The Contour 20 Black Edition is a compact two-way speaker designed and built by Dynaudio in Denmark, based on the Contour 20i and revised in drivers, crossover and port as well as in appearance. It comes only in a black high-gloss cabinet with a matte black anodised aluminium front baffle, a black woofer basket, a black tweeter front plate and a black terminal plate. The US price is USD 8,000 per pair, with optional matching stands at USD 599 per pair.
Key specs that matter
The 28 mm Esotar 3 fabric tweeter, the same unit used in the Confidence 20, is mounted above a 180 mm MSP NeoTec mid-woofer. The crossover hands over at 3.6 kHz. Frequency response is 50 Hz to 23 kHz within plus or minus 3 dB and 43 Hz to 33 kHz at minus 6 dB. Sensitivity is 86 dB at 2.83 V and 1 m, and nominal impedance is 4 ohm with a minimum of 4.6 ohm. Maximum power handling is 180 W. Each cabinet is 440 mm high, 215 mm wide and 400 mm deep, and it weighs 14.6 kg.
Engineering and use context
Compared with the Contour 20i, the tweeter moves up from the Esotar 2i to the Esotar 3, a generation that places the Hexis inner dome behind the fabric diaphragm. The mid-woofer now uses a neodymium magnet system and a longer voice coil winding, and its cone is made of magnesium silicate polymer, the MSP material Dynaudio has long used for its woofers. The rear-mounted reflex port was enlarged into a dual-flare design with flared ends on both sides. The enclosure is heavily braced with gently sloped sides behind a thick aluminium baffle, a single pair of black WBT NextGen binding posts takes the cable, and the black cloth grille attaches magnetically without holes in the front. Both drivers are filtered with second-order slopes, and the network is built with Mundorf capacitors and resistors, a larger air-core coil and Van den Hul internal cables. The cabinet is reflex-loaded and sized for placement on a stand, with the black trim treatment extending to every visible metal part, so the finish is part of the identity of the edition rather than an option.
Pairing
Transistor amplification comfortable with a low-impedance load suits this speaker, and its IEC handling limit should be respected. The matching Stand 20 supports complete the system, and Dynaudio presented the edition alongside the Confidence 20A.
Alternatives
Dynaudio also makes the Contour 20i, the regular model of the Contour range on which this edition is based, fitted with the Esotar 2i tweeter.