Review: Dunlavy Audio Labs SC-III Speaker

I’m thinking of buying a pair of Dunlavey SC III’s locally and they are asking 1800. They would be my fist high end speaker I guess since Infinity Kappa8’s and JBL 4312A’s aren’t . I gave 300 for each pair several yrs ago, Still have them, But are the SC III’s worth that high price? They are in immaculate condition

Jack: The 48 hz spec you mention I,m sure refers to a + -1.5 db flat freq. respose all the way up. I,m sure they would go down to around 35 hz -3db or so which is still usable bass. I own the sc II,s and they are specd. at + -1.5 db from 55-20k; Istill have usable bass to around 40hz.

I have a pair of SC-III's as well. These are Audiophile's speakers - 100%

I think they are great speakers, and I totally agree with the long wall placement comment another reader posted.

Placememt would have to be the speakers weakest point, I believe this is caused by 2 factors, first - These speakers have 5 drivers (configured W-M-T-M-W) I believe any speaker with such an array will share the same characteristics regarding placement - it takes a bit of distance to integrate the sound field of each driver - this limits the speakers near field usability.

The other factor I attribute to this is the the placement of the tweeter - the tweeter is recessed to align it with the base of the other 4 drivers (which is a good thing) The tweeter is also surrounded with thick acoustic wool (also a good thing, prevents the waves in the recessed cavity from bouncing off the cavity walls) However it also leads to a tweeter that is extremely directional - more so than most - so the speaker sounds different if you are off axis by a little bit. This isn't a problem if you are an audiophile sitting in a dedicated chair in the center sweet spot, (which I also assume to be the audience of this forum) but it re-enforces the need to spend extra time setting up these speakers and trying tiny changes in placement before you will acheve the sound everyone talks about when they talk positively about Dunlavy's.

The other Possible weekness is in Low frequencey extension. These are sealed boxes and are rated to go down to 48hz. If you don't already know, sealed 48hz is far different from ported 48hz. Sealed bass is extremely tight and musical. If you pick a musical track that has information in the 50-100 hz range you'll be amazed at the detail, clarity and accuracy of the reproduction.

What you won't hear is the boomy ported bass sound you've grown acoustom to. That said there are plenty of people who like that sound (I do with certain material) the Dunlavy's low end may take some getting used to.

I also have the SC-3's and love'em.

For those of you who don't have a long wall to put them on, do not despair! About a year ago, I moved & now have a small room... (11X12X9)... after lots of experimenting with positioning, I have had good luck using Cardas' "Golden Rectangles".... search the web & give it a try... (tried to combine that with near field position, but my room was too small for good results--7' between speakers & between me & speakers was too little).

As a side note, these have been discontinued and have been replaced by the SC-III.a, nee the Cantata. More friendly form-factor and, IIRC, deeper bass.