Any thoughts on Dynaudio M10 speakers?

[Good4it]

Any one heard these or know anything about them?

 

[Agitater]

I heard them at TAVES 2016 this past weekend, and I auditioned them in April of this year as well. They're delightful little speakers, but they have very definite limits.

I own a pair of Dynaudio Focus 160 standmounts. They're great, they offer the detailed, understated Dynaudio sound, they're very well made, present an easy load to any amp, and they look good too. I use them, on and off, in a couple of different systems. The Emit M10 is comparatively tiny, but still packs a punch. It ticks a lot of the same boxes as the larger Focus 160, but not all.

The Emit M10 offers a crispness and what I hear as a punchy midrange that is uncharacteristic of any larger Dynaudio speaker. Although the M10 is rated to 50 hz, it's down about 3 db at that point, and begins rolling off around 60 hz, so deep bass is just not in the cards and Dynaudio doesn't suggest anything of the kind. I have listened to almost a full Ray Brown Trio album through the M10 and all the bass you could want typically from jazz recordings (string definition and resonance, clarity of individual notes, clarity from lower octave piano notes and chords, no boominess as long as the speakers are reasonably well positioned) is there and sounds great.

Forget large classical ensembles (full orchestras, grand opera, and so on) at anything other than very moderate volume.

I have listened to a lot of different music through the M10 and a lot of other standmounts and mini monitors, so by all means describe what you usually listen to and where you plan to use the M10.

Surprisingly, I found that the M10 worked well as a near-field monitor as well. That means it will work very well at desktop distances too. What else to you want to know?

 

[Good4it]

Thanks for the info. What is your impression of the Focus 160s?

 

[Agitater]

The Focus 160's are bigger, heavier, wider range, fuller, and easy to listen to for hours on end. The Emit M10 is, I think, really designed for smaller spaces(dorms, small bedrooms, small condos, small apartments, desktop use).

The Focus 160's were more expensive than the so-called entry level Emit speakers. Dynaudio no longer makes the classic Focus. The Contour 20 may be the closest model in the current lineup, but for more money still. The newer Focus XD speakers are all powered and have DSP-based crossovers - quite a different beast.

The Excite series is also worth looking into if you're considering digging deeper into Dynaudio's offerings. The company makes a lot of different speakers.

Anyway, if you happen to find a used pair of Focus 160's, they're worth a very intensive audition. They can go head to head, on most material, with the KEF LS50, Bryston Mini-T, and can even duke it out on some material with the likes of the Kudos Cardea Super 10 (3X the price, mind you, and one of the best standmounts you can buy), the Joseph Audio Pulsar on quite a bit of music, and a variety of other competing serious standmounts in the $2,000-$5,000/pair range.

The Focus 160 (and the Contour 20 and the Excite X18) are all much more versatile choices than the Emit 10. It depends mostly on what you listen to now, and what you're planning for the future, and the actual system you've got in mind.