Calling all Dahlquist owners

[Susurus]

[Calling all Dahlquist owners

I have all of these except the 8 and 30 models.

On other threads I've gone into considerable detail. Search AK for "susurus" and "Dahlquist" gets lots of hits...

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=126378

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=231547

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=118224

re: 12s vs. 20/20i: They are for different scale rooms/amps. Remember "Hoffman's Iron Law". 20's have twice the internal volume and a larger woofer and twice the handling capacity.

The later 3-way vertical DQs show Carl Marchesotto's hand, the DQ-10 was all John Dahlquist's ambitious vision. The 20's are a more balanced speaker in some ways, the 10 is extreme; needs more space and power and is actually a 6-way when you use the sub module.

I don't have the sub, don't need it with my second set mounted upside down above my first pair.

DQM 9 and 9c were indeed rebadged Magnats, nothing about them is bean-counterish, unless you think double walled thickness, cast baskets, and flat wound inductors is cheap. :scratch2: Yes the smaller, much much later M-905 may seem lighter than the earlier models, but the DQ and DQM series were very labor intensive to build and well thought out designs.

 

[charles64]

DQ-8's

I have the DQ-8's hooked to a Sansui AU-717 and I'm very impressed with their performance.They sound great at normal listening levels,but really start to sing with a little power.

 

[mcgarick]

Well,I placed an ad on Craigslist for DQM's,a guy contacted me and said he had some DQM9 compact's in very good condition.

He said, he would sell them if I made him a decent offer.

So,$200 later........
I got them home, recapped them, and they're great!

A pair of the reg 9's went for $539 at a local used Audio shop here in Seattle.

So, I can flip them later for a profit. I think they are keepers though.

I have tried the wanted thing before on Craigslist and I seem to get lucky!

Here some picks!

 

[bobrown14]

I have the DQ-8's hooked to a Sansui AU-717 and I'm very impressed with their performance.They sound great at normal listening levels,but really start to sing with a little power.

I love my DQ-8s - I've got mine hooked up to a Sansui 771 - sounds good to me with that integrated amp.

Cheers,

Bob

 

[bobrown14]

I think you are right about the 12s being like the 20s, except the 20s have a larger woofer. Two things I'd strongly recommend for the 12s, based on my experience with them:

1. Feed them well: a powerful amp with plenty of headroom really helps "open up" their sound. It sounds to me that you are probably under-powering them. You might try bi-amping them, with a combination of tube and SS amps. Mine came apparently factory-wired for bi-amping (or else expertly modified a long time ago), and they sound great that way!

2. Recap them, too, with high-quality caps, and be prepared to grin! :yes: Mine sounded good enough when I got them I didn't really expect much improvement from a recap... but the difference was definitely audible!

Interesting that the 12s and 8s will sell for more than the 10s! I didn't realize that. I own the only 12s I've ever seen here, and they cost me a bit less than the few 10s I've seen for sale here were priced at. Then again, the 12s I bought out of the back of a white van (Literally - but not the infamous kind! ) and the 10s were in shops that had to pay higher overheads. This is also a different market, and my sample size is too small to be meaningful.

I changed out my pre-amp and that really improved the sound (bass) in my DQ-12s. I went from a Techincs SU-9070 to a Yammy C-80 - much better bass but the Yammy pre is allot more colored than the SU-9070 which was really flat and needed the EQ to tune the sound to the room. The C-80 has more than enough adjustment with the adjustable loudness control and parametric control. The C-80 brought out the bass in the DQ-12s. I had to turn off the EQ in my rack. I've also turned off the parametric EQ on the C-80 and am just using the loudness contour control - it's all good. I may try a big amp on the 12s and see what's what. I've got a BIG iron pro Crown amp sitting here on the sideline, drooling to get in the game. But dang, if that amp sounds better I'm going to need a 2nd rack....

Cheers,

Bob

 

[Susurus]

mcgarick that's a good deal on some great speakers. Cheers!

Because of the full front felt, and in some cases the Nextel black tacky coating, they have nearly none of the boxy sound that most box speakers have.

 

[Danimal]

I have been listening to my DQ-28s for over a week now and love them. Very detailed. They are just a little lacking in the bass department the more I listen to them. I am considering running a subwoofer with them but I am going to give the decision more time as I am hoping my ears will adjust.

 

[mcgarick]

Susurus...did you see the cool Magnat speakers for sale on Craigslist in your area???
Nice three ways with magnat domes dude
Crap vinyl cabinets........

 

[mcgarick]

Danimal, your Avatar is freakin scary dude!

 

[mcgarick]

dudes,theres dudes by those dudes.

 

[Danimal]

Danimal, your Avatar is freakin scary dude!

That is a picture when I was 2 1/2...

 

[Gang-Twanger]

I guess you've had some minor surgery since then. I love that picture.

 

[Gang-Twanger]

I want to get a pair of DQ10's with the corresponding subwoofer. The problem is power and room size - I'd have to get an amp with enough power, and I'm still not certain if my living room is going to be big enough for them. All this in mind, I'm starting to consider some of their other models (but I really prefer a late '60's/early '70's sound, so I'm not too sure that the newer models will be to my liking. I don't like an overly-"accurate"-sounding speaker.

 

[bobrown14]

I want to get a pair of DQ10's with the corresponding subwoofer. The problem is power and room size - I'd have to get an amp with enough power, and I'm still not certain if my living room is going to be big enough for them. All this in mind, I'm starting to consider some of their other models (but I really prefer a late '60's/early '70's sound, so I'm not too sure that the newer models will be to my liking. I don't like an overly-"accurate"-sounding speaker.

Get'em... I'm running mine on a 90w/ch Sansui ... mighty fine speaker after a re-cap (MUCH better).

Cheers,
Bob

 

[ludite13]

I'm with Bob. I'm powering my DQ10s with a 105wpc B+K amp and they sound great. Even better sound with a pair of MkIII Dynacos. I've been putting off recapping them for a while, I wonder how much better they can get.

-James

 

[bobrown14]

I'm with Bob. I'm powering my DQ10s with a 105wpc B+K amp and they sound great. Even better sound with a pair of MkIII Dynacos. I've been putting off recapping them for a while, I wonder how much better they can get.

-James

Much better - the original caps are crap. I'm in the process of getting my 2nd pair re-done. Try Parts Connexion (link from this site usually at the top of the speaker section). Try some Solen fast caps - should cost you around $110 for a complete set.

Cheers,

Bob

 

[chadbang]

Much better - the original caps are crap. I'm in the process of getting my 2nd pair re-done. Try Parts Connexion (link from this site usually at the top of the speaker section). Try some Solen fast caps - should cost you around $110 for a complete set.

Cheers,

Bob

Is that $110 for both speakers? I'd like to try recapping mine. I never done a recap before, though. A little scared. How long does it take for the old caps to discharge if you unhook them?

 

[bobrown14]

Is that $110 for both speakers? I'd like to try recapping mine. I never done a recap before, though. A little scared. How long does it take for the old caps to discharge if you unhook them?

Both speakers. No worries with the old caps discharging on you. You will have to get creative with respect to location for the new caps. There are pics here on AK somewhere of someone's re-capped boards with Solen caps - they are A LOT larger than the originals so will have to be re-located on the board. Here's a pic, not mine, of stacked caps - no need IMHO to get THAT close to the cap specs - the old caps are +- 10% so when picking caps I used the +- to get it close enough and used only one cap per to replace the old ones with.

Cheers,

Bob

 

[blhagstrom]

Dq-20

I happened to end up with some DQ-20s and I will keep them forever. One drawback is the 4 ohm impedence. They take some serious power to drive well but the sound is fantastic. I heard some DQM once breifly, not sure what they were but they didn't impress me at all compared to what the DQ-20s can do. I personally like a hard bass thump and these really don't have that. For that I have a few sets of BIC Formula Venturis (4s, 5s, 6s). The sounds stage on the DQ-20s is what impressed me and I have a really crappy listening room. If you can get them at a reasonable price, grab them. You can always craigslist or ebay them later (shipping woukld be a pain though).

I am currently under the impression though, that speaker and amp compatability along with music choice, source signal (CD, Phone, Radio), enhancements (EQ, Reverb, etc...) and listening room along with speaker placement can really, really affect quality enjoyment. I've heard some realy great sound from some quite unexpected things.

 

[Chad Michael]

Walked into a record shop some 25 yrs. ago, and a pair of DQM-9's were playing.

I must have heard hundreds of speakers in my lifetime, and the DQM-9's are in my top 5.