Dynaudio Special 40 -- thoughts or alternatives?

Stand 20s are coming and more descriptive comments to follow if anyone gaf. *wink*

 

They either did not sell well to begin with or people found better. Generally dont find a constant stream of resale speakers. For instance, rare for Totems to every come up. Dont see C1's terribly often and certainly not half retail.

 

It was a rare whiff by Dynaudio. They are EVERYWHERE on usaudiomart and audiogon. Very bad sign.

 

I don’t see them EVERYWHERE on audiogon and usaudiomart. In fact, only one came up both at audigon and usaudiomart.

 

Oh ya...they’re everywhere. Just junk. Move along.

 

Stands showed up and are purdy. Filled them 3/4 full. We’ll see....

 

Congrats, Dyn stands are quality. I tried 3/4 full initially with the stand 6 but it didn't sound right. 1/2 full did the trick for me but YMMV, good luck!

 

no one said they were "junk" (but you). Canuck Audio Mart has 3 sets right now and 2 have been relisted for months. Ebay has them, US Audio Mart has them . Amazon is also selling new old stock. So please, read what is actually said before playing that game of getting offended by what you read between the lines and trying to derail honest discussion. Thank you.

 

I have been enjoying my Special 40s for six months.

Awesome speakers that really began to sing after about 200 hours of playing time.

I think they were initially over-priced due to the numerous glowing reviews around the stereo gear industry.

That may have hurt sales.

Purchased mine from a local shop after Dynaudio dropped the price on the Special 40s this summer. They still weren’t cheap, but worth every penny.

One of the pairs listed on Canuck Audio Mart is from an out of town dealer whom I contacted when shopping last summer.

He took offence when I questioned if he had played the speakers (trade ins) before putting them up for sale.

“No, why should I,” was his reply. Perhaps that is why his are still up for sale.

 

I think they were placed at kind of an awkward price point. Considering the drivers, etc., it certainly wasn't inappropriate, in my opinion, but I would imagine that of speaker buyers looking to put 2.5k-3.5k down, the average one isn't trying to buy a pair of standmounts. Meaning, ~3k is high enough to be a lot of money for most while simultaneously qualifying as obtainable for many, but it is not quite expensive enough to break into the "price is no factor for SQ" crowd. There are some really great floorstanders in that range, and regardless of where the SQ is for each speaker, a lot of buyers probably assume a floorstander is > a standmount for the price, and / or don't want a standmount as their "endgame" speaker. So, the speaker's popularity amongst critical reviewers probably doesn't align with its popularity amongst the buying population.

 

Could be even simpler. The Excites and Emits are both awesome speakers for the money—especially when you find them used. Why spend that extra cash when you have a couple of really good options like that?

 

still a little too pricey for my liking i would like them at $2000 or so, also the red colour is discontinued which leaves us with the grey only and although the finishing is good im not loving it.
theyre quite big too so i probably would have to by stands and thats another $500

 

I am going to guess this from the Winnipeg seller. There was also a pair from a guy who changed the crossover and didn't mention thats changed hands a few times now on Canuck.

 

SHL5 or SHL5 Plus?

 

Changing the crossover is a deal breaker on these, imo.
The selling point of the speakers is really the drivers, which are a bargain at the price range; the cabinet is really the speaker's only drawback (I believe it has some resonance in the midrange(?)). If I remember correctly, the crossover is a first-order one, meant to take advantage of the range of the drivers (i.e. fairly substantial overlap between the tweeter / woofer bands). I'm not sure I'd want to fiddle with that.

 

And by that, I mean, who's to say he didn't throw a standard 24 dB / O at it. I guess I'd prefer to do it myself if I was gonna go that route (or bi-amp, but that seems like overkill for these).

 

Amazon pairing them with stands for 2999 again

 

Being an old guy I still remember how blown away I was to hear the Special 25's. I still have them with the Stand 2, and will most likely never get rid of them I spent almost 4k 15 years ago.

 

OP here... anyone have suggestions for a sub to pair with these?

 

@DueProcess I use a REL t5i, very happy with it.

 

I don't have S40's but I run a sealed 12" SVS sub with my Dyn Focus 260's and am quite happy with it. I have a second one that only kicks in for LFE tracks on movies, but the combo of 260s and a small, sealed sub works well. 260s have enough bass for most without a sub but I'm a rock guy and I want a bit more.

 

Just breaking in a pair of Audiovector QRs. First time with two subs. Outstanding.

 

Thanks for the suggestions.
Trying to decide if I want to reach a bit and look for 2 in the range of ~800-900 or just one for ~1.5.

 

Each their own but science has proven the dual sub fallacy many times.

 

what dual sub fallacy?