# Are these real or fake (Dynaudio MW160)



## kaigoss69

Hey guys,

I know a lot of you have Dynaudio speakers so I would appreciate a little help. I jusr bought these speakers used (MW160) and I would like to have your opinion on whether or not they are for real. The reason I am a bit suspicious is because I came across a website that had a real vs fake driver side by side and after looking at the following picture










and then comparing it to mine

http://picasaweb.google.com/kaigoss69/Mw160/photo#5190277926966811090

So according to the website http://www.mobileaudiosolutions.com.au/fakes.htm the real drivers have the tinsels glued to the basket in order to prevent shorting against the basket. Clearly, mine have no glue! But perhaps, Dynaudio has been changing the way they do things so I wanted to ask you guys who have Dynaudio drivers such as this to compare to yours and hopefully confirm that yours are the same as mine  

Some more pictures:

http://picasaweb.google.com/kaigoss69/Mw160/photo#5190277935556745698
http://picasaweb.google.com/kaigoss69/Mw160/photo#5190277944146680306
http://picasaweb.google.com/kaigoss69/Mw160/photo#5190277957031582210
http://picasaweb.google.com/kaigoss69/Mw160/photo#5190277965621516818

(sorry, couldn't get the pictures to show here)

Thanks, I appreciate the help.


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## Fabreezai

It is very possible that Dynaudio changed the speaker terminal design. I have seen this on many speaker manufacturers. I would think that with high power being pumped into the driver it could soften the glue and create a potential for a short and damage the amp, one of the many reasons why they would change the design. Hope that helps!


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## khail19

From that picture, yours appear to be fakes. I don't see why Dynaudio would change their design to resemble the known fake drivers. Have you checked the other characteristics of fakes, such as the tapered mounting holes?


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## JayBee

it almost looks like the cone of the fake, but the basketof the real one. tough call.


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## kaigoss69

Well, the mounting holes are not tapered and the flange thickness seems to be closer to the real than the fake one... but I am still nervous about the lack of glue between the tinsels and the basket. Any MW160 owners out there who can compare with their drivers???


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## Oliver

By visuals only [they're fake ].


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## Luke352

I was actually there when those real vs fake pics were taken, and I'd say yours are real the main pointers to real is the fact yours have flat, non tapered screw holes, the cone is a little hard to pick but the surround looks like the real one, you can see in the pic the fake a really shiny plastic looking surround whereas the real one has a dull colour like yours. As someone said they may have changed terminals, a terminal is a 2cent piece easily made and changed, so it's possible they've changed. Though try and replicate the pictures they have on the website, that way we can see a bit more to compare.


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## azngotskills

The recent Dynaudio 342s that i had did not have the "glue" on the terminals....i am certain they are 110% authentic as they came directly from Dynaudio. Just by looking at the pictures, i would guess to say they are real


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## kaigoss69

Yeah, I think these may actually be real! Thanks guys.


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## speakerboy

Do they sound real or fake?


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## kaigoss69

speakerboy said:


> Do they sound real or fake?


Well, I hooked them up yesterday. Installed in the rear doors of my VW Jetta. Amplified by the rear channels of an Eclpise XA4000, available wattage is 125 per side. Crossed over in a bandpass configuration, HP 40 Hz @ 18 db/octave, LP 100 Hz @ 12 db/octave.

I have to admit, I don't really know much about how a single driver like that should sound, but let's just say that I am not impressed! Granted, I have not installed any Dynamat yet, so the door baffle still has holes and I can feel the air moving through them when the bass notes hit.

I ran some normal music with a lot of punch in the 60-80 Hz region, and the speakers started making a mechanical sound (like a pop) at moderate levels. At that point the cone was moving say about 8 mm peak to peak, judged by the naked eye. Of course, I did not crank it beyond that level.

I then popped in a sine wave CD and ran a 60 Hz test tone. I cranked it up to where I the excursion was in the neighborhood of 10 mm p2p. I was afraid to crank it higher, as a sine wave can do some damage to a speaker I am sure if driven beyond its capabilities.

The curious thing is, it seemed the driver took a higher volume level from the sine wave signal, and showed more excursion without bottoming out, than compared to the music signal. Is this normal?

I calculated the wattage I was feeding the driver during the sine wave test (by reading the AC voltage with a DVM and then applying Ohm's law) and it was 65W. However, the driver is supposed to be capable of handling 120W...

So right now I am not happy with the performance of these drivers. Do you think their response (and power handling) will change once I apply the Dynamat and seal off the baffle? Or are they simply not broken in yet (but I thought break-in was more or less a myth)

What d you guys think? BTW, I am under the assumption that they are real.

Thanks


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## DonutHands

looks real to me. it appears that dyn may have changed the tinsel lead. yours does have glue to prevent shorting, but you see its just further up the wire.


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## BMWturbo

I've read elsewhere that dyn's like a bit of time to 'bed' in. 

So I wouldn't be making any rash judgements just yet.


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## spydertune

kaigoss69 said:


> So right now I am not happy with the performance of these drivers. Do you think their response (and power handling) will change once I apply the Dynamat and seal off the baffle? Or are they simply not broken in yet (but I thought break-in was more or less a myth)


I have a set of MW160's planned for (front) door mid-bass application also. I got them because I've heard them used that way and have been impressed by them. It seems that yours are real ones and you should be able to expect similar performance for yourself as well.

As you suspect, basic gasketing (foam strip type / Frost King) under the woofer flange and around the doorpanel perimeter where it seats against the door can make a dramatic difference in bass output. If the door panel is really floppy when you are playing the speakers, you'd probably gain some output there too if a damping material is applied to it.

As far as break-in, there is going to be some change in response but I believe it is more dramatic on drivers with greater Xmax than smaller ones. For a smaller driver you could probably measure the difference but I am not sure you would actually hear it. I think your gains will come with installation techniques rather than break-in which means more sweat equity & tweaking on your side. I might try the HP/LP up a little further too.

When I put my own in I will probably be in the exact situation you are and the above is how I would proceed.


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## kaigoss69

Well, I dynamatted (and sealed) the sh!t out of the doors, but the power handling has not improved. I will try to cross them over higher, once I get everything converted over to active, and then I'll have better control over them. However, I can easily see myself selling these and dropping in another set of Peerless SLS's, if I don't get more authority out of the Dyns.


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## John Swanberg

I have a set of dynaudio system 240GT's running active being fed with 75w (to each of the 4 drivers) by a jl 300/4. They are bandpassed between 63 hz and 2500 hz. My door (unfortunately) has no deadening material, and they did need quite some time to break in. The midbass is loud and clean in my car (02 GTI). Scan-Speak and Dynaudio are notorious for having long break in periods for their mid-basses. My Scan Speak midbasses in my Meadowlark Shearwater Hot Rods took 4 months of daily listening to make any bass! Give it some time (My drivers needed 200 hours of listening at least, 400 would be better). Regards, John


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## kaigoss69

John Swanberg said:


> I have a set of dynaudio system 240GT's running active being fed with 75w (to each of the 4 drivers) by a jl 300/4. They are bandpassed between 63 hz and 2500 hz. My door (unfortunately) has no deadening material, and they did need quite some time to break in. The midbass is loud and clean in my car (02 GTI). Scan-Speak and Dynaudio are notorious for having long break in periods for their mid-basses. My Scan Speak midbasses in my Meadowlark Shearwater Hot Rods took 4 months of daily listening to make any bass! Give it some time (My drivers needed 200 hours of listening at least, 400 would be better). Regards, John


That gives me hope, thanks! I'll let you know in 200 - 400 hours


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