Dynaudio Confidence 20a - Active Standmount Speakers

The Dynaudio Confidence 20A is designed to require only two things of the listener: a source, and some faith. Why faith? Because it does away with one of the most cherished indulgent proclivities of the audiophile world: auditioning amplifiers. They’re already included. They’ve been specced, tuned, customised… and hidden away in the stands.

Dynaudio's aim was to create the largest possible soundstage in a compact speaker; a system that can replace a large passive set-up. One that doesn’t just ask politely that you come to have a listen – it makes itself irresistible.

Specs for Days

An active speaker has an amplifier for each individual driver. Confidence 20A uses some of the best in the business. Teaming up again with Pascal over in Copenhagen, who have provided reference-quality amplification for Dynaudio's Core professional studio speakers. Here, the Esotar 3 tweeters get a more-than-ample 150W, while the NeoTec mid/bass drivers get a whopping 400W each.

(And here’s a fun fact: the amp is limited so it matches the driver’s maximum excursion – meaning there’s plenty of headroom, and you’ll never get it to distort. Even at neighbour-baiting volumes.)

The controls are round the back, integrated into the custom aluminium stand… which also doubles as a heatsink for the amplifiers; helps to form part of the speaker’s downward-firing bass port; and adds weight for extra stability.

And while it might not be a smart speaker, it’s still clever.

There are balanced analogue and AES3 digital XLR connections; settings for left/right placement; adjustable analogue sensitivity controls; sound-balance filters (‘Dark’, ‘Neutral’ and ‘Bright’ adjustments derived from Dynaudio's pro speakers); sample-rate conversion controls to preserve native resolution or enable true gapless playback; and native room-position settings (‘Wall’, ‘Corner’ and ‘Free’).

Drivers and Tweeters

The drivers are the same precision units you’ll find in the passive Confidence 20, optimised for active.

There’s the Esotar 3 tweeter, of course: the flagship high-frequency driver that made its debut in 2018 with the next-gen Confidence launch. It has a 28mm precision-coated soft-dome diaphragm, backed-up by the Hexis resonance-defeating inner dome. In the engine-room is an aluminium voice coil that minimises weight for improved transient response, plus a powerful neodymium magnet system for increased sensitivity and stellar dynamic range. There’s also a large damped metal back-chamber for lowering resonant frequencies and improving clarity.

The 18cm NeoTec woofer also has a neodymium-based motor (which incorporates an ingenious venting system for optimised air movement). Its aluminium voice-coil is wedded to a glass-fibre voice-coil former for optimum stiffness, and it’s fronted by the signature precision MSP (Magnesium Silicate Polymer) cone.

The Confidence 20A has seen a leap forward in bass-port design. Yes, a bass-port is just a hole. But this an engineered hole. An Exponentially Shaped Dual Flared one. Confidence 20A’s ESDF port has an end-to-end exponential shape that almost totally eliminates noise. It means you get vastly improved bass performance – which, of course, influences everything else up the frequency range. Think more precision to vocals, more clarity to strings and (of course) more weight to the thumps and bumps.

Technical Specs

• Analogue inputs (Primary): XLR - balanced
• Digital inputs (Primary): XLR - AES3
• Digital outputs (Primary): XLR - AES3
• Amplifier Power: 400W + 150W
• AC Power Input: 100-240V 50/60Hz
• Max Stand-by Power Consumption (W): 0.5
• Max Power Consumption (W): 120VAC: 453W / 230VAC: 425
• Frequency response (±3dB @ 85dB SPL): 33 - 25000Hz
• Frequency response (-6 dB Dynamic): 30 - 28000Hz
• Box Principle: Ported - Exponentially Shaped Dual Flared Port
• Crossover: 2-way DSP based
• Crossover Frequency (Hz): 2500Hz
• Tweeter: 28mm Esotar 3
• Woofer: 18cm NeoTec MSP
• Weight kg: 28.5
• Width incl. feet/grill/stand: 368mm
• Height incl. feet/grill/stand: 1119mm
• Depth incl. feet/grill/stand: 457mm

Further Information

Dynaudio Confidence 20A - User Manual (PDF)