Dynaudio Audience 42 vs Rega RS1

I have the Dynaudio speakers hooked up to a rega brio r amp and was thinking of an upgrade. Would the RS1’s be a good choice? I believe they were around £500 new and my dynaudios cost me £250. I can maybe get a pair of RS1’s for £200.

 

Note that I heard the Dynaudios only one time several years ago, while I own the RS1s. I bought the Regas without listening to them, and they are not my primary speakers. So I'm going on memory for the 40s, but a very distinct memory. I'd say that whether you consider the Regas as an "upgrade" would depend on your personal preferences. I remember the Dyns as being wonderfully full, balanced and easy to listen to, a bit forgiving, perhaps, but the kind of speaker you could listen to for hours without listening fatigue.

I find the Regas to be distinctly different: exceedingly transparent and balanced toward the lighter, more analytic side. The bass is surprisingly good, but not as deep or robust as I remember the Dynaudios being. I listen to a lot of classical music, which means a lot of violins. At times, I find the Regas just a bit too bright, "glassy" and a bit fatiguing, especially if the recording tends toward the bright side. But if you're looking for see-through transparency and a lighter, livelier sound, you may prefer the Regas. Given my own preferences, I kind of wish I owned the Dynaudios rather than the Regas. I remember them as being a bit more faithful to the natural sound of unamplified instruments characteristic of the music I listen to. Hope this is helpful.
-Bob

 

Rega RS1's are my primary and only speakers. I've got a "mostly Rega" system at the moment and do not find them bright at all although light and lively is a good description if you don't mate them with a sub (I do). I find they are pretty forgiving of distance to wall and I've got them 3 feet out into my room, no toe in to speak of and bass filled out with a subwoofer crossed at 65hz. They don't have much energy below that without boundary reinforcement. Frankly I'm astonished how good they sound for what I paid for them used. For me they are keepers. No experience with Dynaudio.

 

Thanks guys. I've never really had very many speaker sets in my time. I started off a cheap hifi system then I went with a new pair of Royd A7 bookshelf speakers. Then I bought a second hand pair of Linn Index Mk1's. Finally, after reading a ton of reviews, including this one: Dynaudio Audience 42 Bookshelf Speakers - A Speaker Shootout on TNT-Audio [English] I bought the Dynaudio Audience 42's new for £250. I think they're a great little speaker, a well kept secret I guess you could say, cos I don't see them really mentioned very often. Ideally I would've liked the 52SE's but they were way out of budget.

So, yes, I'm wondering if the Regas might just be a sideways move; different, but not significantly better to make it worthwhile....?

RS1 review from the same site: [Review] Rega RS1 - 2-way bookshelf speakers

 

Maybe. Best way to know is to buy them and try both. You’ll make your money back either way. That’s what I did when I had my KEF’s and tried out these Regas. If the review is accurate the Rega’s will not have the same bass extension. The bass they do have is quick and revealing but not authoritative or deep.

 

I can't imagine two speakers more different than the Dyn's and Rega's. The Dyn's are so much more fleshed out. They are a very full sounding speaker whereas the Rega's are more rhythmically articulate and threadbare in the middle. Super fun little speaker as they lay bare what's in the middle which allows a greater feeling of being there. They are also awesome with acoustic guitar. As previously mentioned there is not much happening in the low end with them. The Dyn's are fuller and have a more plump bottom end. I really like the Rega's and used to won them. I've heard these Dyn's a number of time and owned the Excite X12. I believe that in this case it matters a lot what music you listen to primarily. Also do know that the Rega RR125 midbass driver is pretty fragile. Both of my former Rega dealers sent quite a number of them in for repair and one dealer quit carrying them for that reason. I owned two pair of Rega speakers and never had that problem however I don't listen real loud either so...

 

I've never heard the Dyn's, but I have the RS1 and used them as my main speakers for several years. I never found them overly bright, but they do suit the addition of a subwoofer, especially for bass heavy music like hip-hop or electronica. I would agree with the light and lively description, very enjoyable on their own for acoustic jazz and stuff like that.