March 2008 Reviewed by Kevin East	Dynaudio Focus 220/140/200C/Sub 250 Home-Theater Speaker System

Description Model: Focus 220 floorstanding speaker Dimensions: 38.5"H x 8"W x 11.6"D Weight: 41.2 pounds Price: $3300 USD per pair Model: Focus 140 surround speaker Dimensions: 13.8"H x 8"W x 11.6"D Weight: 18.7 pounds Price: $2000 USD per pair Model: Focus 200C center-channel speaker Dimensions: 25.2"W x 6.8"H x 11.2"D Weight: 28 pounds Price: $1100 USD Model: Sub 250 powered subwoofer Dimensions: 11.6"H x 11.4"W x 12.5"D Weight: 22 pounds Price: $1000 USD System price: $7400 USD Warranty: Five years parts and labor on speakers and electronics.

Features Speakers: Two-way bass-reflex designs with rear-firing ports Magnetically shielded 6.7" magnesium-silicate polymer cone midrange drivers (two in the Focus 220, one in the Focus 140) Two 5.9" magnesium-silicate polymer cone midrange drivers (Focus 200C) Soft-dome tweeters with Esotec+ technology and neodymium magnets Subwoofer: 230W amplifier (manufacturer rated) 10" woofer cone in compact, 1-cubic-meter cabinet Selectable low-pass filter Selectable gain level Selectable phase inversion

There is a legend on each of the Dynaudio Focus system’s packing crates: "Danes don’t lie." While this sentiment no doubt was put into wider practice following the reign of the Thane of Elsinore, its efficacy is easily verified by the function of a loudspeaker: to reveal sound straightforwardly, faithfully, honestly, without any shading, slant, or coloration -- without, well, fibbing. If the Dynaudio Focus 220/140/200C/Sub 250 home-theater speaker system ($7400) is any evidence, there is a great deal of, er, truth in the legend.

Attributes and installation

My experiences with Danish design, ranging from the ultramodern curves of Scan furniture to the sinuous lines of Tom Eltang, W.O. Larsen, or Poul Ilsted pipes, have encouraged expectations of the best woods polished to a high sheen, and luxurious if economical design statements.

In this regard, the Focus line is -- to put it plainly -- plain. The speakers’ trapezoidal boxes are chamfered on the front panels’ vertical edges, giving the impression of six-faceted diamonds. (The 200C center-channel model is, of course, chamfered on its horizontal edges.) My review samples were finished in a lovely natural cherry veneer as fine as one would expect from a Danish product (maple, rosewood, and black ash are also available). The drivers are covered with black cloth grilles.

The Focus line sports a number of Dynaudio’s technical innovations. The diaphragms of the proprietary midrange/woofer cones are made of magnesium-silicate polymer for controlled rigidity. The motor assembly is built into an equally rigid die-cast aluminum basket. The soft-dome tweeter, also proprietary, features Dynaudio’s Esotec+ technology, which uses neodymium for efficiency. Each speaker has a rear-firing port -- the Focus 220C center-channel has two. For these, Dynaudio thoughtfully provides foam plugs for near-boundary placement. I didn’t hear much need for the plugs, inserted them anyway, and found that they weren’t necessary in my room; the balance of my listening was conducted without the plugs.

I placed the Focus 220 towers to either side of our A/V cabinet, about 6’ apart and about 11’ from the listening position. The 220C center-channel sat atop the cabinet, and the Focus 140 surrounds were on stands on either side of the sectional sofa. The Sub 250 subwoofer was positioned behind an overstuffed leather armchair to one side of the cabinet. Each Focus model has a pair of sturdy five-way binding posts, making banana-plug connections a snap. The posts are of nonstandard width, so dual bananas are out. Each 220 tower sits on four spikes screwed into a plinth at the bottom of the cabinet. However, if you, as we do, have hardwood floors, spike cups are not provided. I used some German cups of high-impact plastic, bought years ago from Audio Advisor.

I calibrated the Focuses using the Onkyo TSR-800’s onboard pink-noise generator. I cannot stress enough the importance of calibrating a home-theater speaker array with an A/V receiver’s pink-noise generator and a sound-pressure level (SPL) meter. (I use RadioShack’s $49.99 digital model, although there are a number of serviceable SPL meters on the market -- e.g., B&K, Nady -- most of which are a great deal more expensive and, no matter what your audiophile friends say, overkill for this application.) Output levels with a given power input can vary significantly from one brand of speaker to the next. For instance, a uniform dB SPL produced by the Energy Take Classics, the last speaker array installed in our home theater, produced variances from -1 to +5dB SPL in the Dynaudio Focuses. If not properly calibrated, the Focus -- or any -- system would sound seriously out of balance, with varying and deceptive overemphases.

Finally, I set the listening levels for the Sub 250 subwoofer, experimenting with LF cutoffs between the Onkyo and the Focus. I settled on 80Hz, which rendered clean but unobtrusive deep bass. The Sub 250 offers crossover settings on a dial whose range is 50-150Hz. Finding an interim, unmarked level is only mildly tricky -- the midpoint is most likely 75Hz, so finding 80Hz wasn’t difficult.

Listening

There is something -- indeed, there are many things -- that can be said about an otherwise plain-looking speaker that can allow one to indulge in the sumptuous banquet that is Ratatouille. From the gently falling rain that introduces Remy (chapter 2), to Remy’s fall into the kitchen dishwater (chapter 8), to Linguini’s lame attempt to dispose of an exposed Remy (chapter 10), to every nuance of Gusteau’s kitchen, Linguini’s mawkishness and Remy’s fervor are subtly played out through Pixar’s clever manipulation of the sound between the front/center and surround channels.

As much as Ratatouille is a feast for the eyes, the soundtrack rendered by the Focus family was a sonic spread for the ears. The Focus system sounded convincing as it enveloped the room in a realistically sized soundstage. (An aside: no one has ever animated water as Pixar does: every drop in Ratatouille, from the colony’s exodus in chapter 5 to the River Seine in chapter 10 and elsewhere, is fully realized, freely flowing fluidity.) Likewise, the contrasts between the kitchen’s controlled chaos and the dining room’s Muzak ambience, gently pushed forward and back in the mix through the swinging doors, is foremost a cheeky display of sound engineering. Second, it is a showcase of one of the Focus system’s virtues, one that envelops the viewer in the two spaces through the artful deployment of sound. Ratatouille, not surprisingly like The Incredibles, plays much of the soundtrack principally through the surround channels -- for example, Colette’s cooking lessons in chapter 14. The Focus 140’s generously clear midrange and high-frequency energy rendered the music in equally generous measures, modulating the intensity just as each scene requires.

I have argued for some time, in other venues, that surround-sound channels are at best a luxury, and at worst a scam to sell more equipment. (Do you really need two more speakers just to provide ambience?) However, Pixar’s deft manipulations of the soundtracks of The Incredibles and Ratatouille have changed my view -- if not my mind. If you don’t have surround speakers that can handle at least the top 90% of the audible range (I suggest a lower-frequency response in the vicinity of 50-60Hz), you’ll miss out on some nifty sound engineering that fairly balances the soundtrack and the dialogue and effects without your even knowing it. That, in my book, is the mark of an excellent surround speaker, and the Focus 140, with a frequency response of 41Hz-25kHz, earns accolades for fully realizing Pixar’s audio innovations. It sounded fuller-range than most surrounds, and was able to handle the dynamic swings I threw at it without strain. And the miracle of the Focuses performance was that the subwoofer, which should feel rightfully insulted that a mere surround speaker might intrude into bass regions that any self-respecting sub would claim for its own, provided clean, uncomplaining, and unobtrusive support to the cinematic experience. Its support was solid, unwavering and so seamlessly integrated into the Focus system's sound that it was too easy to forget that it was tucked behind a chair.

Now, where were we? Ah, yes. Smartly drawn characterizations, high slapstick, deft and knowledgeable kitchen drama: Ratatouille has it all. I’m plainly in love with this film. I think I also fell in love with these plain and powerful speakers.

One of our family treats is an assortment of classical music on Sunday mornings while reading the paper in the family room, where the home-theater system is installed. It is important, then, that our HT speakers be able to render music as faithfully as they do film soundtracks. One recent Sunday found us with a pair of live recordings from the Alban Berg Quartett: Dvorák’s second Piano Quintet, Op.81, and Robert Schumann’s Piano Quintet in E-flat, Op.44, with Rudolph Buchbinder and Philippe Entremont respectively manning the keys [CD, EMI Classics D114106]. The Dvorák, with its "Nature Boy" second movement (yes, I know about the lawsuit and "Schweig mein Hertz," but who’s kidding whom?), recorded in Vienna in 1993, presents a unique challenge for a pair of stereo speakers. The piano seems to have been recorded in front of the string quartet, making the strings fight for space in a very crowded soundstage. The better speakers overcome this muddle by allowing the music to emerge with relatively uncongested clarity -- something the Focus 220s managed with panache. They sorted out the complex soundstage and kept everything balanced in the process. So crisp is this recording, and so clean was the Dynaudio’s rendering of it, that until you hear the applause erupt at the conclusion, and unless you peek at the liner notes, you probably won’t realize it’s a live recording. Pretty impressive performance, that.

The Schumann, recorded at Carnegie Hall in 1986, is less problematic: The piano, while still in the center, is firmly behind the plane of the quartet. In this statement work -- his first of any public significance -- Schumann uses the third movement to show off a bit as frenetic major scales embrace two trios: a lovely, reticent melody in G-flat, and a whirling dance in A-flat minor. I’ve played these recordings through any number of loudspeakers, and while for depth of resolution my reference Legacy Classics remain unsurpassed chez ancienne, the Focus 220s more than held their own, especially when one considers that our family room is tailored for home theater. The Dynaudios produced detailed sound without becoming harsh, and all the while were quite resolving of fine detail. Any loudspeaker that can even begin to render some sense of musical truth in this environment -- and I would put the Focus’s handling of the piano quintets in that category -- is indeed special.

Summary

After the design statement of the Canton GLEs and the lush, curved mahogany accents of the Audes Credos, I was a bit disappointed when I first opened the Dynaudio Focuses’ shipping crates. Once they were installed, however, I forgot their rather plain looks and basked in the warmth they radiated. Movies? Music? I felt I could throw a stereo-gimmick recording at them, and it would be the finest stereo-gimmick record I’d ever heard. Don’t worry about how they look. Once you hear them, you’ll be so absorbed by the sound that you’ll forget all about cabinets. "Danes don’t lie," their boxes say. Ladies and gents, if the Dynaudio Focus system is any indication, they don’t. No lie.

Manufacturer contact information:

Dynaudio International GmbH
Ohepark 2
21224 Rosengarten
Germany
Phone: +49 (0)4108-4180-0
Fax: +49 (0)4108-4180-10

Website: www.dynaudio.com

Dynaudio North America
1140 Tower Lane
Bensenville, IL 60106
Phone: (630) 238-4200
Fax: (630) 238-0112

E-mail: info@dynaudiousa.com
Website: www.dynaudiousa.com

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