Dynaudio’s Contour standmounts and their siblings, side by side. Here is the Contour 20 Black Edition alongside the standard Contour 20i and the Contour 30i floorstander, showing what your money buys at each step.

The Contour 20 Black Edition takes the compact flagship of the Contour range and gives it the treatment usually reserved for speakers costing far more. Two things change from the standard Contour 20i, and both are significant. The tweeter is upgraded to the Esotar3, the driver developed for Dynaudio’s flagship Confidence range, and the crossover is completely reworked with premium Mundorf components. The result is not a cosmetic special edition but a genuine step up in performance, wrapped in an exclusive high-gloss black finish that gives it its name.

Brief product overview

A two-way rear-ported standmount with a 28mm Esotar3 cloth-dome tweeter with a Hexis inner-dome structure, and an 18cm MSP NeoTec woofer with a neodymium magnet system. The Esotar3 is Dynaudio’s finest tweeter, taken from the Confidence range, and its presence here is the headline change. The crossover uses a second-order topology at 3,600Hz, notably higher than the 2,200Hz of the standard Contour 20i, with a lower Q-factor for greater damping and control, and premium components including Mundorf resistors and capacitors. Dynaudio’s own account is that the reworked crossover delivers better transient response, improved dynamics, lower distortion, more precise imaging and higher power handling. Sensitivity is 86dB with a 4-ohm nominal impedance measuring a 4.6-ohm minimum, and IEC power handling is 180 watts. Frequency response runs from 50Hz to 23kHz within 3dB, reaching 43Hz at minus 6dB. The cabinet measures 440 x 215 x 400mm and weighs 14.6kg each, in an exclusive high-gloss black finish. There are no bi-wire terminals.

How it sounds

The Black Edition builds on the Contour 20i’s muscular, expressive character and refines it. The Esotar3 tweeter is the difference you hear first: it is sweeter, more extended and more resolving than the already-excellent tweeter in the standard model, and against the more heavily damped crossover it integrates beautifully with the woofer. Imaging is more precise, transients cleaner, and the whole presentation has the poise Dynaudio associates with its flagship Confidence range, in a considerably smaller and less expensive package. As with the 20i, this is a 4-ohm speaker of 86dB sensitivity, so it wants a capable, high-current amplifier to be heard at its best; the better the electronics, the more the Esotar3 rewards them.

What we’d partner it with

The AVM Inspiration AS 2.3 is a fine match, and its combination of qualities suits this speaker well. It is a compact streaming integrated built around AVM’s X-STREAM platform, delivering 140 watts into 4 ohms from a Class D output stage with a Class A preamplifier section, which is precisely the current the Contour asks for. An ESS 9038Q2M DAC handles digital, streaming covers Roon Ready, Tidal and Qobuz Connect, Spotify Connect and AirPlay 2, and there is an HDMI ARC input for a television, so the pair need nothing else to play.

For vinyl, the AS 2.3 has a high-performance phono input switchable between moving-magnet and moving-coil, with impedance matching via included adapter plugs, so a turntable connects directly. The Rega Planar 8 is a serious partner: a skeletal Tancast 8 plinth, the RB880 tonearm and a hand-tuned Neo Mk2 power supply, fitted here with the Apheta 3 moving-coil cartridge. The AS 2.3’s moving-coil setting and adapters accommodate it directly. As a Rega turntable it earths through its phono lead, so there is no ground wire to attach.

For stands, the Dynaudio Stand 20 is designed for this speaker and sets it at the right height. On cabling, use a well-made speaker cable of appropriate gauge for the run; AudioQuest and Chord are the cable brands we stock.

Who shouldn’t buy it

If you do not need the Esotar3 tweeter and the upgraded crossover, the standard Contour 20i shares the same cabinet and woofer and costs less. If you want a floorstander, the Contour 30i is the next step up. And if your amplifier is modest, the Black Edition’s whole appeal, the flagship tweeter and its resolution, will go unrewarded, so budget for electronics that can do it justice.

The Black Edition’s port fires from the rear, so leave space behind the cabinets, and toe them in so the axes cross slightly behind your head. Set them on the Dynaudio Stand 20 with the tweeters near ear level. Set the AS 2.3 up over the network through the RC X app, using Ethernet where you can. For vinyl, connect the Planar 8 to the phono input, set it to moving-coil and fit the impedance-matching adapter plugs to suit the Apheta 3; connect the earth lead to the ground terminal.