For those that have heard Dutch & Dutch 8c..


For those that have heard the Dutch and Dutch 8c speakers, Are they more clinical sterile monitor sound or great musical speakers? Also, they have DSP to improve  room acoustics correct?

The reason I ask this is because I was considering upgrading my integrated amp and speakers to improve the sound in my apartment living room which is about 14'x14'. I thought by the time & cost for me to improve my integrated amp and speakers, I may be within a couple grand of getting some powered speakers like the D&D 8c that I could run off of my BS node 2i streamer since I stream all my music. ( I do have an old separate parasound dac, But let's remove that from the equation.).

Does anybody here see a synergistic combination of used items for sale (integrated amp and speakers) that would provide a better value and sound for an apartment system to stream music on?

Oh! My current system is a Yamaha A-S500 and Acoustic Energy Aegis 3 speakers. [I don't have/use a sub. It would just annoy apartment neighbors].

(and blusound node 2i, parasound zdac, etc)

I stream spotify premium for my listening,

[but do have a collection of flac files on hard drive (nas) that isn't even used anymore]. 

Thanks for your thoughts and input about the D&D 8c or other options.

I previously had Revel f208 but they overpowered the room and had a very "dry" bass. Something with a musical size/power less than the f208 and better sound than the AE Aegis3 would probably be ideal for my listening volume and neighbor's tolerance. Thanks!

128x128labguy

Apologies for the slow response. I’m just seeing this thread foe the first time.

For those who were able to visit us at AXPONA, we’re very happy that you enjoyed the sound.

Regarding streaming, the 8c are a Roon endpoint. To that, you can stream Tidal, Qobuz or personal files over Roon. We’re also support Spotify connect. You simply control the playback over their native apps, to which the 8c has a "unity" volume for those applications.

For analog or digital input, you would either use the Dutch & Dutch app for volume control or your analog preamps.

Also, in response to questions about repairs, we have the ability to do repairs here in the US. In fact, most repairs can be done in the field. The entirely electronics package can be replaced for repair or upgrade in under 5 minutes. The most difficult component to replace is the tweeter (as we don’t employ a typical surface mount construction), and that only takes about 20 minutes.

Hello @dutchdutchna 

If I have a DAC that I like going to my preamp, and I connect the analog out to the 8C, will the signal stay analog or will it be re-process by the speakers? In other words, can the 8C DAC be bypassed in favor of my DAC?  Thanks. 

I asked this question, and they did tell me I could use my own DAC. The problem is if you do that will it disable the built in DSP. It seems like this DSP is critical for these speakers to sound their best.

Hi! 

@willywonka @spenav , you're both talking about your dac's performance relative to be 8c. I'll do my best here.

Since we're discussing dacs, the assumption is that you've already converted the file to analog, and that's what you'd be sending to the 8c (or any other preamp, amp, etc,.). The same is no less true with the 8c. 

Where we differ. Unlike traditional speakers where a passive crossover is introduced after the amplifier stage, our crossovers are placed  in front of the amplifier. 

We receive the full range digital or analog signal, then split it into low, mid, high, then send each signal to a dedicated dac and amplifier, each amplifier feeds it's respective speakers directly. By taking an active approach, we gain enormous efficiency, can customize each filter for every driver, and significantly reduce distortion.

To summarize, you can send your raw digital files or analog signal into the 8c, but it will ultimately go through our DSP and Dacs before our room correction.

At the end of the day, we believe that good acoustic design and integration will provide the best sound, not necessarily "bit depth" races.