Dynaudio Heritage Special Loudspeakers
Sure to become another iconic classic from Dynaudio!
Real. Beautiful.
Dynaudio has launched its new, limited-edition Heritage Special passive standmount speakers – handmade from top to bottom, inside and out, at its headquarters in Denmark. Started as an ‘off-the-radar’ project and developed under top-secret conditions at Dynaudio Labs, it’s now ready to be unveiled.
Heritage Special is a tribute to some of Dynaudio’s most legendary speakers – including Crafft, Contour 1, Special Twenty-Five and more. Outwardly it’s affectionately retro; inside, defiantly modern.
Handcrafted cabinets
The speaker, limited to 2500 pairs worldwide, has a 19mm-thick MDF cabinet finished in sustainable American Walnut veneer. It’s internally braced for extra rigidity and lined with heavy bitumen to further minimise unwanted resonance. Each piece of veneer (including the thin list strips surrounding the front baffle) is matched to its companions – and those for each speaker are matched to each other – for complete consistency. The cabinet goes through three meticulous sanding and lacquering processes. It takes just over three days to build each one from start to finish.
Premium tweeter technology
The tweeter plate is from the highly regarded Esotar T330D. Behind it, however, is an up-to- the-minute Esotar 3 tweeter unit – as found in the top-of-the-range Confidence family. It’s the finest, most sophisticated tweeter Dynaudio has ever produced – featuring a larger rear chamber, powerful aerodynamic neodymium magnet system, the resonance-defeating Hexis inner dome, and Dynaudio’s characteristic precision-coated soft-dome diaphragm.
Top-level woofer design
Heritage Special’s mid/bass driver is a supercharged version of the one you’d find in the discontinued $85,000 Evidence Platinum series. You might also notice that it overlaps the edges of the baffle and its signature groove, as it did in times gone by. The 18W75 XL Heritage Special MSP Woofer (not every name needs to be snappy) shares the Evidence version’s exponential diaphragm construction, but then takes the original technology to a new level:
• The improved voice-coil uses a classic internal-magnet aluminium design, now on a glass- fibre former
• A new magnet system uses both neodymium and ferrite magnets to fine-tune flux around the voice-coil’s windings, which reduces second-harmonics and improves clarity
• The new asymmetrical Nomex spider, as seen on Confidence and Contour i, gives even greater control over the long-throw diaphragm’s excursion.
We made Heritage Special for you.
Made in Denmark.
Custom crossover
The speaker’s ‘brain’, the crossover, has been designed in-house from the ground-up. It uses classic Dynaudio first-order topology, delivered by high-quality components from German manufacturer Mundorf (including its noted Evo Oil capacitors), plus bespoke parts specified by Dynaudio Labs. The crossover uses local impedance correction and time- alignment technology for each individual driver to ensure a smooth transition between them.
Inside there’s Van den Hul’s CS12 12 AWG wiring, plus Swedish-made damping material. And to hook the speakers up, Dynaudio has opted for WBT’s ultra-high-level 710 Cu mC NextGen terminals.
Made for individuals
Each pair of Heritage Special speakers has its own pair number etched on to its brushed aluminium back-plate. It’s a chance for those lucky enough to own a set to be able to say they have a unique piece of Dynaudio history in their listening room.
“It’s been a labour of love for our R&D, production and marketing teams,” says Otto Jørgensen, Dynaudio’s Director of Product Management. “Our initial listening session with the first playing pair of Heritage Specials was meant to last 20 minutes. It ended more than two hours later. I think that says everything you need to know about these speakers. We absolutely love them.”
It’s hip to be square
"Our first listening session with the first playing pair of Heritage Specials was meant to last 20 minutes. It ended more than two hours later. I think that says everything you need to know about these speakers. We absolutely love them."
Otto Jørgensen, Director of Product Management
Old’s cool
If you were to ask any Dynaudio speaker how it would want to be built, it would say “like this”. And then point to itself. For Heritage Special, it was only natural to reach straight for the top shelf when it came to specifying its drivers. Look closely at the tweeter. Dynaudio historians will notice the unmistakable shape of the legendary Esotar T330D soft-dome tweeter. That’s Special enough on its own – but if a job’s worth doing, it’s worth doing jaw-droppingly. So we’ve replaced the insides with the finest tweeter technology we’ve ever created: Esotar 3. You’ll also find it, along with its powerful neodymium magnet, larger rear chamber and resonance-defeating Hexis inner dome, in our top-of-the-line Confidence series.
Taking on mid/bass duties is something equally Special: the 18W75 XL Heritage Special MSP Woofer (sometimes it’s worth giving a component its full honorific). If you were truly eagle-eyed, you might remember its exponential cone design from the magnificent Evidence Platinum series. The difference is, we’ve taken it further: this driver has an improved voice coil (a classic 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 crossover is really quite something. Senior acoustic designer Daniel Emonts went back to basics and came up with a bespoke first-order topology, then demanded it be endowed with the finest components our friends at Mundorf in Germany could supply. Key parts are custom-built to our exacting standards, and Mundorf’s legendary Evo Oil capacitors are 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.
If you were to take the speaker apart, you’d also discover 12 AWG internal wiring by Van den Hul, and Swedish-made polyester damping material. (But you’ll just have to take our word for that; please don’t disassemble your new Heritage Special speakers.)
On the brushed aluminium back-plate you’ll see top-of-the-range WBT 710 Cu mC NextGen terminals – yet another premium detail for you to marvel at. And when you plug in your cables… well, we’d be surprised if you didn’t do it two or three times more just because it feels and sounds so nice.
Finally – of course – there’s also your individual pair number. (We’re being selfish and keeping number 0001 for ourselves.)
Listen with heart
Sometimes you buy A Thing with your head. You have very logical reasons, and the results are entirely predictable based on the circumstances that Thing finds itself in. Sometimes, though, you buy with your heart. Logic be damned.
And the results are… well… Special.
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