Not exactly "vintage" but Dunlavy's literally rock

bebop86

Well-Known Member
Apr 1, 2013
79
1
83
Hey- So I have been moving the Dunlavy V's around and almost have them right ( I think)- room is 17x28- I have them 3 1/2 feet from side wall- 10.5 apart and 5 feet to front wall- toed in so they are about facing each ear- 12 feet from chair- I get good pinpoint center imaging wide soundstage- But It still feels a little compressed-Not alot of Air- Pianos you can hear the attack but there is no decay on the notes-
Here is what I have at the moment- the speakers are off their bases as I am going to put them up on spikes so now they are on a wood floor over concrete-
I put RPG diffusers on the side walls
I have all Mcintosh equipment and am using Mogami Gold xlr interconnects and Duelund 12 guage wire for speaker wire for now-
So before I keep moving around these beasts I thought I would see what you gurus think I should do- Is it the cables?? remove the side panels etc- thanks so much for all the advice
 

VPN

VIP/Donor
Dec 28, 2013
353
163
318
Hey- So I have been moving the Dunlavy V's around and almost have them right ( I think)- room is 17x28- I have them 3 1/2 feet from side wall- 10.5 apart and 5 feet to front wall- toed in so they are about facing each ear- 12 feet from chair- I get good pinpoint center imaging wide soundstage- But It still feels a little compressed-Not alot of Air- Pianos you can hear the attack but there is no decay on the notes-
Here is what I have at the moment- the speakers are off their bases as I am going to put them up on spikes so now they are on a wood floor over concrete-
I put RPG diffusers on the side walls
I have all Mcintosh equipment and am using Mogami Gold xlr interconnects and Duelund 12 guage wire for speaker wire for now-
So before I keep moving around these beasts I thought I would see what you gurus think I should do- Is it the cables?? remove the side panels etc- thanks so much for all the advice

Bebop86,

Are the speakers toed-in so you only see their front, don´t see their sides? At this position you will usually have the most air, you can decrease the toe in if it is too much.

I have not heard the cables you are using, so I have no idea how they sound. I recommend the Kubala Realization for speaker cable. For interconnects and power I recomment Echole Omnia, but those are expensive.

Regarding the Mcintosh, I don't know if they are able to drive the SC-V large drivers, maybe they are rolling off. If you can, try to audition a pair of Krell 750mcx or one Krell 700mcx (those are relatively cheap now), I know those match very well with the SC-V.

Cheers,

VPN
 
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shakti

Well-Known Member
May 9, 2015
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Bebop86,

Are the speakers toed-in so you only see their front, don´t see their sides? At this position you will usually have the most air, you can decrease the toe in if it is too much.

I have not heard the cables you are using, so I have no idea how they sound. I recommend the Kubala Realization for speaker cable. For interconnects and power I recomment Echole Omnia, but those are expensive.

Regarding the Mcintosh, I don't know if they are able to drive the SC-V large drivers, maybe they are rolling off. If you can, try to audition a pair of Krell 750mcx or one Krell 700mcx (those are relatively cheap now), I know those match very well with the SC-V.

Cheers,

VPN
I heard them with Mark Levinson ML33h , they can compete with the demand of the speakers
 
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VPN

VIP/Donor
Dec 28, 2013
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Hello,

Did anyone find a better midrange to replace the Vifa M13SG-09-08 used (at least) in the SC-I, SC-IVa, and SC-VI?

The trick here is to find a midrange that has a similar rollof at the high frequencies, because of the low pass 1st order filter. The extension of the lower frenquencies is not so important since the High Pass filter is very steep.

Please led me know.

Cheers,

VPN
 

Brent71

Well-Known Member
Dec 14, 2016
10
8
133
Hello,

Did anyone find a better midrange to replace the Vifa M13SG-09-08 used (at least) in the SC-I, SC-IVa, and SC-VI?

The trick here is to find a midrange that has a similar rollof at the high frequencies, because of the low pass 1st order filter. The extension of the lower frenquencies is not so important since the High Pass filter is very steep.

Please led me know.

Cheers,

VPN
What's wrong with the factory drivers? Unless you have the resources and knowledge on Mr. Dunlavy, I'd think toying around with drivers is going to lead to worse results, not better.
 

VPN

VIP/Donor
Dec 28, 2013
353
163
318
What's wrong with the factory drivers? Unless you have the resources and knowledge on Mr. Dunlavy, I'd think toying around with drivers is going to lead to worse results, not better.

Hello Brent,

Some of the owners of Dunlavy speakers are engineers (like me), have knowledge about crossovers, speaker design, measurement etc and are willing to take the risk to mod Dunlavy Speakers. This is certainly not for everyone.

There has been evolution in speaker drivers since the last design of John Dunlavy. In my Dunlavy SC-VI, replacing the origional tweeters for the Seas Crescendo tweeters was a major sound upgrade (besides listining, also measured the frenquency and impulse response). Before doing the tweeter upgrade, I had already upgraded the crossover with better components, which was a major project and a major sound upgrade (besides listining, also measured the frenquency and impulse response), while expensive (the cost was almost as much as the SC-VI).

I have bought a pair of Dunlavy SC-I just to test new midrange drivers integration with the tweeters (1st order both ways), instead of testing directly on the the SC-VI. I am considering ordering custom made midrange drivers from Audio Techology (Denmark), however, it would be better to use a better production run midrange, in case somebody have found one, tested and worked better than the origional.

So, my question stands. This question is intended only for those few who mod Dunlavy speakers. Did anyone find a better midrange to replace the Vifa M13SG-09-08 used (at least) in the SC-I, SC-IVa, and SC-VI?

Regards,

VPN
 
Last edited:

tdh888

Well-Known Member
Nov 4, 2010
298
28
935
Philippines
Hi VPN ,
Why don’t you try to email Kiat Low of Duntech . He is now the owner / chief designer and his design still adhere to the principles set by John Dunlavy . They introduced last year the new Duntech Princess w/c is similar in size and specs of the Dunlavy IV A . They still stick w/ the 1st order Crossover design .

Stay safe ,

Tdh888
 
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VPN

VIP/Donor
Dec 28, 2013
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Hi VPN ,
Why don’t you try to email Kiat Low of Duntech . He is now the owner / chief designer and his design still adhere to the principles set by John Dunlavy . They introduced last year the new Duntech Princess w/c is similar in size and specs of the Dunlavy IV A . They still stick w/ the 1st order Crossover design .

Stay safe ,

Tdh888


Hello Tdh888,

Good idea! I will contact him. I read about the new version of the princess and the senator. Seems like he is developing a new version of the sovereign too. The new Princess seems to be priced around US$50K. He is sticking to the John Dunlavy principles, but using newer/better drivers and other components, and better cabinet. Very promising! He mentions the dificulty of finding top divers that work well with 1st order crossovers.
Cheers,

VPN
 

tdh888

Well-Known Member
Nov 4, 2010
298
28
935
Philippines
Thanks for the reply VPN , do get in touch w/ him , very supportive even for the old Duntech owners . Can’t wait to listen to the latest Princes C5800 , unfortunately there is no dealer here in our country ( the Philippines) . If it wasn’t for the pandemic I could have listened to it in Hong Kong .

Stay safe , best regard ,

tdh888
 

Brent71

Well-Known Member
Dec 14, 2016
10
8
133
Hi all, I've got a major problem. Back in mid-October I bought a pair of SC-Vs off of US Audio Mart. https://www.usaudiomart.com/details/649662714-dunlavy-sc-v/

The speakers shipped on Oct. 19th, arrived on the 27, and sat in the crate until I got them into my living room on Nov. 7th. It wasn't until today that I made the time to hook them up, and it was pure disappointment. I don't want to type it all out again, so I'll copy/paste what I wrote in the email I sent to the seller.

Quick rundown of everything I did tonight:
To test the SC-V's I moved them right next to my SC-IV's, speaker "B on the left and speaker "A" on the right. I shut off the amp, swapped the speaker cable on left side from the IV to the V, turned the amp back on, and heard the lack of midrange and highs as soon as I turned up the volume. Just to be clear, V connected on the left, IV connected on the right, undisturbed from how it had been for over a year. I thought it was a jumper or cable issue at first so I rechecked cable and binding post jumpers several times with the same end result.

I moved the speaker cable from the V (left) back to the IV (left), turned the amp back on and everything was perfect with both IV's connected again. I then repeated the same process on the right side that I had done on the left; turn off the amp, disconnect the IV (right), hook up the V (right), while the left channel was connected to the IV. Same thing, no mids or highs out of the SC-V on the right. I again rechecked connections and found no problems. I swapped the speaker cable from the right V back to the right IV and everything's fine again.

After discovering the lack of midrange and highs with both speakers I pulled the crossover on the "B" speaker thinking something might have got bounced around and disconnected during shipping, and saw no issues. I used my multi-meter to measure continuity between the binding posts and where the wires to the drivers are soldered and didn't see any problems. I decided to pull a driver to check if there was anything odd going on with them. I removed the upper mid on speaker "B", measured it, and found the open voice coil. I then pulled the lower mid and found the same problem, open voice coil. After both mids on speaker "B" measured bad I pulled the upper mid out of speaker "A", measured it, and found open voice coil. I then pulled the bottom mid and it's voice coil also measured open. All 4 bad.

Both of my IV's are hooked up again and working perfectly, so it's not an issue with my equipment or cables. I was also careful powering things off and on and the volume control; turning on the amp, then slowly raising the volume up from 0. I never turned the volume up past what would be considered background music levels, and as mentioned, tested SC-V (left) and SC-IV (right), then reversed to SC-IV (left) and SC-V (right). I never had both SC-V's connected at the same time. My pre volume control range is 0 - 70, I never had it past 8, which is normal conversation level.

I have not pulled the crossover out of the "A" speaker since the one in speaker "B" seems to measure fine, and it's the drivers I've found that measure bad.

What do we do? Do I contact the shipper for insurance claim, US Audio Mart, my household insurance agent... ? I don't understand how they're listed as "excellent condition" and then have 6 drivers that are bad the first time I get them hooked up to my system. I could maybe understand one mid possibly getting damaged in shipping since John changed from the domes to cones because he had a few issues, but not all four mids, and both tweeters.

I am 100% certain I didn't do anything that could have possibly damaged the speakers, because if I had, it would have ruined one or both of my SC-IV's since I connected one V while a IV was connected on the opposite channel. Both V's were never hooked up at the same time, and now both IV's are hooked up again and working perfectly. There weren't any strange noises that could have damaged any drivers either. I'm at a complete loss, and about sick to my stomach over this.

What the hell do I do? I've never had an issue buying audig ear off of the internet. I paid for them with PayPal, but not through the US Audio Mart website because it kept giving me errors. If it was just one driver damaged in shipping I might understand, but I can't comprehend how 6 drivers all failed. Did he blow them up and sell them to an unsuspecting buyer? Even if he did, I can't prove it. He could even say I'm the one that damaged them somehow. I honestly don't know what to do.
 

Genesis168

Well-Known Member
Jan 26, 2018
15
5
110
Toronto, Canada
Drivers rarely go bad caused by shipping. I noticed that the upper mids are dome types vs cones from the pictures. Most SC5 I know off use cone mids. I’m not sure if earlier 5’s are dome mids. You should look into it. Maybe the drivers were not originals from the get go. Others SC5 users might want to chime in
 

Brent71

Well-Known Member
Dec 14, 2016
10
8
133
Drivers rarely go bad caused by shipping. I noticed that the upper mids are dome types vs cones from the pictures. Most SC5 I know off use cone mids. I’m not sure if earlier 5’s are dome mids. You should look into it. Maybe the drivers were not originals from the get go. Others SC5 users might want to chime in
John Dunlavy used domes in the earlier models, then switched to cones later on because he had some problems with them surviving shipping. I've seen quite a few pics of other pairs with the same dome drivers, and then later pairs with higher serial numbers, with the cones. I don't know exactly when he switched, but somewhere between serial numbers 150 - 200 from what I can figure out. When I read about the domes in comments on AVSforum and Audiogon I prepared myself that it might be the case with mine. I never expected to find all 4 mids, and both tweeters bad. I've read of people burning up the tweeters, but never a comment about those failing during shipping. I have a pair of III's, a pair of IV's, and a SC-IICC, and they all use the same exact tweeter. It just doesn't make any sense. I hate to think I got sold known defective speakers, but what else could it be?
 
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VPN

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Dec 28, 2013
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John Dunlavy used domes in the earlier models, then switched to cones later on because he had some problems with them surviving shipping. I've seen quite a few pics of other pairs with the same dome drivers, and then later pairs with higher serial numbers, with the cones. I don't know exactly when he switched, but somewhere between serial numbers 150 - 200 from what I can figure out. When I read about the domes in comments on AVSforum and Audiogon I prepared myself that it might be the case with mine. I never expected to find all 4 mids, and both tweeters bad. I've read of people burning up the tweeters, but never a comment about those failing during shipping. I have a pair of III's, a pair of IV's, and a SC-IICC, and they all use the same exact tweeter. It just doesn't make any sense. I hate to think I got sold known defective speakers, but what else could it be?

I used to have a pair of Dunlavy SC-V with dome midranges. Great speakers, loved them. Sold in 1998 to purchase a pair of SC-VI, which are even better than the SC-V, especially for the vocals, lower frequencies (below 30hz), and dynamics.
 
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Brent71

Well-Known Member
Dec 14, 2016
10
8
133
I forgot to post an update here about my situation. The seller was great, and after keeping him in the loop about what I'd found for prices of used/NOS vs new drivers, etc, he refunded me $250 more than the cost of new drivers from Madisound! I received the drivers the Tuesday after Thanksgiving from Madisound, got them installed, and the speakers sound great! The new drivers probably aren't as close to spec as JD had them when they left the factory but, as incredible as they sound, it's hard for me to imagine them sounding much better. These really are amazing, and a much bigger improvement over my SC-IVs than I thought was possible.
 

eagle32nd

Member
Mar 8, 2021
8
11
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55
I found this thread - and this site - completely by accident. I own a pair of Dunlavy SC-Ia's. I've had them for years (bought them new trading in a set of Klipsch Forte IIs). They are powered by late 90s Rotel equipment - an RB980BX amp (120wpc), a matching pre-amp, and an RCD-975 CD player. The bottom is handled by a 12-inch Velodyne servo-controlled sub. I use all Audioquest cables, except for the speakers, which are Nordost Blue Heaven. I absolutely love my Dunlavys...I don't think I could ever part with them. They sound magnificent, even with my mid-priced equipment. I actually wish I had another pair of them for the second of speakers stands that I've had boxed since I bought the first pair.

All the best!
 

ARETOO

New Member
Mar 9, 2021
2
0
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48
Austin, TX
Multi Duntech/Dunlavy owner here...
My latest acquisition for my mastering studio was a set of SC-V's to replace my aging PCL-400's (Dynaudio woofers are impossible to get).
Sadly, my SC-V's needed a couple of drivers replaced, and fortunately Madisound had stock on the Woofers, Midranges, and tweeters, so all were replaced.
Next up is recapping and re-resistoring the crossovers.
Just reaching out and telling my tale to get connected with other Dunlavy/Duntech owners and lovers.
My current stash..
Duntech PCL-400's with HIVI woofers instead of the Dynaudio
Dunlavy SC-I, SC-1 center, SC-v.
/r.
 

cal3713

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Nov 2, 2020
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ARETOO

New Member
Mar 9, 2021
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My $.02, $5k is a bit much on those.

To be fair, the IV-a's are Highly suggested and sought after. There was something magical in the tuning and updated drivers from the stock IV's. I loved the original IV, so....

To put the price in to context, I paid $3200 cash for my V's, though I was able to drive to dallas to get them (I am in Austin), saving money, and had access to a free cargo van and furniture pads.

There was then the cost of replacing drivers, ~$750 total, and the recap, which should be around the same money to do right.

I would offer them $3k, they have been up for a good while..... and will certainly need a recap after probably 25 years of use.

The woofers and the tweeters are available new, and made right by scan-speak, and available for the moment from madisound.

The Sub woofers are NOT available to my knowledge, so...... hopefully they were cared for and rotated once per year like Dunlavy suggested.
 

bighifi

New Member
Dec 15, 2021
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My $.02, $5k is a bit much on those.

To be fair, the IV-a's are Highly suggested and sought after. There was something magical in the tuning and updated drivers from the stock IV's. I loved the original IV, so....

To put the price in to context, I paid $3200 cash for my V's, though I was able to drive to dallas to get them (I am in Austin), saving money, and had access to a free cargo van and furniture pads.

There was then the cost of replacing drivers, ~$750 total, and the recap, which should be around the same money to do right.

I would offer them $3k, they have been up for a good while..... and will certainly need a recap after probably 25 years of use.

The woofers and the tweeters are available new, and made right by scan-speak, and available for the moment from madisound.

The Sub woofers are NOT available to my knowledge, so...... hopefully they were cared for and rotated once per year like Dunlavy suggested.
lest we forget the time Mr Dunlavy spent with each speaker tweaking them
 

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