Review: Dynaudio Focus 220 Floorstanding Speakers - The Dynamic Duo Does It All

Dynaudio is no foreign brand of speakers to anyone who has ever taken more interest in Hi-Fi than just visiting a local supermarket looking for a stereo set. The Danish company has been selling speakers for almost four decades, from entry level to super high end, for home users and studios alike.

Being as popular and wide spread as it is, the general assumption is that Dynaudio's products are described as "power hungry", "bass monsters" or "the speakers for rock/metal music". To be fair, there are a seed of truth in these statements. But now I'm getting ahead of myself.

For the past eight months or so I've been a Dynaudio owner. I got my hands on a pair of Contour 1.1s and these Focus 220s. The Contours were a slight overkill for my PC system so I soon downgraded them to a pair of Audience 42s. (Don't worry the Contour 1.1s are still in the family.)

Focus 220 & Batman

The Focus 220s standing at 98 cm tall are the first "Mk I" versions since Dynaudio has also released a fine tuned Mk II version. Both are discontinued at this stage and someone might consider them as somewhat aged models. But we all know that in a world of audio reproduction old age doesn't mean much. Heck, they are in their prime! Weighting a hefty ~19 kg per piece and deploying two 17 cm (~6,7") Esotec+ mid/bass drivers they are look like traditional speaker boxes - look closer and you will notice that the rear is actually narrower than the front. This gives them a slightly more elegant feel. The black ash wooden finish simply does its job and does not bring up any strong feelings. Take the grills off (as anyone generally should) and the grill attachment holes dominate the front face making Focus 220s appear cheaper than they are. Also the tweeter and drivers are surrounded by screws. So the Focus 220s may not appeal aesthetically to everyone and most likely are not going to win any beauty pageant prices - but what about the sound? It's the sound that matters, right? RIGHT!? 

The reason I first got my eyes on Dynaudio was because after hearing the Audience 42s a good while back and a pair of mighty Confident C2 at a small exhibition here in Helsinki, I took notice of the slightly warm but very dynamic house sound of Dynaudio and the ability to play any genre with ease - "Could these be the jack of all trades?" I wondered. And because my music taste varies from classical to metal that is just what felt I've been looking for but never really had. So yes, Dynaudio has been top of mind of a while now and now finally I know what I have been missing out.

Compared to my previous floor standers the Amphion Prio 620s, the Focus 220s offer overall much softer sound. In a small room Dynaudio's bass is said to be overwhelming and I can relate to that statement. Luckily at around 15 sq. m. and without a solid wall behind speakers my current listening room doesn't have much of this problem - although it could be a little bigger. The speakers are standing straight with no tilt but to my experience a little tilt may help to focus up the soundstage.

My faithful Dayens Ampino Monoblocks deliver 50 W per channel to 8 Ohms whereas Focus 220s maximum power handling is 250W with a nominal impedance of 4 Ohms and sensitivity around 86 dB. I fear that my Ampinos are not quite up to the job that massive orchestral pieces or bass hungry metal music requires and generally Dynaudio speakers are recommended to be paired with beefier amps.

I choose Matt Darey's See the Sun (Dan Stone Rework), an energetic vocal trance piece - and the Focus 220s leave little to be desired. The bass pounds like in a club in Amsterdam (if you have the guts to turn the volume up). Treble details are fast and overall feeling is just pure fun and very non Hi-Fi. The level of detail or transparency is not the greatest I've ever heard but in the end it's all there - and honestly when speaker delivers music like this, I don't even really care.

Next up Katie Melua's Shy Boy. Well well, the Focus 220s can dance to this as well. Katie's voice jumps out clearly and precisely. Plenty of fast somewhat round but detailed bass keeps the rhythm flowing nicely, really makes your feet moving. But by no means is the bass dry like in some expensive British monitors but in contrast more relaxed and deep.

Focus 220 & GameCube

Song Unfold from an EP Urban Flora by Alina Baraz/Galmiatias hits like a thunder. A huge soundstage of vocal downtempo electronic music full of juicy details and once again bass that makes you look for that hidden subwoofer. The delicate vocals are displayed right on front of the listener and grab attention while the music in the background fills the room. It would seem the Focus 220s do offer a very good stereo impression when called for.

In the beginning I said Dynaudios are considered to be suitable for metal music. Time to find out. Amaranthes' Leave Everything Behind offers a worthy challenge to Focus 220s' woofers. But the Dynaudio holds. With ease. Double bass and energetic guitars keep pumping music like there is no tomorrow and so do the speakers. Once again fast, round and deep, but not even closely dry bass, is the key for Dynaudio's triumph and at the same time you notice that the details do not get muffled even in this soundwise extremely complex song, they are all there. All the instruments are displayed clearly and it's easy to follow each of them independently. Switch to one of the greatest headbanging songs that is Metallica's Sad But True and our initial question will be answered: Dynaudio and their Focus 220 speakers can rock. Big time.

Oh and movies and games are no exception. The Focus 220s will let you enjoy any form of entertainment without mentionable flaws. Their strength lies once again in delivering a room filling rich sound with sharp details and a convincing bass. But for that theater grade couch shaking experience a subwoofer is required (no matter what front speakers you have).

Even if the Focus 220s are not the most transparent speakers out there nor will they offer the latest word in resolution, they will reveal poor recordings. Or let me put it this way, because they are blessed with trait of being jack of all trades, the Focus 220s will sound fine but maybe little dull with poorer recordings. Feed them with quality songs and they will surprise you every time with their detailed room filling capabilities, dynamic and rich full range reproduction and energetic presentation.

The Dynaudio's Focus line is still in production and as one can see they are not exactly entry level products. The Focus 220s retailed somewhere between 2000 and 3000 euros during their time. Clearly this means that the amplification and source of media should be at an adequate level, and in Dynaudio's case, an amplifier with a little heftier power reserve and driving capability is not a bad idea at all. With my 50 watters the Focus 220s truly open up when that volume knob travels all they way up to 12'o clock and even further towards southeast until the SWAT team storms into my listening room. Brands with components known for their PRaT may deliver nice synergy with Dynaudio, such as Densen or Naim but of course there are many suitable for the job (as you may read below).   

So there you have it. Dynaudio Focus 220s are an interesting pair of transducers capable of delivering any genre of music with great satisfaction. Just don't let their "sleeper" like appearance deceive you. They are indeed bassy (fast, deep, round, rich) and never dry. Maybe not the last word in aesthetic design nor in absolute resolution or transparency. On the other hand never harsh or boring. With quality recordings they will surprise you every time. Most of all they are almost always fun, especially when the volume rises and believe me - you want to keep raising it.

PS.

Out of curiosity I switched the small but widely praised Trends Audio TA 10.1 amplifier set as a poweramp to work together with my Abrahamsen V3.0 preamp. Now the Trends delivers only a measly 6 watts at 8 ohm load, being a small T-amp mostly suitable for desktop systems. And it is paired with floorstanding Dynaudios. Nothing to lose right?

I press random play on my playlist. My jaw drops. WHERE IS THIS SOUND COMING FROM? The sound the Trends TA 10.1 delivers is utterly surprising, shocking even. The bass is fast and bit tighter but still has that quantity that is to be expected from these speakers. The details are sparkling and the music just flows at astonishing rhythm and ease. I have no idea how is the small T-amp capable of doing this. Maybe it has something to do with crossover design? Or maybe this is true synergy where the bass heavy and slightly warm nature of the Focus 220s meets the modern Tripath sound of the TA 10.1?  And the funny thing is that this setup seems to work with every genre of music, leaving only large orchestral and most complex metal pieces little lacking whereas with electronic, hip hop, vocal, acoustic, jazz or pop you really can't tell that there is a small 6 watt amp playing. Of course you can't play very loud with 6 watts but still loud enough the upset the neighbors at night. I still can't get my head around this. I suppose I'll just have to listen more music!

Review: Amphion Prio 620 Floorstanding Speakers - Embrace the Cold North

This time I'm going to introduce a pair domestic (Finnish) greatness, the Amphion Prio 620 floorstanding speakers which I've had the privilege of owning for several months now. Amphion as a brand has been around for ages and is indeed one of the oldest and largest Finnish speaker manufacturers. Together with Genelec they probably are the well known Finnish brands internationally.

The family. Picture Amphion.fi

Standing at 108,5 cm tall they are impressive in size. This particular pair of sleek columns which houses two 6,5" mid-bass drivers and 1" titanium dome behind metal grills is finished in superb birch wood giving them extremely Scandinavian feel. Mating them with Artek's furniture with similar finish really sells you the idea of minimalism and functionalism in Finnish design and brings nature closer to your listening room. These have been replaced by newer models by now but when new their listing price was only a little below 4000 € here in Finland. At this price range some might say that we are reaching the borders of High-End.



The pair I have under review are the unofficial Mk II versions (I hope I'm not giving misinformation here) with weight of 34 kg each. They are standing on their black plinths but they can also be further raised on spikes, which for the sake of my rented apartment's floor I will not do. The listening space is a bit weird one - back wall is almost 2 m away. Speakers are positioned 1,7 m from each other and 2 m from the sweet spot. The distance between wall behind and the sweet spot is 1,5 m. What I'm trying to say is that there should be little to no bass extension in the listening spot due to closeness of walls.

Tweeter & grill. Picture Amphion.fi

The Prio 620 houses all kinds of innovative features such as proriatory innovative driver configuration TAPS and U/D/D (Uniformly Directive Diffusion) technology. But I'm not so easily bought with marketing terms alone. The titanium dome rests in a crater between mid-basses of this D'Appolito configuration. The crater-like design supposedly has much to do with crossover point and making the tweeter align the sounds towards the listener rather than all over the room. This also makes positioning the speakers very important as sound stage changes greatly when speakers are positioned differently. This also gives one the possibility to have a small and focused sweet spot with pinpoint-like sharpness by facing the speakers towards listener or to widen the sound stage by facing the speakers straight without toe in. It's possible that the desired outcome is somewhere between these two extremes. I have mine only slightly toed in as I enjoy the wider presentation.

At 91 dB sensitivity and easy-ish to drive ohm ratings I paired them with my faithful Dayens Ampino Monoblock amplifiers. Preamplifier has been varying from Abrahamsen V3.0, Khozmo Acoustics passive attenuator to Burson Conductor Virtuoso (PCM1793). The Amphions are revealing enough to make it possibly to tell the differences between preamps, and between other components as well mind you. I tried them with Analysis Plus Oval 12 cables but eventually switched back the amazing all-rounders Talk Electronics Talk 3 cables. The Oval 12's gave more bassy and darker sound but for my little surprise these Amphions are not overly bright as I feared them to be, prior to my experiences with older Amphions. The Talk Cable 3's gave more snappy and brighter presentation which gave more synergy with the rest of the system that has the Burson working as DAC/Preamp.

On Amphion's web page they describe the Prio 620s being "clear and pure as the Finnish lake". I can totally see where they are going with this. Let me put it this way: these are just about as neutral as Åland, as transparent as those late autumn creeks in Lapland and as fast as Finnish Formula 1 drivers. With this setup the Amphions are not too in your face, music plays rather neatly just slightly in front of the speakers. No singe frequency pops out, nothing irritates. They simply deliver sound signals at studio-like accuracy. They can play any music genre with ease from Techno, Hip Hop, Classical, Jazz, Metal to Pop as long as the recording is well made, for they will not smoothe the faults.

My 50 watt monoblocks left no desire for more power or more bass, these speakers dig deep and can be driven to loud volumes - in fact they seem to like it, just be sure to have a large listening room. Being such majestic and capable speakers, the Prio 620's deserve to have equally capable amplifier and source for it will be a long way before they become the bottleneck in one's system.

And now it goes down to preferences.

To me the Prio 620's are so transparent and clear that they don't seem to have any personality of their own. They are somewhat perfect. But being perfect makes them feel distant, cold, lifeless. Having imperfections and personality are humane traits that makes us attach to other persons or even things. The Amphions are very inhumane, and as such I find very hard to fall in love with them no matter how good they sound. They seem to lack passion. Sure they do get my feet tapping and give me wow-feelings from time to time - but they seem to lack a soul, as if they are aware that they exist for one job only: to make perfect sounds, rather than to play music - maybe this is your cup of tea? The Amphions are not the only ones to blame as I have to admit I have a small allergy for all studio grade speakers - to me they are tools for professionals. They are too perfect, like machines. Then again, if you are not looking for highly involving musical adventures from your system then maybe the Amphion Prio 620s are a suitable choice, for as I said, in a way they are, or at least very close to being, perfect.

With right equipment, perhaps with the glow of tubes, the Amphions might turn out to be completely different beasts. Unfortunately I did not have any at hand. But playing some LP records from my Michell Tecnodec made the Prio 620s really sing - maybe thanks to the analog recordings or maybe because the Tecnodec + Tecnoarm combination is simply a better source than my DAC. Could it be that Prio 620s are capable of revealing the difference between digitally produced and analog music? Listening genuine instruments like piano or older music from time before computers gives a pleasurable warmth that the speakers transduce really well. The sounds transform into music and the overall feeling is lifelike.

The wilderness of Lapland is vast and harsh and for the most part of the year very unforgiving for the poorly prepared. So prepare well and embrace the nature - then maybe there is some warmth and soul to be found in the midst of cold windy fells.