Dynaudio contour 1.1



Small stand mount speaker from danish manufacturer. This company unlike so many others actually design and engineer their own drive units. They build the cabinets them self in fact as far as I know they just about make everything!

It is certainly one way of ensuring good quality control. These speakers have a soft dome tweeter and a five inch midbass unit so don't expect huge bass! The cabinets are very well put together although are definitely in the no thrills camp, these are not the most exciting speakers to look at.


Did I say these things have no bass?! Wow! Now obviously I am not saying the bass is extended but it has lots and lots of midbass and this gives it a real impression of weight and scale to the sound. The speakers sound so much larger than they are and they do need a fair amount of space around them.

These are not speakers you can put right up against a wall and get the best out of them. Once given a bit of room the little Dynaudio's sound superb, just about the best speakers of this size I have ever heard.

They have excellent tone, are rhythmic from top to bottom and do a fantastic job with vocals. They are hugely transparent and will pretty much put out what ever they take. They do work well with a large number of components but and this is a big but if you are to get dynamics out of them they will need power.

The more the better and this is where they fall down. The average amplifier at around the same value is not really the quality these little speakers need, they need more! If you can supply them with more there isn't really anything bad I can say about them.

One of the things they do very well is separation. You can hear different musical strands with ease. Realism is also huge plus point, instruments sound exactly as they should and they are portrayed with real solidity, so much so you feel like you can reach out and touch them!

With the right equipment they have a fantastic presence for such small speakers, you get the impression that the vocalist is singing just for you, there is real intimacy about how these speakers portray music. Imaging is also first class, instruments are very easy to locate within the sound stage. They can also sound bold and big and powerful but then surprise you with real lightness of touch. What I am basically saying is they really do everything right.

The only thing that might dissuade potential buyers is its recording perspective. They do sound very laid back, music is not so much thrust into the room but thrust a long way behind the speakers. They do not always sound live either but follow the recording pretty closely, but then they never sound clinical and recording perspective is totally subjective, there is no wrong or right.

The Dynaudio 1.1 are about as good as small speakers can get. They sound surprisingly big, realistic, have great tone and represent excellent value for money. Along with the proac 1sc these are genuine hi end compact standmounts and are perfect for small rooms.

The latest incarnation of this speaker is called a focus 110 (pictured, the 1.1 looks the same!) and is virtually identical in terms of performance so you have a choice of either sourcing the 2nd hand contours or buying the 110's new from a dealer. I would suggest you listen to a pair as soon as possible because these speakers really are one of the best audio creations around.

Ebay Alert!


Unfortunately everyone else has realised just how good these little speakers are so expect to pay anything up to £500 for a good pair.