ON TEST DYNAUDIO EMIT M30 LOUDSPEAKERS ynaudio has come a house—and largely by hand—in Denmark. the same time using just a single piece of long way since it fi rst Peel the front grille from a Dynaudio loud- MSP, and also ensures that the cone is rein- came into being in speaker and you’ll immediately recognise it’s forced close to where it meets the voice-coil Skandeborg, Denmark, made by Dynaudio, even if there’s no man- former, a technique that improves both the in 1976, where it was ufacturer’s badge in sight. The fi rst giveaway frequency response and the phase response of founded by Ejvind is the use of a magnesium silicate polymer the driver. Skaaning and Gerhard (MSP) material for the bass and midrange As for that voice coil, Dynaudio uses some Richter, but despite improvements in mate- cones and the second is the unique manner of the largest-diameter voice coils in the busi- Drials and manufacturing technologies—and by which the very large dust-cap is attached ness (relative to cone size), with the coil on that the company is now owned by Chinese to those cones, via a series of tabs rather than even the smallest cones measuring 75mm in giant GoerTek Inc.—Dynaudio products are the usual continuous plastic weld. diameter rather than the 25–30mm diameter still very much and very uniquely Danish—in This ‘tab’ technique was developed by coils used by most other driver manufac- fact we’re reliably informed that despite Go- Mark Thorup, of Dynaudio. It’s not only turers. This large voice coil diameter means erTek’s purchase of Dynaudio, all Dynaudio unique but also very clever, because it means fewer coil turns are required which improves drivers will continue to be manufactured in- the dust cap and the cone can be formed at electrical effi ciency and reduces heat build-up 18 Australian Hi-Fi www.avhub.com.au AHF Sep16_018-024 Dynaudio.indd 18 8/19/2016 1:18:19 PM Dynaudio Emit M30 Loudspeakers in the coil and in the voice coil former. Due of the two bass/midrange drivers is rolled Fairly unusually for a speaker at this price- to the large diameter of its coils Dynaudio off early, leaving the upper bass midrange point, the two drivers are fl ush-mounted and uses aluminium wire, rather than the usual driver to deliver the midrange on its own, the attached using standard softwood screws. heavy copper. two bass/midrange drivers in the Emit M30 The tweeter (Type 81702/7369582) in operate in parallel, covering exactly the same the Emit M30 is also made in Denmark by THE EQUIPMENT frequency range. While this does disadvan- Dynaudio and has a 25mm coated fabric The Emit M30 is part of a ‘budget’ series of tage the Emit M30 in some respects, it does dome. Unlike the bass/midrange drivers, the speakers released by Dynaudio in October have the advantage that it allows Dynaudio tweeter’s front plate is recessed into the front 2015. The other speakers in this range (at to use a very simple two-way fi rst-order (6dB/ baffl e, but like those drivers, it’s fi xed in place least at the time of writing) are the Emit M10 octave) crossover network to cross the bass/ using standard softwood screws, rather than midrange drivers to bolts with captive locking threads. the tweeter, but despite If you’re interested in seeing how these All Dynaudio drivers are being simple, it’s a drivers are made—and it is interesting, even high-spec design—as if you know nothing about driver manufac- manufactured in-house—and you’d expect of Dynau- turing—you can watch a seven-minute video largely by hand—in Dynaudio’s dio—using air-cored factory tour of Dynaudio’s Danish facility inductors, ceramic here: www.avhub.com.au/Dynaudio_Factory_ own factory in Denmark. resistors and MKP ca- Tour which includes sequences showing how pacitors. It’s connected the bass drivers and tweeters are assembled. to the drivers via very The cabinet of the Emit M30 measures thick Dynaudio-brand- 204×275×960mm (WDH), weighs 18kg and is ed Figure-8 cable. available in two painted, lacquered fi nishes: and Emit M20 bookshelf/standmount designs The bass/midrange drivers (Type satin white and satin black. The cabinet itself and the Emit M15 centre-channel. As should 84464/7364370) are made in Denmark by Dy- is made from the ‘soft’ MDF that’s typically be evident, Dynaudio is obviously expecting naudio and have a hefty centre-vented mag- used in China and is 25mm thick over the that these speakers will be used in mul- net that attaches to the diecast aluminium entire front baffl e and 19mm thick elsewhere. ti-channel and home theatre applications, chassis via ‘moon-lander’ style tubular struts, All internal walls are covered with panels of either with identical speakers in all channels so there’s maximum airfl ow behind the cone, soft foam, while the inner air space is fi lled except the centre, or with the M30s as the which is important in a bass refl ex design. with standard non-allergic speaker fi ll. The front channels and the smaller speakers as As stated earlier, the voice coil is 75mm in bass refl ex port, which is located on the rear the rear channels. diameter and wound with aluminium wire. panel immediately above the speaker The Emit M30 is the only fl oor-stander in the Emit Series (at least at the time of writing) The cabinet of the and, as you can see from the photographs Emit M30 measures accompanying this review, it’s a three-driver 204×275×960mm (WDH), two-way design using two 170-mm bass/mid- weighs 18kg and is available in two painted, range drivers and a single 25-mm soft dome lacquered fi nishes: satin tweeter. What you can’t see (because the white and satin black. port that would give it away is at the rear of The cabinet itself is made from the ‘soft ’ MDF that’s the speaker cabinet) is that the M30 is a bass typically used in China refl ex design. and is 25mm thick over Although the two bass drivers are listed as the entire front baffl e and being ‘17cm’ in diameter by Dynaudio, the 19mm thick elsewhere. All internal walls are covered overall diameter of each one is a bit larger with panels of soft foam, than this, at 175mm, but because of the while the inner air space design of the surround, the actual cone diam- is fi lled with standard non-allergic speaker fi ll. eter is considerably less, at 114mm. However, The bass refl ex port, is it’s the Thiele/Small diameter that is the most located on the rear panel important dimension to know about any immediately above the driver, and for this driver it’s 125mm, which speaker terminals. gives an effective cone area (known as the ‘Sd’, if you want to get technical), of 123cm2. However, because the two bass/midrange drivers operate in parallel, the overall Sd for the system is 246cm2. So if Dynaudio had used just a single driver, it would have need- ed to be around 230mm in diameter (overall) to deliver the same level of bass. Unlike many three-driver two-way systems, which use a 2.5-way crossover, so the one Australian Hi-Fi 19 AHF Sep16_018-024 Dynaudio.indd 19 8/19/2016 1:18:30 PM ON TEST Dynaudio Emit M30 Loudspeakers terminal plate, has a flared exit and is delivering fast, stomach-hitting drum sound Are Made Of.’ This is an utterly gorgeous 215mm long and 65mm in diameter. The to die for, chunky twangy bass lines and a album and, if you haven’t heard Carpenter’s speaker terminal plate is circular and has vocal that’s so real-sounding and exciting voice, ‘gorgeous’ is also a perfect descriptor just two multi-way banana-capable plastic that you’ll find yourself playing air guitar in of that as well. Listen to her smokily sensual terminals, so bi-wiring and bi-amping are not the breaks… or was that only me? delivery of the lines ‘For every time that I’ve options with the M30. After several sessions of the Seratones I been foolish that I’ve wished that I’d been wise, At just under a metre high the Emit M30s wanted to hear how the Emit M30s would the power of regret still gets me right between the are quite tall, yet they have a fairly small sound with a more pared-back sound and an eyes’ from the track Something Tamed, Some- ‘footprint’, so even if you use the provided album with top-notch production values. So thing Wild and you’ll immediately hear what spikes to mount the speakers, the cabinets what better album to use than Tinpan Or- I mean. On this album you can hear not only can tip over fairly easily if given a fairly good ange’s newest offering, ‘Love is a Dog’ which, the tonality of her voice but also the uncan- shove: a characteristic which should be fac- for my money, is their best of the five they’ve ny accuracy of the Dynaudio Emit M30’s tored-in if you share your home with small so far released, and also by far and away the imaging, delivering not only stage width but children or boisterous pets.