Electronics enthusiasts seldom see past mere functionality, but aficionados of fine watches know better. The objects of their desire keep time no better than a $29 Timex, but watch devotees judge a product by a deeper standard.

Simply put, they judge a watch for what it is—its construction quality, its design, its movement complexity, its pedigree. Its gestalt. Its je ne sais quoi. I acquired my first good watch, an Omega Seamaster automatic, several years ago, and even though it has been upstaged since by more costly and complex competitors, I still wear it a couple of times a week, and still stop often to admire it—just for what it is.

We can forgive electronics buffs, though, because so few of the products they covet merit the aesthetic fascination that even a run-of-the-mill Swiss timepiece inspires. But there are a few notable exceptions. One of those is Dynaudio’s Confidence C2 loudspeaker.

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This system centers on the C2 tower speaker, which sounds gorgeous with stereo music, but needs help from a subwoofer when used for movie soundtracks. (Click image to enlarge)

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Nothing about the Confidence C2 resembles an ordinary speaker, except for the fact that it has woofers, tweeters, a detachable grille and a place to connect speaker wires. In place of a massive, hulking front baffle plate to support the various speaker drivers sits a sculpted form, bisected with a matte-finish aluminum trim plate. Dynaudio’s engineers designed these pieces as much for acoustic functionality as for aesthetic beauty; their various curves and bevels minimize sound reflections that would mar the speaker’s performance.

The baffle, which holds the woofers and tweeters, floats before an exceptionally slim speaker cabinet. The cabinet, in turn, seems to hover above its base. Glass panels affixed to the cabinet’s sides add a stylish touch while stiffening the speaker enclosure.
That covers aesthetics, build quality, complexity … but what about pedigree? You may not know Dyn-audio, but this Danish company enjoys an extraordinary reputation largely because of the outstanding speaker drivers it has built for other manufacturers. (Denmark is to woofers and tweeters what Switzerland is to watches.) For decades, Dynaudio drivers have been a standard in the world’s finest loudspeakers. It is, indeed, an estimable heritage— one older and more storied than that of many fine watches.

The C2 has been around for about a year and it has already won over many very serious audio enthusiasts. Home theater fans, though, have been forced to stand on the other side of the velvet rope, waiting for Dynaudio to develop the ancillary speakers required to create a surround-sound system. At last, they are here: the Confidence Center speaker and the Confidence C1.

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This system centers on the C2 tower speaker, which sounds gorgeous with stereo music, but needs help from a subwoofer when used for movie soundtracks. (Click image to enlarge)

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The Center sits between the C2s, under or above your video screen. The C1 serves as a side or rear speaker, or as a front left/ right speaker for those who find the C2 overwhelming. Both speakers use the same drivers as the C2, and thus sound quite similar.

I have a marvelous time listening to—and admiring—the C2, mostly because of what it does with music. Any music—from CDs, my MP3 music files or FM radio broadcasts—sounds gorgeous through this speaker. It has a warm, comforting sound; I cannot find a music recording, regardless of its quality or format, that sounds harsh when played through the C2. In my listening room, flecked with foam panels intended to optimize the acoustics, the C2 sounds a tad dull. I could easily fix the problem by removing a few square feet of foam, but instead I transport the pair to a friend’s living room, an environment that better represents the type of space in which the C2 will usually find a home. His wife, an interior designer, has outfitted the room with overstuffed furniture and thick draperies but, of course, no acoustic foam panels. In this room, the C2 sounds nearly perfect. The finest sonic details of such delicate instruments as mandolin and flute—small elements obscured by all but the best speakers—appear, and the sonic image envelops us as it should with any great stereo speaker. Yet the forgiving quality of the speaker remains; the speaker is capable of revealing the subtleties of high-resolution Super Audio CDs, but seems to forgive the flaws of mediocre pop music CDs. And the C2’s aesthetics win his wife’s approval instantly, despite the speaker’s imposing size.

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The tweeters of each speaker mount in a piece of machined aluminum for greater rigidity and clearer sound. (Click image to enlarge)

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Back home, I add the Center and a pair of C1s for surround speakers to create a full home theater speaker system. To my surprise and satisfaction, the Confidence Center ranks among the most-sophisticated center speakers I have encountered. A switch on the back adjusts the sound for speaker mounting above or below your TV screen; a pair of curved aluminum rockers on the bottom al-lows your installer to aim the Center directly at your favorite listening chair for the best sound. The Center sounds almost exactly like the C2, which it should—a center speaker should always match the sound of the left and right front speakers with which it is grouped. Voices sound natural but for a slight emphasis in the lower treble region. With most DVDs I play, that mild deviation from perfection actually seems to enhance dialogue intelligibility.

The C1 works fine as a surround speaker, especially for surround-sound music from SACDs and DVD-Audio discs. But for movies, I prefer a wall-mounted speaker with additional woofers and tweeters; these produce a more diffused, enveloping surround-sound effect. Dynaudio does not yet produce such a speaker in the Confidence line, but using two pairs of C1s—one pair near the side walls of your room, one pair directly behind your listening chair—should produce a similar effect.

Action-movie DVDs reveal one shortcoming of C2, however. While the speaker adeptly reproduces every piece of music I choose to play, bass-heavy movie soundtracks overwhelm it; its smallish 6.5-inch woofers are not built to withstand such punishment. If you intend to use a pair (or a quartet) of C2s in a home theater, I strongly recommend you add a subwoofer to relieve the C2s of any responsibility for low-bass reproduction. To date, Dynaudio has not created a subwoofer specifically to complement the Confidence series, but I find that the little James Loudspeakers EMB-1000 (which I reviewed in our September/October 2003 issue) matches the C2 aesthetically and acoustically.

Perhaps the most telling comment about the Con-fidence series comes from my mother, who has been impressed by countless speaker systems in my home but never truly moved by any of them. The very first notes she hears through the system—Aaron Neville’s opening phrase of “Mary, Don’t You Weep” from his Devotion DVD-Audio disc—actually draw a gasp from her. Within a few minutes, she wants to know how she and my father can have that sort of sound in their home —the first time in my 14 years of reviewing audio products that she has expressed such an interest.

DESCRIPTION
Home theater speaker system consisting of C2 tower speakers, C1 surround/bookshelf speakers and center speaker; subwoofer not included.

COMPONENTS
C2: Two 6.5-inch polypropylene-cone woofers, two 1-inch soft-dome tweeters.
Center: Two 6.5-inch polypropylene-cone woofers, two 1-inch soft-dome tweeters.
C1: 6.5-inch polypropylene-cone woofer, 1-inch soft-dome tweeter.

CONNECTIONS
Four-way speaker cable binding posts (accepts bare wire, banana plugs, spade connectors and pins).

DIMENSIONS
C2: 61 x 9.4 x 17.5 inches (hwd).
C1: 17.5 x 7.9 x 16.9 inches (hwd).
Center: 11.8 x 31.2 x 15 inches (hwd).

PRICE/CONTACT
Price: C2, $12,000/pair; C1, $6,000/ pair; Center, $6,000 each
Contact: 630.238.4200
www.dynaudiousa.com