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Help with Dunlavy SC-IV signature

Hello to all. I friend recently gave me a pair of SC-IV as they were too big for his room and he did not like their sound. The speakers sounded very bright to me but I attributed that to the cheap surround sound receiver he was using. I expected them to sound way better on my gear. No such luck. I tried them with a Moon P5 and Ayre v3 and they made my ears bleed, same with aMusical Fidelity M6PRX and Pre. I finally put then on a Nakamichi CA7 and PA7 with the tone controls all the way back and they started to sound way better. My current speakers are Martin Logan Expression 13A and Von Schweikert VR4 Get III. I added a Behringer DEQ2496 and turned the mids and highs down 7db and now they sounded very good. I have had Vanderstein 5A, Magnepan 3.7i and Utopias among others and I have never encountered something this bad. It's as if an equalizer was turned all the way up in the mids and highs. I removed one of the crossovers and to the eye they look ok I would have to remove them and measure everything to know for sure. Has anyone run into this before ? should I rebuild the crossover to see if it will improve ? What other measurements should I take ? Thanks in advance for your assistance.

cerberus79
tecknik
483 posts
 

I had a pair of Dunlavy SC 4 years ago driven with the original pass 350, didn’t do much for me so I got a pair of Papsworth Audio P200,s . 200 watts a channel that woke them up. 
I disagree Dunlavy best with high power ss, high power tubes yes. 

grumpybb's avatar
grumpybb
124 posts
 

Did you ever find out what the issue was? I have 4 pairs of Dunlavys: SC-III, SC-IV and 2 pairs of SC-V, none of them are bright or unbalanced. I'd say they're the most neutral and balanced speakers I've ever heard. 

sounds_real_audio
1,002 posts
 

Perhaps Dunlavy's are not as great as many people assume they are. 

tomic601's avatar
tomic601
12,911 posts
 

Perhaps there are some audiophiles not as great as they assume they are…

?

cerberus79 OP
52 posts
 

@tomic601 

@grumpybb 

I have had a bunch of great speakers in the last 10 years including Vandersteen 5, 5a, Utopias, Electras, Magnepan 3.7i, Ariel 10t, Von Schweikert VR4 GenIII, B&W 802 D2, Tyler, Martin Logan Summit X, Martin Logan Expressions 13a, Reference 3a and more. The Dunlavy speakers were terrible. As it turns out the person that purchased them from me informed me that changes had been made to the crossovers. I suspected that but it was difficult to confirm because Dunlavy speakers of the same model can have different crossovers as they are voiced individually. The new owner has much experience in this area and was able to correct the issue. The speakers now sound very good.

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