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Dynaudio Contour 30 Review

Dynaudio Contour 30 Review

The words “there are no accidents” rang through  my mind early in the auditioning of these Dynaudio Contour 30s as I listened to the album Mindif [Enja, 1988] from South African musician Abdullah Ibrahim. I’ve listened to this album for years, only just now to discover that it served as the soundtrack for the wonderful French film Chocolat. Experiencing the soft, silky analog textures on Mindif’s title track and looking around me at the half-eaten chocolate bunnies following a sugar-high Easter feast, I was reminded that one should always heed the advice of 1000-year-old Kung Fu-legend tortoises. There are no accidents. Chocolat, indeed.

Something else that was most certainly not an accident? Having designed, tested, and built complete loudspeakers and loudspeaker components for over 40 years, Dynaudio is one of a handful of high-end manufacturers that can be termed “soup to nuts.” As but one indicator of just how intentional every design decision is on a Dynaudio product, the company says it took a year of measuring, recording, and listening tests just to select the type of glue used to join the voice-coil and cone on the new Contour models. Apparently, approximately 80% of its team could hear these sticky differences. The Contour owner’s manual makes clear that the development of the series was a collective effort down to the smallest details (for more on these details, please see the Technically Speaking sidebar).

The two-and-a-half-way $7500 Contour 30 is the literal middle of the extensive Dynaudio lineup. The newly designed Contour series sits above the Emit and Excite models, and below the Confidence and Evidence lines, while the floorstanding Contour 30 model itself nestles between its $5k Contour 20 stand-mount and $10k Contour 60 floorstanding line mates. The term “newly designed” for many companies can mean just about any day of the week. With Dynaudio, it signals an important and rare event. This is the third iteration for the Contour moniker, the first having spanned 1989–2003, while the last covered 2003–2016. That’s a 13-plus-year product cycle…. Not a company in a hurry to make a splash with the “latest and greatest,” so perhaps we should make a special note of what this Contour has to offer, as it promises to be with us past 2030!

Let’s put the Contour 30s to use and first settle a score.

Dynaudio Contour 30 Review

Super Bowl LII Redux
Earlier this year, Super Bowl 52 saw the Philadelphia Eagles defeat the New England Patriots 41–33. I live in the Boston area, and many in New England are still a little bitter about this, even with the Pats’ abundance of success in the last 16 years. Looking through some of my albums, I noticed two performances of Prokofiev’s Love of Three Oranges. One was Arthur Fiedler and The Boston Pops [RCA LSC-2621, 1962], and the other was Eugene Ormandy’s Philadelphia Orchestra [Columbia MS 6545, 1964]. Great time to replay the Super Bowl, get Boston a win, and learn something about the Dynaudios along the way.

Boston on offense first, and the presentation of this LP was both rich and dramatic. Tremendous weight and foundation here. These two-and-a-half-way Dynaudios felt big and complete, and I mean felt, as there was real presence beyond what you could simply “hear.” The brass was sweet, never straying into an annoying edge. In fact, the only edge was an atmospheric emotional one, not a sonic one. On this RCA, it was clear that the Contour 30s were kindred spirits to the recording, which perhaps led to an overall “heavy” sensation—a full-bodied presentation on a rich recording. And the Pops? I wrote in my notes “machine-like,” but here I didn’t mean this in the most positive light. I was always aware that it was a performance. “Showy” but not convincing. Like…well…like a “Pops” Orchestra.

The stylus handed over to the Philadelphia Orchestra, and now things were much better. While the tactile, foundational weight of the RCA wasn’t there, what had been substituted was a more playful, lively, and engaging stage. Though a more brightly lit recording, at no time did I feel the need to reach for the volume control, even on some of the woodwind passages, where the Columbia’s somewhat “mid-rangey” character could serve as a painful distraction. Here, with these Contours, there was a safety factor built in. The Columbia had been tamed somewhat, and the balance placed in a more favorable light against the RCA. The strings could now breathe without getting lost in the darkness of the lower brass and percussion, as they had when Boston had the needle. Performance? Liked what Philadelphia did better here too. Held my interest in the piece. More playful and satirical than the Pops’ regimented seriousness.

I’d like to be a homer on this one, but unfortunately Philadelphia wins again, 28-17.

Peaceful, Easy Feeling
The sonic field the Contour 30s laid out for this Super Bowl rematch was sweet and rich, and this impression remained from the first formative moments of listening until my last audition. This is an exceptionally easy product to “get.” Like a well-designed luxury midsized sedan, it’s accessible, comfortable, safe, and intended to perform on real streets for your real commute, not solely to set impressive times at the Nürburgring.

If you have the reaction that many of today’s loudspeakers assault your ears and senses with a hyped, forced quantity of detail, the Dynaudio’s sweet, soft, wide dispersion just may cause you to scream “Hallelujah!” Take Bonnie Raitt’s much covered “I Can’t Make You Love Me” from her 1991 album Luck of the Draw on Capitol that I’m listening to right now. This album has a real pop sheen that can easily detract from the listening experience (I’m being kind here). Through the Dynaudios, the sheen is tamed enough to allow both Bonnie Raitt’s wonderful vocals and Bruce Hornsby’s instantly recognizable piano runs to be appreciated and enjoyed without the need to swear about the recording…as much.

Cueing up Andrés Segovia’s guitar on Bach’s Suite No. 3 for solo cello (had me swaying), or Wynton Marsalis and Eric Clapton (with Taj Mahal on vocals) performing the slow-marching “Just a Closer Walk with Thee” from Play the Blues/Live from Jazz at Lincoln Center [Reprise, 2011], and you’ll be engaged from the instrumental inside—the body of the guitar rather than the fingers on the strings. You will be getting more of a deep massage than a light tickle, which results in a warmish, easy flow.

You don’t need to be an experienced sonic sleuth for the Contour 30’s voicing to make itself known, either. Independently, both my eight-year-old son and my wife—within 60 seconds of first hearing the Dynaudios (no exaggeration here)—used the same word: soft. Now this is a loaded term for audiophiles, so I asked my son what he meant, and he said that “when the person was singing, it wasn’t like there were a whole bunch of voices shouting. It was just that person like they were in the room singing directly to you.” Well, thanks, Jai for a nice description of a sound we like to call both present and natural. And I agree with Jai that the sound of the Dynaudios is more in your room (IYR) than in their room (ITR, i.e., that you feel transported to the space of the recording venue). Here, the instruments appear from a very black (not noisy) background.

Dynaudios are intentional objects, and as one of the two most defining characteristics of the Contour 30s (the second of which will be described shortly), its voicing is, I believe, an effort to offer a loudspeaker more easily accessible to a wider audience, and able to be integrated into a wider variety of real-world listening rooms. Its sweet personality was broad in reach—it didn’t matter if I stood, sat, listened in another room, in the sweet spot, or in the corner of my room. And while I normally use some targeted early reflection treatment for serious listening, with the Dynaudios I almost preferred the untreated approach, as if their friendly/forgiving tonal balance and wide and even dispersion were meant to allow an unfussy enjoyment of music in your actual living room. Perhaps even a room that can’t be turned into a sound studio or laboratory.

One last point about the voicing here. The warm foundation was not (as in some brands’ offerings) an accidental result of poor low-frequency control or heavy port output. If you want my technical reading of what they’ve done here (and I suppose you do if you’re reading this), it feels like a very subtle shelving down above 1kHz or so, not a “goosing” or fattening of the low end. In fact, when sub-1kHz material was isolated, the Contours were remarkably clean. Greg Brown’s voice on “Who Killed Cock Robin” from Honey and the Lion’s Head [Trailer Records, 2004] inhabits an area that can easily become murky through a loudspeaker with “fake” warmth, but the Contour 30 avoids this unforgivable sin. In fact, its dual-port setup (both tuned to the same circa-32Hz region) has been designed in such a way as to “spread out” (in space and size) any potential port signature.

OK, we can easily get its accessible and warm chocolate voice. But the Contour 30’s other most noticeable characteristic ability made itself known once again as I wrote in the last paragraph while listening to Bill Withers sing a version of “Let It Be” from Just as I Am [Sussex Records, 1971]. You know what I noticed? I was clapping along…

Groovy
The Dynaudio Contour speakers are rich, but that must not be read as “sloppy.” In fact, the most frequent listening notes I have from my time with them express the opposite: They are rhythmically agile. And, you can hammer the hell out of them. They almost seem happier when pushed.

The fast, funky grooves of Maceo Parker from Life on Planet Groove [Minor Music. 1992]. The smooth flow yet controlled, precise rhythm of Lyle Lovett’s “Penguins” [Live in Texas, MCA, 1999]. Grungy psychedelic riffs from Zappa’s “Willie the Pimp” [Hot Rats, Reprise, 1970]. The Minnesota Orchestra performing Tchaikovsky’s Hopak on Reference Recordings’ Exotic Dances from the Opera from 1996, a track whose pace I’ve heard slowed over many systems. How about two of my favorite “I’ve got more rhythm in my pinky finger than in all of you” artists, Wes Montgomery and Jimmy Smith, performing “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” from Ultimate Wes Montgomery [Verve, 1998]? Like everything else I played, just groovy. If your body can still move, it will with the Contour 30s.

Something with a more subtle and complex rhythmic structure? How about Miles Davis’ “Shhh/Peaceful” on an LP reissue of In a Silent Way [Sony/BMG, 2008], which includes my favorite jazz bassist Dave Holland? For the better part of this whole song/movement (which is Side 1 of the LP), exactly two closely executed notes on Holland’s bass are repeated over and over to anchor this beautifully fused work. Genius. Without this rhythmic center, I’m afraid the spell would be broken, and the Dynaudios allow Holland to drop his anchor. Simple, but very challenging. I love this piece of music, and the Contours let the temporal essential come through here.

Air Guitar
We’ve laid out the idea of a friendly, somewhat forgiving and sweet voice combined with the ability to involve you in the groove. Time to get out the air guitar then.

Like late 60s/70s blues rock? Cream, anyone? If you don’t already know or own it, just get Robin Trower’s Live album [Chrysalis, 1976]. Don’t buy it because it’s going to be your next audiophile treasure that you pull out for your buddies… buy it because you can pretend to be a real guitar hero when your friends aren’t around. Recorded live in Stockholm for the Swedish Broadcasting Corporation, Trower didn’t know he was being recorded for an album, and so he suggests they were really on and free for this concert. Sounds like it, too. My copy of this LP is far from “demo-worthy” (wayyy far) in the traditional sense, but man, I rocked out hard on this through the Contour 30s. And loud. As mentioned before, these speakers don’t mind a hard nudge. The newly developed, longer-throw woofers will show their worth when called upon, as they did here.

What They Don’t Do
The Contour 30’s are Dynaudios, and that means they don’t do surprises, or what I like to simply call mistakes. There are no manufacturers I trust more for engineering consistency than Dynaudio, and the Contour 30 follows this tradition, while adding a degree of modern polish to the overall concept, both aesthetically (my judgment, but you have eyes, too) and sonically. The speaker was carefully crafted by experts with resources in human and machine testing, and it shows. So, while there is a voice, which is distinct from that of, say, the Dynaudio Confidence line above it (which is more “neutral” and revealing overall), this voicing has been implemented without bumps and hiccups along the sonic way. There is pride and value in owning a Dynaudio, and unlike many offerings out there, I looked forward to reviewing the Contours because they’re a real product in terms of support, development, and execution.

What they also don’t do is give you more dimensional insight into the soundstage or offer you a more detailed textural picture. That’s not the Contour 30’s modus operandi. You can’t be a Lotus Evora and a Mercedes E300. And if you put most people in a Lotus, they’d say it was cramped and uncomfortable to drive. The Contour 30 is a Mercedes E300, which means that there will be a little sonic understeer at the limit (just a handling reference for those car geeks reading this). With these particular Dynaudios, the choice has been to have a polished, accessible, comfortable, relatively easy to drive (in terms of character) loudspeaker that isn’t looking to follow every crack in the road and require your complete attention at every turn of the wheel. This means I can enjoy the Robin Trower without any nasty sonic distractions, but traditional “audiophile” recordings are left a little less impressive. It’s not a speaker you use to set new audiophile track records. Dynaudio has its Confidence and Evidence product ranges for this.

The Long and Winding Conclusion
Some years ago, I had a conversation with a very famous high-end loudspeaker designer. I worked at a store that sold his product, and I wanted to give him some in-the-field feedback with the hopes that it might “improve” his product. In a very nice way (I promise), I let him know that his products were rather ugly, and that many customers tended to notice this. I suggested it might help if he made them better looking, if this could be accomplished without sacrificing function/performance. Now, I admit to taking an almost sadistic pleasure in these kinds of exchanges…and I got the expected response: “I don’t make loudspeakers for other people.”

Confidently, succinctly, predictably stated. Of course, it was technically incorrect, as he had a whole factory dedicated to building loudspeakers, all of which were being shipped to “other people,” but I/we get his point. In the luxury, “ultra-high-end” sector of the market, there is room for a designer guru.

The Dynaudio Contour 30 is a product for “other people.” It’s yet another superbly engineered loudspeaker by the Dynaudio team (wish they’d make a dud and show some personality, if I’m honest), and it brings many new and established developments (like the state-of-the-art Esotar2 soft-dome tweeter) to a much broader audience. The Dynaudio Contour 30 is an incredibly accessible product. Within five minutes of listening you will “get” 90% of what it has to offer. And I believe that’s the point here.

If you’re a hardcore hobbyist reading this (and I know that many of you are), please know that most of your non-audio friends find your pursuit… over-enthusiastically geeky. They’d probably just prefer to be allowed to listen to their music in a simple, wonderful way rather than talk about and obsess over it. If they ask you what they should do when they want to get “something nice,” please don’t suggest they follow in your burdensome (to them) footsteps, for they will quickly lose interest and race off to the local Sonos outlet, etc. Instead, head with them to a local store where they can listen to the Contour 30s. I think you’ll find they’ll thank you for introducing them to a more comfortable high-end product that they will live with and enjoy for years to come.

I would never suggest that you purchase a loudspeaker without listening first. But I would suggest than any loudspeaker search is not complete without a stop at the house of Dynaudio. The new Contour Series is a welcomed, serious product from a company that I have long admired.

Specs & Pricing

Type: Two-and-a-half-way floorstanding loudspeaker
Frequency response: 32Hz–23kHz
Sensitivity: 87dB (2.83V/1m)
Impedance: 4 ohms
Driver complement: 2x 18cm MSP woofer/midranges, 1 x 28mm Esotar2 tweeter
Loading: Bass reflex, rear ported
Crossover frequency: (300)/2200Hz
Crossover topology: 2nd order
IEC power handling: 300W
Dimensions: 8.5″ x 44.9″ x 14.2″
Weight: 75 lbs./34.4kg
Price: $7500/pr. ($8625 in premium finishes)

Dynaudio North America
1852 Elmdale Avenue
Glenview, IL 60026
(847) 730-3280

Tags: DYNAUDIO

Allan Moulton

By Allan Moulton

Let’s just start with a confession of sorts. I enjoyed listening to the combined talents of Roger Whittaker, Nana Mouskouri, The Irish Rovers, Zamfir, and Chuck Mangione with my family as a youth (Allan winces).

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