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Relative to subjective soundstage scale there won’t be any complaints. The Dynaudio casts fully liberated images into a deep broad space but for compact speakers, that’s not exactly news. Most particularly in this price class can do that. Where it gets special again is the transparency of the virtual stage and the localization precision of its actors. Voices and instruments are firmly placed without jittery blur and there’s plenty of empty space between them to allow one to hear through it into the back. It’s really transparency par excellence. I’ll admit however that with certain sparsely arranged and lesser studio production this could invoke a whiff of the ghostly or the checker-board hologrammatic. Somewhat more voluptuously rounded sounds within a more organic rather than squeaky-clean context would go down easier – except that it’d impact the ability to track quiet background happenings with clear origins against far louder events in the foreground where the small Danes excel. No matter how complex and tight the weave of the musical pattern, they never get confused.


This spatial stability and definition remained intact even during extreme voltage swings as in the Mariinsky Orchestra of St. Petersburg reading of Shostakovich’s 1st Symphony. This SACD’s dynamic and spatial scale trip up more than one speaker. The Special Twenty-Five meanwhile didn’t miss a beat. True, big kettle-drum interludes at the latest communicated macrodynamic limits in the lower 1.5 octaves but that really is a different discussion.

Conclusion: Dynaudio’s Special Twenty-Five remains a monitor par excellence. It exhibits high resolving power, ultra-transparent staging with high imaging precision and textbook tonal neutrality to become an essentially ‘flawless’ specimen of the breed. That’s accounting for the fundamental limitation of all such compact designs in the bass. €4.000 can go after more and lower bass of course. ‘Flawless’ thus doesn’t imply that escalation is impossible or that divergence from neutrality couldn’t be pleasing. It simply means that according to the definition of high fidelity the Twenty-Five complies perfectly to eliminate any objective criticisms.


This leaves room only for subjective preferences like wishing for juicer bass perhaps, more energetic or fulsome mids or whatever. Desires are certainly endless. On concept, realization and price, I regard Dynaudio’s Special Twenty-Five as a pure benchmark. It certainly warrants a dealer audition.

Psych profile:
  • For a compact the Special Twenty-Five is impressively bass endowed but on principle has limits in the lowest octaves. Mid and upper bass show no emphasis. On quality, the low bands are exceptionally defined, dry and pitch-stable.
  • The upper octaves are rendered free of hardness and impurities. Sheen and air are self-evident, the treble is very finely resolved and the integration with the lower bands is perfect.
  • The midband is as neutral as the remainder. Noteworthy is a very high contrast ratio whereby even the smallest tonal nuances are captured. Many speakers blend sounds together. The Dynaudio separates and distinguishes them.
  • The soundstage is realistically broad and deep, image localization surgically high. To some it might seem nearly too precise. The Dynaudio is exceptionally astute about retaining sorting precision during dense complex onslaughts. Music remains orderly fabric and never degrades into confusion.
  • The general presentation is dynamic, energetic and more wiry than relaxed.
  • Last but not least, the Special Twenty-Five is no wallflower but SPL stable.
Facts:
Concept: 2-way bass-reflex monitor
Dimensions and weight: 42.3 x 22.2 x 34.9cm HxWxD, 13kg
Sensitivity: 88 dB/W/m
Nominal impedance: 4 ohm
Other: Special Edition finish in marbled Beech veneer, final release of an anniversary model
Website

redaktion @ fairaudio.de