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.
GR-Research against Professionals....Finally after 2 years "How “Special” is the 40?"....I think it is still much more special than every speaker from GR-Research. A great speaker with great drivers, a great crossover and cabinet. 40 years of Know-How, this is what you HEAR! The result counts, not any complains about silly part selection. Perfect Dynaudio!
I notice that the issue of whether the crossover parts make a sonic difference is always supposed to be taken for gospel in Danny's videos. To me it's not at all obvious that a person can hear the improvement of an AirCore inductor.
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
@@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
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.
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
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!
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.
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
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 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.
@@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
@@thespotlightkid1011 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.
Hey brother,, I have been mastering for 30 years and recently acquired a set of ATC Scm 12 s. As you said in your last video the atc are good ,, but they need to bring the tweeter up a bit and put some no res inside.. can you send me a kit to do that ,, and how much will it cost?
Great video. I really appreciate your work and honesty. Please keep doing such reviews! (PS I did your upgrade on my Usher BB-718s and they are lovely)
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
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/
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.
I'm constantly amazed at how prestigious speaker manufacturers sell expensive products with such obvious design issues. All grist to your creative mill Danny....
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...
Have you ever looked at the Aperion Audio 633-T or a 533-T they are older but I wonder how they will measure. I love the science of this. Axiom Audio is another Direct to Consumer item you could take a look at.
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!
Thank you for this review! To pairing with these Special Forty, wich integrated amplifier do you think will be work better, the Musical Fidelity M6si or the Atoll IN300? Regards!
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 RU-vid 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.
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.
@@dannyrichie9743 thanks for your reply. With the encore so well reviewed, and the special 40 still in another league, would you say that the difference between the two speakers would be the quality of the driver and the tweeter since the other parts used on the special 40 still has lots of room for improvement?
@@jailthejudge Mostly drivers I would say. Despite the fact that the Dynaudios may not be perfect in freq resp or other easily measured parameters their drivers are still some of the best, well better sounding on the planet. The whole encore parts might get you one the Dynaudio woofers if it was available. I think Solen in Montreal sells their components, of course they are very expensive comparing to other manufacturers. solen.ca/manufacturer/dynaudio/
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!
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.
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!!!!
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.
Agreed! And I'd like my Tannoy Revolution XT-8F reviewed. I've enjoyed them immensely - this despite all the cynicism one could accumulate following RU-vid audiophile offerings. I wonder what Kevin at Upscale Audio might say? LOL
Id be very, very interested in an analysis of the NS-1000 Monitors. I own a beloved decades-old pair, and would consider modernizing the aged crossovers.
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.
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.
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 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.
I have a question. Why do some speakers have a fluctuating ohm rating? Is this by design? Is there an audible advantage to this? And lastly, why don't all speakers have a 4 ohm rating if it's more advantages? Thanks
The fluctuations are caused by the filter. And there is no advantage in a speaker being 4 ohms. That is much more of a disadvantage. That looses most of your tube amp guys and guys with home theater receivers.
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
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 RU-vid 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!😬
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.
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.
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.
@@dannyrichie9743 … I’m like halfway round the world from you. If not I would do it. Will be superb to see what you find. You doing a great job!!! Loving it. 🙏
Thanks, but I'm referring to the actual speakers you are fixing. When you fix the response by redesigning the crossovers, do you hear these differences?
Excellent job, Danny. Someone once said that they were not fond of speakers with oversized voice coils. I forget his reasoning. Question: what happens when the copper connectors become tarnished? Does the oxidation affect signal transfer? Hmmm...now that i hear myself, I think I know the answer.
I believe that a 3 inch voice coil on such a small speaker results in a spider with a narrow wall.A small excursion of the cone stretches the spider a great deal exerting restriction om cone freedom to move. That voice coil; was used mainly to increase power handling and make the driver look imposing and impressive.
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
