fan, but opening up my sub amp that has failed shows very cheap components just like the cheap crossover components in this speaker. Bit dissapointing to honest.
Hi Danny! I observe the damping material seems to be a kind of fibrous stuff. Do you think it would have a benefit to put some other damping instead? In fact, I would like a video on this topic and I'm sure a great number would be interested to hear your thoughts on this, because we do not speak a lot on that topic in audio circles. Thanks again for a great video!
It is refreshing to hear somebody professional who's really talks with engineering sense!! There are a lot of people who speaks about Audio seems smart but are not really. I like your video and going to search for more of yours article since you sound really professional with integrity. Joel
I was looking at these, but I like the sound of the Buchardt 400 MKII better. The Buchardt's are about a $800 to $1,000 less, so I am leaning that way.
I don't understand why people talk about "sand cast" resistors. You won't find any "sand cast" resistors in any manufacturer's catalogues. Some resistors are encased in ceramic to aid heat dissipation, but the resistive element doesn't contain any sand. Some ceramic encased resistors are wirewound, and wirewound resistors are very good. How did "sand cast" become a pejorative term?
Fantastic work, and presentation. I owned about 5 pairs of Dynaudio speakers varrying in price from $1000 to $16,000. I couldn’t listen to them for a long time. It seems that who advertises most on Stereophile….will get the best reviews! Had much more quality from XTZ and Canton.
The measured results are right there in this video. What bb foto has stated is a complete and total lie. If you look in the upper righthand corner of the measurements you'll see the word Clio. Clio is a measuring system. It doesn't model responses. Each measurement shown is an actual measurement made with a network on that speaker. Nothing I do is modeled.
@@dannyrichie9743 - You also never answered the question. You can play semantics all day, but the fact that you NEVER show a finished “upgraded” speaker pair speaks volumes to those with common sense.
@@toucheslapper Are you kidding me? You haven't been watching all of my video's. I took the Klipsch RP-600M and shot five video's on the whole assembly process from beginning to end. I did the same with our X-LS Encore kit.
@@dannyrichie9743 Danny I know a way how to make your TH-cam channel much more successful than it is even now. Just buy/ rent Randy the mic system off of Adorama and have it properly set up and do a before-and-after of the speaker that you're going to modify. Heck, you could even put the speaker together then ship it to Ron for him to do for a small fee it would make it worth your while! I promise you it would pay off huge. I realize you're going to have to modify the speaker and put it together unless you're sending it back to the customer to do it themselves!🤔🤔😉😉😇 It would put all these as you call them flat-earthers doubting opinions to rest. Wow, just watched Ron's channel as he just mentioned he's coming down to help you out! Man, you took my great advice even before I offered it!!🤔🤔🤭🤭🤭🤭😉😇😜 As you can see, I know what I'm talkin about and evidently so do you!😬
I am a fan of Dynaudio and owned most of their Audience, Contour, and Confidence lines back in the early 2000s. I was going to buy their limited Heritage speakers but after seeing how cheaply their S40 speakers are made, I'm having a second thought. BTW, the S40s are now $3500. The $500 increase, I guess, is for lower quality parts and workmanship. lol. Nice job Danny!
The Heritage Series completely crushes the S40 and all the parts in are better than anything he is offering here as an "upgrade". All True 1st order crossover (SP40 is not), Mundorf Caps, Vandenhul wiring and a complete redesigned tweeter and the best driver Dyn has ever made pulled from their highest end Tower speaker. The SP40 is still a great speaker that operates above it's price point, so this fella can say whatever he likes, I had them for years and they were great. Once you hear the Heritage there is no going back to them however.
@@jc51373 I really appreciated your comments on the Dynaudio Heritage Special. I've just read Steff Huff's review and my mouth was salivating. I assumed that you owned a pair. What amplifier are you using to get the best out of it? Do you know if they soldered the wires or used push-type connectors onto the drivers? That was so cheesy on the S40.
@@audiomacaudiomac5019 I am running a Class Integrated from Sugden, MSB Discrete DAC on the Heritage I am auditioning. I haven't pulled the trigger yet I want to hear the Tune Tots first...The wires are all soldered to the board.
He's trying to sell us KITs. We need to have that in mind. if the mid/low woofer should be cut at lower freq, it would have been done already by Dynaudio (it doesn't cost extra money). We can't design speakers on the paper.. But anyway whole topic it's quite interesting.
The point in me doing this isn't to sell upgrade kits. It is to help improve the listening experience for those that have these speakers or any speakers. It also introduces people into the DIY market. And eventually we can step them up into some of our higher quality DIY kits.
@@GRResearch Thanks for response. To dispel all doubts it would be nice to not only see the speakers already equipped with KIT but also to have listen session and a kind of comparison. The point is that I just can't understand how the heck these speakers are so popular, very well rated across the globe while in fact built from shitty parts. I do own a pair of these, I've had compared with many other (even with slightly more expensive ones) before I bought them , and for me there is no better speaker in this price range. I never took a look at the paper, only listen. And of course I know, this is only my personal subjective opinion :)
@@ukaszdubiel7584 No better speakers for the price range? There are way better sounding speakers out there for a fraction of their cost. Our base level X-LS Encore kit at $249 a pair will beat these up pretty well.
@@dannyrichie9743 it sounds so much commercial (KIT again) For me it now seems like there are no any good speakers on the market and we need to get them all equipeed with KITs :) I give up here :) Good luck with your business
@@ukaszdubiel7584 Why not make a speaker better? Any speaker can be tweaked or upgraded. Even our kits come with a list of additional upgrades. That is part of our never ending quest of making our systems sound better and better.
Very interesting video, particularly regarding the seemingly quite poor bass driver. But why didn’t an upmarket company like Dynaudio achieve this improvement with the crossover and cabinet damping in the first place?
Dani great video, it is such a shame that the manufacturers cut costs on such important areas of the build. Watching all these videos of yours has seriously opened up my eyes to what goes on and how easy it is to fix with your technical knowhow. I would not have ever expected electrolytic caps etc in a 3k speaker or from a respected brand such as Dynaudio. I was looking at a pair in my UK dealers and have to say I was drawn towards the lovely finish. I will have to think long and hard what to buy now, shame not in USA as I would invest in one of your kits and flat packs. Anyway thanks for the insight.
Seeing all manufacturers appearing as crapy designers does not provide me with confidence about the one constently doing fingerpointing... There is definitely a common factor here. Wish you all the best.
Building any loudspeaker is all about compromises. I never see in your videos that you measure or addresses Total Harmonic Distortion (at any given freq) and the impact it has on the overall sound, clarity, dispersion and decisions/goal on the final design. Would be great if you could include these measurements and educate your followers accordingly..... Cheers
Spending 3 grand on a pair of speakers, you shouldn't have to spend another $300 dollars to make them sound better, it should be done at the factory where they are made
Well, to me the FR plot after the “upgrade” looks worse than the original on some frequencies, while he flattened a bit the 1K region he also created a deeper valley on the 6K region, also I don’t buy the individual “woofer measurements”, since the woofer has been tweaked to work along with the original crossover, what I would ONLY do is replacing the inexpensive parts in the crossover with higher quality parts but keeping the original values.
My point is actually a bit different - I'm not so sure the tweeter is able to handle low x-o freq proposed in the upgrade. While the bump in midwoofer freq response looks terrible, most 6" drivers have the cone edge artifact. To me the crossover could be optimized better from the factory, but I wouldn't cut the tweeter so low unless I'm 100% certain it can take the extra signal without introducing it's own distortions. Actually I have nothing against the original voicing of this speaker.
The drivers are just pulled of a shelf and the crossover and box is designed to suit. They basically only make 1 bass/mid driver, in various sizes. They all have the same motor, the same cone material and basically the exact same T/S parameters apart from the sensitivity, resonant frequency and overall bandwidth. So any speaker they make using this driver with the 3 inch coil is going to have the exact same issue. Even the cars like VW that have these drivers just with a plastic basket I bet have the exact same issue, unless its caused by the basket but the frequency is way to high to be caused by solid cast alloy
The thing is that I don’t get why the original crossover has to be flawed, every hi-fi loudspeaker on the market has its signature sound, if you want a flatter FR go get studio monitors period, I myself own the S40’s, I can tell you that with the right electronics and the right placement these loudspeakers sound very life-like and sweet, I really like them, are there better loudspeakers?, of course there are, but at this price point these loudspeakers are very, very, very good at soundstage, dynamics and detail, besides that there’s no “perfect” speakers on the market, they all have colorations and distortion.
I think you are asking "why is the shape of the response a flaw and not a feature"? Well, I guess you could look at it that way. A song should be recorded perfectly, and a speakers job is to play the song back with nothing added or taken away. The speaker should never be able to make a song sound "better", only worse. A speaker that doesn't not play like a flat studio monitor is adding peaks and distortion information that should not be there, or it is taking away info that should be there. As I said, the song should be recorded perfectly so that when it is played back 1:1 with a flat playing speaker it sounds the best.
I think there is a misunderstanding about hi-fi loudspeakers and studio monitors loudspeakers, hi-fi speakers usually have some pleasant colorations, they could be on the neutral side of warm or they can be a bit bright, some others can have a slight V shaped sound, so a flat FR in hi-fi speakers is not always a desirable feature, in fact is not expected, this is what audiophiles are looking for, some audiophiles find flat FR speakers boring and uninvolving, but a flat FR is desirable for studio monitors. The S40’s are considered a balance sound loudspeakers with a touch of warmth and air at the top. This is why I find this kind of crossover “correction” completely pointless.
I never read anywhere where someone has come forward and modded their speakers and stated it made a vast improvement. These must be all Danny s speakers he's modding.
Read more of the responses to our videos and post on our forum and elsewhere all over the Internet. Not only do the customer love the vast improvement. They become repeat customers.
I've upgraded 3 sets of speakers now with kits from GR, all cheapo no money speakers whose MSRP combined is probably less than 1/6 what this one goes for 😂. But I can say for certain the upgrades make a huge difference. I'm very pleased with how my system sounds and I paid less for a full 5.1.4 system (including GR upgrades on the 5 base level speakers) with receiver (bought broken and fixed) and blu ray player than a friend of mine paid for just one pair of high end KEFs. And I honestly prefer my system over his. Plus I got the fun of working on it myself. 😊
Who would have thought of from a well-known manufacturer? I guess not everyone is going to open up the box to see if all is good. At $3k you have every right!
This chap still believes into significant differences between cables, capacitors and coils. I tried this in the 1980's (young ears) several times without result. Useless approach, except for the providers of such parts. Buy better speakers, if you are not happy, and please do not waste money on esoteric nonsense!
While I agree that changes in some of those will not alter the audio signature, he does show actual improvements in objective measurements from the upgrades. Regardless, he's right in that for that $, it should not be full of low grade parts. That brand seems a terrible value for $.
@@willbrink Sorry mate, but he is straight up lying to you and then you repeat it. 1) He did not fix anything - all he did is change the frequency response - which he can do, but that does not make the speaker better just because it is flatter. 2) Dynaudio is one of the best known brands for their high quality speakers with top notch parts. That is the reason why a pair of Focus 340 I bought used 5 years ago 2.000€ are still worth that money now. 3) This has nothing to do with dollers - these aren't your typical cheaply made American speakers - these are done by engineers from Denmark. To each his own - if you don't like Dynaudio or you aren't even into hifi - fine with me, but stop repeating something without doing your research.
@@zebarzebra 1) He did not fix anything - all he did is change the frequency response - which he can do, but that does not make the speaker better just because it is flatter. A: Flatter speakers are generally a better speaker, but you can debate that if it makes you happy. 2) Dynaudio is one of the best known brands for their high quality speakers with top notch parts. That is the reason why a pair of Focus 340 I bought used 5 years ago 2.000€ are still worth that money now. A: you must have watched a different video. He literally shows the low grade parts in the box, unless you think he faked what was in there? For that $, those are low end parts. 3) This has nothing to do with dollers - these aren't your typical cheaply made American speakers - these are done by engineers from Denmark. A: Of course has to do with dollars, and some companies charge a fair price for they offer, some, not so much. Like speakers from Europe, US speakers ranges from very well made to not so great, and what matters is what they cost for the value. As far "done by engineers from Denmark" you're poorly informed: "Dynaudio is a chinese company with a chinese majority owner. Some of the lower lines are FULLY MADE IN CHINA. The cabinets are outsourced, and the higher lines are assembled in Denmark." Dynaudio was acquired by Goertek in 2014 To each his own - if you don't like Dynaudio or you aren't even into hifi - fine with me, but stop repeating something without doing your research. A: Not I who needs to do their research obviously...
@@willbrink Dynaudio is a Danish company, owned by Chinese. It is located in Skanderborg, 30 km from where I live. 250 of their 350 employees work there. All development happens there. According to their website, production also happens there. The latest info on cabinet production, is from 2018, and it says that their cheapest models' cabinets are produced in their own facilities in Latvia.
It's kind of the heaviest, with bad numbers. It completely changes the signal speed in the cable. Lightest is the best, with air inside,. Best is air, bur technically difficult. Some high-end even goes for cotton, yep grandma's underware cotton, like Duelund.
Hi. I liked your review on the Dynaudio Special 40. Could you do the same thing with the Totem Signature One? I would like to know if an upgrade is needed for that speaker.
YOU mean i pay $3000 and get shit crossover parts ? BUT I bought ahigh end brand.. (facepalm ) Exactly what i keep telling people, just because the name brand is on there and they are expensive doesn't mean they are "GOOD". Thank god Danny is showing people the light !!
I worked for a high end American assembled audio company for 25 years.People don't believe me when I told them 90% of the parts were from China,made to there specs.Marketing 101
There is nothing ruined with this upgrade. And a flat response doesn't mean they sound flat. It just means it's accurate. How it sounds has more to do with the parts used and in this case it just got a big upgrade.
whatever u buy from a mass produced manufacturing of most brands and that's always stocks!!! only custom modification upgrades are always the perfect and champion way to do.... eg. cars, bikes etc.. etc...
I've had the Dynaudio Special 40s for about 3 years now, driving them with a NAD C-390DD and they sound incredible. Absolutely incredible. And I listen to a lot of speakers in that price range and higher before I purchased. I understand the measurements but I'll trust my ears and the ears of many reviewers and users who also love them.
If you liked them stock then you'll really like them after the upgrade. I guarantee you, I can make you love them a whole lot more.
I would believe Danny's response!
Enjoy the speakers as they are. Mod them and they become worthless. let the bullshit start....
@@ej20tscully Actually they will have more value after the mod.
I’ve had mine for a few months now and also love the sound of them...
Literally the first time I heard spoken a negative sentence about this speaker. I'll have to be honest, the way I heard it, I liked it. And I think it's generally a bit of a specific taste, upgraded or stock.
Sold! - UPDATE - I bought this upgrade. It's easy to install, even for a complete novice. The sound is much clearer and more engaging now. Transients are faster with much more impact. I was actually startled at one point. Female vocalists like Mary Chapin Carpenter now have a lifelike breathy quality and the soundstage is way more open. This is the kind of upgrade I would expect from buying the Special Heritage which cost $7K (co-incidentally, that has similar quality parts to what GR Research offer for a few hundred dollars). Try it and be amazed.
This is good to hear. By "complete novice," what do you mean? Could you please list the precise skills needed to upgrade these? I'm asking because I'm an S40 owner and have never tried to modify speakers. Thanks.
@@RingwurmD you just need to be able to solder and twist the component wires together as shown in the supplied circuit diagram. I had not seen a circuit diagram in 30 years and it was still easy. He has videos on how to solder too. If you want to instal the tube connectors then you need a drill and 7/16 bit (he has a video on that too).
Make a video and let’s see the finished product. Otherwise, I call BS. How much did Danny pay you for your comment?
@@RingwurmD this channel is a total sham to sell his kits, if all u needed was a smooth frequency response everyone could make a world class speaker
@@toucheslapper what a childish comment. Time to grow up perhaps?
Interesting video. Measurements are interesting for sure but most important is how they sound and it is not necessary the same as how they measure.
They sound even better than the measured improvements.
True.
I really would like an actual listening test before and after, just like how cables should be treated. Nothing against measurements, but listening is the real test. At least in my opinion.
That's the thing I feel is missing from the content on this channel. Measurements are great but speakers are made to sound appealing, and measurements are only one part of this.
Strange I just wrote something almost similar as a comment to the Kef’s presentation, so I obviously agree
@@RyChanneler he just does these to sell his kits
@@IDontExist14 Obviously, and thats ok, I'm sure that the kits improve the speakers. I suppose since audio is such a subjective thing (what we enjoy) the only way to really "improve" something is to try to use objective means.
@@RyChanneler only noobs fall for this guy, if a flat response is all u want then everyone can make a world class speaker, don't u think dynaudio couldn't get a flat repsonce for 3k dollars, plz consult someone who is well versed in audio and has actually made speakers from sratch
Your channel is becoming one of my very favorites. I absolutely love and appreciate the honesty of your content, you tell it like it is regarding of the brand name. Your content has made me realize that the next time I'll spend a few grand in a pair of speakers it will be a kit that I'll put together knowing exactly what's going into it. I will never again pay thousands for a pile of junk that looks beautiful on the outside regardless of brand name or reviews.
Word.
I dont care how they meassure..I care about how they sound..and I think they sound pretty damn good...
What about the quality of the crossover parts, do you care about that as well?
@@murcielago188 well if they sound great...they sound great...so no not really..
@@The-Spotlight-Kid well you presume wrong...
@@jespergth9437 Then i appoligize. But surely you get my drift about spending a relatively small percentage of a speaker's $3000 price to flatten-out such a lumpy & hence "unfaithful to whatever the source's" intended frequency reproduction, of course we don't always get a chance to know of such a potential 'massive' improvement for every potential speaker purchase, but if i'd bought this particular model, because it sounded good in the 1'st place, then after seeing this vid i'd be ultra-keen to take the extra monetary step to extract the best out of it, especially after seeing the before & after graphs showing the magnitude of difference this upgrade made. if it was my main hi-fi listening source, which any $3000 speaker would have to be (in my wealth bracket, or lack of)
Good luck
@@The-Spotlight-Kid not so sure about if the "new parts" actually make it sound better. i dont think its that simple. Those "high qualiity" parts might completely destrpy they sound of those speakers. GR-Research is in the business of selling upgrade kits. OFC they claim that simply changing part to another will improve the sound. or changing graph will improve the sound... afaik, its not that simple and straightforward. if it was, most hifi companies would use those parts.
I would love to see blind tests of before and after reviews
Or even audio samples... hundreds have questioned him about sound clips, before after. Or even clips of gr speakers... not goig to find them.
@@franciscoortiz6980 This guy is very funny 😆
I have those speakers for more than a year.
They are not perfect but they really play music.
Excellent speakers. Very difficult to replace after you got used to their sound signature. I tried.. but still have them. Addictive sound
Mdf is very dense and that’s why speaker manufacturers use it. These are good sounding speakers. A little colored but good sounding.
100% more than good. Excellent.
Hi-Fi such a rip off nowadays. Can’t trust most reviewers either.
Agreed!
KS Digital might be the only brand that i have noticed is actually getting better with each generation. if you want non-rip-off companies to thrive, check em out ksd-audio.de/A-Line/A100/
LOVE it when this guy rips ‘expensive’ speakers.
The all new Dynaudio Focus 50 Active Wireless speakers are the best I've ever heard at any price !
You might want to do some more listening. There is a whole new world out there.
I would love to see a follow-up video from the customer of these speakers to see the reaction of the changes.
Great idea!
it would be a good move, depending on the distance and time invovlved. Just trust this man he is very skilled I know.
Agreed! Maybe Danny could try to work out a post-upgrade interview or follow-up?
There's a good possibility they are still trying to notice the deference and were there money went
We'll see or hear from them soon. I have already sold six of these upgrades.
Great job Danny, your doing gods work here sir!! Its downright EVIL to build speakers with budget parts and then charge the customer as if it were made with the good stuff inside. Its bad juju all around if ya ask me. You hold brands feet to the fire exposing these injustices with your expertise and its greatly appreciated.
Amen!
you all prolly dont care but does someone know a tool to log back into an Instagram account..?
I was stupid lost the login password. I would love any tips you can give me
@Romeo Noah Instablaster :)
@Frederick Jamal thanks so much for your reply. I got to the site through google and im waiting for the hacking stuff atm.
Takes quite some time so I will get back to you later when my account password hopefully is recovered.
All that matters, is how the speakers sounds. If they sound excellent, it doesn't matter, if the speakers were made out of :bananas.
This seems like a man who is just trying to sell his crossover kit. It doesn’t really matter how they measure on paper, it matters how they sound. That’s what you’re paying for. And these speakers sound pretty damn amazing and are worth every penny.
These speakers are far from amazing. Our $269 X-LS Encore kit eats them up.
And check out the feedback from a customer below that bought this upgrade.
"
Phantom Plastics
2 months ago
I bought this kit and they sound far, far better with the kit."
@@dannyrichie9743 I’m not an idiot. I’ve listened to these speakers myself, and even own a pair of Evoke 20. Dynaudio even says in one of their videos on their TH-cam channel how “what might look right on paper, doesn’t always sound right to the human ear.” They spend years tuning their speakers before putting them out, and you think that you can make them better? LOL.
The fact that you even tried to compare Sony with a brand like Dynaudio just shows that you have absolutely no clue what a good speaker sounds like. Maybe you should get your hearing checked. I also use to work in sales myself, so I know the tactics that a salesman uses.
@@dannyrichie9743 All you’re doing is making people void their Dynaudio warranty, in order to fix something that isn’t broken.
@@blue-ck9ns You are just fooling yourself if you think Dynaudio spent years tuning their speakers only to send them out with an irregular or non linear response with a bunch of ringing at 1kHz. Do you really think that ringing is something they intended? It is an inherent problem with the woofer that they failed to address. And they are loaded with budget level parts.
No need to have my hearing checked either. Anyone that is not deaf can hear the improvements this upgrade offers.
Check out the response below from and actual customer that bought this upgrade:
Phantom Plastics: 5 months ago (edited)
Sold! - UPDATE - I bought this upgrade. It's easy to install, even for a complete novice. The sound is much clearer and more engaging now. Transients are faster with much more impact. I was actually startled at one point. Female vocalists like Mary Chapin Carpenter now have a lifelike breathy quality and the soundstage is way more open. This is the kind of upgrade I would expect from buying the Special Heritage which cost $7K (co-incidentally, that has similar quality parts to what GR Research offer for a few hundred dollars). Try it and be amazed.
@@blue-ck9ns People are not worried about their warranty. They want the high quality performance that they thought they would get when they bought these.
I agree the Sony's if you can make them sound great with your upgrade is a greater value than expensive speakers you have to still upgrade.
I would consider one of your kits myself
I've used Dynaudio drivers in DIY builds for close to 30 years and I have never seen any of their woofers have a peak like that. Most are very flat over their intended range of use. Not saying your measurements are wrong, just never seen it before. Also Dynaudio cones are not a simple polypropylene.
for cheap monitoring and home speakers dynaudio using polyprolylene cones
@jon dough wrong
Truth hurts my man, measurements don't lie, these speakers are junk for 3k, even those cheap Sony's destroy them, especially after his mods. I've seen other people measure these 3k paper weights, nearly the same result...
@@bobking7347 the truth is that dynaudio knows how to make speakers:) junk or not junk depends what kind of sound signature somebody likes
@@MrZenderOne lmao stored energy is not a sound signature
I'm constantly amazed at how prestigious speaker manufacturers sell expensive products with such obvious design issues. All grist to your creative mill Danny....
I wonder what’s in their heads. Seriously ...
@@hushpuppykl Money... These went out to all the usual suspect circle jerk reviewers... Who of course gave them rave reviews.
@@hushpuppykl Don't you mean their wallets???
@@brainache555 ... but they do sound nice as is 😂🤣
@@hushpuppyklGood for you if you like them :)
Again i thank you for your info!! I love this channel cause i am researcher when buying my products. I want to know what i am getting for my money cause i want to know its good and proper. These reviews are so informative! People miss that in these reviews! Thanks Danny again for info. Awesome how you do this stuff and hope this create more people researching there products for anything they buy and not let the world go to oh just cheap speakers are fine!
The problem with 'upgrading' crossovers like this, is the assumption that perfectly flat is the best way a speaker could measure. What makes a dynaudio sound different from a KEF or a Focal speaker in large part is those little peaks and valleys through the EQ range which either accentuate or soften certain frequencies. Making it flatter isn't inherently better, it's just different. As far as wiring quality, etc. it's been pretty well disproven that that stuff makes any difference at all. That being said, it is pretty sleazy that these companies are selling their top tier speakers for thousands of dollars and still using the cheapest materials inside that they can
Sorry, but that ringing in the woofer cone (break up), and smearing caused by cheap parts wasn't what they were shooting for. Those are not house sounds. They are problems not addressed properly.
Heck yea... still building my subs but just a bit here and I’ll have THE BEST subwoofer setup under 5k ! Excited
So great to see an actual real world RTA of Dynaudio's bass driver, all I've managed to find is their own published charts in their manuals. This response is NOTHING like any of the response charts I've ever seen by them. I was going to buy pair of MW160 or MW170 6.5" or 7" for the car mainly because of the 3" voice coil, I want to run over 500wrms per driver and this should easily handle it thermally, but after seeing this, I think I'll buy the Morels.
If you are running them as a MB driver crossed 500 or below, I think it should still be fine.
Either way its been 2 yrs so curious if you used the Morels and how they sound.
Yeah I got the Morel Elate 6, the perfect match for the MT23 tweeters I've had for about 10 years, these older Elate 6 are SUPER hard to find. The mid bass is insane, like totally physics defying. Where I used to have to run 200Hz 24dB HPF (and barely that could contain the xmax), I'm now using an 80Hz 24dB subsonic and a 125hz 6dB on top and they barely move. I know that sounds insane, but I'm running about 40 to 45 volts into them (and the tweeters also, both running active) and they take it all. The car is nightclub loud.
If I just use the 80hz subsonic alone, they can take about volume 56 out of 62, which is still pretty loud, about as loud as a normal person running 100 or 150w per front driver.
As for the sound, I like them, I don't notice any big peaks, I typically find around 400hz is VERY peaky in front doors, my Alpine DD Linears were terrible, the speaker peaked there + the door seems to resonate there also, but the Morels have worked out well. They still sound "big" because of the door resonance but it's not that big of a deal to DSP that out. I only have an emm6 mic, I need something better, but I am happy with what I have. I would like to buy a 3 inch mod to raise the soundstage and LPF the Elates near 4 or 5 hundred Hertz eventually, but again, I'm happy with what I have.
I listen to club music a lot, CD tips to .wave, also I like house music and ambient music, so anything from loud bass heavy dance music to soft detailed music. I have the Elates slammed at down at 4KHz 24dB, they don't have any nasty peaks when they extend too high, but I use the sharp filters for power handling. I chose that high because I only have 2 way and I liked the sound of having a touch more mid, I think they are starting to rolloff naturally by then anyway, plus the closest one is super off axis, whereas the tweeters are dead on
Hope all that has some interesting or valuable info for ya lol
@@minus3dbintheteens60 I have never run anything Morel, but considered it MANY times.
I have a Scion xB 2006. My doors SUCK!!
Midbass is impossible in stock location (doors)
Almost no bass sound, cheap doors arent sealed. I tried in door panel and its better, but just for midrange.
I took out my dash upfiring stock tweeters and put 5.25" Audax coaxials.
The sound is way better and there is some mid-bass, but only 25% of what I want.
Id love to hp dash to 400 and have MB in door or somewhere else.
I am considering under seat 6.5s
Ill look up the Morel Elate 6 to see if I can find some
This really makes you think about all hi end audio products. I'm sure its not just limited to loudspeakers....amps, preamp, integrated amps, etc. If you don't see the "ingredients" which makes the dish, how do you know they're not using the cheapest stuff possible to gain maximum profit possible. There are exceptions I'm sure: Rogue Audio makes exquisite gear for a relative bargain. But it really makes you think...
No mercy. Another easy-to-absorb lesson. Don't ever change Danny!!
Danny,
A little Texas pride, I love it. I Sport my Texas colors frequently too. Watching your speaker analysis upgrade videos is so fun and revealing. Every speaker I research these days regardless of the accolades and positive reviews, I think to myself, how could Danny improve these babies, are they Unicorns or a bag of issues? I'd like to see you include with you modification kits another option with even higher level of parts, even if the cost no object parts won't fit inside build an external XO. Keep 'em coming Danny, I'm a fan boy of what you do.
Much Thanks,
Eric Harrelson
Has everyone on here that bashes every brand reviewed ever looked inside the boxes of their electronics or do they also build their own electronics? You're in for a shock if you look inside. Is every kit GR sells beyond reproach or have compromises also been made and further improvements could still be had? Buy what sounds good to you and move on. If the Dynaudios were $2000 would people here be more accepting, not likely, they'd still complain and say they got ripped off. It's hilarious. If you only want to pay the cost of the BOM build your own, I'm sure they'll sound perfect and be super ugly.
If you ever get a Dynaudio Heritage Special in your workshop and it goes in somewhat the same direction as the S40 then i'll be damned!
You can see that the quality of components used in the Heritage is far higher as it should be for the price. This kit will bring you close to the Heritage for a few hundred.
It kind of makes me wonder if manufacturers even bother testing their products. How is it you can instantly see the flaws? And why at this price level can manufacturers not give customers their money's worth. Every company should make a profit. That's why they're in business. But it almost seems like the higher the cost, the more they just shamelessly rip people off. To that end Danny, thank you for continually showing it like it is, and offering solutions.
The reason it's built like a 18e century piano finish for snobs who can't have something less in their room... Well tells u a lot who it's designed for and guess what, when briefed, the sellers get to know who it's targeted for too. It's a masterpiece of marketing, within a serious and professional brand.
@@vivianvaldi7871 I like a great looking finish too. I prefer piano gloss black. But the first order is great sound. I guess they count on people not really caring about anything but looks. Also people who don't research reviews of products first. They get ripped off and don't even know it. I was once such a victim. I'm here trying to educate myself.
I'm pretty sure they did already. Look at the trade-off made in this kit. He had to pad the tweeter output to make up for the drop-off in the woofer, which means the off-axis peak problem at 3K got way worse in order to reduce the peak at 1K. So you trade off a upper midrange peak for a treble peak. To me that's going to depend on the end user whether or not it was actually an upgrade.
There is obviously an emperor's new clothes dynamic to all of this.
When I have test driven very expensive speakers I have always been shocked by how indifferent they sounded and how inferior and less mellifluous they were next to my 1980s counterparts, as well as by the aggression, rudeness and aspersions made on my hearing by irate sales-staff.
Watching Danny I'm glad that I stuck to trusting my ears.
everything has flaws if you look hard enough
I believe these speakers were supposed to be "fun" and were voiced accordingly. Dynaudio certainly has a house sound, much like Harbeth or Sonus Faber, etc. that you either like or don't like. Fixing the cabinet resonance and flattening the curve (especially without consideration of the speaker's polar response or the room) is counterproductive and will absolutely ruin the resale value. If you want a "neutral" sounding monitor you should just purchase one to begin with.
Actually, the polar response has been improved as well. Also, only part of the upgrade is balancing out the response. That nasty woofer resonance is not part of a house sound either. They just neglected to correct it, and it needed correcting. These were also being held back by the parts quality. The upgrade is a transformation from a lifeless and problematic speaker into a pretty decent speaker.
Could you post the music sample clips before and after, so we could get a sense to what degree the sound improvement is.
Thank you Danny. Ive always been a big dynaudio fan. As an installer I know quite well theey cheap out on stuff you dont see. Even with the expensive ones.
But why is there so much hate here? You dont have to buy them if you dont want to? Danny made the speaker better. Doesnt mean they sound bad. The quality of parts is the one upsetting.
Look at all these ignorant people bashing Danny who has an EE Engineering degree.... Dude knows his stuff, people who buy his kits are happy.
I would love to see a impulse response in adition to a frequency response. Frequency response is just one side of a coin. I witnessed poor sounding speakers wich had a well balanced frequency response.
Isn't spectral decay similar to impulse response in terms of what we learn from it?
@@PierreVilleneuve88 It is, but impulse response looks at things from a different way, you might be able to see ringing a little better, than the broad overview that a spectral decay offers. Though it can take more work. He's already doing far more than nearly anyone in the industry, so people should cut him slack for the thousands of man hours behind the scene's.
What an eye-opening video. Unbelievable.
Buy the sonys
@@rondegroot1508 lol
Hi Danny! Thanks for your speaker upgrades and measurements that explanes much of their benefits. I think subjective responses like the Phantom Plastics, are very interesting, maybe also a comment from you, about each speakers sound after your upgrade.
He has address that already, once you do an upgrade you know exactly what improvements you will get so commenting on each upgrade is redundant and a waste of time. I doubt if Danny spends anytime listening to these speakers after all the upgrades he has done.
I am speaking from experience as i did the same to my speakers, no crossover changes just better parts and improvements were instant and obvious since I did the upgrade one at the time and listened to both at the same time. This test left me with no question or doubt.
He doesn't even listen to them. He is a con artist.
"I'm amazed that I was able to get it that smooth with drivers that measured that rough."
AMEN.
I never liked Dynaudios! Everybody raves about them but all the ones I've heard just leave me cold.
This was very informative and I mean VERY. I've been toying with the idea of upgrading to a Dynaudio
or ATC book-shelf set and based on the speaker (relevant) education you've provided on both
manufacturers ... the choice is obvious. When I purchase the ATC (SCM-11's) I will get your upgrade
kit and get someone local to refurbish the cross-over. Danny ... thank you so much ... excellent!!!!
ABSOLUTELY adore and respect your reviews, opinions and "fixes" for the various speakers that land on your workshop desk, Danny! I am guessing you MIGHT like the level of quality innards of the Dynaudio Heritage Specials a little more (despite any shortcomings they may have, to me, they sound crazy good) BUT!!! They sell for 7 g's USD! That's right 7 THOUSAND dollars . . . holy smokes . . . I guess you're paying for the name, the limited number in production and yes, better parts including their Esostar 3 soft dome tweeter. VERY sophisticated sound IMHO. I did hear the "Special" 40 and was not enamoured with it perhaps for the reasons you outline here . . . is the Heritage "worth" 7 grand? Technically speaking perhaps not - but they DO sound like music :-) Please continue with your great and VERY interesting videos!
They're a very respectable company. You pulled back the curtains and showed the truth in the industry. How far does the rabbit hole go? What about a 10,000 or more speaker!
All this upgrade stuff makes me wonder why you wouldn't just make the speaker from scratch yourself from a Kit. I know that's not as easy as it sounds but at least you know the quality of the parts.
Its very interesting to see isn't it,
I have always been suspicious over these ridiculously expensive audio products and this just proves my point.
Respected but perhaps not so respectable.
Would be great if this "expert" did some fact checking before posting this video, but maybe that's too much to expect!
Speaker cable inside Special 40 is NOT cheap! It is VanDenHul The Snowline.
Non-electrolytic capacitors are Mundorf capacitors.
I don't think that was what was in these speakers.
But the fact there are electrolytic caps in there is a joke...
@@dannyrichie9743 l’m with YOU, Danny.
Dynaudio does use Mundorf in some of their higher end speakers. However these are probably Bennic. My Dyn 52se's have Bennic I believe. I took a peek in there.
The special 40 are superb speakers. Don't ruin them.
There is no such thing as intrinsic value. There is only the value assigned to a product by the purchasers wallet. If these speakers had included all the crossover parts Danny believes they should would anyone who thinks these speakers are a rip off as is suddenly think they're a good deal? Well, if you answered yes you're not thinking clearly. Yes, the crossover parts Danny recommends are more expensive but not even remotely close to being enough to warrant a $3000 price tag based on parts content alone. If you want great overall value from a parts versus performance price then build yourself a kit. Like, seriously, almost any kit. Buy Danny's kit. Buy a kit from Madisound or Parts Express or any of a variety of other sources and you will definitely get more for your money than any commercial speaker will give you. Every product on earth costs more than it's parts content alone and no one man is the absolute arbitor of what those parts should be regardless of price. Are the parts Danny recommends better than what came from the factory? Technically speaking, absolutely. But will changing out the factory parts for the GR-Research parts make this speaker the performance equivalent of a top notch $3000 kit? Not even close! Heck, many people will prefer the sound before the parts change. As I've said before on this channel. It's your money, spend it how you wish. But all anyone can do no matter how skilled they are with speaker design is change, not fix, the sound. The end result of that change may or may not sound better to you. Some people like a bass or midrange bump. Some people like recessed mids or high or even thin bass. Geez, I think some of y'all would sell your house if Danny came along and found that your wall studs, though perfectly safe and installed correctly were southern yellow pine instead of Douglas fir. If it works, you like it and feel it's worth the money, buy it. But If you're buying $3000 bookshelf speakers in the first place, well, I'd say that no matter how good the parts are inside, your perception of value is too skewed to worry about anyway!
Amen
When you spend the money you also invest in a company. The level of components you get for your money is only a fraction of the value you get in return.
If you want the manufacturer to pay salaries, rent office space, do research and development etc then you assume your 3k isn't getting you 3k in parts. The product you receive is only a fraction of that. If it weren't, there would be no company to buy speakers from
PERFECTLY SAID.
Wow how disappointing for such a high pedigree speaker! Great review and keep up the good work ! we consumers are lucky to have someone like you exposing these so called hi end companies worts and all! I know they need to turn a profit but that’s robbery.
Getting close to 50K Subs Danny!
Great job as always, a fan from Portugal!
Strange measurements, as Dynaudio has one of the most advanced measurement systems. These little speakers sound amazing, so how important are the frequency response and the crossover parts if the sound is excellent? I like to see a comparison between the original and the upgraded version, blind tested by an experienced listening panel.
Then they sound have used that measuring system to identify the problems and they should have used some higher quality parts in them for that price point. What they produced is mediocre at best and piss poor for that price point.
There is no comparing what they sold to our upgrade.
I am kind of confused after 30 years of Hifi and DIY speaker building looking at all your videos. Seems you think to increase sound of every commercial speaker by flattening the frequency response on axis and 30°. But is it that easy? To be honest: I did not hear any of your own speakers or any speakers modified by you. But I am kind of struggeling to believe becuase from my experience the big companies like Dynaudio know very well about speaker sound refinement.
What about impulse response or THD in higher power levels? I cannot believe changing poly caps to more expensive poly caps and corretly rated iron inductors changing to air inductors change the world. (and I have changed many poly caps in my live)
From my opinion it is more the developer feeling to understand how to adjust the crossover to get the speaker sound good. And I believe that Dynaudio for sure recruted the best developers for the job.
Hi GR-Research, please give me a response so that I can understand it. I am at least not a complete noop , german diploma in electric engineering since 19 years. so I think I should potentially be capable to understand what you would explain.
@Thorsten Hoffmann Give him a phone call, I called him once because I was having trouble ordering no-rez product on his website. He was nice and helpful. However, I wouldn't expect him to have a long conversation, he's busy running his company.
Danny is a Saint. . . His quality of work and his knowledge are impeccable. . . Thank you Danny!!!
Great video!!
If the parts are so bad, how the speaker sound so good?
Maybe because there are 40 years of research and development behind this speaker?
How do you calculate 40 years of R&D into the speaker price?
I bought this kit and they sound far, far better with the kit.
@@phantomplastics6582 Really?
Please post 1 minute sound sample on your channel. I subscribed to your chanel so I will not miss it.
@@igaldins lol bro
@@phantomplastics6582 stop shilling
Still have them. Now with McIntosh.
They are kind of dense in the mids but sound good with any music. Bass is perfect.
Wanted to replace them with more transparent and expensive speaker but returned to the SP40 after a week.
Very musical and pleasant speaker with good bass.
This guy in the video don’t really know what he’s talking about.
Funny guy 😄😄
the fastest and most resolute speaker that i ever had ... but now perhaps there is the reason why after the initial excitement from those two parameters was a little bit gone i couldn't really enjoy it.
Not sure if the changes in the filter done here are also the cure, because is a complex one with suppose time/phase adjustments that are probably gone after this corrections.
Th original wire is a vandenhul snowline ... actually not a bad one ;)
That's what I wonder too, if 100 people listened blind before and after what would the results be?
Dear Gary,
We apologize for the very long answering delay. Our support department has been low in staff for the last couple of months. The situation is better now and we're doing our best to catch up.
About this video.
Here is our answer (from product management) :
Recently we have received numerous comments regarding a TH-cam video shared by a person trying to sell “upgrade” kits for Special Forty. In the video, the person makes dubious claims regarding the build quality of the Special Forty, obviously to make his own product sound like a good investment. For instance, claiming that the cable we use is low quality (it is in fact Van den Hul Snowline, a well regarded product). Making different choices in terms of tuning and material choices does not inherently make the product better, in fact the suggestions made are likely to negatively impact longevity. Obviously, following the suggestions made will void the 8 year warranty that we provide for our speakers.
Med venlig hilsen / Best regards / Mit freundlichen Grüssen
Nicolas Cherencq
Nice msg on ur t-shirt 👌
Pretty good upgrade in terms of measurements. Suprised the woofer measures like that. I'm a huge dynaudio fan, but opening up my sub amp that has failed shows very cheap components just like the cheap crossover components in this speaker. Bit dissapointing to honest.
Hi Danny! I observe the damping material seems to be a kind of fibrous stuff. Do you think it would have a benefit to put some other damping instead? In fact, I would like a video on this topic and I'm sure a great number would be interested to hear your thoughts on this, because we do not speak a lot on that topic in audio circles. Thanks again for a great video!
Love your analysis and fixes!
It is refreshing to hear somebody professional who's really talks with engineering sense!!
There are a lot of people who speaks about Audio seems smart but are not really.
I like your video and going to search for more of yours article since you sound really professional with integrity.
Joel
I was looking at these, but I like the sound of the Buchardt 400 MKII better. The Buchardt's are about a $800 to $1,000 less, so I am leaning that way.
The Buchardt's are better speakers by far.
I don't understand why people talk about "sand cast" resistors. You won't find any "sand cast" resistors in any manufacturer's catalogues. Some resistors are encased in ceramic to aid heat dissipation, but the resistive element doesn't contain any sand. Some ceramic encased resistors are wirewound, and wirewound resistors are very good.
How did "sand cast" become a pejorative term?
The term sand cast is how the ceramic shell is cast. There is no sand in the electrical path.
Fantastic work, and presentation. I owned about 5 pairs of Dynaudio speakers varrying in price from $1000 to $16,000. I couldn’t listen to them for a long time. It seems that who advertises most on Stereophile….will get the best reviews! Had much more quality from XTZ and Canton.
you`d probably like dali epicon
You’re my favorite Chinese TH-camr
Why don't we see the altered result with the new parts?
The measured results are right there in this video.
What bb foto has stated is a complete and total lie.
If you look in the upper righthand corner of the measurements you'll see the word Clio. Clio is a measuring system. It doesn't model responses. Each measurement shown is an actual measurement made with a network on that speaker. Nothing I do is modeled.
@@dannyrichie9743 - You also never answered the question. You can play semantics all day, but the fact that you NEVER show a finished “upgraded” speaker pair speaks volumes to those with common sense.
@@toucheslapper Are you kidding me? You haven't been watching all of my video's. I took the Klipsch RP-600M and shot five video's on the whole assembly process from beginning to end. I did the same with our X-LS Encore kit.
@@dannyrichie9743
Danny I know a way how to make your TH-cam channel much more successful than it is even now. Just buy/ rent Randy the mic system off of Adorama and have it properly set up and do a before-and-after of the speaker that you're going to modify. Heck, you could even put the speaker together then ship it to Ron for him to do for a small fee it would make it worth your while! I promise you it would pay off huge. I realize you're going to have to modify the speaker and put it together unless you're sending it back to the customer to do it themselves!🤔🤔😉😉😇 It would put all these as you call them flat-earthers doubting opinions to rest. Wow, just watched Ron's channel as he just mentioned he's coming down to help you out! Man, you took my great advice even before I offered it!!🤔🤔🤭🤭🤭🤭😉😇😜 As you can see, I know what I'm talkin about and evidently so do you!😬
@@bigjay1970 All in the works.
I love how you say your going to" throw in" a sheet of no-rez, as if it was free, but then the price jumps up one more time.
I think the jump was the labour charge not the no-res
@@chrisburn7178 There is no labor, he's selling a bag of parts.
I am a fan of Dynaudio and owned most of their Audience, Contour, and Confidence lines back in the early 2000s. I was going to buy their limited Heritage speakers but after seeing how cheaply their S40 speakers are made, I'm having a second thought. BTW, the S40s are now $3500. The $500 increase, I guess, is for lower quality parts and workmanship. lol. Nice job Danny!
Choose harbeth superhl5plus you won't go wrong with the sound and built quality.
The Heritage Series completely crushes the S40 and all the parts in are better than anything he is offering here as an "upgrade". All True 1st order crossover (SP40 is not), Mundorf Caps, Vandenhul wiring and a complete redesigned tweeter and the best driver Dyn has ever made pulled from their highest end Tower speaker. The SP40 is still a great speaker that operates above it's price point, so this fella can say whatever he likes, I had them for years and they were great. Once you hear the Heritage there is no going back to them however.
@@jc51373 I really appreciated your comments on the Dynaudio Heritage Special. I've just read Steff Huff's review and my mouth was salivating. I assumed that you owned a pair. What amplifier are you using to get the best out of it? Do you know if they soldered the wires or used push-type connectors onto the drivers? That was so cheesy on the S40.
@@mitulvenkataramanasamy5187 Thanks for your recommendation. I tried to like the look but it wasn't for me.
@@audiomacaudiomac5019 I am running a Class Integrated from Sugden, MSB Discrete DAC on the Heritage I am auditioning. I haven't pulled the trigger yet I want to hear the Tune Tots first...The wires are all soldered to the board.
He's trying to sell us KITs. We need to have that in mind.
if the mid/low woofer should be cut at lower freq, it would have been done already by Dynaudio (it doesn't cost extra money).
We can't design speakers on the paper..
But anyway whole topic it's quite interesting.
The point in me doing this isn't to sell upgrade kits. It is to help improve the listening experience for those that have these speakers or any speakers. It also introduces people into the DIY market. And eventually we can step them up into some of our higher quality DIY kits.
@@GRResearch Thanks for response. To dispel all doubts it would be nice to not only see the speakers already equipped with KIT but also to have listen session and a kind of comparison.
The point is that I just can't understand how the heck these speakers are so popular, very well rated across the globe while in fact built from shitty parts. I do own a pair of these, I've had compared with many other (even with slightly more expensive ones) before I bought them , and for me there is no better speaker in this price range. I never took a look at the paper, only listen. And of course I know, this is only my personal subjective opinion :)
@@ukaszdubiel7584 No better speakers for the price range? There are way better sounding speakers out there for a fraction of their cost. Our base level X-LS Encore kit at $249 a pair will beat these up pretty well.
@@dannyrichie9743 it sounds so much commercial (KIT again)
For me it now seems like there are no any good speakers on the market and we need to get them all equipeed with KITs :)
I give up here :)
Good luck with your business
@@ukaszdubiel7584 Why not make a speaker better? Any speaker can be tweaked or upgraded. Even our kits come with a list of additional upgrades. That is part of our never ending quest of making our systems sound better and better.
Very interesting video, particularly regarding the seemingly quite poor bass driver. But why didn’t an upmarket company like Dynaudio achieve this improvement with the crossover and cabinet damping in the first place?
Give their R&D department a call.
Dani great video, it is such a shame that the manufacturers cut costs on such important areas of the build. Watching all these videos of yours has seriously opened up my eyes to what goes on and how easy it is to fix with your technical knowhow. I would not have ever expected electrolytic caps etc in a 3k speaker or from a respected brand such as Dynaudio. I was looking at a pair in my UK dealers and have to say I was drawn towards the lovely finish. I will have to think long and hard what to buy now, shame not in USA as I would invest in one of your kits and flat packs. Anyway thanks for the insight.
Seeing all manufacturers appearing as crapy designers does not provide me with confidence about the one constently doing fingerpointing... There is definitely a common factor here. Wish you all the best.
This guy gets it.👍
Building any loudspeaker is all about compromises. I never see in your videos that you measure or addresses Total Harmonic Distortion (at any given freq) and the impact it has on the overall sound, clarity, dispersion and decisions/goal on the final design.
Would be great if you could include these measurements and educate your followers accordingly..... Cheers
$$$
Would you want the kits to cost more?
@@bobking7347 ASR doesn't take any money from his measurements so it can be done.
One question... How does it sound before and after?
Good question!
It's a hot steamy one that......
Instead or me telling you what I think, let's wait and hear from everyone implementing the kit.
@@dannyrichie9743 That's a bit of a cop out!
@Yael Jerome I thought it took only 15 minutes?
Thanks for all your videos. Love em!
Interested in how the Heritage models measure and what the quality of parts is, speaker companies make a living from ripping you off.
Dynaudio uses Mundorf caps in their some modeks of their Contour and Confidence lines according the website.
Spending 3 grand on a pair of speakers, you shouldn't have to spend another $300 dollars to make them sound better, it should be done at the factory where they are made
Well, to me the FR plot after the “upgrade” looks worse than the original on some frequencies, while he flattened a bit the 1K region he also created a deeper valley on the 6K region, also I don’t buy the individual “woofer measurements”, since the woofer has been tweaked to work along with the original crossover, what I would ONLY do is replacing the inexpensive parts in the crossover with higher quality parts but keeping the original values.
My point is actually a bit different - I'm not so sure the tweeter is able to handle low x-o freq proposed in the upgrade. While the bump in midwoofer freq response looks terrible, most 6" drivers have the cone edge artifact. To me the crossover could be optimized better from the factory, but I wouldn't cut the tweeter so low unless I'm 100% certain it can take the extra signal without introducing it's own distortions. Actually I have nothing against the original voicing of this speaker.
The drivers are just pulled of a shelf and the crossover and box is designed to suit. They basically only make 1 bass/mid driver, in various sizes. They all have the same motor, the same cone material and basically the exact same T/S parameters apart from the sensitivity, resonant frequency and overall bandwidth.
So any speaker they make using this driver with the 3 inch coil is going to have the exact same issue. Even the cars like VW that have these drivers just with a plastic basket I bet have the exact same issue, unless its caused by the basket but the frequency is way to high to be caused by solid cast alloy
The thing is that I don’t get why the original crossover has to be flawed, every hi-fi loudspeaker on the market has its signature sound, if you want a flatter FR go get studio monitors period, I myself own the S40’s, I can tell you that with the right electronics and the right placement these loudspeakers sound very life-like and sweet, I really like them, are there better loudspeakers?, of course there are, but at this price point these loudspeakers are very, very, very good at soundstage, dynamics and detail, besides that there’s no “perfect” speakers on the market, they all have colorations and distortion.
I think you are asking "why is the shape of the response a flaw and not a feature"? Well, I guess you could look at it that way. A song should be recorded perfectly, and a speakers job is to play the song back with nothing added or taken away. The speaker should never be able to make a song sound "better", only worse. A speaker that doesn't not play like a flat studio monitor is adding peaks and distortion information that should not be there, or it is taking away info that should be there. As I said, the song should be recorded perfectly so that when it is played back 1:1 with a flat playing speaker it sounds the best.
I think there is a misunderstanding about hi-fi loudspeakers and studio monitors loudspeakers, hi-fi speakers usually have some pleasant colorations, they could be on the neutral side of warm or they can be a bit bright, some others can have a slight V shaped sound, so a flat FR in hi-fi speakers is not always a desirable feature, in fact is not expected, this is what audiophiles are looking for, some audiophiles find flat FR speakers boring and uninvolving, but a flat FR is desirable for studio monitors. The S40’s are considered a balance sound loudspeakers with a touch of warmth and air at the top. This is why I find this kind of crossover “correction” completely pointless.
Now I know most of those expensive speakers are way over priced.. Thanks for the video.. What do you think about ELAC speakers?
Budget level speakers that are well designed.
The acoustic centers of this speaker means you should be listening to them raised slightly above ear level.
I bet speaker manufacturers hate seeing these videos.. It's opening peoples eyes to what is going on..
I think every corporation should take note... Quality is worth paying for...
I never read anywhere where someone has come forward and modded their speakers and stated it made a vast improvement. These must be all Danny s speakers he's modding.
Read more of the responses to our videos and post on our forum and elsewhere all over the Internet. Not only do the customer love the vast improvement. They become repeat customers.
I've upgraded 3 sets of speakers now with kits from GR, all cheapo no money speakers whose MSRP combined is probably less than 1/6 what this one goes for 😂. But I can say for certain the upgrades make a huge difference.
I'm very pleased with how my system sounds and I paid less for a full 5.1.4 system (including GR upgrades on the 5 base level speakers) with receiver (bought broken and fixed) and blu ray player than a friend of mine paid for just one pair of high end KEFs. And I honestly prefer my system over his. Plus I got the fun of working on it myself. 😊
Damn, Danny, that has to be the tightest vertical off-axis measurement I've seen you produce with a speakers upgrade! Very nice!
Hey gr research what about monitor audio gold 100 5g or 7g are they better than dynaudio s40
Who would have thought of from a well-known manufacturer? I guess not everyone is going to open up the box to see if all is good. At $3k you have every right!
Absolutely crazy a speaker manufacturer would charge so much for cheap parts.
This chap still believes into significant differences between cables, capacitors and coils. I tried this in the 1980's (young ears) several times without result. Useless approach, except for the providers of such parts. Buy better speakers, if you are not happy, and please do not waste money on esoteric nonsense!
While I agree that changes in some of those will not alter the audio signature, he does show actual improvements in objective measurements from the upgrades. Regardless, he's right in that for that $, it should not be full of low grade parts. That brand seems a terrible value for $.
Ok boomer
@@willbrink Sorry mate, but he is straight up lying to you and then you repeat it.
1) He did not fix anything - all he did is change the frequency response - which he can do, but that does not make the speaker better just because it is flatter.
2) Dynaudio is one of the best known brands for their high quality speakers with top notch parts. That is the reason why a pair of Focus 340 I bought used 5 years ago 2.000€ are still worth that money now.
3) This has nothing to do with dollers - these aren't your typical cheaply made American speakers - these are done by engineers from Denmark.
To each his own - if you don't like Dynaudio or you aren't even into hifi - fine with me, but stop repeating something without doing your research.
@@zebarzebra 1) He did not fix anything - all he did is change the frequency response - which he can do, but that does not make the speaker better just because it is flatter.
A: Flatter speakers are generally a better speaker, but you can debate that if it makes you happy.
2) Dynaudio is one of the best known brands for their high quality speakers with top notch parts. That is the reason why a pair of Focus 340 I bought used 5 years ago 2.000€ are still worth that money now.
A: you must have watched a different video. He literally shows the low grade parts in the box, unless you think he faked what was in there? For that $, those are low end parts.
3) This has nothing to do with dollers - these aren't your typical cheaply made American speakers - these are done by engineers from Denmark.
A: Of course has to do with dollars, and some companies charge a fair price for they offer, some, not so much. Like speakers from Europe, US speakers ranges from very well made to not so great, and what matters is what they cost for the value. As far "done by engineers from Denmark" you're poorly informed: "Dynaudio is a chinese company with a chinese majority owner. Some of the lower lines are FULLY MADE IN CHINA. The cabinets are outsourced, and the higher lines are assembled in Denmark." Dynaudio was acquired by Goertek in 2014
To each his own - if you don't like Dynaudio or you aren't even into hifi - fine with me, but stop repeating something without doing your research.
A: Not I who needs to do their research obviously...
@@willbrink Dynaudio is a Danish company, owned by Chinese. It is located in Skanderborg, 30 km from where I live.
250 of their 350 employees work there. All development happens there. According to their website, production also happens there.
The latest info on cabinet production, is from 2018, and it says that their cheapest models' cabinets are produced in their own facilities in Latvia.
What's the issue with PVC coat?
It's kind of the heaviest, with bad numbers. It completely changes the signal speed in the cable. Lightest is the best, with air inside,. Best is air, bur technically difficult. Some high-end even goes for cotton, yep grandma's underware cotton, like Duelund.
Heritage Special please!
Love your videos and exposing the expensive brands for what they are.
Would you like to look at a set of Heritage Specials? They are good enough to make me want Confidence 20.
Off axis freq and phase response needs to closely match on axis to achieve realism (according to Floyd Tooles research at NRC here in Canada)
It's impossible with these speakers, there's a boat-load of diffraction at 3kHz
@@the_niceking7011 understood.
I wonder if the old trick of felt sheet around tweeter would make a difference.
Hi. I liked your review on the Dynaudio Special 40. Could you do the same thing with the Totem Signature One? I would like to know if an upgrade is needed for that speaker.
Send one in.
Could you show how you install the no-rez and how figure out much to use?
YOU mean i pay $3000 and get shit crossover parts ? BUT I bought ahigh end brand.. (facepalm ) Exactly what i keep telling people, just because the name brand is on there and they are expensive doesn't mean they are "GOOD". Thank god Danny is showing people the light !!
Excellent
Great series of videos Danny
I worked for a high end American assembled audio company for 25 years.People don't believe me when I told them 90% of the parts were from China,made to there specs.Marketing 101
I wonder if these new improvements ruined it's special sound? Flat isn't always better or we would all listen to studio monitors.
There is nothing ruined with this upgrade. And a flat response doesn't mean they sound flat. It just means it's accurate. How it sounds has more to do with the parts used and in this case it just got a big upgrade.
Please keep up your articles-they are famous!
whatever u buy from a mass produced manufacturing of most brands and that's always stocks!!! only custom modification upgrades are always the perfect and champion way to do.... eg. cars, bikes etc.. etc...
It would be a crime not to subscribe to this channel..
I belive that the new crossover frequency at 1.3 - 1.4khz i a bit to low for the tweeter to handle.
Not at all. The steepness of the filter protects it just fine.
These Speakers should be called the Dynaudio 40 Dumplings series 😆 very good cookie boy..
Thanks Danny 😘