Dynaudio Evoke 30 Loudspeaker

Low and midrange octaves employ a pair of 5.5″ Esotec+ mid/bass drivers with two-inch aluminum voice coils, glass-fiber voice-coil formers, and Aramid-fiber spiders. Each cone is made from a single rigid piece of MSP (Magnesium Silicate Polymer), a material that’s’ been a Dynaudio mainstay since the company was founded in 1977. The Contour-derived cone surround allows a longer throw ratio for greater punch. And, like the Cerotar tweeter, the Evoke 30’s woofers are both driven by ceramic Ferrite+ magnets. The Evoke 30 crossover is a second-order design transitioning at 1.2kHz and 2.3kHz. It’s worth noting that since Dynaudio is a company that designs its own drivers, it has a leg up on other speaker firms that source transducers from third parties. This advantage allows Dynaudio to more easily meet its aim of keeping the passive crossover as simple as possible. This yields two benefits: better sound, and the ability to use better components. The Evoke 30 uses the same Hexis motor behind the tweeter found in the Confidence range.

One crucial key that benefitted the Evoke was its optimization in Dynaudio’s state-of-the-art Jupiter measurement facility—a 17,200-square-foot research and development lab in Skanderborg that came online in 2017. Jupiter’s centerpiece is a Free Field Impulse Measurement Room, an expansive 13m-square space wherein the test device is raised into the middle of the room using a special crane and measured by a whopping (count ’em) 31 microphones!

Regarding setup, my smallish listening room doesn’t afford a wide range of placement options. And a single bay window on the left wall creates an asymmetry that adds complexity when attempting to ward off first reflections from sidewalls. Thankfully. I was fortunate to have on hand John Quick, Dynaudio’s VP Sales and Marketing for the Americas. His experience, ear, and satchel of tools proved a reminder that in the set-up game it truly can come down to a matter of inches and exacting toe-in angles. 

The Evoke 30 wasn’t alone in producing the level of performance I encountered. It was ministered to by a Lumin S1 Media Player (including the new X1 power supply, Issue 358) on the digital side and a SOTA Cosmos Total Eclipse (with vacuum hold-down) and SME V tonearm on the analog side. Electronics included the Parasound JC 3+ phono pre, Aesthetix Mimas integrated, and a combination of Audience frontRow cabling and Shunyata speaker wire. Also, as luck would have it, contemporaneous with the arrival of the Evoke was the recently installed EBI Khumar moving-coil cartridge (review forthcoming), so LPs were spinning freely on my SOTA rig throughout my listening sessions.

In performance, the Evoke 30 had impressive range, making it comfortable with all musical genres—jazz combos, a capella vocals, hard rock, gentle chamber music. Overall, it “evoked” a warm, full, and well-balanced midrange character, nicely augmented by a naturalistic treble and anchored by an impressively weighty bottom end which dipped into the low 40Hz range. The slightly oversize soft-dome tweeter was smooth and open and virtually invisible to the ear. (Nothing shouts “bad audio” more than a tweet that goes rogue.) Its mids were open but not too forward. It maintained a relaxed composure across the frequency spectrum. Dynamics, both at the macro and micro levels, were wide ranging. Transients were clean and quick—not lightning fast in the ribbon/planar sense, but quick enough to capture the snap of a rimshot, a vocal trill, or the tick of a flatpick on a vintage Martin Dreadnought. Also, the pair of speakers that made up my review sample were nicely matched in output. One way I listen for this is by playing mono recordings—the musical image should center itself precisely and unwaveringly between the left and right channels, as if there was only a single speaker in the room. The Evoke 30 nailed it. A quick aside: Dubious about mono resolution and soundstage? Just check out “Daytripper” from the Beatles Mono Masters LP. Throughout the track, Paul’s Hofner bass doubles George’s guitar lead line with crystal clarity and a soundstage that often tracked to the inside edges of the speakers.

Evoke 30 presented orchestral music with well-focused imaging and spacious acoustic cues. Front-to-back dimensionality and section layering across the orchestra were good, although not up to the high bar set by the legendary MBL 126 Radialstrahlers or more recently the Raidho X2.6 (Issue 358). These pricier models seemed to possess a sharp deep-focus lens akin to something onboard the James Webb Space Telescope. They preserve every detail to the back of the stage, Nonetheless, as I listened to Andre Previn’s performance of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, the 1971 EMI recording produced and engineered by the “two Christophers” (Messrs. Bishop and Parker) [Previn Plays Gershwin: LSO], the Evoke 30 provided a colorful and impactful demonstration of its wide timbral range. The piece’s unconventional musical requirements, which include saxophone, tuba, and glockenspiel, were reproduced in high style. I could hear (almost see) that Previn’s concert grand was offset to the left of the podium and downstage toward the audience as it would have been in a live performance. 

Articulation, whether focused on voices or other instruments was very good, but not too good. To my ears, extra-articulation is a red flag indicator of one of two things: rising treble or reduced energy in the lower-mid and power range. Where one or the other exists the result is a forced hyper-clarity, even a flinty, fatiguing hardness that masquerades as a version of resolution, but resolution that doesn’t exist in nature. It’s seductive at first but eventually tiresome. I must give Evoke 30 a tip of the hat for avoiding that trap.

Bass frequencies were full bodied and extended into the 40Hz range (and perceptibly lower). But the Evoke 30 doesn’t over-reach, and the roll-off below that point was fairly rapid. The port does its work and stays out of the way and doesn’t mask midrange resolution with excess overhang. Dynaudio supplies foam port plugs should room size, placement issues, or room gain be an issue. My listening room, however, supported the Evoke 30’s bass quite nicely, without major peaks or valleys from the upper bass on down. 

One particular aspect of the Evoke 30’s performance came as a surprise; It wasn’t long ago that short narrow columnar towers with small drivers tended to sound, well, a bit lean and lacking in bloom as music descended into the sub-100Hz range. The tune and the pitch might’ve been present, but the body and LF underpinnings, the foundation that the music rested on, was often lacking. I think Dynaudio has done a superb job using the 2.5-way design to full advantage. Not only is it more efficient than a similarly sized two-way, but also it credibly fills in the upper bass and lower midrange which can often sag a bit on two-ways of a similar specification. 

My personal listening focus has always been based squarely on vocals. The “human” instrument being the most complicated one to reproduce and as different as a bassoon is to a sax or a piccolo. I gave the Evoke 30 quite the workout in that regard, listening for accurate timbres, low-level resolving power, and emotional expressiveness. Beginning with bass-baritone Bryn Terfel, moving on to gravely Tom Waits, and ultimately ascending into James Taylor territory, followed by Don McLean, Norah Jones, and Linda Ronstadt, then topping out with Joni Mitchell and soprano Renée Fleming. The Evoke reproduced these artists sensitively, in vivid color, and with distinctive and complex vocal textures. Critically, I found inter-driver continuity was very good; there was never a sense of one driver asserting itself over another. Even as these singers transitioned from resonant chest tones into their upper ranges, the Evoke 30 expressed each performance with near point-source precision. To coin a phrase, the Evoke 30 spoke with one voice. This conclusion was not entirely unexpected, however. Credit the proximity of the three in-line drivers along the front baffle, separated by only about 11″ from the dustcap of the lower mid/bass to the center of the tweeter dome. 

A great example of the Evoke 30’s resolution and character was found in Bill Henderson’s rendition of “Send In The Clowns” from Live at the Times (Jazz Planet 45rpm, recorded in 1975 and mastered by Bernie Grundman). “Live” it is, with all the audience trappings and clubby rattling and rustling atmospherics you might expect. As if it were seated on a stool right next to Henderson, the recording is so detailed and transparently intimate that you can count the number of ice cubes clinking in a gimlet as a cocktail waitress passes by. 

There was so much musical “rightness” to the Evoke 30’s performance it almost seems petty to point out its limitations. Harmonically the top end could be a bit more sweetly extended and open. Dynamic nuance might also be developed further. For example, horn and brass playing audiophiles might find that, compared with a three-way, the Evoke 30 will pull back slightly at the limits. Most will find this small dip in dynamic energy easy to dismiss given the speakers plentiful attributes. And if I’m allowed to be really picky, a dash more low end would add to the sense of spaciousness and immersion. But then, that’s why Dynaudio invites us to check out the Evoke 50. Right?

The Evoke 30 is an appealing and musical effort by a mature company that knows the audiophile landscape. In both size and output the Evoke 30 makes for a near-ideal small room loudspeaker—one that might even make committed two-way stand-mount afficionados take another look at the possibilities for a floorstander. I consider it a speaker that instantly establishes itself as a leader in its price segment and beyond. With much admiration, it deserves a hearty recommendation. 

Specs & Pricing

Type: 2.5-way bass-reflex floorstander
Drivers: 28mm tweeter; (2) 5.5″ mid/woofers
Freq response: 40Hz–23kHz
Sensitivity: 88dB
Impedance: 4 ohms
Dimensions: 7.1″ x 35.4″ x 10.5″
Weight: 34.2 lbs. each
Price: $3999/pr.

DYNAUDIO NORTH AMERICA, INC.
500 Lindberg Ln
Northbrook, IL 60062
(847) 730-3280
dynaudio.com