The living room at home was recently filled with a pair of Dynaudio 40th Anniversary Special Edition bookshelf speakers, and after a few weeks of running-in, I fell in love with it. So when the Dynaudio staff offered me a tryout of the Contour 20i, I jumped at it. The Contour series has always been a mainstay of the Dynaudio line, and the Contour 20i continues the legacy of its predecessor with a host of refinements. At the same time, the new finish of Nordic silver caught my eye, and I was looking forward to it before I saw it.
The first thing that struck me when I received the product was the weight: each speaker weighs 14 kilograms, and you can feel the sturdiness of the cabinet (floorstanding speakers at home weigh less than that). The assembly and finish are exemplary, with a delicate walnut finish blended in perfectly with the black aluminium baffle with the ESOTAR 2i tweeter and MSP (magnesium silicate polymer) woofer.
In my opinion, the elegant look of the Contour 20i is extremely aesthetically pleasing. The edges of the cabinet are slightly curved and gradually narrow from front to back. Exquisite finishes surround the surroundings and are a delight in their neatness.
Above the back is a circular port, and below it is a pair of multi-directional binding posts, located on the back aluminum plate with the model number indicated. In fact, the real design highlight of the Contour 20i is inside the cabinet. Starting at the top, the 28 mm ESOTAR tweeter gives it an evolution of the sound of the "i", the rear chamber is enlarged to improve damping, and the Hexis built-in hard dome is introduced from the more expensive Confidence series. The design goal is to flatten the frequency response and reduce unwanted resonances, resulting in cleaner, smoother treble. Not only that, but the 180mm woofer has also been heavily optimized.
I installed the Contour 20i at the sweet spot and gently leaned closer to the listening seat so that the axis of each speaker intersected slightly behind the listener's head. Based on previous experience, for speakers with rear inverted holes, keep the distance between the corners of the cabinet closest to the back wall at 54cm. To build the system, I prepared a NAD C3050 amplifier DAC and connected it to the Contour 20i using an AudioQuest Robin Hood speaker cable.
The sound source is Linn Sondek LP12, Dyn**ECTOR XX2 cartridge, and Gold Note PH5 PSU amplify the signal. The Auralic Aries Mini stream** is connected to digital coaxial, while the Panasonic TV is also connected to the optical input.
When I was ready, I couldn't wait to flip the buttons and do some sonic grinding before I started to get immersed in the listening experience of the Contour 20i.
*The first track was "One of These Days" by Pink Floyd, and the constant bass came like thunder, and when the band joined, I turned up the volume and immersed myself. Nick Mason's distorted voice performance is chilling, "one of these days i'm going to cut you into little pieces". At the end of the track, I decided to switch to the analog input and put the original version of "Meddle" on the platter of LP12.
Aided by a phono amp, the Contour 20i's soundstage is outstanding. I've done both the pros and cons, and "Echoes" is especially brilliant — the asdic sonar's beeps, ethereal vocals, and guitar roars make the 20-minute song time fleeting.
Next, switch to one of my favorite jazz records, "Bass on Top" by Paul Chambers Quartet [Blue Note]. The bandleader's double bass, recorded by Rudy Van Gelder in July 1957, was plucked and plucked by the Contour 20i, and the piano, guitar and drums of the other great band members were stunningly authentic.
I have a few core tracks for critical listening that I compare feelings when testing different speakers, two of which are "Love, Forever Changes" (Elektra) (1967) and "Alone Again Or" by Bryan Maclean. The Contour 20i really seems to be able to reproduce a three-dimensional sonic space that allows for a deeper listening to the above work – it handles the subtlety and purity of the reflective passages of the piece and the high-pitched performance of the orchestra. For the next few days, I barely left the room, passing the Contour 20i randomly*** purely to keep the ears entertained.
Since the system is in the same room as the TV, I usually use hi-fi to make the TV sound, and the introduction of the Contour 20i makes it a logical continuation of the original sound quality into the TV experience.
With the Contour 20i's lines and dialogue so clear and the small sounds off camera that are sometimes overlooked by the senses, the Contour 20i always delivers a powerful listening experience when the story is at its climax. I never noticed any irritating noise during *** or the movie, but then I opened up a famous song "Valentyne Suite Vertigo" and put my hand on a bass inverted hole to feel it, and I was amazed at the amount of air it could drive, and even then, there was no sign of bloat or slack in the low ends.
Sometimes, I get asked which type of speaker matches works best. With the Contour 20i, this annoyance probably won't arise, because no matter what, it can take on the perfect task, faithfully and dynamically converting any signal into the best version. From the Allman Brothers Band to the ZZ TOP, I've worked on classical, choral music, baroque, romantic, modern, light, blues, jazz and avant-garde, which are almost impossible to listen to at the same time through other speakers, and when I use the Contour 20i, I think so many songs are performed naturally and vividly.
If the room is big enough, I'll probably set up a floorstanding Contour speaker. At the moment, in my 15 12 8 (ft) living room, the Contour 20i is perfect.