Teaming a fashionable aesthetic with formidable sonics, the Evoke 30 crafts the perfect fusion of both. Read our Dynaudio evoke 30 review.
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As the second most expensive speaker in the group, the Evoke 30 has the distinction of being among the most compact, vying with the slightly slimmer Totem and marginally squatter Spendor for top trumps as a room-friendly presence.
In this respect, there’s a lot to like. Dynaudio’s designers apparently put in the extra hours, taking prototypes and models home to live with them as well as visiting interior design stores and a cross section of real homes to gain inspiration. The result, with its straight tapered cabinet walls, splayed bolt-on outriggers and, in the review sample’s case, very tactile natural open-grain walnut wood veneer cladding, is a fifties/sixties retro vibe that I guess won’t be to everyone’s taste, but I’d certainly make room in my house for it.
1 28mm soft textile dome tweeter
2 Bass reflex port
3 High-quality binding posts
4 2x 140mm MSP mid/bass drivers
The driver tech is anything but retro. Its 28mm Ceroter tweeter is a new design that lifts tech from the company’s Forty anniversary, Contour and Confidence ranges. It uses a strontium carbonate Ferrite+ ceramic magnet system and the Confidence’s Hexis dimpled, resonance-reducing inner dome. The intended upshot is a smoother response and sweeter treble with greater detail and clarity.
Being a rear-ported, two-and-a-half- way system, the Evoke 30 has twin 140mm Esotec+ mid/bass drivers. Each speaker cone is made from a single piece of MSP (Magnesium Silicate Polymer) for optimum rigidity and glued directly to the glass-fibre voice-coil former, meaning more of the coil’s motion energy is transferred to the diaphragm.
Within the first few bars of Boz Scaggs’ evergreen gift to hi-fi demo suites, Thanks To You, it’s clear the Evoke 30 has a fabulous sense of flow and lucidity. The understated, slow burning R&B ballad masterpiece contains some of the most luxurious, deep bass notes ever committed to master tape and while the Dynaudio can’t quite get hold of the lowest ones with the confidence and weight of the Amphion, for suppleness, pitch and texture it has a sensuous quality you simply fall into.
Having to follow the much larger and heavier Argon3LS has notable consequences for scale as well as bandwidth, but this isn’t too severe and if anything it’s the Evoke 30’s comparatively bijou cabinet that more convincingly ‘disappears’ within a spacious soundstage that extends easily beyond the boundaries of my listening room. And, for the first time, I’m hearing the kind of dynamic reach and expressive freedom the Amphion couldn’t quite procure.
This is especially apparent with Chet Baker and Bill Evans duetting Alone Together on vinyl in a phenomenally ‘live’-sounding 1958 studio session. Evans is playing piano quietly and with great subtlety, Baker’s deft, baleful trumpet figures are a little louder, but when Pepper Adams’ baritone sax joins in its power and presence is startling and balloons the dynamic envelope. Yet each part stays precisely in proportion and is easy to follow. Whether it’s Anette Askvik or Stanley Clarke, performances are consistently clear, cohesive and well resolved. The Dynaudio might not have the same scale and power as the Triangle or KEF, nor the deepest bass or whip-crack transients, but it is a compelling listen that’s capable of holding you in its thrall for hours without any residual fatigue
Beautifully made and finished, it looks good but sounds even better
9/10
- Retro/modern style
- clear, cohesive, well-resolved sound
- build and finish
- Bass extension falls a little short of the best