Dynaudio Launches Updated High-End ‘Confidence’ Speakers

At last year’s Munich High-End show, Danish loudspeaker specialist Dynaudio announced its $3,000 Special Forty bookshelf speaker, which has received praise both for its sound and for its gorgeous wood finishes. At this year’s show, the company aimed quite a bit higher, previewing its newly revised Confidence range. Originally launched in the 1990s, the Confidence series now sits below the brand’s mega-expensive flagship Evidence models, but Dynaudio calls the new Confidence speakers “the most advanced passive loudspeaker range in Dynaudio history.” The new speakers were given their official North American debut at the recent CEDIA Expo in San Diego, where Dynaudio product manager Otto Jørgensen showed them off with pride. “I've been doing this job for a long time — but for the first time in nearly a decade, listening to the new Confidence models genuinely gave new meaning to the music I thought I knew,” he said. “It's just extraordinary.” The updated speakers feature all new drivers, new crossovers, and new cabinet designs. The range comprises four models, the smallest of which is the stand-mounted Confidence 20 ($12,999 per pair). Moving up from there are three floor-standing options: the Confidence 30 ($19,999 per pair), the Confidence 50 ($26,999 per pair), and the Confidence 60 ($39,999 per pair).

The revamped Confidence range features a new soft-dome tweeter design, which Dynaudio calls the Esotar3. Evolved from the Esotar2 tweeter found in the current Contour series (and in the previous generation of Confidence models), the Esotar3 has been refined using the airflow-optimization technology that Dynaudio developed for the tweeter in the aforementioned Special Forty loudspeaker. The new tweeter also has a larger back chamber than did the Esotar2. The felt ring found in the Esotar2 has been replaced by an inner dome, which is said to reduce resonance. The previous Confidence series used two tweeters per speaker in order to control and widen dispersion, but the new series employs a single tweeter, aided by a new waveguide. Based on research conducted at Dynaudio’s Jupiter R&D facility in Denmark, the company has refined its Dynaudio Directivity Control (DDC) sound-beaming technology to produce the DDC Lens system found in the new Confidence speakers. The DDC Lens is essentially an aluminum waveguide that tweaks the dispersion from the drivers in order to improve imaging.

The NeoTec woofers and midrange drivers in the new Confidence range use Dynaudio’s MSP (Magnesium Silicate Polymer) cone material, and feature a new voice-coil design with multiple layers of fiberglass designed to increase rigidity. The midrange drivers have a new design in which the cone is shifted to the edge of the driver, allowing it to sit flush with the baffle. This design reduces diffraction from the diaphragm and tweeter, according to Dynaudio. The new midrange driver basket design and Dynaudio’s “Horizon surround” reportedly optimize airflow for better sound. The precision-machined composite baffle is an upgrade from the MDF baffle found on the previous generation of Confidence speakers. Dynaudio claims that the Compex composite material used in the new speakers is both strong and lightweight, making it better suited to the demands of the new DDC implementation. 

The stand-mounted Confidence 20 ($12,999 per pair, including stands) is a two-way bass-reflex design that employs a 7-inch long-throw woofer and an Esotar3 tweeter. The included stands work in conjunction with the Confidence 20’s down-firing port to enhance the speaker’s bass performance. The Confidence 30 ($19,999 per pair) is the smallest floor-stander in the range, combining two 7-inch woofers with a 6-inch midrange driver and an Esotar3 tweeter with the DDC Lens. The Confidence 50 ($26,999 per pair) also uses two 7-inch woofers, but this medium-sized floor-stander uses a pair of 6-inch midrange drivers (in a D'Appolito array) instead of just one, in conjunction with an Esotar3 tweeter with the DDC Lens. The imposing Confidence 60 ($39,999 per pair) uses two 9.4-inch woofers, two 6-inch midrange drivers, and a single Esotar3 tweeter with the DDC Lens. The physical design of the new Confidence speakers draws cues from the Contour range; the cabinets feature svelte curves around back, and the speaker terminals are built into each speaker’s base. The Confidence range will be available in Midnight high-gloss, Smoke high-gloss, Raven Wood high-gloss, Ruby Wood high-gloss, and Blonde Wood finishes when it officially launches in the United States later this year. Dynaudio claims that these new speakers take the brand’s most celebrated technologies to new heights, thanks to new materials, manufacturing techniques, and designs.

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