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Duntech Speakers Owners & Discussion Thread


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5 minutes ago, dcnicholls said:

I have two pairs of PCL15s (different parts of the house). Both superb. Does anyone know about a sub-woofer made by Duntech around 1990?

Yeah, I remember the sub. Can't remember any deatils about it though. The PCL 15's were a **** of load. They gobbled 200 watters easily..

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On 2/19/2018 at 4:30 PM, unclemack said:

Some pics. e332168042e161fe11bdd769fd6df14f.jpg8dea8ee3ea754accb50abe42228b007a.jpg8547b67581fabfd5787b95adcb3889a2.jpge1b318478288301de2aedd36d6c7310d.jpg3e92b0a7642f1d44e305fc5d572f17c1.jpg

Good to see them up and running mate. I remember running them with a 20 watts Audio Innovations amp. Sounded very good.:)

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18 minutes ago, dcnicholls said:

I have two pairs of PCL15s (different parts of the house). Both superb. Does anyone know about a sub-woofer made by Duntech around 1990?

It was called Thor and ran with an active crossover. I used one for a while with some Maggies and still have the active crossover. I also have a pair of PCL 5s that I am not using but are earmarked for my son.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hi guys , 

 

Sorry to revive an old thread and discovered it this week . I still have a Duntech Princess C5000 . I’m in love w/ them . Been driving them w/ audio research power amps. At first a D250MK 2 Servo then a Classic 150 monoblocks . And I think the Princess have found her match my REF 610T monoblocks .

 

 

2F6BA055-DC06-4702-9424-27D439BBA10A.jpeg

49D74743-D55B-4814-9DD1-8A47B07AD1BC.jpeg

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Here's a pair of Duntech Viceroys I ran with an ME 550 Hi Cap/24 combo for about a decade.  This shot was taken, I think,  in 2003.  I had lusted after a pair of Marquis for years.  I got these from Tony Mills in the Gabba (Brissie) for a very good price sometime in the 1990s.

IMG_0363.jpg.fa4a304c6559159c7cbaef91aba088f2.jpg

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Hi guys , 
 
Sorry to revive an old thread and discovered it this week . I still have a Duntech Princess C5000 . I’m in love w/ them . Been driving them w/ audio research power amps. At first a D250MK 2 Servo then a Classic 150 monoblocks . And I think the Princess have found her match my REF 610T monoblocks .
 
 
2F6BA055-DC06-4702-9424-27D439BBA10A.thumb.jpeg.08a5ff0ee70ee65881682a06836ef8f3.jpeg
49D74743-D55B-4814-9DD1-8A47B07AD1BC.thumb.jpeg.eb829921906e323cdc65ba63cbcbaf6f.jpeg

That should be a wonderful combination. Love the look of the princess. Well done. M
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On 23/05/2017 at 7:30 AM, Wimbo said:

The speaker that people forget about. The Black Knight.

black.JPG.c1d4c730cef5042364d04e6fc93e9740.JPG

I too have a pair of Black Nights / PCL-400's / subsequently called Regent's.  They would have been amongst the first 5 pais produced and have massive 450mm thick plinths that stick out 650mm at the front and sides.  They are beautifully finished piano black and everyone thinks they are actually polished black stone. Soon after mine were made various different plinths were introduced.


I was associated with Duntech and at the factory when they were first presented side by side with a pair of Sovereigns.  John Dunlavy's wife (who sewed up the sox by the way) was alongside me and confided that she preferred the BKs, which confirmed what I my ears were telling me too. The BKs sounded more lively whereas the SOVs somewhat strangled or damped.  The BKs, with the same 12" woofers, prodigious bass extension, Duntech groundbreaking adherence to accuracy philosophy designed to be a "poor man's Sovereign" at one third the price PLUS I preferred the sound, they were a no-brainer and  I ordered mine there and then!
Things got better when I had a chance to compare specs because there wasn't a lot of difference overall and indeed the BKs are actually better in some respects.                                                
                                        SOVs                                                                         BKs 
 Efficiency                  90                                                                            92
 fr resp                      +/-2dB 27Hz-20KHz                                               +2-3dB 28Hz-20KHz9 
roll off                      12dB/octave below bass res of 27Hz                  same - below 31Hz
phase                        +/-30deg 50Hz-20KHz                                           +/-20deg 100Hz-15KHz
pulse cherency       20us                                                                          (only) 5us
harmnc dis    max    1.5% at 30Hz                                                           2% at 35Hz
    "         "                 <0.3% above 50Hz                                                  <0.3% above 60Hz      


They have been problem free. I rotate the drivers as advised by John.


Imaging excellent .... drivers tested & matched (I did a few myself).


Apart from all the brochures etc that Dan (the thread originator)has shown us, I am fortunate enough to have unpublished graphs of frequency response smoothed and "rougher", phase response and impulse response.  For comparison John supplied impulse response graphs for other so-called excellent speakers of the time Thiel CS5, Snell A/111, Apogee Stage and Hales 2 Signature. The first  overshoots and following fades bear no comparison to the BKs.  


As they are so big and imposing people are expecting bigger bass. Truth is, due to the lack of overhang and low harmonic distortion up into mid bass they sound lean/cool/dry down there. People will comment on how they sound fast and on the transient response. Just sometimes they "chime" and  it is hard to explain and I don't understand it myself.  It doesn't really sound like the steel rods on the front.  
They are positioned by the rule of thirds in a 21X20ft room with "cathedral" ceiling and no room nasties all of which which keeps the bass clean.


The day is nearing when we will have to downsize but for now we are not letting them go.                                                        

Edited by vur
Changed BNs to BKs DOH
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40 minutes ago, vur said:

I too have a pair of Black Nights / PCL-400's / subsequently called Regent's.  They would have been amongst the first 5 pais produced and have massive 450mm thick plinths that stick out 650mm at the front and sides.  They are beautifully finished piano black and everyone thinks they are actually polished black stone. Soon after mine were made various different plinths were introduced.


I was associated with Duntech and at the factory when they were first presented side by side with a pair of Sovereigns.  John Dunlavy's wife (who sewed up the sox by the way) was alongside me and confided that she preferred the BNs, which confirmed what I my ears were telling me too. The BNs sounded more lively whereas the SOVs somewhat strangled or damped.  The BNs, with the same 12" woofers, prodigious bass extension, Duntech groundbreaking adherence to accuracy philosophy designed to be a "poor man's Sovereign" at one third the price PLUS I preferred the sound, they were a no-brainer and  I ordered mine there and then!
Things got better when I had a chance to compare specs because there wasn't a lot of difference overall and indeed the BNs are actually better in some respects.                                                
                                        SOVs                                                                         BNs 
 Efficiency                  90                                                                            92
 fr resp                      +/-2dB 27Hz-20KHz                                               +2-3dB 28Hz-20KHz9 
roll off                      12dB/octave below bass res of 27Hz                  same - below 31Hz
phase                        +/-30deg 50Hz-20KHz                                           +/-20deg 100Hz-15KHz
pulse cherency       20us                                                                          (only) 5us
harmnc dis    max    1.5% at 30Hz                                                           2% at 35Hz
    "         "                 <0.3% above 50Hz                                                  <0.3% above 60Hz      


They have been problem free. I rotate the drivers as advised by John.


Imaging excellent .... drivers tested & matched (I did a few myself).


Apart from all the brochures etc that Dan (the thread originator)has shown us, I am fortunate enough to have unpublished graphs of frequency response smoothed and "rougher", phase response and impulse response.  For comparison John supplied impulse response graphs for other so-called excellent speakers of the time Thiel CS5, Snell A/111, Apogee Stage and Hales 2 Signature. The first  overshoots and following fades bear no comparison to the BNs.  


As they are so big and imposing people are expecting bigger bass. Truth is, due to the lack of overhang and low harmonic distortion up into mid bass they sound lean/cool/dry down there. People will comment on how they sound fast and on the transient response. Just sometimes they "chime" and  it is hard to explain and I don't understand it myself.  It doesn't really sound like the steel rods on the front.  
They are positioned by the rule of thirds in a 21X20ft room with "cathedral" ceiling and no room nasties all of which which keeps the bass clean.


The day is nearing when we will have to downsize but for now we are not letting them go.                                                        

Great info, lots I did not know about the BN's. Would love to see the graphs. What do you run the BN's with?

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yay they were easier to get right in context of a overall system....ditto on the effects of the size to the expections of the usually uninitiated they expected overwhelming bass LOL ....what they did have is what i call a "Wave Front" that came through in the better recordings played..... my words for lack of a better description that was convincing and not always asociated with volume..... anyway......most still aspired to the Soveriegn......

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17 hours ago, frednork said:

Great info, lots I did not know about the BN's. Would love to see the graphs. What do you run the BN's with?

Hi frednork.   I have two Kenwood L07 monoblocks which connect to the speakers with their specially designed very short leads (30cm). With "high speed amp" design and high damping factor they grab and control the BKs well.   They have the supplied Kenwood very long signal leads (10 metre) running to them from a Yamaha home theatre receiver RXV-650.  The Kenwoods are virtually satin black and sit inconspicuously on the floor alongside the big Dunnies. I step up on them to dust the piano-black tops of the Dunnies (I jest).:lol:

  For surrounds I have Duntech PCL-3's. Centre speaker is a Kef iQ6C with dual concentric driver and carefully distance/time aligned with the BKs.  No subwoofer(s) needed or desired as the BKs would go down to ~20Hz -3deebs by my calculations with the help of the room loading. 

Unpublished graphs are as .pdfs.

BKn fr_resp slow trace.pdfBKn competitor impulses YUK.pdfBKn smoothed fr_resp.pdfBKn phase resp.pdfBKn impulse resp.pdf

Edited by vur
jest added
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A pair of Barons in the 'office' system. I owned a pair of Viscount's many years ago and did miss them once sold. I'm trying to find the time to host a GTG in April, and will endeavour to bring a pair of Evolution One monoblocs from home to drive the Baron's with. The Halco MC series amp is good, but more current doesn't go astray...

 

office.jpg.8265ca4a95d0e7d51bdc29578f71c826.jpg

Edited by DRC
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25 minutes ago, DRC said:

A pair of Barons in the 'office' system. I owned a pair of Viscount's many years ago and did miss them once sold. I'm trying to find the time to host a GTG in April, and will endeavour to bring a pair of Evolution One monoblocs from home to drive the Baron's with. The Halco MC series amp is good, but more current doesn't go astray...

 

office.jpg.8265ca4a95d0e7d51bdc29578f71c826.jpg

Nice office......

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  • 2 weeks later...

Re the appearance of the Black Knights and others using the black sox, I have always thought that mirrors up the sides would look cool in some rooms  .....  something akin to the Gale 401's with their chrome ends.  I happen to have a 2metre x 10cm strip of mirrored acrylic and placing it up the side certainly reduces the look of the sheer bulk but is nbg in my room as I have the BKs either side of a projector screen and reflections ruled the idea out. 

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? By cases do you mean the delivery crates for them or do you mean the actual speaker enclosures?   Do you plan to build one as a coffin that you can be buried in to pay homage to John Dunlavy? :lol:

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2 hours ago, vur said:

? By cases do you mean the delivery crates for them or do you mean the actual speaker enclosures?   Do you plan to build one as a coffin that you can be buried in to pay homage to John Dunlavy? :lol:

Crates, for the purpose of transportation. I've never really thought of the enclosures as caskets before, they are certainly large enough, and if you're not dead yet, all the lead will fix that in short order. :lol:

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