Your thoughts on the DQ-10 vs Vandersteen 2C

Point of clarification: are you referring to the old 2C, or to one of the newer, updated models: 2Ci or 2Ce? If you are referring to the original 2C, your impression that the DQ-10's sound better may be true. The original 2C was superceded by the 2Ci in the mid-to-late 1980's, and there have been a number of improvements since then.

If you apply high grade parts to the Dahlquist i.e. "upgrade" the passive parts as Vandersteen has done to his speakers over the years, i think that you'll find that the DQ does some things better. Not nearly as much bottom end, but what is there is more tuneful with better definition. Too bad you can't combine the two of them without designing a speaker from scratch. Mid's and tweeters should never be mounted side by side unless the speaker was primarily designed to be turned on its' side. In that respect, the Vandy's will image better. Sean
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The original 2 series speaker was not time aligned and the DQ10 probably did sound better but all of that has changed. The DQ10 made an attempt at time alignment by the way the drivers were mounted(even though it wasn't) and also used a minimum baffle around the drivers that accounted for some the air the speaker exibited. Everyone was after a duplicate sound of the original Quad(a beautiful sounding speaker but you had to keep replacement panels handy) then.
I always found the pair I had to be on the bright end of the scale.
The DQ10 has been way surpassed by the later Vandersteen 2 series. Modern measurements have allowed this along with better drivers and electrical parts. As Sean says, you could probably mod the hell out of the DQ10 and it would be ok if the drivers could hold up their end of the bargain. The Advent woofer, I thought, always sounded better in the Advent speaker. I know the surrounds were a big problem as with most of the Kloss foam surround drivers.
The DQ10 had a big sound driven by Dynaco electronics I used at the time. It was just too bright for my tastes and I moved away from it after about a year(of course I wish I knew then what I know now about setup, etc)

Disconnecting the Piezo tweeter on the Dahlquist's goes a LONG way towards taming the high end. Sean
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I agree with that suggestion. It was on the hot side. I believe that was a Philips he used.
I could have a great time IF I had all the speakers I have bought and sold over the years.