Dahlquist DQ-10 Unimpressed. Am I missing something?

[scottpro]

Good Afternoon Fellow Karmites,

I’m at a bit of a loss over a recent purchase of a pair of DQ-10s. Here’s my story; I found a pair in relatively good shape, with stands, for $250 locally. I was previously using a pair of DQ-18s and had always been pleased with the sound. Having read about the 10s, I was anxious to try them out. I listened on the owner’s system before picking them up, but didn’t go too loud as the woofers needed new surrounds.

Brought them home, successfully replaced the surrounds, new grille fabric, and re-stained the wood. The lady of the house doesn’t have a problem with a new vintage audio purchase here and there, but she pointed out—correctly—that the lighter colored wood didn’t match anything in the room. The particle board bases of the stands were also shot, so I acquired a sheet of oak and went to work making new bases as well.

Fast forward to last evening when I tried them out. I expected the bass to be a little lacking, but in general terms I was severely unimpressed with the sound. The highs seem extremely muted for the amount of drivers these have, and if I could sum it up, it was like listening to Charlie Brown’s teacher when she talks. The HF dial is set all the way to the max. Thinking that it might be my tired old ears, lacking in high frequency detection from years of DJing in nightclubs, I went to my bedroom system (the two are linked via cat5) and had a listen through some old bose speakers back there. Sure enough everything sounded as it should, nice and crispy even though it was an old 1960s jazz trio record. Even the DVC bathroom speaker had crispy highs.

I’m a bit bummed, and ready to return the DQ-18s back to service, pending some ideas on what I might do to make these sound a little brighter.

 

[Blue Shadow]

Tweeter fuse good?

All drivers working (you can't really check the piezo as it starts at 12.5kHz and is really just the sparkle on the music. But you can use a paper towel tube to isolate the other drivers.

These speakers are not a wow you when you hear them. They are wow you when you Listen to them. Imaging which the 18s should do well, too, and overall balance. Mike was here yesterday and we had the 10s on the new stands driven with good gear and playing some nicely recorded records, you know the ones, old high performance records from the late 70s-early 80s. Easy to see the orchestra spread out in front of us.

But then I have used these to so nice rock and roll and they are a keeper speaker for me consider what they cost.

Of course, mine are newer grille cloth the really thin stuff, recapped (they were early 'lytic capped speakers) and mirror-imaged.

 

[spark1]

Assuming the drivers are all in good working order (test their DC resistance individually), my first step would be an update of the electrolytic crossover capacitors, and testing/cleaning of the potentiometers. Oh, and of course check the fuses!

 

[scottpro]

Tweeter fuse good?

All drivers working (you can't really check the piezo as it starts at 12.5kHz and is really just the sparkle on the music. But you can use a paper towel tube to isolate the other drivers.

These speakers are not a wow you when you hear them. They are wow you when you Listen to them. Imaging which the 18s should do well, too, and overall balance. Mike was here yesterday and we had the 10s on the new stands driven with good gear and playing some nicely recorded records, you know the ones, old high performance records from the late 70s-early 80s. Easy to see the orchestra spread out in front of us.

But then I have used these to so nice rock and roll and they are a keeper speaker for me consider what they cost.

Of course, mine are newer grille cloth the really thin stuff, recapped (they were early 'lytic capped speakers) and mirror-imaged.

These are mirror imaged as well, and have the new super thin grille fabric (I installed that myself). I’m unable to find a fuse, but I will try your paper towel tube trick. Perhaps new capacitors are in order as you mentioned.

 

[spark1]

Hmmm. It's been a long time since I owned a pair of DQ-10s, but I'm pretty sure there are two fuses in each crossover....one for the entire speaker array, and another for the tweeter(s). I'm sure a current owner will jump in soon with more//better info.

 

[Blue Shadow]

The tweeter fuse in on the baffle boards up top next to the tweeter. The main speaker fuse is on the input board. Tweeter is 0.8A and main fuse is 2.5-3.0A.

 

[blhagstrom]

Make sure drivers are working.
First pair I got had a bad solder joint in he crossover on one and blown super tweeter fused.

They are fussy about location but even in a lousy placement, they should at least sound decent and not like Charlie Brown’s teacher.

 

[UncleBingo]

I've seen the L-pads (High frequency pots) go bad on these- try rotating them back and forth a bunch of times after you've confirmed the fuses are good.

 

[scottpro]

So far I’ve been able to identify all drivers working EXCEPT the driver right above the super tweeter. This was using the cardboard tube trick. I’ll remove the screen again and look for fuses

 

[MannyE]

Boy you're up early.

 

[scottpro]

Boy you're up early.

Indeed. Here in my corner of California, we recently earned the high honor of worst commute traffic in the nation. 4:30 A.M. wake up=7:30 AM arrival at the office. I know it’s bad to text and drive, but when you travel 3 miles in 45 minutes what could really go wrong.

 

[Blue Shadow]

There is no driver above the super tweeter. The super tweeter, you will not hear. I had to see the output on an RTA computer analysis screen



See the two rivets on the right side of the tweeter baffle? They are the fuse holder for the tweeter installed on the back of that panel.

 

[tubed]

Low frequencies are nothing to write home about on the DQ-10 even when properly working however the first thing I'd do is make sure the woofers are wired correctly, if not already checked that is

 

[Freddymac2]

Do clean the fuse clips, with a good solvent, I have seen smoke residue or cooking fats coat the surfaces enough to not make a connection to the fuse caps. It may be the way the picture was taken, but it looks like the surrounds are not installed correctly. The roll is concaved on mine, and they are glued on the back behind the Masonite on the OD of the surround.

 

[motorstereo]

They just may not be your cup of tea. I had a pair years ago and I couldn't warm up to their sound and overlook their shortcomings either despite their glowing reputation.

 

[audiomagnate]

You shouldn't need a cardboard tube to verify that the main tweeter (the one above the mid dome) is working. If it's not putting sound but sounds dull with the tweeter level tuned all the way up then L-Pad or the cap that's in series with it could be bad, or the tweeter itself. A series cap can go way up in resistance and still pass sound, and that would cause what you're hearing. DQ-10's aren't perfect, but they're not dull sounding if working properly.

 

[scottpro]

Do clean the fuse clips, with a good solvent, I have seen smoke residue or cooking fats coat the surfaces enough to not make a connection to the fuse caps. It may be the way the picture was taken, but it looks like the surrounds are not installed correctly. The roll is concaved on mine, and they are glued on the back behind the Masonite on the OD of the surround.

I’ll check the fuse clips when I’m back home. Thanks! As tobthe woofer, it is installed as you say.

 

[scottpro]

There is no driver above the super tweeter. The super tweeter, you will not hear. I had to see the output on an RTA computer analysis screen

View attachment 1193784

See the two rivets on the right side of the tweeter baffle? They are the fuse holder for the tweeter installed on the back of that panel.

Sorry I meant to say the driver above what I assume to be a dome tweeter. Don’t hear sound coming from either one. I’ll definitely need to diagnose further now

 

[Gary Francks]

I had the pleasure of listening to Doug Dunlop of Concordant amplifier fame's DQ10's and they were anything but lacking in treble extension or detail and the bass wasn't lacking either.
Admittedly they were driven by some huge valve amp of his own design but all in it was a memorable experience.

 

[scottpro]

Ok guys I’m at a loss. I’ve looked high and low and can’t find a fuse for this driver. There isn’t NO sound coming from either speaker on this driver. I’ve attached a few photos.