Dynaudio DM 2/8 Speaker

Dynaudio was founded in Denmark in 1977 by a group of engineers, and it’s still very much an engineering-driven company. That, or it’s the Danes’ no-nonsense approach that’s responsible for Dynaudio’s understated demeanor. The company offers an unusually broad range of speakers, from the entry level Audience models all the way up to cost-no-object flagship Evidence speakers. The DM 2/8 is part of the Special Models line, which also features a handful of limited edition models.

Features

The Dynaudio DM 2/8 was conceived as an affordable, yet high-performance design. The 8-inch woofer features an extremely light aluminum voice coil coupled to a lightweight, but rigid magnesium silicate polymer woofer cone. Together they keep moving mass as low as possible to provide nimble bass and midrange response. The woofer’s die-cast aluminum frame is a carryover feature from Dynaudio’s higher end drivers. The 1.1-inch tweeter boasts a specially coated fabric soft dome and an aluminum voice coil. Dynaudio engineers not only design all the drivers in house, they optimize each one to sound best in specific speaker models. To keep cost down without compromising performance the only finish offered is rosewood laminate. OK, the DM 2/8’s plain box styling won’t wow your audiophile pals, but the sound will.

Tip: Exercise care when removing the grilles or you may break off the plastic retaining pins.

Sonic Character

The DM 2/8’s midrange and treble are detailed and wonderfully refined. Soundstage is open, wide, and fairly deep. But don’t for a second let the DM 2/8’s reserve and class lead you to think it can’t get down and boogie—the speaker’s bass extended down into the high 40Hz range, while maintaining superb pitch definition and clarity. The result: stunning bass performance for a mid-size bookshelf speaker.

Musical Examples

Led Zeppelin's live at the LA Forum and Long Beach Arena shows from 1972 captured on the How the West Was Won DVD-Audio [Atlantic] sounded awesome over the DM 2/8s. Gawd, if Jimmy Page’s opening strokes to “Since I’ve Been Loving You” raising the hairs on the back of my neck didn’t convince me, John Bonham’s tightly focused drums, sitting way back in the soundstage, would have clinched the deal. The DM 2/8’s low-level resolution of ambient detail of the enthusiastic crowd was also above par.

Whiskeytown's Pneumonia CD [Lost Highway] told me a lot about what the Dynaudio DM 2/8 was doing right in the midrange. Ryan Adams’s pop operatic vocals, especially on “Paper Moon” were truly glorious, and the sweeping string arrangements sounded fundamentally correct. The sound was so crisp and see-through transparent it made me want to keep listening all night.

Next, I cued up Organ Odyssey [Reference Recordings], recorded at the Meyerson Symphony Center in Dallas, TX, with Mary Preston at the keyboard. The DM 2/8s projected a vast space, and the organ’s deepest registers were remarkably controlled and well, exhilarating. The DM 2/8 is a terrific speaker.