Dynaudio has a long and illustrious history of producing outstanding hi-fi speakers for living rooms, pro studios and automotive environments the world over. For more than 40 years, it has been hand-crafting high-quality speakers using the finest materials and unprecedented knowhow. And now it's decided to pay homage to this legacy with a one-off, limited edition speaker: the Dynaudio Heritage Special.
It's a tribute to four of Dynaudio's previous master speakers: Crafft, Special Twenty-Five, Contour 1.3SE and Special One. Each has its own special place in hi-fi history.
When Crafft launched in 1989, it was one of the world's first compact, high-end loudspeakers. It turned on its head the assumption that high-end sound was only possible from big, bulky floorstanders. Since then, Dynaudio has launched Special Twenty-Five, Contour 1.3SE and Special One as special edition speakers, with each earning a place in the hearts of not just Dynaudio enthusiasts but music lovers of all stripes.
Heritage Special combines the virtues of these previous masters with the technological leaps Dynaudio has made in recent years to create a speaker that's simultaneously familiar yet unlike any other.
How has it done this, you ask? Heritage Special uses many of the same materials and technologies found in these masters, like the MSP woofer with inside magnet and the DSR soft dome tweeter (both made in Denmark). And it's all wrapped up in a furniture-grade MDF cabinet that's finished in American Walnut and handmade in Skanderborg, and is reminiscent of the iconic cabinets of past masters. A true tribute to the craftsmanship that runs through Dynaudio's legacy.
Inside that cabinet there's no shortage of cutting-edge technology. Dynaudio enthusiasts will recognise the unmistakable shape of the legendary Esotar T330D soft-dome tweeter. But Dynaudio has replaced the insides with its top-of-the-line tweeter technology: the Esotar3. That's the same tweeter that – along with its powerful neodymium magnet, larger rear chamber and resonance-defeating Hexis inner dome – you'll find in the company's top-of-the-range Confidence series. Which certainly inspires confidence.
The tweeter is the perfect match of signature Dynaudio styling and state-of-the-art technology. In fact, Dynaudio is confident it’s the best tweeter it has ever made.
When it comes to the woofer, Dynaudio has taken learnings from its magnificent Evidence Platinum floorstanding speaker – years in the making, this is widely thought to be Dynaudio's finest speaker. And with a price tag of £56000 per pair, absolutely no expense was spared in making it sound as good as possible. But in this case, Dynaudio has fine-tuned the 18W75XL so it’s perfect for the Heritage Special. This driver promises an improved voice coil (an internal-magnet design with aluminium windings, now on a glass-fibre former); magnet system (a hybrid design with both neodymium and ferrite magnets for even greater flux control); and spider (Nomex, as seen on Confidence and Contour i).
The purists will also enjoy the presence of a first-order crossover, complete with impedance correction for optimum performance. Key parts are custom-built by specialists Mundorf in Germany, with the company's famous Evo Oil capacitors used in the critical signal path. There’s also local impedance-correction on board for each individual tweeter and woofer, as well as time-alignment technology, to make for a silky-smooth transition between drivers.
Too much tech for you? You can always just sit back and admire the immaculately hand-crafted cabinets with their distinctively Danish look and feel. Note the meticulously crafted joins and corners of the individually selected – and individually matched – veneer panels, and marvel at the signature groove surrounding the baffle (another nod to legendary Dynaudio speakers past). Each speaker takes more than three days to make, including three stages of meticulous sanding and lacquering. Now that’s craftsmanship.
All of this legacy technology and expertise is complemented by more than 2000 hours of devoted research and development to ensure the sound quality is up to Dynaudio's exacting standards. The brand is confident you’ll not only love them but want to love them for a long time, which is why they come with a free 10-year warranty.
And the longer you own them, the more special they become. Because the Heritage Special is limited to just 2500 pairs, it's a collector's item to be cherished for decades to come. Each pair is individually numbered to prove just how rare and special a hi-fi artefact it is.
Heritage Special, priced at £5500 (€6000), is a limited-edition salute to traditional high-performance Danish hi-fi, immaculate craftsmanship, and the latest sonic technologies. It's a celebration of the essence of Dynaudio, and an example of just what's possible when the worlds of classic design and modern acoustics collide.
Read more about the Heritage Special on the Dynaudio website.
