Mine bake-off: AVI ADM9.1 vs. my old Dynaudio system

darrenwm · September 22, 2008

Chaps,

I met with a friend James from another fourm who has a very similar system to what I used to have. I previously sold him a Naim CDP, met to compare Dynaudio Focus 110 against the Contour 1.1

His current system is:

Technics SL1210 with audiophile mods

Cambridge Audio CD740

AVI Lab Series integrated

Dynaudio Focus 110

My previous system was:

Copland CDA 277 or Meridian 506.24

AVI Lab amp or Plinius or NAD Silverline

Dynaudio Contour 1.1

Now that I have owned the ADM9.1 for a while it was nice to compare to the old...

We started the day by listening to a lot of music and getting a feel for things. We have similar tastes, so I'm left with a list of new artists to explore.

James' system is very nice and familiar to my ears.

The first substitution was to swap the Dyns for AVIs latest Neutron 5. These are a tiny entry level speaker retailing at £399 finished in gloss black. With the first pieces of music they didn't give too much away. On a couple of pieces they sounded a bit smaller. The Dyns appeared to have more bass - heavy rear porting - but the Neutrons were surprisingly competent and maybe slightly more open and detailed? The Dyns may have had an impressive bass edge (Boom?), but the Neutrons were under half price!! We agreed there is not much else to bother listening to if one requires an entry level loudspeaker.

The source throughout was an Apple Airport Express into the DAC of the CA 740CD,fed from both of our laptops.

We next set up the ADM9.1 to have them ready to listen to after lunch. I think James liked the fit and finish, and I know he is a fussy chap!

After our sandwiches we listened to music again on the ADM9.1 that we had listened to earlier, as well as much more. The source was an Apple Airport Express in the ADM9.1 DAC.

The ADM9.1 cost only a third of James' CD/amp/speakers, and I don't think they lost out on anything. We agreed they were more open, clear, detailed, and with much more bass control. They are far cheaper and far more convenient.

The dynamics were startling and I think I knocked James off of his seat when I demonstrated my Country and Western test track! The ADM9.1 play so loudly and clear without any change in character as the amps have plenty of headroom.

Below are some pics...