Wayne Elliott Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 I lusted after these in the 90's. Never could afford the mansion to put them in. How much juice do you need to drive them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zaphod Beeblebrox Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 I lusted after these in the 90's. Never could afford the mansion to put them in. How much juice do you need to drive them? All of it. I have a client with Sovereigns and an ME1400. They sound fabulous. When I recently serviced his ME1400, I loaned him an ME850. Even the ME850 struggled with the Sovereigns. They require a big, powerful, high current, VERY low output impedance amplifier to run properly. Valve amps need not apply. A big Krell, Gryphon, ME, or Levinson should do the trick. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wooferocau Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 (edited) Valve amps need not apply. A big Krell, Gryphon, ME, or Levinson should do the trick. Have to disagree.... i was running Krell KMA 160,s with the Sovereign,s ... i prefer the Manley 250,s in all aspects... Edited August 13, 2014 by wooferocau 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevanp Posted August 12, 2014 Share Posted August 12, 2014 The first high end system I heard was Soverigns with all top end Krell electronics at Len Wallis over 20 years ago and I rember being very impressed.went on to purchase krell CD player and smaller duntechs. Also saw magazine article on Bob Hawk at about the same time and in the articles photo in the back ground was the big Duntechs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 12, 2014 Share Posted August 12, 2014 Main Dynaudio bass drivers just refoamed.....thanks to Attila Tanka.. You could charge by the hour for listening sessions in front of those - I'd do a tourist trip to Victoria just to hear them :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darryl Posted August 12, 2014 Share Posted August 12, 2014 You could charge by the hour for listening sessions in front of those - I'd do a tourist trip to Victoria just to hear them :-) Shotgun! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zaphod Beeblebrox Posted August 12, 2014 Share Posted August 12, 2014 Have to disagree.... i was running Krell KSA 160,s with the Sovereign,s ... i prefer the Manley 250,s in all aspects... I did say: "a BIG Krell". I'm thinking about a KMA 200 (which was the first amp I heard them on at the Duntech factory, in John Dunlavy's office). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest kab Posted August 12, 2014 Share Posted August 12, 2014 (edited) I remember listening to both back in the day, at LWA. I preferred the Sovereign but the sales guys told me that the CP produced a more consistently better sound in a typical living room. Probably the most remarkable Sovereign setups I've ever seen was in a 25th floor apartment, in Kent St Sydney. Thats why i chose the CP over the Sovs in my room. If my room was much larger would love a pair of sovs. Edited August 12, 2014 by kab Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zsonic Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 (edited) That looks outstanding...the room, the speakers, the setup, it must be heaven in there. I just checked out the website - man, I think I am in love with the look of the DSM-15. Is that right - - $12k ?? Edited August 13, 2014 by Zsonic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wayne Elliott Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 Have to disagree.... i was running Krell KSA 160,s with the Sovereign,s ... i prefer the Manley 250,s in all aspects... I havn't had an extended listen of the Manley's. The couple of Krell's I've listened to had a big sound but didn't sound musical to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wayne Elliott Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 I'd love to hear these speakers again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnL Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 (edited) Wooferocau, Got to agree 100% with Zaph on this one!!!! Until you stick around 5KVA up their backsides you haven't REALLY heard Sovereigns!!! My mate used to run his with an ME 1400 after coming up woefully short using an 850!!!!! WAF was the only reason he sold 'em Edited August 13, 2014 by JohnL 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter_F Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 Wooferocau, Got to agree %100 with Zaph on this one!!!! Until you stick around 5KVA up their backsides you haven't REALLY heard Sovereigns!!! Absolutely yes. The Sovereigns are not musical they are dead accurate, which is why they are so good and so highly regarded. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon Macfarlane Posted August 14, 2014 Share Posted August 14, 2014 Absolutely yes. The Sovereigns are not musical they are dead accurate, which is why they are so good and so highly regarded. Don't think musicality and accuracy are mutually exclusive Pete but that's a topic for a whole other thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter_F Posted August 14, 2014 Share Posted August 14, 2014 Don't think musicality and accuracy are mutually exclusive Pete but that's a topic for a whole other thread. Hi Gordon, I only dropped the 'musicality' bomb because it was mentioned earlier in the thread. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest kab Posted August 14, 2014 Share Posted August 14, 2014 (edited) Wooferocau, Got to agree 100% with Zaph on this one!!!! Until you stick around 5KVA up their backsides you haven't REALLY heard Sovereigns!!! My mate used to run his with an ME 1400 after coming up woefully short using an 850!!!!! WAF was the only reason he sold 'em WAF?.....Sovereigns first,wife a distant second!. Had an ME1400 once,sold it due to temporary insanity.....NOT WAF! Edited August 14, 2014 by kab Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krispy Audio Posted August 14, 2014 Share Posted August 14, 2014 Hands up everyone who has heard Manley 250 Neo-Classic amps with Duntech Sovereigns? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest kab Posted August 14, 2014 Share Posted August 14, 2014 Not yet....hint hint. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krispy Audio Posted August 14, 2014 Share Posted August 14, 2014 Me too k Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gutter Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 Duntech Crown Prince...just had it's 2nd re foaming....in 18 years of my ownership....and plenty of boogie 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon Macfarlane Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 Need to get the duster out mate :nana . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THOMO Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 (edited) The Duntechs have a specific treble sound which is probably not going to appeal to everyone.The stepped baffle arrangement with the felt surrounds gives a very precise focus to imaging but at the cost of the loss of some air and shimmer. This is arguably just more accurate but if you value that air,decay,shimmery sort of treble then it is something that you are probably going to miss with the Duntech type baffle arrangement. I preferred my Sonique Encores with the felt surrounds which surrounded the tweeters and dome midranges removed.They were attached with velcro to allow for this. Image focus was slightly compromised but they sounded more open,airy and natural that way.Image height,which is something I value,was better without the felt surrounds. Edited August 21, 2014 by THOMO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wooferocau Posted August 22, 2014 Share Posted August 22, 2014 It is interesting the sound the Duntech,s have...... much different to alot of speakers i have heard, and i sound i now MUCH prefer. I actually just had a musician friend who does alot of his own mastering and recording come around last weekend to have a listen, he fell in love with the Sovereign,s . His impression was that they are very neutral and accurate ...and VERY revealing. He listened to a piece ( solo pianist) that he has heard hundreds of times before ......about 30 sec,s in he had a worried look upon his face. I thought for a moment there was something amiss with my system, but what he heard was a noise to which he described was the pianist,s foot pedal dampening the strings...... he said he had never heard that before on any other speaker he had listened to....he was amazed at how revealing the Sovereigns were on many other pieces he played. The more i listen to the Sovereigns the more and more impressed i am with these OLD classics. It also makes me wonder just how alot of modern high end speakers can justify the sometimes very high pricing!!. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zaphod Beeblebrox Posted August 23, 2014 Share Posted August 23, 2014 It is interesting the sound the Duntech,s have...... much different to alot of speakers i have heard, and i sound i now MUCH prefer. I actually just had a musician friend who does alot of his own mastering and recording come around last weekend to have a listen, he fell in love with the Sovereign,s . His impression was that they are very neutral and accurate ...and VERY revealing. He listened to a piece ( solo pianist) that he has heard hundreds of times before ......about 30 sec,s in he had a worried look upon his face. I thought for a moment there was something amiss with my system, but what he heard was a noise to which he described was the pianist,s foot pedal dampening the strings...... he said he had never heard that before on any other speaker he had listened to....he was amazed at how revealing the Sovereigns were on many other pieces he played. The more i listen to the Sovereigns the more and more impressed i am with these OLD classics. It also makes me wonder just how alot of modern high end speakers can justify the sometimes very high pricing!!. No doubt about it, the Sovereigns are a fabulous speaker system. However, to claim that modern speakers cannot justify their high prices is disingenuous. To build and sell Sovereigns today would necessitate a price tag in excess of $50k I would estimate. And, make no mistake: John Dunlavy was a very clever guy. The advances he brought about in speaker design have been adopted by many other designers since. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 23, 2014 Share Posted August 23, 2014 I think Kiat does still make them - not as expensive as $50k but obviously all the investment in design work etc was done back in the day - like all high end products in whatever category eg - cars - watches -etc you will pay a premium for successful innovation - supply and demand - do we want it any other way :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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