The Evoke 50 is the larger of Dynaudio’s two Evoke floorstanders, and it’s the only model in the range built as a genuine three-way, with a dedicated midrange driver rather than the 2.5-way arrangement used everywhere else in the line. Where the Evoke 30 borrows its tweeter and Esotec+ woofer technology from further up the catalogue, the Evoke 50 goes a step further and borrows a driver wholesale: its midrange unit comes directly from the considerably more expensive Contour range, neodymium magnet and all, chosen specifically because a smaller, more powerful motor system lets the engineers keep stray reflections away from the cone.

Brief product overview

A 3-way floorstanding loudspeaker with a 28mm Cerotar soft-dome tweeter fitted with Hexis, a dedicated 15cm neodymium MSP midrange derived from the Contour range, and two 18cm MSP woofers with aluminium voice coils and Ferrite+ magnet systems. Crossover points sit at 430Hz and 3,500Hz across a 3rd/2nd order network. The cabinet is rear-ported with two-part bass port plugs that let the low end be tuned to the room rather than left fixed. Sensitivity is 87dB with a 4-ohm nominal impedance, dropping to 3 ohms minimum at 100Hz, and IEC power handling is rated at 260 watts. Frequency response runs from 35Hz to 23kHz. It stands 114cm tall, in black or white high gloss, walnut or blonde wood, and weighs 26.9kg per cabinet.

How it sounds

Where the Evoke 30 impresses with how much it extracts from a 2.5-way arrangement, the Evoke 50 simply has more to work with: a genuine midrange driver means the crossover isn’t asking a mid-bass unit to double up on vocals and instruments, and the result is a noticeably more spacious, room-filling version of the same Esotec+ house sound, with real weight and authority in the bass that the smaller model can only suggest. The adjustable port plugs are a genuine practical feature rather than a gimmick, letting the low end be opened up in a larger room or tightened down in a smaller, more lively one. The honest caveat is the one several independent reviewers keep returning to: at 87dB into 4 ohms, dipping to 3 at 100Hz, this is not an easy load, and it will show up an underpowered amplifier rather than flatter it. Give it a properly muscular partner and it rewards the investment; pair it with something modest and it will always sound like it’s working harder than it should.

What we’d partner it with

The Atoll SDA300 Signature is hand-built in Normandy from largely French-sourced parts, and it puts a genuinely capable amplifier stage behind its streaming and DAC sections rather than treating them as an afterthought: 150 watts into 8 ohms, rising to 260 into 4, which comfortably covers the Evoke 50’s 260-watt IEC rating with headroom in reserve rather than running at its limit. A dual-mono Burr-Brown PCM1792 DAC handles digital conversion up to 24-bit/192kHz, and the built-in streaming platform covers AirPlay 2, Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect, Qobuz Connect and Roon, so most systems will need nothing else connected to the network at all.

The SDA300 has no dedicated phono stage of its own, only line-level analogue inputs, so for vinyl a separate phono preamplifier is the way in. The Pro-Ject Phono Box RS is built for exactly this role: a dual-mono circuit using Analog Devices’ SSM2019 module on the input stages, with continuously variable impedance from 10 to 1,200 ohms adjustable during playback and gain switchable between 40, 50 and 60dB, so it can be matched precisely to a moving-magnet or moving-coil cartridge rather than settling for a generic setting.

For the turntable itself, the Pro-Ject The Classic Evo arrives with an Ortofon Quintet Red moving-coil cartridge already fitted and aligned, worth £319 alone. Its tonearm bearing is drawn from Pro-Ject’s Evolution range, the sub-platter is machined to the same tolerances as the limited-edition Vienna Philharmonic turntable, and a TPE-damped counterweight cuts tonearm resonance amplitude by half. Connected into the Phono Box RS’s moving-coil input, it’s a genuinely high-performance analogue front end rather than a token turntable added for completeness.

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 your room is smaller, the Evoke 30 is the better starting point, and it’s an accomplished design in its own right rather than a compromised version of this one. If space or budget doesn’t comfortably stretch to the Evoke 50’s scale, start there instead of assuming bigger is automatically better. And this remains a 4-ohm speaker with modest sensitivity that only gets more demanding under load; that’s a deliberate design decision that assumes serious amplification behind it, so a modest receiver or entry-level amplifier isn’t the pairing to reach for.

Level each cabinet using the supplied feet before final positioning. The port fires from the rear, so leave real space behind the speakers, and experiment with the two-part bass plugs once they’re in place; fully open gives the fullest bass, partially or fully inserted tightens things up for a smaller or more lively room, and there’s no single correct setting, only what suits your space. Connect a television to the SDA300 via its optical or coaxial digital input rather than assuming HDMI is available. For vinyl, set the Phono Box RS to its moving-coil setting and dial in an impedance within the Quintet Red’s recommended range, using the continuously variable control to fine-tune by ear rather than settling for a fixed step. Keep the turntable away from the speakers themselves to avoid any feedback through the plinth, particularly once the Evoke 50 is playing at the kind of levels it’s capable of.