Silver Audiophile

Yeah 'cash'... black economy, CV-19 laced, no electronic trace cash! I work for a legit large employer, taxes already deducted 'in full', and then buy audio gear. Only to sometimes sell on SN at a discount as used, and be offered by low ballers with the words 'Cash'.

Cool.. not no name monoblocks, homemade monoblocks! 😄 GLWTS

I got my PS Audio P10 from Len Wallis new, whom (Len) explained things should improve 10-15%. I was in for a complete surprise! It's cumulative, everything plugged into it improved by 10-15% individually- the DAC, Digital transport, Pre Amp, Monoblocks, Upscaler/re-clocker. Sum of all the individual 10-15% improvements, equaled a totally new system. GLWTS

Just on the topic of Aussie speakers, it was fortuitous my mate just happen to drop by last night, having made the trip to Sydney to pick up a pair of lightly used Mike Lenehan ML3T speakers. Notwithstanding incorrect speaker separation, absence of installed spikes, and no spare basalt slabs for them, they sounded absolutely wonderful. For the money, hard to go wrong. Of course, the Senator in a direct A-B comparison was simply better in every aspects we both easily agreed, but it is a more expensive speaker. I remember auditioning a 'certain' well known brand speaker made in France retailing for $57,000, powered by those same MF M8 700i monoblocks. Those French speakers never came within a candle to the fidelity of these Lenehans, and they retailed for over 8 times the price! Assie HiFi gear once again punching above its weight. Never ceases to amaze me.

"Wanted to do my bit to support Aussie brands/manufacturers and give them some exposure, but I get the feeling Australia is not the target market for the revamped Duntech, and like most high-end brands now, the Far East is where the buyers are and what is keeping the top end manufacturers alive right now." Probably a lot of truth here. Not just affecting Duntech but all high end manufacturers. Better Duntech in business making loudspeakers than no Duntech Audio.

"I think you two have missed the point. I’m sure there would be many people interested in the Princesses but no information really is forthcoming. Yet you two blokes seems to know every thing about these elusive speakers down to a molecular level .." Well, I believe it is you who has missed the point. I am a happy Duntech owner. We both know things about the speaker, because we one: each own a new pair. Two: The guys at Duntech are really nice folks that are only to happy to answer our questions. To arm chair keyboard warriors, get offline and get out there more and audition Aussie made audio gear!!! Just another point. No where in my comments have you noticed I've made any disparaging remarks about any Australian audio manufacture. A big thumbs up to all Australian audio manufacturers. I think we make great audio gear, at reasonable prices. Probably, under appreciated by many abroad.

Are the cabinets made, assembled and veneered/finished here? I have heard otherwise. Internationally sourced. I remember asking the exact same question prior to purchasing of my new Duntech Senators in Sydney in 2018, given the very high quality of the Senator's cabinet finishes compared to my prior new speaker (the Duntech Marquis, I bought around 2008). Numerous Australian cabinet makers were approached. None made the cut. Sure if you rang Kiat and he had spare drivers he would build you a pair. The Dynaudio drivers that made the Sovereigns, had not been production for about a decade (having being made by Dynaudio for 30 years prior to that cease date). However, Duntech had a small supply still left until a few years ago when they made their last complete new Sovereign builds. Some were shipped abroad, some locally here in Australia. Duntech no longer has these drivers. The brand have not had a retail presence though. To 99% of the audio community the brand has been defunct for 25 odd years. When I sat an auditioned the new Senators in 2018, I asked a similar question. As a Duntech Marquis owner at the time, I really like the brand- the neutral uncoloured accurate musical sound signature. It became clear to me, from the answer I received, Duntech will never be a high volume, mass produced, mass marketed, paid sound journal advertisements and journal presence of larger speaker commercial operations. Quality and passion, from small production is Duntech's future. After I purchased my Senator, my friend also ordered a new pair. After the Senator speaker was completed for him, it was tested for frequency response and listen tests. Something wasn't right. The ruler flat response was amiss. The critical listen audition proved something was slightly off with the sound. Everything was dissembled. After much thought, it was the driver to blame. Same high quality Danish driver. A slight variation in the amount of glue for the cones! After communication with the Danish manufacture, the explanation, the new batch of drivers were produced in summer. The factory internal temp is slightly higher and hence more glue oozes from the glue guns. Well, Duntech spent a week to redesign the cross over, and tweak it to the new driver batch. Problem fixed. The advantages of small boutique production runs! When I asked would other European high end manufactures do the same? Answer was of course not! High production runs factories with conveyor belts can't finesse over such fine details. YouTube is filled with examples of high end European speakers retailing for over $30k in Australia being produced in this way. I live in Newcastle. It's a 2 hour drive for me to Duntech Audio in South Sydney or Lane Cove's Sydney Len Wallis. I auditioned the Duntech DSM-15s at Len Wallis Audio, and the Senators at Duntech. I agree, you don't see paid adverts for Duntech's on the back of taxi cabs as you do with some high end European speaker brands. That is not the point I was making. A pair of state of the art, large format $90k speakers should out perform the 35 year old Sovereign. It's not revolutionary to say so. If I were spending 90k on a pair of speakers I would hope to g-d they would outperform their 35 year old predecessor. Certainly, all understood. I remember, the Princess always brings a tear in my eyes in the few opportunities I had to listen to them.

Are the speakers still made in Australia? Yes, absolutely still made in Peakhurst, Sydney. Design, assembly, final tweaking and testing For whatever reason I would prefer that the current speakers aren't marketed as Duntech's as they have very little to do with the original company. That may seem naive but that's how I feel. Nothing could be further from the truth. Up until a few years ago, Duntech was still manufacturing the original Sovereigns new. As much a this satisfied customers locally and abroad, the Sovereign was significantly dated in design and engineering reflecting its multi-decade old design. The new Princess, makes it very hard to still sell a 3 decades plus old speakers, obsolete, and designed around drivers equally as a old and no longer made. Comparisons between the Sovereign's and the newer Princesses are somewhat redundant given one speaker is around 35 years older then the other. Again, I would have to disagree. It goes way beyond faithfully following the Duntech first order cross over topology design, sealed cabinet design, and time aligned driver placement philosophy. The Sovereign was Duntech's flagship speakers. Today, it is the Princess. When I heard live both speakers, I can see the inspiration of the new Princess stemming from the Sovereign. It just the Princess is better in every possible way performance wise.

None taken. Other way round, Princess is heavier, taller, wider. Sovereign just longer depth (by 162mm). BTW, Calvin did own and display his heavily modified and improved late series Sovereign for a long while. Had them side by side, didn't take long to conclude. Pics below.. Calvin's listening room. Out with the old, in with the new. But, nothing beats hearing for yourself. I've heard them both. I agree with Calvin wholeheartedly. Sovereign's dimensions and weight: Size Height Width Depth 1875mm (74") 360mm (14") 862mm (34") Weight Per cabinet 125Kg (275lbs) Princess' dimensions and weight: Size Height Width Depth 1900mm 475mm 700mm Weight Per cabinet 140Kg

Recently, I spoke with Calvin regarding his thoughts on Princess, whilst inquiring about his line of Cable FM speaker cables. Calvin is the Hong Kong/China/Taiwan distributor for Duntech and made the statement that the new Princess beats the Sovereign on all aspect. For that reason the new Princess is now their new Reference. What is also interesting, Duntech and Halcro have formed a partnership to showcase their new creations around the World. In a recent trip to Hong Kong, Peter Forster and Mike Kirham of Halcro has also made the comment that the Princess is the best sound they have ever heard. The new Halcro Eclipse of course powering the Princess.

Exactly Uncle Seth. Huge huge fan of brand. I liked and owned the old Marquis. Now, a proud Senator owner. The Princess is hard to describe and do it justice. I have also spent time with the Focal Grande Utopia (RRP$285,000) and the Wilson Audio Alexx (RRP$198,000). Firstly, the Grande Utopia is a better speaker than anything else in the Focal range. But, it's bass is too loose, and mid range isn't holographic enough to justify the price. A rather coloured overall sounding speakers as all Focal are. The Wilson Alexx, much better in detail and resolution, no colouration. Very clinical and bit edgy at times, the threshold of bright. I found them unemotional and rather fatiguing to listen to after about 20 minutes. The Princess- I've listened for a few hours to these in Sydney. Sweetest mids and highs. Holographic detail, musical, and natural sounding. The control, transience, cadence, had me in navana. The bass, is what continually took my breath away. Tight, controlled, visceral, and did not colour the mids one bit like the Grande Utopia does. I remember for instance, 'Sharpening a Knife' by Parrisa Bouas, the guitarist taps the guitar body.. the reverb is authoritative visceral response and decays into a vast expanse or imaginary grand canyon behind the room. I've never heard any speaker at any price do this before.

Zip, zero, nada.. I am one of few people to have actually heard the new Princess. Totally lost of words. One day, it will be in my listening room.

Has he consider the new Duntech Princess for the front pair? Eats the old Sovereigns for breakfast in sound and appearance. As a HiFi stereo front pair, the new Duntech Princess would be unparalleled.

A glowing latest review I have pulled off the Duntech Facebook page, of the new Halcro Eclipse paired up with the Duntech Princess: By Calvin (HK/China/Taiwan Duntech distributor). The new Halcro Eclipse and the new Duntech C5800 Princess matching review. We spent the whole day listening to the new Halcro Eclipse with direct comparison to my current reference mono amp, of course the speakers are our new Duntech Princess C5800 and It is now midnight. The Halcro Eclipse sound significantly better particularly in soundstage and detail, their musicality is very impressive not unlike the sound from a high-end valve amplifier but with tons of details and layers. The vocal performance is outstanding, delivering the rich feeling of the singer's performance that many valve amplifiers can’t even come near. They don't sound like conventional massive power amplifiers such as my current reference mono amplifiers that always possess some of the hash sonic characters of ordinary solid-state amps. In addition the Halcro Eclipse deliver even stronger and more controllable bass in comparison to my current reference amps that are rated 500W into 8ohms. Overall an extremely impressive performance. The Halcro Eclipse can sound like a 300B under a low sound pressure level, but driving the new DUNTECH C5800 PRINCESS delivers incredible performance that even I have not heard before. The control capability of the Eclipse is exceptional under a high sound volume. An incredible and amazing amplifier".... Further details.. Duntech's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Duntech-Audio-211463885539640/

Item: Pass Labs XP-10 pre amp Location: Newcastle, NSW Price: $3,400 Item Condition: Excellent. Reason for selling: NLR Payment Method: Pickup - Cash, Paypal, COD Only Extra Info: Excellent condition Pass Labs XP-10 Pre amp for sale. Included in sale is original box, remote etc. Not a grey import (purchased from Perth retailer). Buyer welcome to pre-purchase audition. Happy to post domestically within Australia with full insurance cover. Links to Pass Labs XP-10 website, reviews, specs and awards. https://www.passlabs.com/preamplifier/xp-10 Currently retails for $8,459 (Class A Audio). Past accolades aside, the new XP pre-amp offerings from Pass Laboratories sound and measure significantly better than their immediate predecessors in the original X series. Are these the finest pre-amplifiers Pass Laboratories has built to date, absolutely and without question! Specifications Pass Labs XP-10 Factory Specifications Frequency Response: 2 Hz to 60 kHz (-3dB) Overall Gain: -73dB to 10dB Volume Steps: 83 Remote: Yes Inputs: Five Outputs: Two Input Impedance: 96 kOhm bal, 48 kOhm single-ended Output Impedance: 1000 Ohms balanced, 150 Ohms single-ended CMRR: -60dB, 1kHz Cross-Talk: -90dB, 1kHz Ref 1V Signal to Noise Ratio: Power Consumption: 10 watts Shipping weight: 14.6Kg Photos: Advertisements without photos of the actual item will not be approved.