Dynaudio Contour 20 Review
The NEW Contour series launched by the Danish speaker manufacturer Dynaudio has received particular attention. Because New Contour is fully upgraded from the inside out, it has a very different appearance from the previous Contour series. Dynaudio attaches great importance to the research and development of New Contour. Judging from the results, it has indeed achieved perfect results. And here is the comprehensive review of the Dynaudio Contour 20 speakers.
Dynaudio Classic Long Sale Series
When Dynaudio released the first generation of Contour in 1989, it has been a hot-selling product for so many years, greatly enhancing the popularity of Dynaudio, and is an essential contributor to pushing Dynaudio’s reputation to the international market. Therefore, Contour is a significant core product for Dynaudio.
Dynaudio released the second-generation Contour series in 2003. Published in 2016 is the third generation of Contour. Each generation of updates is more than ten years apart. To emphasize the current core value of Contour, even if the price range of Contour (traditional passive speaker) is similar to Focus XD (digital wireless active speaker), the application range of the two series is different. Contour will be more flexible in the potential of sound. Compared with active speakers such as Focus XD, it can control various variables to achieve optimal settings.
There are four product models in New Contour. The New Contour series includes Contour 60 and Contour 30 floor speakers, Contour 20 bookshelf speakers and Contour 25c centre speakers. Contour 20 weighs 15.5 kg, and the protective foam used for outer packaging should also weigh 5 kg. It is very protective.
Top Tweeter, New Midrange Unit
After opening the package, we can see the two units Contour 20. The orange plastic cover with an exclamation mark pattern covers the tweeter. If you are familiar with Dynaudio, you will know that the tweeter designed by them is a very fragile silk soft hemisphere. It is the Esotar 2 of Dynaudio’s top unit, the same tweeter as the million-level flagship speaker. The mid-bass unit is also a self-developed MSP unit, and this time the new model 18W55 is used.
Aluminium Alloy Cutting Front Panel
In the past, the second generation of Contour began to see this metal panel appear. There have been some changes this time. The full range of aluminium alloy 14mm panel panels extends back on both sides with arcs by cutting a whole piece of aluminium alloy instead of stamping and forming, which maintains rigidity. The woofer is directly locked on the panel, and the vibration is properly controlled not to be transmitted to the cabinet. The tweeter is locked on another aluminium alloy plate before fixing on the metal panel, which can further avoid vibration.
New Contour’s cabinet production requires more than 40 hours of hardening of the wood before the first sanding, and after more than 24 hours of waiting, the sandpaper can be used for the second sanding. A total of 16 sandpapers will be used, from P600 and P1500 to the final P3000. This part takes more than three weeks.
New Contour is the first time to adopt a curved box design. In addition to acoustic considerations, it is more about creating a fresh and novel feeling. It is also the focus on off-axis performance. The user does not need to sit in the sweet spot to have an excellent sound performance.
All along, Dynaudio has independently developed and manufactured a single speaker to the whole speaker. Therefore, you can develop the best components and control the quality by yourself, without having to succumb to components from other brands to make improvements. The new Contour series, from small screws to large ones, are all new designs. To combine Dynaudio’s existing traditions and create new features, Dynaudio’s new team of engineers, in addition to their engineers, also recruited new blood acoustics graduates and developed qualified engineers in other companies. Opinions from multiple parties are integrated into the new Contour series. In terms of shape, it not only maintains the traditional box size but also incorporates a unique arc shape. Designers use the ingenious “Discovery Design” to allow consumers to carefully observe the design and will discover, just like the “only understandable, unspeakable” truth. For example, when you look at it from different angles, you will find that it is sometimes flat and sometimes floating.
The back of the New Contour 20 has a circular bass reflex hole with a narrow inner and outer width. The opening is designed as an arc to reduce airflow noise. I guess that the new high-end speakers of Dynaudio may adopt the shape of a curved box in the future.
Exclusive Esotar 2 Ensures the best Treble Performance
The tweeter used in the New Contour series is Dynaudio’s best tweeter-28mm Esotar 2. A special coating applies on the round hemispherical diaphragm during production. The internal voice coil is surrounded by a unique magnetic liquid, which has the functions of shock absorption and heat dissipation and reduces the stress generated when the component works. At the same time, it also improves the power endurance and frequency response range. The tweeter is mounted on an aluminium plate with a thickness of 5mm and then combined with a 14mm aluminium alloy front baffle and MDF bottom plate to form a multi-layer structure.
MSP New Mid-Bass Unit
The new 18cm mid-bass unit 18W55 uses Dynaudio’s patented MSP (Magnesium Silicate Polymer) diaphragm thickness from 0.5mm to 0.4mm, but the stroke increases by 70%. Using the new Glass Fiber Former (Glass Fiber Former), the height of the aluminium voice coil has been increased by 24%, and the elastic wave and hanging edge are also new designs. And use powerful double permanent magnets. To accommodate this new extensive magnet system, the R & D team moved the magnet out of the single frame, which was unprecedented in the previous Dynaudio design.
The design team also analyzed through FET (Finite Element Analysis), redesigned the centring support (Spider), adopted asymmetric and more and smaller waves to improve the overall effect, and the voice coil operates better Control, especially at high frequencies and high volumes.
Key Special Crossover
New Contour’s monomers have changed a lot, and of course, the crossovers will also change. The design team said that if there are excellent monomers without good crossovers, the sound will not be attractive at all. Once again remind everyone that New Contour’s crossovers and monomers are all designed and built by themselves, which is the most critical place for creating sound speakers. The design team can change any element of the monomer or crossover anytime, anywhere To adjust the best sound effect. News Contour’s crossover uses second-order crossover and uses Mundorf’s products on critical components, and other lesser impact parts use more common components to control costs.
Damping inside the Cabinet Eliminates Resonance
The cabinet itself is designed to provide rigidity and eliminate co-vibration. The material of the absorption damper filled inside has an impact, so the new Contour uses a total of three different degrees of dampers to remove resonance. The cabinet itself is made of multi-layer MDF, the back panel is up to 38mm thick, the front panel is 26mm, and the side panels are 16mm and 19mm (Contour 60) depending on the model. The interior of the cabinet is also designed with support reinforcement to reduce resonance further.
KERF-cut MDF dampening with cutting grooves is also added on both sides of the inside of the cabinet to make the cabinet more stable and eliminate standing waves in the cabinet.
Inherit the advantages of traditional sound
In the past, I have listened to the second-generation Contour series and Dynaudio’s higher-end speakers. At that time, my impression was apparent and natural, the scene was moderate, the sound of high-precision bass dyed, and the musical appeal was not particularly emphasized. The sound field is wide open without expansion. But this time, listening to New Contour 20 gave me a slightly different feeling than before, and the overall musicality became stronger. The voice is more pleasing.
Create a new meteorological pattern with the Danish homemade tradition
Dynaudio New Contour 20, this newly designed new speaker is quite successful. The change in appearance is commendable, and especially the curved cabinet is a significant breakthrough. Maybe this is ok for other manufacturers, but no one would feel wrong about Dynaudio’s styling. But they are willing to change and bring out some new changes, which deserves applause. The technical content of Dynaudio, the manufacturing capacity of the monomer is impeccable, and the overall self-made capacity is almost 100%. Essential cabinets, monomers, and crossovers are all developed and manufactured in Denmark, which is no longer easy in the OEM era. With such a speaker manufacturer, of course, it is the victory and defeat. Of course, excellent research and development capabilities and the introduction of right sound products are the absolute keys to success. The New Contour 20 is quite successful, and it makes me look forward to the limits of the New Contour 60.
Dynaudio Contour 20 Specifications
- Sensitivity:86dB (2.83V / 1m)
- IEC Power Handling: 180W
- Impedance:4 Ohms
- Frequency Response (±3dB):39Hz – 23kHz
- Box Principle:Bass Reflex Rear Ported
- Crossover:2 way
- Crossover Frequency:2200Hz
- Crossover Topology:2nd order
- Woofer:18cm MSP
- Tweeter:28mm Esotar2
- Weight: 15.5kg / 34.2lb
- Dimensions (W x H x D): 215 x 440 x 360mm; 8.5 x 17.3 x 14.2in
- Dimensions with feet/grill (W x H x D): 215 x 440 x 396mm;8.5 x 17.3 x 15.6in
