Review: Dynaudio Focus 160 bookshelf speakers - King of all-rounders, nearing High End Hi-Fi

I’m not sure why I have postponed this review for as long as I have. Maybe because it felt like it would have been a monstrous behemoth of a review and it seemed all too daunting. But I think that’s the way with most projects. The only way forward is to simply start and build it up piece by piece. In the end this review might not be as comprehensive as these speakers would have deserved but I guess it’s still better than nothing.

source:dynaudio.com

This article is about Dynaudio Focus 160 bookshelf speakers – although it would be foolish to place them on a bookshelf, they deserve proper stands as do most “bookshelf” speakers. The Dynaudio Focus 160 is the successor of Focus 140 but all they have in common is somewhat similar size. They upgraded pretty much all the parts including tweeters and mid/bass woofers – I have experience of the former Focus-line with the floor standing Focus 220s and the difference in clarity was substantial. But more on that later.

The Focus 160s are now out of production and used to retail at around 2000 € a pair. That’s a lot of money for speakers, let alone bookshelf speakers. The next choice in Dynaudio’s bookshelf line would have been some from the Contour line or even the legendary Confidence C1s. Anyway, even at this price point the objective performance of an audio gear is becoming more subjective. The Focus 160s have fairly large cabinets of 202 x 350 x 294 mm (W x H x D) and weigh hefty 7.6 kgs a piece. The black piano lacquer finish looks and feels luxurious, but I don’t understand why the grills aren’t magnetic, especially at this price. Take the grills off (as most of us do) and suddenly the front with all the pin holes and screws doesn’t look as beautiful as it could have. Dynaudio’s later models seem to have addressed this issue with magnets.

Focus 160 & Batman

As with most speakers of this size the sensitivity is rated at lowish 85 dB and impedance at 4 Ohms – pair this with Dynaudio’s reputation of building power-hungry speakers and you start to realize that these are not meant to be paired with simple multichannel A/V amps found at a local supermarket. Indeed, Dynaudio rates the power handling of these babes up to 200 quality watts. And they can be played loud, very loud.

I have placed the speakers on Dynaudio Stand 1s, not the most robust stands money can buy, but still Dynaudio here as well.

The first thing that stands out is the bass, as it usually is with Dynaudio speakers. There’s plenty of it, incredibly plenty. The fullness and scale of the sound is mind boggling. And it’s not just the volume of bass but also how deep it goes. For music listening purposes I really doubt that anyone would feel an initial urge for a subwoofer, no matter what you genre you play. It is still however a pair or 17cm woofers doing the job, so don’t expect them to deliver any miracles if you are used to quality floor standing speakers or subwoofers. After you gather yourself, the focus (pun intended) shifts to that sweet tweeter. All while this massive bass is taxing the speaker, the tweeter sings without any hint of strain and all the clarity and resolution is there up to the finest detail – this is what I noticed immediately after switching the older Focus 220s to 160s, the latter just paints so much clearer image and I imagine the upgraded tweeter is to thank for. The sound stage is large and places instruments in their places when needed.

Initially I had the speakers paired with my Dayens Ampino monoblocks, but at 50 watts per channel, albeit high quality watts, I felt like the Focus 160s could use more power and perhaps a bit drier or sibilant amplifier. And so, I made a second-hand deal for Emotiva BasX A-300 power amp, this budget “giant-killer” delivers 150 watts per channel and is equipped with huge toroidal transformer for that steady current. (Oh boy, I think I need to write about the Emotiva A-300 at some point.) After switching the amplifiers, it was clear that the Emotiva was more suitable for Focus 160s. The upper range became even more vibrant, drier and the bass felt more controlled.

I enjoyed the Focus 160s for a few good years, thinking that they might be an end game solution until I had a larger listening room. But the nature of a Hi-Fi hobbyist is to always look for an improvement. And so while I had very little to complain of 160s as they seemed to perform everything very well, and in a balanced manner, in the end I felt that something else was needed; magic, sparkle, excitement – maybe the amplifiers were not the ideal match and could not bring these traits out of the speakers.
And so I ended up selling them. But given the chance I’d love to try them out again in my current upgraded setup as it is clear, that Dynaudios of this caliber require, or rather, scale nicely with high quality system with plenty of power headroom - this is to be expected from a true high end Hi-Fi speakers.

Be as it may, I can easily recommend the Dynaudio Focus 160s for everyone, as they will work with any type of music with ease, offering plenty of dynamic low notes and true hifi-like details. I usually recommend Dynaudios as the first serious hifi speakers to anyone seeking to venture into the world of hifi because of how versatile and excellent all-rounders they are.      

Review: Yamaha NS-s20i Monitor Speakers - Almost Vintage, Still Sounding Fresh

A blast from the golden past! I bought a while back a pair of almost near mint condition Yamaha NS-s20i monitor speakers. Their main function, or the reason why I bought them was to have some nice cheap speakers to take with me to parties or summer cottages to play some music with friends at neighbor-disturbing levels. I think I paid around 100 € euros for them and now I am convinced that they were an absolute steal. Let me tell you why.

 Yamaha NS-s20i up-close

The Yamaha NS-s20i speakers were produced around year 1989 or at least that's what numerous internet sources claim. They are big bulky and sturdy speakers with dimensions of 280 x 480 x 305 mm and equipped with hefty rubber edged 21 cm bass/mid driver (approx. 8") and 2,5 cm tweeter. They are rated at 160 W input power, 6 ohm impedance and sensitivity around 87-88/dB - what all this means is that they will play loud if needed even with average powered amplifiers. Yes I tried this and the overall voice holds together marvelously up to a point, just don't expect them to brake (m)any laws of physics.

Despite their bulkiness they have the same kind of appeal as some more expensive Harbeths or Audio Note speakers if you are into "retro styled" speakers. With matching wood framed stands they might look alright in a HiFi system but I doubt they have place in home decoration magazine along white small Genelecs. Leave the grills attached and they look even bulkier. The black veneer finish is not by any means particularly stylish, and reminds me of some really cheap Sony speakers I had ages ago. The back of the speaker is not even fully fished giving the speaker a bit cheap feel. I'm not sure how much the retail price for these were as new but judging from the aesthetics alone they clearly are not far above the entry level. The model number does not give much indication of where in Yamaha's long line of speakers they fit.

Yamaha NS-s20i - Stylish or not?

I have tried them with my 50 W Dayens Ampino monoblocks and with Samson SX1200 and Samson Servo 260 PA-amplifiers paired with Abrahamsen V3.0 pre-amplifier. Using DACs like Atoll DAC100 and Burson Conductor it seems clear to me that the Yamaha NS-s20i are extremely capable and revealing speakers that definitely have some of Yamaha's world class monitor speaker DNA in them. The Anti-cables speaker cables leaves no stone unturned when it comes to neutrality, making it a nice pair with the NS-s20i. Even at around 30 years old they deliver music at stunning transparency. Being monitor speakers, they really let you "see" the music in front of you, not hiding anything behind them - in other word they really don't offer much dimension in this regard. The sound stage is more two dimensional, but it is a beautiful room-filling wall NS-s20i create. This is not necessary a bad them when watching movies or playing games.

Needless to say they are very neutral despite their big box like looks and capable of bringing ear tickling high pitched voices and effects as well as fine micro and macro dynamics and tight bass at glass shaking levels. I think this is thanks to the large bass/mid driver that lets the music play effortlessly, especially after having listened or having been used to smaller standmount speakers. The front reflex port lets you place them near the back wall as one might in studio setup.

Yamaha NS-s20i

The neutrality and slightly aggressive in-your-face sound signature rises the possibility of some listening fatigue on certain material, so depending on one's taste, paring the NS-s20i with slightly mellower gear might not be a bad idea. It would be cool the hear and see them with newer Yamaha gear such as A-S1100 amplifier.

Switching to Michell Tecnodec & Tecnoarm turntable with Denon DL103 cartridge the harshness and over analytic trebles smoothen nicely. Paul Simon's Graceland LP is an enjoyment every time and certainly that it is the case with the NS-s20i also. Paul's voice is just tangible and the attention goes to following the playful bassline in Diamonds On The Soles of Her Shoes. The dynamics are fast and have true sense of scale and that forementioned easiness.

They might not have the latest word in absolute delicacy, dimensionality of the sound stage or transparency but it is clear that at a second hard price the Yamaha NS-s20i are an absolute bargain. They will surprise and leave you wondering why on earth did you pay many many times more on your main speakers. After listening them for a while for this review session I'm starting to wonder why are they still in my living room while my Dynaudio Focus 160s sit idle in the corner. I'm pretty that sure if I already didn't own the Focus 160s I'd be fairly happy with the Yamaha NS-s20i - not taking anything away from the Focus 160s.

The NS-20i just make me wonder what other second hand steals there are out there. If you see a pair, grab 'em and ask questions later!