Duntech Speakers Owners & Discussion Thread

[SAVI Systems 48]

I have a set of the Marquis they are C4000 as the model. I am told that means they are from the late 90's rather than the model from the late 80's, but I'm not really sure.

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[MarkT 1,791]

7 hours ago, SAVI Systems – Simon said:

I have a set of the Marquis they are C4000 as the model. I am told that means they are from the late 90's rather than the model from the late 80's, but I'm not really sure.

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Hi Simon....yes yours are from around 1996 .

.

[Sub Sonic 1,064]

RE the Prince and Princess, pretty sure I have some NOS VC/cones for the 13M Scanspeak mid range drivers used in these if anyone ever has the misfortune to damage any.

 

Regards,

 

SS

[unclemack 3,299]

Always good to know that spares are around.


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[Ahh- Schnoo Schnoo 192]

On 22 May 2017 at 9:49 PM, ghost4man said:

I've heard so many people comment about these speakers so I'd like to ask what is the fuss about them.

 

I have also heard they need a weapon of an amp to drive them.

 

For me they get the balance right between warmth and detail, with punchy bass 

[Desap 59]

How do Duntech speakers compare to VAF i93's or i66's ? They seem somewhat similar in design concept and share some of the same attributes. I believe VAF's Simon ? (who I think designed the latest i66) once worked for Duntech - true ??

[nicholas9976 56]

2 hours ago, Ahh- Schnoo Schnoo said:

For me they get the balance right between warmth and detail, with punchy bass 

Expect the Duntechs to be very truthful to the recording. Not overly bright or bass-heavy. Not overly warm or intentionally "musical". Accurate. That is why a lot of recording/mastering studios used them (and still do). 

They have a narrow field of dispersion (to limit directly reflected sound), so you need to set them apart 45-70 degrees, toe them in so they point directly to the listening position with tweeters at ear height, and there will be a small sweet spot in the middle with the best and most accurate sound. The narrow dispersion also limits the soundstage to between the two speakers... although some of them are really big speakers and can work well in big rooms. 

The top of the Duntech range are the Princess/Crown Prince and the huge Sovereign. You need a big room for these, or lots of bass-trap acoustical treatments, as they have heaps of bass energy and will activate the room modes which may give the impression of muddy/sloppy bass - but when you correct these room issues or reposition you will find that the bass is very tight indeed... and very resolving, so a bass drum sounds just like a bass drum, not just a "doof" sound. The big sealed enclosures no doubt help this. 

They do need a high-current amp, especially the top of the range Duntech models, and after testing a few I can recommend the ME amps, but there are quite a few others out there that that will work fine as well. 

IMHO it's very, very hard to beat the sound you can get out of these speakers for the price they go for used now, if you like an accurate/truthful sound. Although you do need to factor in the cost of a powerful amp to get the very best out of them. 

 

Edited May 31, 2017 by nicholas9976

[nicholas9976 56]

2 hours ago, desap0 said:

How do Duntech speakers compare to VAF i93's or i66's ? They seem somewhat similar in design concept and share some of the same attributes. I believe VAF's Simon ? (who I think designed the latest i66) once worked for Duntech - true ??

Duntech and VAF had a close association, which VAF's founder Philip Vafiadis elaborated on here: 

 Although Mr. Vafiadis said the Dunlavy speakers were an improvement on Duntech and his latest VAF speakers are a further improvement, I have heard other reports elsewhere. What I have read is the Dunlavy models which came later were made to a budget (cheaper drivers i.e. no longer Dynaudio etc). Also I've been in the home of someone who owns the top of the range VAF speakers which are very good, but he uses them for home theatre and doesn't rate them as highly as his 20+ year old Duntech Princess which he uses for music. I haven't heard these speakers playing back-to-back though, so I can't comment personally, just passing on what I have been told. 
 

Edited May 31, 2017 by nicholas9976

[Zaphod Beeblebrox 7,620]

1 hour ago, desap0 said:

How do Duntech speakers compare to VAF i93's or i66's ? They seem somewhat similar in design concept and share some of the same attributes. I believe VAF's Simon ? (who I think designed the latest i66) once worked for Duntech - true ??

 

I've had considerable experience with Sovereigns and very limited experience with the VAF i93. My feelings, based on those experiences are as follows:

 

* The Sovereigns do, indeed, require very serious horsepower to run and control them. Anything less than the very best will disappoint. 

* The i93 will run beautifully on less than the very best amplification, but, like any good speaker, will ruthlessly expose any flaws in amplification. For that reason, very good amplification should be used. 

* Although the two speakers will reproduce a very similar frequency range, the Sovereigns are capable of larger scale. That said, for most listeners, the i93 will likely do very nicely indeed. 

* I have a sense (and it is a sense, because I have not heard the two speakers in the same room) that the i93 is possibly a more accurate reproducer. 

* I think the i93 is an astonishing achievement, given the likely cost of building Sovereigns in 2017 ($50,000.00+ ?). 

 

 

Yes, I understand Simon was an engineer at Duntech. 

 

Just my opinions. YMMV.

[Wimbo 2,368]

2 hours ago, nicholas9976 said:

Duntech and VAF had a close association, which VAF's founder Philip Vafiadis elaborated on here: 

 Although Mr. Vafiadis said the Dunlavy speakers were an improvement on Duntech and his latest VAF speakers are a further improvement, I have heard other reports elsewhere. What I have read is the Dunlavy models which came later were made to a budget (cheaper drivers i.e. no longer Dynaudio etc). Also I've been in the home of someone who owns the top of the range VAF speakers which are very good, but he uses them for home theatre and doesn't rate them as highly as his 20+ year old Duntech Princess which he uses for music. I haven't heard these speakers playing back-to-back though, so I can't comment personally, just passing on what I have been told. 
 

The original Duntech Classic series were better then the Dunlavys. Personal experience and wishfulness. 

[Desap 59]

2 hours ago, Zaphod Beeblebrox said:

 

I've had considerable experience with Sovereigns and very limited experience with the VAF i93. My feelings, based on those experiences are as follows:

 

* The Sovereigns do, indeed, require very serious horsepower to run and control them. Anything less than the very best will disappoint. 

* The i93 will run beautifully on less than the very best amplification, but, like any good speaker, will ruthlessly expose any flaws in amplification. For that reason, very good amplification should be used. 

* Although the two speakers will reproduce a very similar frequency range, the Sovereigns are capable of larger scale. That said, for most listeners, the i93 will likely do very nicely indeed. 

* I have a sense (and it is a sense, because I have not heard the two speakers in the same room) that the i93 is possibly a more accurate reproducer. 

* I think the i93 is an astonishing achievement, given the likely cost of building Sovereigns in 2017 ($50,000.00+ ?). 

 

 

Yes, I understand Simon was an engineer at Duntech. 

 

Just my opinions. YMMV.

Thank you for your reply. I have a pair of VAF i93s Mk 1s and am generally very happy with them given that they cost me much less second hand than the full price even though that's not high by some standards. I used to admire (love) the Duntech Soverigns but could never have afforded them - cost or size  

 

For what it's worth, I'm bi-amping the i93s with an Emotiva XPA 5 amplifier - ie using 4 of the channels to drive the speakers. This seems to work well. The only reason I'm doing this though is that I'm no longer using the Emotiva for multi channel HT, so thought I'd try the extra outputs to bi-amp the VAFs following advice from Simon. 

 

Thanks again.

Des

[joz 5,644]

20 hours ago, desap0 said:

How do Duntech speakers compare to VAF i93's or i66's ? They seem somewhat similar in design concept and share some of the same attributes. I believe VAF's Simon ? (who I think designed the latest i66) once worked for Duntech - true ??

 

Well I haven't heard the big Sovs but I have now heard both the Crown Princess and the I-93 (previous iteration)

 Now acoustic memory as you know is not great  so this is not a A/B comparo as such.

 But my first experience with the big Vafs was very good, properly setup the had some amazing pinpoint imaging and solid bass. But the owner did go through quite a few amps to try to tame the top end which was quite brittle/sibilant on some tracks. The I-93s needed  some juice from the partnering amp but something that was a little softer in it's presentation, with the right amp it was exceptional though the sweet spot was extremely narrow. From memory they weren't blessed with great drivers. I think the newer models have sorted this?

 

Then the Duntechs which IMO were endowed with much better than average components, together with excellent engineering would show up the Vafs.

They are better balanced and even with lesser amps would shine without exhibiting any of the drivers shortfalls if any. They just do too many things right and they don't draw any attention to their shortfalls.

 

 

 

[Sub Sonic 1,064]

32 minutes ago, joz said:

 

Well I haven't heard the big Sovs but I have now heard both the Crown Princess and the I-93 (previous iteration)

 Now acoustic memory as you know is not great  so this is not a A/B comparo as such.

 But my first experience with the big Vafs was very good, properly setup the had some amazing pinpoint imaging and solid bass. But the owner did go through quite a few amps to try to tame the top end which was quite brittle/sibilant on some tracks. The I-93s needed  some juice from the partnering amp but something that was a little softer in it's presentation, with the right amp it was exceptional though the sweet spot was extremely narrow. From memory they weren't blessed with great drivers. I think the newer models have sorted this?

 

 

 

 

 

The earlier VAFs used the same tweeters as some of the Duntech models, the Seas Excel T25 CF001, which is a very good tweeter. I think it was the application in the earlier model I66/I93 that left a little to be desired, not the tweeter as such. Either that or the midrange crossover needed attention. Whatever it was, the issues were sorted with the newer MkII.

 

Cheers,

 

SS

[MarkT 1,791]

I bought a second hand pair of VAF I93 from simply hifi for $3.5k some years ago , as there was some talk of them being a Duntech beater.

 

I found them to be hard and edgy sounding in the midrange and unpleasant to listen to.

Seemed like the mids were goosed up 3 or 4db too.

 

Vaf were kind enough to make up some attenuators to tame the mids but not much of an improvement. 

 

Also in a largish 7.6 x 5m room positioned around 700mm from the wall and driven by my Plinius SA250MK4 250wpc amp with 80amps of current they were overblown in the bass and seriously lacking in definition compared to my Crown prince.

 

Tried many positions with the vaf but low end was always lacking detail and overdone compared to the sealed box duntechs.

 

I no longer have either speaker so have no reason to spruik one over the other but IMO the Duntechs were far superior.

 

All comments refer to MK 1 Vaf.

Edited June 6, 2017 by MarkT

[unclemack 3,299]

Well. The new Kiat built crossovers for the Crown Prince are done. Should have them with me in a couple of weeks.


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[Jventer 1,672]

On 5/31/2017 at 1:38 PM, Desap said:

How do Duntech speakers compare to VAF i93's or i66's ? They seem somewhat similar in design concept and share some of the same attributes. I believe VAF's Simon ? (who I think designed the latest i66) once worked for Duntech - true ??

Yes, true.

Simon is at VAF and he did work at Duntech.

[Wimbo 2,368]

10 minutes ago, unclemack said:

Well. The new Kiat built crossovers for the Crown Prince are done. Should have them with me in a couple of weeks.


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Keep us posted Mack.

[unclemack 3,299]

Just now, Wimbo said:

Keep us posted Mack.

I certainly will... not sure if I'm up to the challenge of soldering them back in though....

 

Cheers

 

M

[Tubularbells 6,439]

They look awesome, very impressive 

 

...And that drawer runner idea they used to use, every time I see it i cannot help but think that idea was pure genius. 

[evil c 6,068]

They look awesome, very impressive 
 
...And that drawer runner idea they used to use, every time I see it i cannot help but think that idea was pure genius. 

Yes yes that's all well and good - but can you solder tidily TB ? [emoji13]


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[unclemack 3,299]

Yes yes that's all well and good - but can you solder tidily TB ? [emoji13]


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I hope someone can!


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[evil c 6,068]

I hope someone can!


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You need to entice us to make the long arduous journey worthwhile! [emoji2]
I could supervise or offer encouragement!
"Call that a neat job - do it again ! " [emoji53]

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[unclemack 3,299]

You need to entice us to make the long arduous journey worthwhile! [emoji2]
I could supervise or offer encouragement!
"Call that a neat job - do it again ! " [emoji53]

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Ha ha. Shitstirrer. Yes. We'll make plans for a gtg. I've got room for three or four. Maybe 6 if they bring bedding. Outside of that it's local accommodations.


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[frednork 1,056]

39 minutes ago, evil c said:

Yes yes that's all well and good - but can you solder tidily TB ?

 

Probably best I dont volunteer then 

[evil c 6,068]

 
Probably best I dont volunteer then 

But his speakers are working ok ! [emoji6]

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[evil c 6,068]

But his speakers are working ok !
Soldering iron was unsuited too right? [emoji6]

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[frednork 1,056]

3 minutes ago, evil c said:

But his speakers are working ok !
Soldering iron was unsuited too right?

 

Yes, also a strong headwind, as well as sun in my eyes , and.... that soldering iron wasnt working properly, I suspect something wrong with the electricity at that place

[unclemack 3,299]

 
Yes, also a strong headwind, as well as sun in my eyes , and.... that soldering iron wasnt working properly, I suspect something wrong with the electricity at that place[emoji3]

Nah. You did a fine job mate. Thanks. Although soldering this crossover might be a little more challenging. M


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[howze 256]

Any got or heard the statesmens? I've been considering a pair for a while now just not sure if I should or not.

[Gruffnutz 790]

14 hours ago, howze said:

Any got or heard the statesmens? I've been considering a pair for a while now just not sure if I should or not.

 

If you're talking about the ones on Gumtree in Adelaide at the moment; just buy them.  Bargain price.

[howze 256]

Yeah they've been on gumtree for months now. And yes that's what I'm talking about just trying to get the cash together

[Wimbo 2,368]

55 minutes ago, howze said:

Yeah they've been on gumtree for months now. And yes that's what I'm talking about just trying to get the cash together

Listen to them before you buy them mate. That series was a bit of a letdown after the classic series.

[Sub Sonic 1,064]

7 hours ago, Wimbo said:

Listen to them before you buy them mate. That series was a bit of a letdown after the classic series.

 

Which models and why? I'm curious as it seems out of character for the Duntechs.

 

Cheers,

 

SS

[Wimbo 2,368]

42 minutes ago, Sub Sonic said:

 

Which models and why? I'm curious as it seems out of character for the Duntechs.

 

Cheers,

 

SS

I've said it before on here. The sock range except for the Crown Prince and the range after with the flange around the baffle was a bit of a letdown. Personal experience and the same with others in the industry that I knew. The Dunlaveys were better but not as well built as the Classic Series. As I say, just listen before buying, the boat might be rocked.

[Anatoly Beaver-Hausen 3,342]

8 minutes ago, Wimbo said:

I've said it before on here. The sock range except for the Crown Prince and the range after with the flange around the baffle was a bit of a letdown. Personal experience and the same with others in the industry that I knew. The Dunlaveys were better but not as well built as the Classic Series. As I say, just listen before buying, the boat might be rocked.

The sock range a let down ! Bollocks to that!!

Billy.

[Guest kab]

Iv'e had various Duntech models over the years and their all good IMHO

 

Cheers

[Sub Sonic 1,064]

36 minutes ago, Wimbo said:

I've said it before on here. The sock range except for the Crown Prince and the range after with the flange around the baffle was a bit of a letdown. Personal experience and the same with others in the industry that I knew. The Dunlaveys were better but not as well built as the Classic Series. As I say, just listen before buying, the boat might be rocked.

 

The Statesman (C1000) is in the Classic series, and is not a sock version.

Was it the Classic series you don't like, or another? Genuine question as I've not come across many negative comments about Duntechs.

 

Regards,

 

SS

[nicholas9976 56]

 
The Statesman (C1000) is in the Classic series, and is not a sock version.
Was it the Classic series you don't like, or another? Genuine question as I've not come across many negative comments about Duntechs.
 
Regards,
 
SS

Maybe he means the Crown Prince / Princess and their big brother the Sovereign are a step above other Duntechs??? I have heard the same said elsewhere. They probably all represent good value for their current used prices though (if you've got a nice powerful amp to run them).


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[Wimbo 2,368]

11 hours ago, nicholas9976 said:

Maybe he means the Crown Prince / Princess and their big brother the Sovereign are a step above other Duntechs??? I have heard the same said elsewhere. They probably all represent good value for their current used prices though (if you've got a nice powerful amp to run them).


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The Standout Duntechs were the Dunlavey Designed Sovereign, Princess/CrownPrince and the Marquis. I have found over the Decades that these models made the Duntech name famous.

After Dunlavey left. I felt that the Sonique series of loudspeakers coming out of SA were a lot better then the Duntechs. This is my listening opinion over a period of time. As I have said twice now, listen before you buy. If you don't want to, fine by me.

[logean55 10]

yup that's my experience exactly Wimbo ......

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