Dunlavy SC VI's...

There is room for modifications. I would not imagine the drivers need any modification in that John used premium cones throughout that model. The crossover components are indeed suspect. Cheap resistors is where I would start. Capacitors will clear up some background haze and premium inductors would finish the project.

I wrote a review here about my IVa modifications for your reference.

The final places to look at is the interior wiring can be upgraded and improved. I have not done this yet, simply because of money, but no doubt will in the future. Some have sealer the interiors of their Dunlavy speakers and reported gains in sonic quality as well.

Other than these minor modifications, these remain state of the art. If you have any problems with your drivers, they are still available off the shelf. This was John's idea, was to be sure they were serviceable with off the shelf products.

As for matching of drivers, yes John was big on that, and if one was to replace tweeters one might consider this. I replaced my tweeters with a premium pair on my IVa's and did not match them, yet they measured nearly identical anyway. I think this was more marketing hype than an issue, but in your case the subject is mute in that I see no need to replace any of your drivers.

I just wish I could have such large speakers, as they are spectacular...

what is the room size? The equipment wall is how long? and the width?

In theory the perfect placement would be along the long wall with the tweeter 1/3rd into the room and you 1/3rd into the room. This sounds impossible, so next best is 1/5th into the room…

Third best is along the short wall, 1/3rd into the room but this too is not manageable so 1/3rd might be possible. This puts the tweeter 5’-2” into the room from the window wall; meaning the speakers are in from of your equipment. The rule of thumb is 1/3rd difference between side wall and front wall, meaning the sidewall should be 3’6” from the tweeter. This leaves 10”-0” between speakers. Because the speaker is deep into the side corner the bass will be an issue (too boomy) but it’s a start point. The couch on the sidewall would remain and a listening chair would be moved to back up to the pool table when listening. This should give you a good presentation.

The further away from the side wall the less boomy, but at some point the distance between side and front wall will become too close to each other and cause other issues in imaging, so you should move away from the front wall equally which at some point will be too far into the room for your use.

Dunlavy speakers are very, very sensitive to placement, and my guess is you have no idea yet how good these can sound. The soundstage should be amazing one you get it right.

I hope this helps some. The key is to get these speakers out of your corners as much as possible. Imaging, separation, bass definition and special clues will all improve.

Jonathan,

I also have my IVa's on points. In my case I uses BDR pucks and cones. Same result. In order to keep the tweeter at its original height I removed the Dunlavy base completely (do not do this with kids or pets) which might have clarified the sound stage and opened the presentation more than any change except cross over mod's. The cross over is without a question the biggest improvement. See my review of that project at http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?rspkr&1164387495

What a mean thing to say. I spoke to John many times, and admittedly he cut cost on the crossover and internal wiring. He helped talk me through what I might do...