Dunlavy SC4 Speakers

Junkie, sorry; I can't give you any info on the AR9's, but I just thought I'd chime in anyhow. I have a pair of SC3's that I bought over 10 years ago. To this day I'm always blown away by how they sound. They are very revealing, meaning that if you have a bad recording, you are going to hear it. It doesn't stand in the music's way. They are time aligned and phase coherent. I'll warn you; the sweet spot is narrow. But you'll be cleaning or cooking, so it wont matter. I believe that mine roll off around 40 hz or so, but I don't miss any low end. Bass is very tight, clean and quick. And the mids and highs are to die for, especially close-miked voices; bone chilling. I'm always amazed at the tweeters as well; the articulation of metal brushes on a ride cymbal, the attack and decay of a rim shot, stacatto notes from a flute, all sound so crisp and clear. I haven't heard that level of clarity from a ribbon tweeter. Although John Dunlavy said you didn't need megawatts to drive these, I believe they march firmly to the beat with 150 to 300 watts of solid state (some tube afficianodos could recommend similar tube configurations). I do have a little sub (VS 10"). But, to be honest, I rarely run it. $1,500 for a pair of SC 4's is a really good price. I saw that you started this thread on 12/16, and as of 12/26 you are still on the fence. You better grab them before someone else does. Good luck.

2cj- As I posted earlier, I have a lovely pair of SC 3's. Early on I had to have the tweeters replaced with a pair that were supposedly matched, but obviously independent of the speakers in my living room (a voice coil was sticky....made a sort of buzzing sound, like a dusty pot. You could fix it by gently pushing in on the dome, and it would go away.) I replaced the tweeters myself and they sounded just fine! (At the time, Dunlavy provided them for free).

Regarding the needs of a sub; my SC 3's are rated only at around 43k at the low end. Occasionally I turn my sub on when I'm in the mood for some meat and slam. But I have to say that 95% of the time, I don't use it. And I can imagine that with the SC4's, you'd be better served without a sub, and could possibly over do it, depending on the type of sub you get. For me, trying to integrate a sub into the mix is tricky, because certain low frequency instruments can have many different footprints depending on the instrument itself, how it's miked and how it's mixed. So, I'm constantly futzing with the adjustable cross-over roll off dial. Without a sub, I let the speaker's crossover do all of the work. Then I have two hands free; one for the volume on my remote, and the other for my martini.

Give it a whirl "au naturel" for a while and see how her bottom feels (sorry, couldn't help myself).

Good luck. Keep us all posted!