The Dynaudio Special 40 Loudspeaker

Dynaudio Special Forty Loudspeaker

The Dynaudio "Special Forty" is an aptly named loudspeaker, representing forty years of business for the Danish firm, Dynaudio. What makes it so special? First of all, the fact that Dynaudio has chosen to sell their 40th Anniversary speaker at the very affordable price of $3,499 came as a big surprise, given that the company makes speakers ranging from $800 all the way to $115,000 per pair. Don't be fooled by the relatively low price, though, because the "40" is a phenomenal performer, and it looks as good as it sounds!

One of the classic attributes that has always attracted me to Dynaudio is that they make all their own speaker drivers - tweeters, midranges, and woofers. Thus, they have control of the whole process, including cabinet and cross-over construction.  This has been the case from the beginning, and some of the biggest names in the world have, at one time or another, incorporated Dynaudio drivers in their speakers.  One of the first times I learned about Dynaudio was back in the 80's when Duntech incorporated Dynaudio drivers in their reference "Sovereign" model - still used by some of the top mastering studios in the world.  The Sovereigns required drivers that could work effortlessly over uncharacteristically wide bandwidths because the design employed first order (6db/octave) filters.  This was critical because only first order filters allow for phase linearity in a multi-way speaker system, and that was part of the magic of the Duntechs.  Unfortunately for the many companies wanting to use the Dyn drivers, Dynaudio eventually made a strategic decision not to sell their drivers to other companies, preferring instead to keep their proprietary designs for use in their own branded products.  To be sure, there are copies coming from a number of companies, but there is only one Dynaudio.  The Special Forty is the culmination of all that they have learned about speaker design - and in an affordable, gorgeous, compact design.

Dynaudio created new, purpose-built drivers for this incredible, compact 2-way.  The tweeter is a new version of the classic Esotar2 high frequency driver, dubbed the "Esotar Forty".  The range covered by this tweeter easily exceeds typical soft dome designs.  It also has the ability to easily handle high sound pressure levels.  The mid-bass driver in the 40 is equally special, incorporating Dynaudio's signature over-sized voice coil for low distortion and high power handling ability.  Again, it's frequency and power response is shocking, allowing the incorporation of 1st order filters in both directions (high and low pass) - thus making the "40" virtually phase linear!  

Oh, and by the way, the 40's are gorgeous!  You have to see them in realtime and space to appreciate their beauty.  

I could go on and on about these special speakers, but I really want you to visit Glenn Poor's Audio Video, and audition the Special Forty.  You will be blown away!  I guarantee it. 

Geoff