Many years ago, fans were able to bring Star Trek back for a third season by sending over a million cards and letters to Paramount Studios, which was ready to let the show languish after its first two seasons.
Where am I going with this? The Dynaudio team has only made a thousand pairs of these speakers, and according to Dynaudio USA’s John Quick, there are only about twenty pairs left. If you’re interested in owning a pair of high-performance Dynaudio floorstanders for $14k, act quickly—visit your Dynaudio dealer to secure one of the last remaining pairs.
I like these speakers so much, I wish more than a thousand lucky people could have them. According to the Dynaudio site, these speakers have a lot of extra handwork in the build process and are assembled by a small team of Dynaudio’s master craftspeople. The best of the best. Years ago, BMW did the same thing with the legendary Z8, and the results were incredible. So, I say flood Dynaudio with correspondence and plead to make more of these. They are that good.
An excellent combination of new and classic
They might look a bit classic old school, rest assured, these are completely up to date. And, like the Heritage Special monitor, take full advantage of Dynaudio’s Esotar3 tweeter. If you aren’t familiar, this is the same tweeter used in the current top-range Confidence Taking the tech further, the two woofers are modified versions of the ones used in their previous flagship, the Evidence Platinum (incidentally, my reference speakers for about two years) The upper one is a mid/bass unit, while the bottom one strictly handles bass. Extensive work was done on these drivers to allow the engineers to simplify the crossover as much as possible, with ultra-premium parts used throughout.
Having been to the Dynaudio factory in Skanborg, Denmark, a few times, I can assure you that the level of care and attention to detail in every aspect of these speakers is incredible.
As a huge fan of soft dome tweeters, I feel the Esotar3 is the pinnacle of this design concept. Much of the way this tweeter is both natural sounding and dynamic, without being rolled off, is due to the constant refinement of that technology going on at Dynaudio. What separates Esotar3 from everything that came before it is extensive: new machined rear chamber with optimized neodymium magnet, an aluminum voicecoil for lighter weight and higher power handling, a Hexis rear wave diffusion element, and the latest formulation of special coating they apply to these domes they call ‘DSR’, which stands for ‘Dynaudio Secret Recipe’. The dome itself starts off as an incredibly light, fairly open weave material that couldn’t move air without the coating. Over the years the DSR material and how it’s applied have been refined greatly, contributing to what has always been one of the best soft dome tweeters anywhere.
At first glance, you might mistake these for Dynaudio’s Contour 1.8 – a legend in its own right, but the similarity ends with the form factor. That speaker is from the late 90s, and while excellent in the day, Dynaudio has gained a lot of expertise in nearly 20 years. Think of it like comparing a first-generation Porsche 986 Boxster S to today’s Boxster GTS 4.0. More of everything everywhere. (Contour 1.8 pic from the Dynaudio archive..)
Nothing but love and craftsmanship
Dynaudio is known for amazing cabinetry, but the bespoke nature of these speakers will put qualityphiles into a coma. Yeah. Good as the finish and joints look – run your fingers over them. You don’t get cabinets like this from China. If you want subtle beauty, look no further.
You can read the full story of the Contour Legacy cabinets here on the Dynaudio site, but it’s pretty obsessive. And it talks about how Dynaudio has managed to incorporate most of the engineering in their curved cabinets into a more traditional-looking box.
https://dynaudio.com/home-audio/heritage-collection/contour-legacy
If you happen to live in a house with a Danish or Mid-Century modern house, you’ll freak out at how these speakers just fit in as if they’d always been there. That’s why they should keep making these…
Yeah, I love them.
I must admit my personal bias, after owning my share of Dynaudio speakers over the years, I truly enjoy the balance that Dynaudio offers. They walk the fine line of being resolving enough to allow a deep look into whatever music you enjoy without being harsh, grating, or fatiguing, yet never slow and syrupy. That’s a tough balance to achieve.
The bottom line is they will play your favorite vocal or acoustic tracks in a highly realistic manner, yet can handle the heaviest rock, hip-hop, and electronica with authority. Don’t let the slender cabinets fool you.
So instead of starting with my usual tracks from Aimee Mann, Crosby, Stills, and Nash, along with a few other similarly mellow cuts, I dove right in, cranking up the volume with The Scorpions, Deep Purple, Robin Trower, and The Afghan Whigs.
The dense, distorted guitars in “What Jail is Like,” from the Whigs, just sound like a mess on lesser speakers, but not here. As this track alternates between soft and scathing, the Contour Legacy holds its poise. Driven by the 600-watt-per-channel Pass X600.8 monoblocks, I’m able to just keep turning that volume control clockwise – something listening to Gentlemen always demands.
Tracking through Robin Trower’s bass-heavy For Earth Below reveals another aspect of the Contour Legacy’s tremendous pace and control, regardless of volume level. The high resolution these speakers deliver makes for a huge stereo image, with everything in its place.
If you’ve ever seen Robin Trower up close, gently working the pedals, in front of his Marshall amps and experiencing the tone he coaxes out of the setup, you can see why he was compared to Hendrix at one time. The Contour Legacy captures all of that gentle tone and texture, and the subtle phase shifting in his playing, as if you were in the front row of a small club. Playing these classic tracks, I feel like I’m 18 again when I covered part of the Bridge of Sighs tour.
In fairness to those who feel acoustic music is the only true judge, spending a lot of time with Al DiMeola’s acoustic catalog (and another artist I’ve seen live over the years, countless times) is equally rewarding. For every bit of Trower’s phrasing and flanging that the Dynaudio’s capture, they are just as exciting with DiMeola’s rapid-fire acoustic delivery. “Gumbiero,” a live track from his 2017 Morocco Fantasia album, is sublime. That Esotar3 tweeter stops and starts with no overhang or fatigue. Exciting as the guitar playing is on this track, again notice how these speakers keep the pace of the bass, drums, percussion, and applause all where they belong. Killer.
Mixing in some female vocals (this is an audiophile review, right?), serving up some Anja Garbarek feels just right. Her delicate, slinky voice mixed with some great synthesizer and electronic sounds on the Smiling and Waving album unfolds in a joyous fashion. Getting even more playful, a long list of St. Vincent tracks is up next, starting with “Who,” because of that big bass drum. Even though Dynaudio claims a 42Hz low point, these speakers have an authoritative bottom end, even in my 24 x 36 foot room. Blasting through a long set of Public Enemy delivers the same thing – powerful, resolving bass.
Here’s a weird test – try this with your speakers and see how it goes. Stream “Sisyphus” from Andrew Bird’s On My Finest Work Yet, and listen to him whistle. Then whistle a little bit yourself and see how it compares. Do not whistle anything from the Charlie Brown movies or go directly to jail. Ha.
Setup
At 71.7 pounds each and only 8.1 inches wide, you’ll have to decide if you can move them by yourself or if you need help. Thanks to Dynaudio’s flared ports top and bottom, you can use the blow holes as a convenient grab point to move them around.
While they deliver even more low-frequency potential in my 13 x 18-foot room, they give no quarter even in my main 24 x 36-foot room. About five feet from the back wall, and nearly ten feet apart (with a slight toe-in), the sweet spot is about ten feet back. A perfect place to plop the Eames Lounge and relax. Does life get any better than listening to your favorite tunes with your feet up on the ottoman of an Eames Lounge? Tracking through a long 60s playlist, I was in Mid Century Modern heaven!
Like every Dynaudio speaker I’ve ever used, the Contour Legacy’s are very easy to drive, whether with tubes, solid-state, or class-D amplification. Right at the end of the review, the new Century monoblocks from LTA arrived, and these OTL tube monoblocks were otherworldly in their ability to coax the most minute details out of the Dynaudios, yet deliver tons of tone and dynamics.
The overall tonal balance of the Contour Legacy is slightly to the warm side of straight down the middle sterility. Your overall system preference will dictate what amplifier makes the perfect match. Rest assured, these speakers deliver great results with everything from an SET up to gigantic solid-state monoblocks.
Leaning back into my PrimaLuna EVO400 tube monoblocks makes for a warmer, broader sound than the LTAs, but highly immersive. This is probably the least audiophile setup tried, but as someone who loves a full-bodied, almost romantic sound, absolutely lovely and the one I’d pick. Swapping the PrimaLunas out for the Pass Labs X600.8 monos (solid-state, but not class-A) is a different sonic universe. Bass is punchier, more controlled, with greater dynamic swing everywhere. Side by side, you might not even think you were listening to the same speakers! That’s a good thing, because the Contour Legacies are more than revealing enough to let you hear the differences.
A few laps with the Octave 110SE integrated brings a sound that might just be the best of all worlds – again, depending on your sonic preferences. Not quite as tube-y as the PrimaLunas but a little warmer than the big solid-state Pass amps. Also, a great way to assemble a minimal box count system of high quality.
Smaller room listening
Moving back to my living room and pairing the Contour Legacy’s with the RS520 HiFi ROSE integrated, streaming Tidal and Qobuz makes for the ultimate three-box system. One Cardas Clear Beyond power cord, a pair of Cardas Clear Light speaker cables, and this is a system under $20k that, if you take the care to place the speakers perfectly, will fool a lot of people into thinking you spent a lot more. Having tried these speakers with the Rose amp, and the Double Shot from Java, rest assured, Class D is also a good match for these speakers.
Because of the ease with which these speakers turn electrical impulses into music, it’s so easy to forget about the system, cuddle up with my bull terriers, and listen to music till all hours of the night – the ultimate test.
Watching the final episode of Star Trek season two – “Assignment Earth” on my MacBook, streaming the sound through the RS520, I think of that legendary letter-writing campaign. Maybe we should start one of our own. Remember, there’s only 20 pairs of these left!
Since we are so close to the year’s end, when we announce our awards for 2026 in January, Dynaudio will be the recipient of one of our three Masterpiece Awards this year. These are only awarded to companies with a long legacy of creating products at this level. I can’t think of anyone more deserving.
