Dunlavy SCIVA'S... Mine sound bland

rob, the first obvious question - how long have you owned the DALs?  Have they sounded this way from the beginning?  Were they better originally but now sound worse?

Dunlavy designs are not to everyone's taste, what is?  But they were all (Duntech and DAL) well respected and many found them to be among the most musically accurate and satisfying out of everything available.  I suspect there may be a problem with yours.

I owned the Duntech Princess model for 19 years.  That was the older sibling to the DAL SC-IV and IVa.  From what I've read the DAL versions have slightly less critical power requirements.  Initially I drove mine with VTL 300 mono amps, but later went to Parasound JC-1s.  The latter was the best overall match I found.  They were anything but drab and lifeless.

I owned a pair of Dunlavy SCIVa's many years ago, and found them to be quite sensitive to the amps driving them.  After trying them with at least a half dozen amps, I found the best combination by far to be with CAT JL-1s (although other high powered tube amps generally worked well).

I know Loudspeakers , verywelland themost neglected parts
are the Xover network. The parts quality is like a stock engine in a car or  aFormula 1. The majority of manufacturers use average 
parts at best.  And capacitors wear out and will make the speakersound lifeless.  I lookfor value as well as Quality when rebuilding a speaker worth doing. For example a speaker with
quality build ,and drivers will compete with Loudspeakers several times their cost if you rebuild ,properly the Xover with quality parts 
and rewire it. There are a lot of factors. Value for inductors 
Jantzen Waxed Copper foil can compete with the best of them 
for much less $$ fortop end, and midrange Bass a solid Open coil,
 Resistors only 1% non inductive. I have seen cement junk white resistors in $10k speakers Why ?   Capacitors the cook book 
that what I call the professor TonyGee   Who helped me several times while living in Europe. His  Humble homemade Hifi capacitor 
test . Tony has tested and rated the vast majority of Capacitors 
pin the market from basic ok which Many companies use like Solen .personally I would not even use them in the Bass unless 
bypassed.  I wrote to Marten Logan after owning their products 
in the past on how for  just $400 dramatically improved their newline over $10k with better midrange capacitors. And if you go to their webpage it shows their $80,000 flag ship ,using 
inexpensive midlinewhite Mundorf EVO series , 
when in fact in a speaker this expensive it should have at least 
Mundorfs top offering .  Vh  Copper Teflon ,as well as Duelund Silver foil in oiled wax  paper caps best caps for bypass caps I have used .Jupiter Copperfoil another great capacitor .
i have all 3 in my speakers as well as best Bypass caps for quality value which I have on every capacitor the Cornell Dubilier .01uf
3,000v caps . The Reason Tony Gee recommends these is the high voltage rating thicker windings and copper in part of end caps 
less resistance better clarity. Bypass caps are not justgood for the top end .these caps are a perfect case and point .The new upper Clarity line CSA ,CSA great value  Bypass them and then a Duelund Silver foil Great results just for a example,Jupitercaps  are a bit richer everything is about  what spice or flavor are you looking for . Your electronics will get exposed if not up to the task .
have at least quality system cables ,and power cords  ,and power isolation also.
Dulunds cast best caps or one of in the World. I don’t own any 
you need the room ,Huge ,and very expensive ,build an external Xover ,or very isolated for best audible results. I do a lot of what many would call exotic.just to prove a point I bought the new Monitor Audio Studio Stand mount with matching stands for under $2k . Why Their drivers are a version taken from the midrange of their  $25k flagship lots of potential .I put $1400 into parts just in the Xover and wiring .  With their W-12 subwoofer .it can hang 
with many speakers over $10k. With excellent prat and resolution .
theirs your answer do your homework and look to a friend or professional  it’s what you can’t see that truly counts.

To the OP. You mention you have a Crown Studio Reference. I would connect that amp to the speakers. It is also my opinion that the felt material used on the front baffles, to eliminate diffraction, sucks up some of the sound escaping into the room. Many manufacturers used this principal back then ( Snell, Spica and Acoustic Research to name a few ). The Dunlavy designs, ime, are not an " open " sounding speaker. Not suggesting they are not good, nor musical, just not open ( I owned horns back then, and still do ). Enjoy ! MrD.

I do appreciate all the great info.  Yes I do need to swap amps and run an A/B test.  I have had some hands on experience with rebuilding a X-over with good components.  My infinity RS 4.5s needed a rebuild and I had them done by Soniccraft and OMG night and day difference.  Honestly I love those speakers.  I have read many articles on the SCIVA'S and I'm hesitant to let anyone tear into the x-over because great effort was put into X-over and matching it to the speakers.  If I could find someone that could update critical resistors and caps and still retain the intended design of the X-over, I would do it...