a very interesting thread indeed. as the proud owner of a pair of dahlquist dq-10's, (the first speakers i ever bought), i can only repeat what the salesperson, and owner of the store, tasso spanos, (opus one, in pgh. pa) said when i bought them. "just because its new, doesn't mean its better" and "if it sounded good yesterday, it will sound good tomorrow". I think that great design's will always make great speakers. look at the names people have mentioned, JBL, dunleavy, tannoy, von schwiekert (sp?), allison, apogee, dynaudio, quad els, etc. rock solid designs, or designs that radically challenged the staus quo. top quality materials, built to last, tested in real world enviroments. speakers that are well balanced across the entire audio spectrum, open sounding, great sound stage and imaging, that can handle every type of music whether played at a wisper or at LIVE volume levels. the dq-10's and twenty's have been mentioned several times, and this is a design concept from the early 70's that is still applicable today. open baffle to remove any "boxiness", multiple drivers to handle a smaller portion of the spectrum, each maximized to handle that particular portion, "phased array" to keep the sound wave in correct "alignment". the people at spica "borrowed" this concept. opus one sold five-six speakers while i was there. not 5-6 speaker lines, but 5-6 speakers. on any given day a speaker manufacturer could walk in the door and the entire staff would sit down and do a/b testing using the best electronics in the store, and electronics that were in the speakers so called "price range". when i purchased my dq-10's, the current speakers were several small bookshelf speakers fron genesis, the large advent, a two way with a 15" woofer and a 1" dome tweeter made buy a local guy in his garage, the dq-10's and acoustats. when i left, a year and a half later, the line -up was the new boston acoustics line, the spica's, the dq-10's, and the acoustats. we also added the dq-9's for musicians who wanted something that would play at extremely high volume levels. each one of these speakers had a design concept that was radically different from the run of the mill "boxes" that were being put out to "match price points". each one offered a step up in the level of reproduction, but more importantly, each one played MUSIC! yes, we all have our own idea of what "sounds" best to us. yes, all of our choices are subjective, but no matter how much we spend or don't spend, it will always be about the music. my dq-10's sounded great the day i bought them and i'm sure they will sound just as good tomorrow. i would like to hear what a pair of dq-2003's would sound like. take the exact same design and use the best of today's technology, super long throw woofer using the lastest composite materials, kevlar mid-range drivers, silk dome tweeter, replace the peizo super tweeter with a ribbon, top of the line wiring and electronics in the crossover, super robust construction in the cabinetry, etc. the dq-10's sold for a thousand a pair in 1979 when i bought mine. even adding for inflation, i don't think i could best them for twice the price. i wonder what a pair of dq-2003's would cost? just dreaming!
