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Review: Dunlavy Audio Labs SC-IVa

Category: Speakers

When I decided seven years ago to upgrade my audio system, I started by finding a speaker I loved. I searched for almost a year listening to every speaker available in the Minneapolis area. I found Magnepan and MartinLogan to be stunning but too dry and fatiguing for my taste. The midrange was not as deep and rich as I was looking for. Wilson had great sound but beyond the budget I was hoping to stay in. B&W sounded thick and boomy to me and Meridian was electronic and artificial. Thiel, Audio Physics and Dunlavy became the finalists. Being a late ‘60s early ‘70s guy, I came from Marantz and MaIntosh electronics and JBL and Altec Lansing speakers. The size and depth of the sound of Dunlavy along with the exceptional midrange were the final factors in my choosing Dunlavy IV as the speaker I wanted. The problem was I could only afford the Dunlavy III, exceptional midrange but not the ultimate bottom end of the IV.
It was about two years after buying the III's that I had the opportunity to upgrade to the IV's. It turned out that over those two years Dunlavy had improved the IV's and had a new model, IVa. They amazed me to find the IVa was even richer and deeper than the old IV model. The Dunlavy IVa speaker consists of two 10" woofers, two 5" mids and one 1" composite textile dome tweeter. Frequency response is 25Hz to 20 kHz, and Sensitivity is 91 dB with an Impedance of 5 ohms. Size is 72" high, 15" deep and 12" wide with a weigh of 190 lbs. each. $8495/pr
I believe Dunlavy speakers have no rivals within their price category. John Dunlavy is obsessed with designing the most accurate reproductions of sound. To meet this stringent standard Dunlavy has built one of the worlds best-equipped laboratories in order to test his designs. This has lead to some very harsh discussions between John Atkinson of Stereophile and John Dunlavy. It seems that JA does not like being out engineered by one of the great loudspeaker designers and the result was punishing JD by putting the once Stereophile "product of the year" Class A component into their B class after Dunlavy improved the speaker to JA's recommendation. Despite the politics of Stereophile Magazine, this speaker will hold its own with speakers two and three times its cost.
The highs are clear, grain less and extremely extended. JA spoke of them appearing a bit forward but I have never felt that was the case with this speaker, and can hardly believe a comment like that when compared with some of Stereophiles favorites MartinLogan and Meridian. Comments like these only strengthen my lack of trust for this Magazine. The midrange on all Dunlavy speakers is amazingly magical. I have not tried any other speaker that is as pure and life like with the female voice than Dunlavy. They display all the color and texture of the midrange with a crispness and transparency. Bass has long been the contention point of the IV series. The fact that they rate them at 25Hz meaning that it cuts off one organ pedal is hardly an issue for me. On the double bass, even the lowest note is crisply defined with no bloating or smear. The famous subway as heard on Water Lilly Acoustics "Natures Realm" with the Philadelphia Orchestra is deep under my floor forward and to the right. On Cowboy Junkies "Trinity Sessions" the foot pounding on the stage is as if he were in my livingroom pounding on my floor. I have no lack for bass from my speakers, in fact any more might be too much. Sound stage is wide and very deep. Excellent transient speeds, superb impact yet with an effortless smoothness. I truly believe these are the best speakers I can afford and is very much at home in my system. They have never left me lacking or longing for something better. That says a lot for a guy who is always looking for more, but never from my speakers. These are simply great speakers, and their service is exceptional as I found out with my III's, I twice had drivers replaced although it turned out the speakers had nothing to do with the problems I was having.


Associated gear
Sony SCD-1 SACD player
Placette active pre-amp
Plinius SA-102 amps
Nordost Valhalla speaker cable
Nordost Valhalla and NBS Statement interconnects
NBS Statement power cords
Hydra power conditioner

Similar products
Thiel CS7 series
Audio Physic Virgo
Wilson Watt/puppy
128x128jadem6
jadem6's avatar
jadem6 OP
1,074 posts
 
I have thought about that myself and decided not to just because I wanted flexibility. I have both the bass and treble/mid-range wires on the same post so i don't need to jump on the binding post side. I still hope someday to bi-wire again, that being after I win the lottery.

Rja, your post got me thinking that this is one poor reason for not doing this. The nut on the inside of the binding post is almost always loosening and this can only make for a degradation of the sonic quality. I like your idea a lot, and I also would like to hear your thoughts on better quality posts.

The thing with for us Dunlavy owners is the resale prices are such that it makes no sense to change speakers. Besides what we buy? My feeling was putting a few hundred or a thousand into upgrading thew components will keep these speakers relevant for years to come.

BTW,, has anyone upgraded the tweeter, and how would one go about finding the right tweeter with the right measurements to fit the speaker?
rja's avatar
rja
2,371 posts
 
Update on new binding posts.
I purchased the Cardas CCGG long posts, direct gold plate over copper. The rings that are soldered to the ends of the cross-over wires appears to be brass. These rings were bolted to the original binding posts. I am going to get the brass out of the signal path by soldering the cross-over wires directly to the new Cardas binding posts. The brass rings has to degrade the sound. Hopefully the new binding posts and the elimination of the brass in the signal path will improve the sound. Any thoughts on this from other Dunlavy owners?
pryso
1,938 posts
 
Tweeter upgrades?
Jadem6, not sure how much this answers your question but I spoke with Alan Hulsebus of Orca Design concerning Dynaudio tweeters, such as I have in my Duntech Princess speakers. He believes the D-28 and D-28-2 sound identical. As for the more expensive Esotar, the only difference he hears is about 1 dB gain in efficiency, otherwise, "same frequency response, same waterfall, same impedance, same distortion, same power handling, same soundstage."

Since I don't know which tweeter Dunlavy used in your SC-IVa, this may or may not be of interest. I will say that I've listened to a friend's system with the mid-sized Raven ribbon tweeter and find it to be somewhat more airy and detailed than my speakers. Also, I had the opportunity to listen to some JM Labs with their new beryllium tweeter in my system and, yes, it too may be marginally better. However, given the complexity of driver matching and crossover design that John Dunlavy put into my system and yours, what are our chances of making a change that "improves" our high ends?
rja's avatar
rja
2,371 posts
 
The speaker binding post replacement and elimination of the brass in the signal path have made a noticeable improvement in my IVAs. I would suggest this mod to IVA owners. Cost should be well under $200 with perhaps 2-3 hours of labor. Well worth the effort IMO.
theaudiotweak
2,801 posts
 
Did you replace all the steel mounting screws that hold the crossover in place? How about those around the tweeter dome and its plate mounting screws securing it to the cabinet with non-ferrous brass? Tom
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