Dunlavy SC4 Speakers

Don't forget some thick absorptive material behind the listening position when setting up along the the long wall.

Unsound I agree with proper set. I will need to re arange the man cave to set them up on the long wall of the man cave. However properly set up on the short wall they really sing. Cant wait to see what improvements I see once set up on the long wall. As for the bottom end it's definitely there in my set up no sub needed.

Please forgive me for offering this very obvious friendly advice; proper setup is needed to really let the Dunlavy's demonstrate all that they're capable of.

Got the SCIV's today. Haven't listen to them for very long, But my first impression is that they are very detailed and very accurate. I see the argument about the low end it's not that they are lacking in my opinion i think that the overall concept of the speaker is to convey an detailed and accurate presentation and they do a pretty good job of that. Will post more after i let them play for a while.

Judsauce I'm on the same page hate having to constantly adjust the cross over on the sub. That was my gripe with the 2ci speakers

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!

I'd suggest you get the speakers in your room and start listening and experimenting. Then you'll see if they need a sub or not.

That depends on you and your room.

You guys really have provided me with an enormous amount of info. Looks like I'm all in now as I sold my Vandersteen 2ci speakers today. For those who have owned or actually spent time with the SCIV'S did you feel the need for a separate sub. Rrog I too have herd that when placed closer to the rear wall the bass is fine?

First order cross-overs, stepped drivers, time and phase waveform coherent, similar impedance load, similar seating distance for driver integration, etc., etc.. Sure there are differences, but how many other speakers share all those attributes?

I agree with Rrog. Not only have I personally owned speakers from both companies, I was a dealer for both. Completely different.

"By comparing Dunlavys to the Vandersteens you're comparing two speakers that are more similar to each other than most others are."

I have owned both and I don't see how you can compare them other than they are both speakers.

"I've heard of driver failures and its a real headache so there is a little risk involved."

I have heard of driver failures in almost every speaker. There are some real animals out there.

"For as big as they are the bass is quite weak"

Dunlavy SCIV is not intended to be used 4 or 5 feet into the room. Dunlavy told me to start out 8 inches from the wall behind the speakers and move them out accordingly. Using John Dunlavy's instructions the bass energy was quite remarkable and very satisfying.

2cj, I can offer a little more support for your choice.

I owned and enjoyed a pair of Duntech Princess (purchased new) for 19 years. Anyone who knows me and the number of speakers I've owned overall will understand why that is significant. The Princess was/is the earlier sibling to the DAL SC-IV/IVa. I reluctantly sold them only due to a pending move.

While I believe the Duntech models were superior to their DAL counterparts (better driver selection and cabinet design), I had the chance to hear most DAL models and still found them to be outstanding. They are tonally very good and easy to listen to for extended periods of time. But they are also very revealing and will benefit from careful component matching and room placement.

I believe John Dunlavy was among the absolute best speaker designers and your opportunity to get one of his full range (almost) models in good condition for under $2K should be an easy choice, so long as its size is acceptable in your household.

Thanks Rcprince new tweeters will be in on Tuesday and I will be sure to do a follow up. I'm interested in hearing the differences between them and the Vandersteen 2ci speakers.

I think you'll love them. Yes, they can be improved on, but they do everything well and that's what makes them so good.

Bjesien post as much as you like the more the better. I have herd the SCIV speakers and do like them. I don't upgrade often(4kids and a wife) makes sure of that. Also seeing how I'm personal friends with the dealer they often will come out to the house for any repairs so I don't have to worry about packing and transporting heavy speakers and amps to the shop. As far price I never allow myself to get caught up in the hype of a product and the through the roof prices that come along with. While I think the SCIV's are cool I still have to be budget minded. Earlier this year my dealer had a set and wanted 2500.00 for them and there they sat till someone else bought them.

Sorry to post again but I just want to emphasize the perception of value or worth vs. satisfaction. Especially with a big and heavy speaker.

I have no Dunlavy experience but I have purchased big heavy older speakers, like Model 5's, and it was a real hassle. Difficult to unpack, potential driver issues, packing again, expensive shipping.

I say be really careful and go less with value and more with how long you will be satisfied with them.

Best of luck.

Tom, thanks for the update I will look into replacing the resistors as well.

Dunlavy replaced the tweeters 3 different times because there were improvements to the dome and suspension from Vifa. There was no model call out on this that I was in formed about. I know this because I worked for a dealer in the early 90's and each time I replaced the old with the new. There was a slight improvement in sound. The Dunlavy's had mediocre parts selection at best. I had done extensive mods. The biggest difference was the replacement of the 3 cent resistors for Vishay resistor bridges. Now a days I would use the Duelund's which may be nearly as good in this application and would not have to be custom constructed.This up grade is staggering. John Dunlavy himself told me the resistors would make no difference. Tom

Ok just got off the phone with the dealer and they have the exact tweeters for the SCIV's so that's a relief. The dealer even ordered an extra set for free since this deal has taken so long.

2CJ,

It's good that your dealer is going to take care of the repair. That sounds like a much better situation for you, and I certainly hope everything goes well.

Pryso my thoughts are the same. However there's not much locally in columbus Ohio for $1500.00 dollars. So I have to take that into consideration as the thred started out my choices have come down to the SCIV $1500.00 or the old Acoustic Research AR9 speakers $1100.00 unless of course I come up with several hundred dollars for shipping.

2cj, I've heard various stories about John Dunlavy tuning crossovers with parts selection to match his chosen drivers. Also stories about frequency response records being kept by serial number for reference with future driver replacement. Unfortunately with John's passing and the end of DAL I don't know what good any of that would do you if it was true.

My caution at this point would be that simply finding the same model tweeter for replacement might not ensure original performance. Now it could still be very good performance, but not necessarily as originally intended. That could only be determined by your own audition.

Reynolds853 The dealer took them in as part of an estate sale with a lot of other high end audio gear mostly Spectral gear. The Dunlavy's were part of the estate sale. My sales guy and close friend made me aware of the SCIV's because he has been looking for me some speakers for some time due to my budget and wanting to upgrade this process has taking some time.

Turns out the dealer will have the tweeters replaced and the speakers gone over prior to me taking delivery of the speakers. They will also keep the deal at the agreed upon $1500.00 and drop off and set up the speakers at my home.

Our shop here sells a lot of vintage gear and if they were selling such a pair of speakers they would have them repaired first, then sell them too you. Otherwise, you should decide how much money you are willing to throw away if you can't get them properly repaired.

I would walk away from this deal and not look back, and go spend my time and money getting a pair of speakers that actually work.

And why are the tweeters blown? Are you sure they don't have other issues?

Honestly, I really just don't know. The asking price should make them easy to resell if your not completely satisfied, but these are rather cumbersome items to flip. For someone else, I might suggest giving them a go, but for your rather casual listening style, I'm not so sure it will be worth it.

Ok so here's an update on the Dunlavy SCIV speakers. The dealer I deal with has picked up the speakers how ever the tweeters are blown and will need to be replaced. Not sure if the dealer can get the exact replacements as these are the early production run of the speakers and im told none of the original drivers are around anymore and that one would have to call Madisound for a replacement driver based on the info on the bad driver. Any thoughts or input from any one. Are the speakers worth the time and hassle? Will the speakers still blend well with replacement tweeters?

Unsound or Rcprince are you guys saying that he speakers are still worth getting? Of course my dealer will replace the tweeters prior to dropping them off to me. My concern is that the dealer will try to raise the price after replacing the tweeters.

I seem to recall there was an audio dealer in Des Moines, Iowa (Audio Video Logic?) who may still stock some parts for Dunlavy speakers. Might be worth giving them a try.

Dunlavy used off the shelf drivers, so they should be fairly easy to replace, ...but each set of speakers was hand tweaked via cross-overs to a model template.

Ok so here's an update on the Dunlavy SCIV speakers. The dealer I deal with has picked up the speakers how ever the tweeters are blown and will need to be replaced. Not sure if the dealer can get the exact replacements as these are the early production run of the speakers and im told none of the original drivers are around anymore and that one would have to call Madisound for a replacement driver based on the info on the bad driver. Any thoughts or input from any one. Are the speakers worth the time and hassle? Will the speakers still blend well with replacement tweeters?

No_Regrets thanks for the detailed feed back. I will take this into consideration.

Hello 2channeljunkie,

The Dunlavy SCIV's are fantastic speakers! They are very large, but do not seem so dominating because they are narrow and deep. When listening in the sweet spot, they can literally disappear like the best mini monitors, but still have a huge sound with lifelike images of real sized instruments. They are very revealing of upstream components, so you can tailor the sound as you see fit. If you use sterile, solid state equipment....they can sound sterile or bright. If you use quality tubed equipment, they will reveal the beautiful harmonic structures that music has to offer. They have plenty of real bass that is very tuneful, nimble, and very well defined. When used in the right room, with synergistic equipment, they can be quite astounding.


However, when you say "........ My reasoning for this is that I never sit in the sweet spot and listen to music. I typically will turn on my music and listen while i'm cooking dinner or cleaning up stairs. I rarely sit in the man cave and listen to music. I love to turn on my music and listen to it throughout the house while I go about my day to day activites......." I feel that you will miss out on how great these Dunlavy's truly are. Yes, they will emanate beautiful sound throughout the house, but I think you may be splitting hairs over these different speakers when you do not even sit in the same room (or same floor of the house for that matter) that they are playing in.

If there was a chance that you were going to change you listening habits in the future, I would definitely recommend buying the Dunlavys. If not, I think it may be money wasted...... keep your current speakers, buy more music to enjoy, and let someone else buy the Dunlavy's who will be better able to appreciate and enjoy the musical magic that the SCIV's can give.

That would be my two cents worth at least.

Warmest regards,

If I might add a little more regarding comparisons between the Vandy 2's and the Dunlavy IV's bass. The Vandy's bass might be a little looser, the Dunlvay's bass a little tighter. Both are about the same in bass depth.
Based upon your last post, it appears as though you'll like the Dunlay's a bit more.

Rcprince, Not sure of my room dimension's but my set up is in the man cave(basement)My house is rather large and the basenment is a full basement. I have never used room dimenisions when buing speakers in the past. My reasoning for this is that I never sit in the sweet spot and listen to music. I typically will turn on my music and listen while i'm cooking dinner or cleaning up stairs. I rarely sit in the man cave and listen to music. I love to turn on my music and listen to it throughout the house while I go about my day to day activites.

Unsound your last comment clears up a lot for me. That 2 is my impression of the Vandersteens they do a lot of things very well and are super laid back. mabe 2 laid back for my taste at times. I belive that I mis represented what I was looking for in a new to me set of speakers. While I did state more bass the better description would have been larger sound stage and a little more forward or just not as laid back as the vandersteens. I want a speaker that's not as laid back as the vandersteen's but one that I can listen to hours upon hours like my Vandersteen's.

I think Unsound described it well. Both designs use first order crossovers, which I believe is a big reason for an overall similarity. I also think the Dunlavys' bass will be slightly more extended and better defined, but I too was surprised to see you describing the Vandys as lacking bass--unless you're talking about the last octave below 32 Hz, I've never thought they were particularly lacking in that department. However, if you have a smaller room, a lot of what the Dunlavys do well may not work as well as a Vandersteen, which can do well in a smaller room. What are your room dimensions?

By comparing the Dunlavy's to the Vandersteens your comparing two speakers that are more similar to each other than most others are. IMHO, the Dunlavy's just further the the Vandy qualities; less laid back, more neutral, bigger soundstage, more dynamic. The Dunlavy line really starts to shine with the SCIVA's on up, and with corresponding prices that go on up too.

If that's the case what's all the hype behind Dunlavy speakers?

I've long held that the Vandy 2's just might be the best value in all of audio. While not the last word in low end depth, they're much better in that regard compared to most anything near their price and size. Despite their size, I don't think you will hear much deeper bass from the SCIV's. You have to move up the Dunlavy line for that.

Unsound what's your thoughts on the Vandersteen 2ci speakers? Maybe it's just me but they have bottom end just not a lot but what bottom end they have is accurate and nice. I don't think they would fair well in the bottom end without a sub or 2 I hope the Dunlavy SCIV have more bottom end than the Vandersteen 2ci while maintaining accuracy and being musical

Perhaps it's just me, but I wouldn't describe the Vandy 2's as having "...just no bottom end.".

2channel, suggest start another thread for AR9 speakers to get more and responses on those speakers...

Thanks for all the feedback. Anyone has any input on the AR9 speakers. It is my understanding that they are one of the few speakers that truly don't require a sub. I also see that these have stood the test of time like the Dunlavy's My only concern with the Dunlavy's is having to use a sub the same issue I have with my Vandy's love the speakers and how they perform just no bottom end. While the Dunlavy's are a great deal I am on a budget so if i go with them and need a sub ill be out of luck funds wise.

Got my SC-IV's in 1995. I had been using a sub with the predecessor spkr (Quad ESL-63), but reading the reviews and auditioning the SC-IV's a few times, the need was borderline. Around the same time period Carver released his Sunfire amp, offering the option for bi-wiring - drive the woofer with the 'zero' impedance "voltage" output, and the mid/high crossover circuit from the "current" output, which apparently has a 1-ohm output impedance. The effect is to boost the lows a bit (2 dB or so).

I have used this combination since '95, no sub, and pulled into the room a bit, away from rear wall reflections. At that price, hard to go wrong! Good luck.

Sorry, I haven't heard the Telydynes. FWIW, I don't think you'll get much more bass from the SC IV's than your Vandy 2's. With that said, I'd rather the Dunlavys, especially at that price.

One more vote for the Dunlavys. I too haven't heard AR9s but as Judsauce and many others have said/implied the Dunlavys' perform way above the price you are being offered. Even if the set you are looking at might be from the early runs. I too have Dunlavy I, IIs, IVs and Vs. I started with Vs which are world class performers way back in 97 and still can't even dream of replacing them. No way. I acquired IVs and smaller ones later because they all perform at exactly similarly minus the low freq extension as you go over in the model range.

You know I would even go as far as saying that if you audition say IVs or Vs against current so called "state of the art" six figure speakers, you might end up prefering Dunlavys. I know I have.

Sauce, thanks for the detailed feedback. I hear many great things about the Dunlavy SCIV speakers. Even those who talked negative about them only say for such a large speaker they don't go as low as one would think they would. But im sure they go lower than my Vandersteen 2ci speakers. Vandersteen being a great speaker no doubt just hate having to deal with adjusting the sub when different tracks or genre of music is playing. So I decided to replace them with speakers that wouldn't require subs. Thouhjt of replacing my Klipsch sw12 sub. But once I saw the price of good musical subs. I decided for the money I could just upgrade my speakers. Again the Dunlavy and AR9 speakers are at the top of list due to availability to me. They would be coming from a local audio source so I have a little time to decide which I want.