Dynaudio Focus 140

Thanks! I had them around 5 feet from the wall, but where they are in the pictures is actually around 3.5' to 4' and seems to be a bit better in the low end -without any boom. They can go further apart than the 9's and still be focused. I still haven't found their g-spot, but I hear it exists. I'll post a side shot and let me know what you think.

Dan, I had your FM post open, with a dialog box open. . . when the email from this guy came in last night.
I almost ended up with two pairs!:eek:

I'm smiling, thanks all!
I'll attempt to compare the two speakers when I've had time to go though a few dozen discs. I'm playing hooky at the moment to play with them. I have my priorities straight. They are used so they've been run in -thank god. 300 hr. break-in can't be fun.
\Initial impression:
At first I felt that there was something that I was missing but also something that was added. What that is, is not something that I can describe in a couple of lines, so I'll call what is missing "production value", and what is added "balance" or "coherence". Also, the bass/midbass is as articulate as anything that I've heard -excepting a decent set of cans. I'm still dialing them in, placement wise. I have them toed in about 10 degrees, (9's were spooky good with no toe) which I'm not used to yet. I'll look up the radiation pattern to see if there is any useful info there. I've got a decent image, but I'm still not happy with it. It took a couple of months to get the perfect placement for the 9's (almost 6' from the wall). The Dyns are now at 3.5' from the wall, and I don't need the HSU sub at all. If I can just get the image to expand/coalesce, while keeping the low end articulation, there will be a minty set of 9's for grabs.
The 9's aren't out of the contest yet. As it stands there are some discs where the 9's made some incredible magic- image wise, and I've yet to find it with the Focus. I've heard hints of it, but I'm hoping that I haven't found the best placement yet. I'll follow up. OH. . . stand-mounts ROCK.

I'm typing this while listening so if it's a jumble of crap, I don't really care:cool:

When comparing the two, the 9's were pulled out 6' from the front wall and on 31'' stands (zero toe in). If you have a set of 9's, and haven't ventured this far out or high up, give it a try. In my room, they completely disappeared. There was no attention called to either 'box' even on cymbal crashes, etc. With the detail and focus they gave, this was my favorite attribute. You could load up a CD, recline, and lose yourself. . . or bang away on your laptop, while being inside the envelope. . . your own sonic cocoon. I believe that the ring radiator's design is responsible of this. It is not the most extended tweeter, but it has no hot spots, and seems to be designed to work with primary reflection points instead of in a chamber. I would love to hear the higher iteration, with better crossovers.

The Dyns do it differently. I thought that the 9's had a great low end for their size, but the 140 goes deeper, is more articulate and is amazingly fast and transient. . . .all with a smaller enclosure. They kill the 9's in the bass department, no question. I don't use the HSU with them at alll, even with party music. The mids on the Focus seem slightly laid back, but completely natural. This has taken a couple of days to get used to coming from the 9's. The mids on the 9's might be a bit colored, but they have tons of texture and detail, and on some material it made some magic with vocals and guitar. On some, it also could be annoying or congested. I don't really care how flat a response curve is, or what the specs are. . . if it sounds more immediate, accessible or 'live' than another, I weight that heavily. The 9's got high points for this, but the Dyns do it better, and with everything I played. There was more detail with the Dyns, and there was no point where you could discern the handoff between the tweeter and the main driver. Super smooth and organic. There may be some track or riff where I preferred the drive or texture of the 9's over the Dyns speed and accuracy, but over the course of the last few days, if not immediately, it's become apparent that the Focus is superior overall. The tweeter and high frequency is amazing, but reviews about it are all over the place.

The soundstage of both speakers (with the 9's pulled way out), is quite different. The 9's position with no toe-in made them sound huge but fairly well focused. The Dyns don't play as big where I have them placed now, but are super focused and much deeper. Guitar, drums, and piano are stunningly reproduced. Playing around a bit more will be interesting.

My only complaint is that I have yet to find a spot where they disappear completely. I'll continue with placement, and try some cabling/amp changes and I may have try some room treatment. The stand will need an upgrade too. If the cat knocks these off the stands, we won't be having turkey for Thanksgiving.

I'd like to say that it comes down to preference, . . but if I did, I'd be lying.
Danes will make you smile.

Thanks Ricardo, I will. If they can disappear, it's all over. Check mate.

Ern Dog wrote: »

I also found that my 220's sound better and better with more volume. This really allows them to blossom. Are you using them with the port plug in or out? For me the bass got too loose without the plug and that it tightened up with the plug considerably. Glad your happy with them.

Thanks! I started with the 'bung' out, and I put them in the same positions as the 9's. They didn't sound right, so I played some R&R and pushed them back a couple of feet. Once I got a taste of what they could output down low, I moved them forward and back to see where the bass started to boom and then brought them out to where they lost extension. This yielded an approximately 1 foot zone (3'-4' away from the front wall) where the low end sounded great, and I wouldn't really have to use a sub.