Dunlavy SC IV Speaker- Any Good???

@chorus I did not own these but heard them once.  I stopped in to a local shop on a Saturday morning and these speakers had a substantial audience.  We were all just amazed at what we heard.  Consensus in the room was that this was by far the best speaker any of us had heard.  But that was then, and speakers have come a long way since the early 90's. 

They are old.  If I were you, I'd try to find out what the crossover design looked like and get an estimate on a rebuild before buying.  Plan on rebuilding, regardless of how the speakers audition.  Crossovers that old are not going to be functioning in spec.  They just aren't.  

200 lb speakers are a pain to move and a pain to sell.  You better be sure you can live with them before you buy.

I've been down the nostalgia road.  I had fun reworking a pair of A/D/S 1290's from the mid 80's.  It was lots of fun and I enjoyed the work and learned a lot, but I probably won't go down that road again.  

Keep us informed.  I love to follow stuff like this.

If your room is big enough buy them. They are big and sound big- a great speaker.

@chorus - I’m right there with you.

I’ve owned my pair of SC-III.As since 2006, and the only speakers I’m looking to upgrade to (but doesn’t make financial sense, with two kids coming out of private school and headed to college) are WATT/Puppy’s. Their dynamics, spectral balance, and immediacy are characteristics I can’t find anywhere else. In fact, I’d say the immediacy of the Dunlavys best the Wilsons, but the latter does everything else a little better than the former.

A friend and I were sitting in a high-end audio shop just chatting, after perusing the eye candy in the room. One of the salesmen (the same one who allowed me to bring home Aragon and McCormick electronics for overnight auditioning on just a photocopy of my DL) wordlessly walked in and got a CD spinning of the Eagles. The first developed riffs of Hotel California immediately shut us both up - we had never heard anything that close to a live performance (for reference, it was a CAL transport/DAC through Threshold amplification - forgot the preamp, unfortunately).

My cousin has a pair of the SC-IV.As and loves them the same. We both have rather largish listening rooms, but the SC-IV.As seem to over power his. He hasn’t treated his room yet, much to my chagrin. He’s still trying to tame a large bass suck out - mainly due to the top/bottom extreme placement of the woofers on the SC-IV.A.

It appears the overarching concern is the condition of the speakers due to age. I believe John primarily used Vifa drivers, which should be pretty durable. I’d go over the condition of the speakers with a fine tooth comb, but wouldn’t think twice about buying them, given good condition and a good price. I also would hold off on the IV.As if you can, but that’s not a must. As good as the IV.As are, if the straight IVs are even just 75% as good, they’ll still be a treat to listen to.

Good luck!

I have the SC-IVs and just about every other speaker Dunlavy ever made.  Been to lots of audio shows. Been to a lot of dealer demos. If you're looking for the most integrated sound specific to a sweet spot, I have never heard anything better.

Even more great info. Thank you all so much!

These are not the "A" version it seems.

If they are that much better perhaps I should  wait?

Now about my room. Not in the Large category.

It is sort of 3 rooms-14' x 15' + 6' x 9' + 10' x 12' 

with a standard 8' ceiling. Limited glass with panels.

Worked well with the big Tannoys. The Demo room

is a little bigger though.

Here is his description:

Rare opportunity to own a pair of Signature Collection Dunlavy Audio Laboratories SC-IV speakers. These units are in excellent condition. The cabinets do not have any scratches and the grill cloths are in great shape. All of speakers are in excellent condition with no signs of wear.

Read an in depth review from Stereophile here:

stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/99dun4/index.html