Price Paid:  $1000.00 from Audiogon Classifieds

Summary:
At 15” high, 8” wide, and 11” deep, the size is a little bigger for speakers using a 6.5” woofer. It weighs about 19 pounds, which is typical for the size of this speaker. The finish isn’t very special, black ash, looks dull and boring (reminds me of 500 dollar speakers). You can, however, get birds eye maple but you have to pay extra. But it doesn’t really matter for me since its all about the sound.

I knocked on the speaker cabinet to test its resonant behavior. Although it didn’t sound as dead as I’d hope, there were no cabinet colorations while listening to music. Even at high levels, the 1.3s enclosure did not color the midrange in any way. Dynaudio doesn’t believe in mass bracing, so they just brace at specific areas that would otherwise create cabinet vibrations. The rear port is about 1 7/8” in diameter and tuned to 43 Hz for excellent bass extension.

With the right placement and toe in, the balance is very neutral/natural and just sounds right. I achieved best results with ½ inch of toe in. Too much toe in can result for this speaker to have excess energy around 10 khz. The speakers are spread 5 feet apart, and the listening position is about 6.5 feet from the speakers. The front of the loudspeakers are 41 inches from the rear wall, 28 inches from the side walls. My small room measures 10 feet wide and 11 feet long with an 8 foot ceiling. The closet in between, behind the speakers are open all the way so the length extends to 13.8 feet. Since I was in a small room, I opened the window and the door to minimize early reflections and the bass overloading the room. RPG room treatment absorbers were also installed on the wall behind the listening position.

Bass is very well tuned and never exaggerated unless your room is very small and/or the speakers are too close to the wall. The speakers have to be out at least 3 feet from the wall behind the speakers. Bass extension is excellent: I measured – 4.5 dB at 31.5 Hz in my small listening room. Most mini monitors aren’t even close to this kind of bass extension. Many are down - 3 dB at 40 Hz or even a higher frequency.

The downside is port noise. This is probably due to a small port diameter for a relatively low frequency tuning. But it was only audible at high levels below 40 Hz. I only notice it when I am playing some really bass heavy tracks at high levels. Output is also limited below 40 Hz, since the woofer is becoming unloaded and starts to flop around in free air (typical for vented designs).

I tested its maximum output and achieved 101 dB at 40 Hz. Now, that is really something for a small speaker. Bass is just about enough for most music that a subwoofer isn’t necessary unless you really crave the bottom octave.

The 1.3s midrange is one of the best I’ve heard regardless of price. Most speakers at this price have some sort of midrange imperfection. This is most likely due to cabinet coloration, crossover problems, or just lacking in midrange detail. The Contour 1.3s are absolutely phenomenal with reproducing voices. I have heard the B&W Nautilus 805 not long ago and the balance seemed to be bumped up around the upper bass. This colored the midrange quite a bit and made male voices sound slightly chesty. With the 1.3s, I couldn’t detect any fault on the midrange, it is just pure and faithful to whatever music you play.

Treble is one area most speakers have troubles with. The Contour 1.3s also did this part very well. It sounds powerful, vibrant and exiting. It is also accurate and revealing. So if you have a bright source, then the treble response of the Contour 1.3s will also sound bright. But that’s not to fault the 1.3s since all is giving you is the truth.

Imaging and sound staging is another aspect these speakers excel. Thanks to its wide, smooth off axis response. Every instrument, voices or other sounds were clearly defined on their own space. This makes the speakers disappear and leave you with the music.

These speakers aren’t for the low powered tube fan. With 85 dB of sensitivity and 4 ohms of nominal impedance, these small speakers can be quite demanding. I am powering them with an Adcom GFA-5800. Also use good quality cables since these speakers are revealing. I used JPS Labs Ultraconductor Interconnects and Speaker Cables.

Anyways, The Contour 1.3s are far more enjoyable and more musical than anything else I’ve heard in this price range and above. I can easily tell that the other speakers are doing something artificial to the sound while the Dyns give you the truth. The Dynamics are also impressive. It seems like the speakers have complete control from the softest sounds to the loudest climax. The speakers’ tonal balance did not change at any level. They also handled all kinds of music effortlessly, classical, jazz, rock, R&B, rap, reggae, dance, you name it.

My only gripe is the port noise. But it does almost everything right: surprising low bass without boom, midrange with a purity of tone without that common coloration, accurate treble response with incredible amounts of detail, and images like crazy that leaves you with the music and not the speakers. I have heard many speakers from Magnepan, B&W, Martin Logan, Revel, Sonus Faber, Aerial Acoustics and nothing is as uncolored and more musical than the Dynaudio Contour 1.3.

Danes don't lie! :)

Associated Equipment:

AH! Tjoeb '99
Creek OBH-10
Adcom GFA-5800
JPS Labs Ultraconductor interconnects
JPS Labs Ultraconductor speaker cables
Premier J series 26" stands

Strengths:
Everything from the midbass (40 Hz) and up.

Weaknesses:
Port noise at high levels.

Similar Products Used:
B&W Nautilus 805, and other more expensive speakers

Summary:
This are the best speakers I've ever owned, and some of the
best I've ever heard, at least compared to other bookshelf
size speakers. Hell, they are a hell of a lot better than
many full size speakers - I auditioned a pair of full-size
Paradign Studio 100's that were nowhere near as impressive, at around the same price.

I listened to these in my living room, driven by an
unspectacular Denon amp, side-by-side with a pair of
Sonus Faber Concertos.

Ok, so the Concertos won easily in visual terms. They're
a great looking speaker. The Dyns are - well, dull. Nice
(Well, really nice if you get the bird's eye maple), and
incredibly solid and well made, with a furniture-quality
finish. But - well, they're boring.

And when I listened to the Concertos, with a variety of
rock and jazz CD's, they seemed like a winner, with a
lot of bass for the size and generally nice sound.

Then I put on the Dynaudio 1.3mkIIs. Oh - Nevermind about
the Concertos. They're off the list.

I swapped back and forth several times, with different
albums and different volumes, and across the board, the
Dyns win. Better high end (not as bright), better mids.
And while the Concertos put out *more* bass, the Dyns
put out *better*. They revealed textures and details in the
fretless bass line from XTC's "Senses Working Overtime"
that I've never heard before, and brought out all the
layers of sound in a Steely Dan record, even at very low volume.

These are simply a fantastic pair of speakers.

I give them a 4-star rating for value, only because I think
5 should be reserved for a *steal* (the ones where you
wonder how they can sell for this price). This does not mean
they're not worth the $2399 they go for.

Strengths:
Clean, clear tone, detail in bass, construction - hell, everything you could want in a speaker this size.

Weaknesses:
Dull looks (Yeah, well, big deal, it's the sound that counts)

Similar Products Used:
Sonus Faber Concerto, NEAR M15

Summary:
just demoed the 1.3 with the audience 50 speakers. i used lower end components - $700 integrated amp - $500 cd player to emulate my home set up as closely as possible.
under these conditions, the audience 50s kept up very well with the 1.3s. i would say they matched %95 of the 1.3s' performance.
this is not to slam the 1.3s in any regard but to inform those who have a similar amp\cd set up and are not planning on spending $3,500 for a pre, amp and cd, that they should demo the 50s as well.
the sales guy had made the same comparison before - agreed with my assessment and let me know what $ system was required to make the 1.3s truly rise above the 50s.
i'm not willing\able to spend that much and if you are also not, try the 50s - they're a great speaker too.

Strengths:
Clarity of voice, neutrality, wide dispersion

Weaknesses:
limited bass as expected but has plenty for most music and rooms

Summary:
These speakers really are quite stunning! They sound extremely natural, especially on vocals, with no discernible coloration of their own. No speaker in their price bracket that I have heard even comes close to the sound quality, emotion and involvement that these provide. Even in higher price brackets (up to double) the only speaker which really beat them was the bigger 1.8mk2.

Interestingly, I demoed the speakers (a store demo pair) against the newer 1.3mk2, and preferred the originals, which have a freer treble. To some ears this could translate as a trace to much sibilance, but to me it sounded much more inkeeping with the general presentation.

Can't recommend them highly enough.

Strengths:
Sound superb and very natural, excellent imaging, deep bass from small boxes, look great!

Weaknesses:
Some very bassy music can cause the bass to become 'boxy' - but this is only to be expected from small speakers. Err, that's it!

Similar Products Used:
Demoed against many other speakers of similar price (and much higher) over a couple of months.

Summary:
These speakers are fantastic. The most neutral, natural speakers I've yet heard.

Strengths:
Most natural sound ever heard from a speaker

Weaknesses:
Kind of expensive

Similar Products Used:
Totem Model One, Joseph Audio RM7, ProAC 1SC all auditioned