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dbx Home Speakers

All,

I was wondering if anyone knows anything about dbx home speakers. My dad bought a pair about 10-12 years ago from DAK, a mail-order gadget company from California.

I can't remember the model number, but I think they're Soundfields, either Mark 4 or Mark 7. They're a four-way of some sort, with a rear-firing 15" woofer and some kind of ribbon tweeter.

I've looked around on the 'net and I can't find ANY information about these things. I'm just curious as to what the deal is with them. They don't sound very good, but: My dad's a packrat, so his room is full of junk. The speakers have stuff stacked on/in front of them, and they're right against the wall. Plus, he's driving them with a lousy JVC receiver. On top of it all, he barely listens to them (they weren't even hooked up the last time I was there) so I don't even know if they're broken in.

I'm just wondering if it might be worth the effort to pry them away from him and hook 'em up to better equipment.

If anyone knows anything about these speakers, I'd like to hear from you.

-Chris
cds9000
10 responses Add your response
mcreyn
293 posts
 
The DBX's sold by DAK were not the same as the earlier soundfields sold through dealers. Different drivers and designs. The Soundfields were really amazing, they were designed to be placed against the wall, and they maintained a solid image as long as you were somewhere between the two speakers.
bob9822
1 posts
 
I have a pair of DBX Soundfield V with 5 way 5 driver system. It is a rectangular box - 18" w x 1" d and 36" high. The front bevels back at about 1/3 the distance down from the top. There are three front and two top mounted speakers. I bought them in January of 1991. Most of the speakers have died. They produced great sound. I pushed them with an Onkyo TX-SV 515 PRO receiver that has also died. If this is what you have, let me know and I will copy the pamphlet that came with it for you. If some of your speakers are bad, I may be able to help you.
cds9000 OP
22 posts
 
Hmm...not familiar with that model. These are basicially big square boxes, with the outer corner of each tower cut at a 45 degree angle, leaving a flat face instead of coming to a 90 degree right angle corner. Hard to describe in print...
honest1
586 posts
 
I could be wrong about the specific model. I remember some DBX speakers that were truncated-prism-standing-on-end shaped that were supposed to go next to the wall to make the reflection and the original sound coinicide. It was about 20 years ago, and I was just starting out, so I didn't look into them too deeply.
cds9000 OP
22 posts
 
That seems odd for a rear-firing 15" driver, though. I don't believe they're ported in any way. I wonder what the reasoning would be for having them positioned that way. Seems to run contrary to everything I've ever heard about placement...
honest1
586 posts
 
From what I remember, they were SUPPOSED to be placed against a wall.
cds9000 OP
22 posts
 
Listener57,
Yeah, DAK had a lot of cool stuff. I was pretty young at the time, and I remember being wowed by just about everything they sold. Do you remember the turntable that used some sort of laser tracking system so you could select each "track" via remote, just like w/ a CD player?

Isellstuff,
I THINK he bought them between 1990-1992, probably in '91. Lemme know if you can hunt up any hard specs.

-Chris
isellstuff
99 posts
 
I need to know what year these are from.
I have several DAK catalogs for sale.
They are yours if you want them.
I got some adds from Stereo review from 1987, 1988,
and the 1989 catalog. I MIGHT be able to help you
as far as the specs go.
bigjoe's avatar
bigjoe
693 posts
 
i heard a pair that was set up right & were ran with a big ass pioneer reciever & they sounded pretty damm good.

it sure wouldnt hurt to hook em up to somthing better than the old jvc, dbx made some pretty decent midfi gear in the 80s.

mike.
listener57
730 posts
 
My father-in-law has these set up practically flush against a brick wall, and side walls are brick, with an echo, in a basement. He uses a thirty year old Sony mid-fi receiver, and a fifteen year old low-fi CDP, so by listening through dual hearing aids he is happy.
Perhaps, these are better than they seem, because one can stand in the same room with them, and not run out screaming.
I still use a pair of DAK condenser microphones feeding a high end portable cassette Sony tape recorder, so your mention of the long departed Dak Company is a nostalgia trip.
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