Dynaudio’s Wilfried Ehrenholz announced the release of a new range of Contour speakers at CES 2003. The two shown here are the Contour S R surround/rear channel and Contour S C center channel speakers. Both have a nominal impedance of 4ohms, a sensitivity of 88dB and 1st order crossovers (6dB/octave). The S C has a power handling capacity of 150 watts and the S R 100 watts. Dimensions are: 490mm x 230mm x 260mm for the SC and 165mm x 275mm x 140 for the S R.

The Contour S 1.4 two-way compact loudspeaker. Impedance: 4ohms; sensitivity 85dB; power rating: 170 watts. First order crossover. Dimensions: 188mm × 400 × 340mm. MSRP: $2,800. Available March 2003.

Contour S 5.4 three-way floor standing loudspeaker. Impedance: 4ohms; sensitivity 89dB; power rating: 350 watts. First order crossover. Dimensions: 214mm × 1450 × 390mm. MSRP: $8,000. Available March 2003. []

“In our 17 years of making Contours, this is our first ground-up redesign,” said Al Filippelli, Executive Director for Dynaudio North America, “all previous versions were evolutionary refinements on the same platform. This is an entirely new speaker.” Showing us the compact size and elegant asymmetrical shape of the Contour S R surround (a sealed cabinet design more suitable to wall mounting or close proximity to room boundaries than the other rear-ported Contours), Filippelli explained some of the design changes in the line, many inherited from the pricier Confidence line introduced last year.

In addition to newer styling (a steel baffle and magnetic adhesion grills), the Contours inherit new driver designs in a time-aligned configuration, sturdier cabinet bracing, and greater efficiency – compared to their power-hungry Contour predecessors, the new models require only half as much current at the same wattage.

The new Contours will initially be offered in maple and the company’s popular rosewood finish shown here. Black and other finishes will be available later at additional cost. []