Confidence series
Nothing compares to the satisfaction of knowing – for a fact – that something is as good as it gets.
Sit back in your chair and listen, secure in the certainty that every detail of the speakers in front of you is dedicated to revealing every detail of the music they’re playing. Close your eyes and be delighted.
Confidence means pure performance.
It’s the best speaker range Dynaudio has ever produced, and it’s packed with science specifically developed to honour art. Original drivers – including the mighty Esotar3 tweeter – combine with a precision composite baffle, innovative cabinet design and optimised crossover to create the most advanced passive speaker in our history. (Something you can learn more about in our six-part podcast series on the Confidence).
Intensive analysis in our Jupiter measuring facility has resulted in the next-generation of Dynaudio’s DDC sound-beaming technology – including the DDC Lens waveguide system. The Esotar3 tweeter in the DDC Lens works in tandem with the NeoTec woofers, the radical Horizon midrange driver surround and the innovative Compex baffle to ensure music goes exactly where you want it: your ears.
But you won’t focus on the tech – you’ll be lost in the music.
Experience the art of listening on a Confidence system. It’s a masterclass in audio.
Inside Confidence
The updated Confidence range features a raft of improved technologies. They’ve all been conceived, engineered and perfected in Dynaudio Labs, the giant, state-of-the-art R&D facility at our HQ in Skanderborg, Denmark.
Esotar3 tweeter
The Esotar3 is the pinnacle of Dynaudio soft-dome tweeter design. It’s an evolution of the renowned Esotar2 found in the 2016 Contour and previous Confidence series, and it incorporates (and improves on) the cutting-edge airflow-optimisation technology seen in the award-winning Esotar Forty anniversary-edition tweeter.
The Esotar3’s rear chamber is much larger to reduce resonance, damping has been further optimised, and there’s a super-strong neodymium magnet on board for greater sensitivity and control.
A lower resonant frequency means a shallower frequency overlap between the tweeter and the midrange driver, which you’ll hear as better integration between treble and mids – or, to put it in musical terms – whatever you’re listening to won’t sound as if it’s been divided into distinct ‘double-bass’, ‘trumpet’, ‘triangle’ areas. You get the whole picture; it’s like listening in enhanced colour.
All these design changes mean our engineers were able to experiment with creating a tweeter that doesn’t need heat-dissipating ferrofluid (which has been used in every Esotar tweeter up to now). In the Esotar 3, the combination of the more powerful magnet and the presence of the DDC Lens (see below) means a higher tweeter sensitivity. More sensitivity means the tweeter can react with a lower input voltage. And that means it doesn’t get hot as fast – so it can play louder, just as clearly, for longer.
There’s also a special component inside: the Hexis. This is a small inner dome that replaces the Esotar2’s felt ring for even greater control over resonances, while also smoothing out the high frequency response.
Before the Hexis, we used a felt ring in the cavity behind the tweeter dome. This did a fantastic job of reducing unwanted resonances that would bounce back to the rear of the tweeter and affect its ouput. However, thorough measuring showed that we could do better when it came to avoiding absorbing high-frequencies (something felt is also very good at, as you can imagine).
The dimpled plastic inner dome of the Hexis eliminates those unwanted standing waves, as well as doing some incredibly clever work when it comes to stopping driver movement the moment the music signal stops. If dome resonance is halted, timing improves, imaging improves, detail improves… and so does your listening experience. And – of course – it was meticulously simulated, tested and refined in Jupiter.
The effect of all this? Higher detail-resolution, improved clarity and even better dynamics. Quite simply, The Esotar3 is the best tweeter Dynaudio has ever produced.
DDC Lens
The previous generation of floor-standing Confidence speakers had dual tweeters and an incredibly complex crossover help form a sound beam that would reduce reflections from floors and ceilings.
Why a sound-beam? Because if you’re sitting in a larger room, likely one with a lot of hard surfaces, you don’t want the soundwaves coming from the speakers to bounce off anything before they reach your ears. The room itself would colour the performance – so what you heard wouldn’t be exactly what the drivers were producing.
Shaping those soundwaves into a focussed beam that shoots straight to the listening position effectively removes the need for complicated, expensive (and potentially ugly) room-treatment.
The original system was called DDC (Dynaudio Directivity Control), and it was derived from our decades of experience in building ultra-high-end professional systems for some of the world’s most famous recording studios.
Dynaudio Labs has created a next-generation DDC platform for the updated Confidence family. It uses all the same principles – every component (including the Compex baffle) is integral to its success – but now we’ve taken it even further.
The latest DDC speakers need only one tweeter and a far simpler crossover, thanks to the DDC Lens. This is an intricate, precision-formed aluminium waveguide that hones the vertical audio image while maintaining wider horizontal dispersion than before.
The DDC Lens works in conjunction with the Esotar3 and the speakers’ midrange drivers and woofers to greatly reduce unwanted reflections from the floor and ceiling, and to focus the stereo image on the listening position.
But because our engineers are never satisfied with merely ‘excellent’, they took it a step further. They’ve figured out a way to increase the horizontal dispersion while maintaining a tight vertical beam – meaning a bigger sweet-spot, a happier audience and more musical enjoyment all-round.
During development, the DDC Lens was computer-simulated, modelled and 3D printed in a mind-boggling array of combinations. It was slotted into prototype speakers, hoisted 6m into the air in our Jupiter measuring facility, and painstakingly analysed. Then it was listened to, with real ears and real music, before being refined again. And again. Finally, after an extensive prototyping process, it emerged in this exact shape. It’s a shape borne of acoustic necessity – and, as is often the case with all things engineering, the correct solution is often the best-looking one.
Features
Designed and engineered in Denmark
We put Confidence through intensive –and exhaustive –testing in the Jupiter measuring facility at Dynaudio Labs. Hundreds of hours of analysis and listening have resulted in the best speaker we’ve ever created.
Esotar3 tweeter
The legend continues. The Esotar3 is optimised for detail, finesse and performance. It includes the ingenious Hexis resonance-defeating inner dome, plus innovations in materials, airflow and more.
Next-gen DDC technology
Dynaudio Directivity Control, our sound-shaping technology platform, has been rebooted, revamped and refined to include the DDC Lens –a unique machined waveguide that focuses your music exactly where it should go: your ears.
Specifications
- Status:
- Segment:
- Series:
- Type:
- Sensitivity (dB @ 2.83V/1m):
- IEC Power Handling (W):
- Rated Impedance (Ohm):
- Minimum Impedance (Ohm):
- Lower Cutoff (Hz @ +/- 3 dB):
- Upper Cutoff (kHz @ +/- 3 dB):
- Box Principle:
- Crossover:
Confidence 20
- Current
- Home
- Confidence
- Bookshelf
- 87
- 250
- 6
- 5 ohm @ 155 Hz
- 42
- 22
- Bass reflex down-firing port
- 2-way
Confidence 30
- Current
- Home
- Confidence
- Floorstand
- 88
- 350
- 4
- 2.8 ohm @ 85 Hz
- 38
- 22
- Bass reflex down-firing port
- 3-way
Confidence 50
- Current
- Home
- Confidence
- Floorstand
- 87
- 400
- 4
- 2.7 @ 79 HZ
- 35
- 22
- Bass reflex down-firing port
- 3-way
Confidence 60
- Current
- Home
- Confidence
- Floorstand
- 87
- 600
- 4
- 3.7 @ 71 Hz
- 29
- 22
- Bass reflex down-firing port
- 3-way
Dynaudio Magazine
Dynaudio Magazine is our universe of sound and music-related articles, videos, and podcasts, covering everything from loudspeakers and technology to extraordinary people, and our very best tips and tricks.
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