Dunlavy SCIV - What amp are you using?

The Dunlavy SCIV have a very benign electrical load and phase angles thus making life very easy for amplifiers. As long as the amplifier is of a quality design, both big wattage solid state amps as well as lowish powered tube amps will work well.

Sometimes I wonder if when some people see the sheer size of these speakers and all of the drivers that it gives them the mental impression that it surely must demand a huge solid state monster amp to match the monster size of these speakers. Don't get me wrong.....these Dunlavys will handle the big amps but they can really sing beautifully with smaller wattage tube amps too! A lot will depend on the size of the room you are trying to fill.

As it was mentioned earlier, these speakers are hugely transparent and quite capable of revealing the slightest of changes upstream, whether it be switching out cables, different types of tubes, etc. But, when you have everything sorted out up stream, they are truly wonderful. They have been the only speaker that I have found that does more things right than not. They are capable of reproducing both micro and macro dynamics in a very believable way. They through a soundstage where the musicians and their instruments are of realistic size. They get the complex harmonics of the human voice right. The sound of stringed instruments...violin, cello, etc are wonderful hearing the beautiful resonance of the wooden body. The bass is very well defined...not one notish or boomy at all and very well integrated. I'm not sure if it has to do with it being a sealed design or what really, but it is done right.

I have had and still do have other great speakers....K-horns, ProAC's, vintage Tannoy Monitor Golds in custom cabinets, etc and also they all did some things really great, none of them seemed to everything all around well enough.

I appreciate everyone contributing what they are using to power their great speakers with. I hope you continue to enjoy them as much as I have...I've had mine for over a decade, with no problems whatsoever, and never plan on selling them.

For those of you who havn't had the opportunity to hear some yet. Try to do so if you can. You can find these at very reasonable prices on the used market and I believe they still compete very favorably with much more expensive speakers that are currently for sale.

No_regrets, I see what you mean about easy load - what I fine odd is that anyone would choose to use a powerful SS amp when a low powered tube amp (40 watts seems enough)or low powered Class A (not Classe)SS amp (60 watts?) would do the trick. I do wonder what a Music Reference RM10 (35 watts) or Atma-sphere M60s might sound like with the Dunlavys - they are superb on my equally easy to drive Merlins.

Pubul57, On the surface your point seems well taken. Still I can't over emphasize what a positive (with an already positive start) change it was going from 2 X 200 Watts per channel to 4 X 200 Watts per channel. If I recall correctly John Dunlavy recommended 40-150 Watts per channel. The Dunlavy's do drop below 4 Ohms. I've been seriously considering going to SCIVA's should good pair shows up locally. Considering everything, I don't think I would power them with much less than 150 Watts per channel of ss amplification.

No Regrets, well said about Dunlavy's performance and its 'timeless' performance parameters. Agree with you completely!

In keeping with thread's topic, I used Jadis Orchestra Ref (40 watts using KT90'S)for couple of years in my bedroom set up (smallish room)and it worked really well not wanting any more oomph. Currently the IVs are in storage sittting idle. but still looking gorgeous (i had custom black piano finish done)

My main system has the sig Vs and I have used Classe CA400's, then MBL 9011 and now relatively small wattage Zanden 9600 monoblocks (60 watts nom, 90 watt max/ch) and performance is without any complaints. Tubes give best overall performance compared to the SSs. Best performance is being had at 2 ohm tap, 4 ohm still okay (probably optimal)and 8 ohm will simply not work coherently. Hope this helps.

Hello Pubul57,

I've never heard the Atma-spheres with the Dunlavys. I might be wrong, but I always thought the Atma-sphere amps liked to see high impedance loads, something that the Dunlavys certainly are not. Ralph would be able to answer that much better than I.

As for the Music Reference RM10......all I can say is WOW. 35 watts from a pair of EL84's per channel is something else. Usually you get about 12-15 watts from a pair. With that being said, I love the sound of EL84's! I've got three EL84 amps driving three different sets of speakers....that's how much I love them! My custom EL84 amp has a very beefy supply to it and is very well built. Very low dcr and is incredibly dynamic, fast transient attachs, with great body and harmonic resolution. It is using some fantastic vintage Pilot Corp output transformers that sound great, although rolled off on the bottom end.....but very tight until they hit the rolloff point. They put out a very "powerful 15 watts" and yes, I have used them on my Dunlavys. Great in a smaller room, but not enough juice for larger rooms. I'd have to believe the 35watt RM10 would be powerful enough. I have read a lot of people do love that amp, so I wouldn't hesitate trying it. I'd love to hear it actually. I'm not sure where you are located, but I'm in Wisconsin and would be willing to have you come by for a listen.