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Dahlquist DQ-20 : So THIS is why they make big amps!

lattiboy

lattiboy

Well-Known Member
I had picked up a pair of Dahlquist DQ8s a few weeks ago to figure out what was up with the cultish following the brand had. To be frank, I wasn't super impressed. They were good speakers, but they were ugly as sin and not particularly better than any number of $100-$200 used speakers I'd gotten over the years. They definitely were good RAWK! speakers, but that's not usually my thing.

I happen to come across the DQ-20s locally and snapped them up. Initially I thought I'd test them out and flip them for a bit of cash, but like an undercover cop in way too deep, I'm now trapped and can't let these go.

Holy crap. This is a whole other thing. I realize these were $1800 a pair twenty five years ago, and it isn't fair to compare the entry level with the TOTL, but these produce a wall of sound that is almost disorienting. It's like every member of the band is sitting in front of you and desperately trying to be noticed. I heard tambourines and guitars in The Beach Boys 'Pet Sounds' I hadn't heard in the billion-odd times I'd listened to it before.

Additional, the sound seemed to be coming from everywhere, like it was actively pursuing me. I even went behind the speakers to check the banana plugs and still seemed to have a somewhat stereo image.

I also wasn't prepared for the ass-shaking amount of bass coming out of a relatively small woofer. I actually had to turn down the bass a bit on the Pioneer tone controls.

They want POWER. More power than anything else I've encountered. The SX-1080 has never been past one o clock before until this last Sunday when I hooked these up.

Obligatory video of these bastards making 'God Only Knows' an actual religious experience.


PS: yes, I know these are supposed to be 5 feet apart, but the space is what the space is, and I'm not disassembling my garage to fit a spec. I did a temporary test with five feet separation and it only increased the sweet spot which is already pretty enormous and encompasses my entire listening area.
 
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Welcome to the world of Dahlquist, 7' is even better. Yes you can dump 200 watts into them and wonder where it went. If you want to hear what they can really do, find a Nakamichi PA 5 or PA 7 with a good preamp. If you want to cheap out get a Nakamichi SR 4a 60 wpc Stassis receiver for $100 and it will blow your doors off. Then find a quality powered sub to get the rest of the music.
 
The DQ20's work well on tubes also. I believe they were designed using tube gear. Carl Marchisotto always recommended tubes with his Alon/Nola speakers. Plus, we had a pair in our studio room at work, on CJ gear, and a local high end shop had them on Audio Research equipment. Both set ups sounded fantastic. The ARC system was better, as the speakers were in a much bigger room. But, you could listen to either system, for hours, with no fatigue. Nice score!
 
StimpyWan said:
The DQ20's work well on tubes also. I believe they were designed using tube gear. Carl Marchisotto always recommended tubes with his Alon/Nola speakers. Plus, we had a pair in our studio room at work, on CJ gear, and a local high end shop had them on Audio Research equipment. Both set ups sounded fantastic. The ARC system was better, as the speakers were in a much bigger room. But, you could listen to either system, for hours, with no fatigue. Nice score!
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Huh, I had them on a 50w Yaqin tube amp with Mullard tubes and prefer the Pioneer. Perhaps you need a more powerful tube amp? Anyway, super happy with them, especially the fact I can listen for hours and not get fatigued.
 
We used a CJ MV45 amp, with a PV-5 preamp. Vintage, but good. Though a small room, which let us get by with the 45. The ARC system used a 100 watt amp. Carl used 100 watt ASL Monsoon mono amps for shows.
 
lattiboy said:
I also wasn't prepared for the ass-shaking amount of bass coming out of a relatively small woofer. I actually had to turn down the bass a bit on the Pioneer tone controls.

They want POWER. More power than anything else I've encountered. The SX-1080 has never been past one o clock before until this last Sunday when I hooked these up.
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Your DQ-20's have a 10 inch acoustic suspension woofer in a decent sized cabinet. Thus you should be able to get very good low frequency response with very low distortion.

This also begins to explain the need for power. Sensitivity is rated 86db which is similar to power hungry AR's which are also acoustic suspension.

Finally, the rated impedance is problematic. While the impedance measures over 8 ohms above 1000Hz, below 1000Hz you get readings in the 4 to 5 ohms range. The real power in music is in those lower frequencies.

If you plan to drive DQ-20's with a tube amp, I'd recommend the 4 ohm tap.

Then, if you plan to use a solid state amp, you really should have an amp capable of comfortably handling 4 ohm loads.

Regards,
Jerry
 
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I run mine with a Kinergetics KBA-75 Gold, a full Class A all the time solid state amp. It emits the BTUs to prove it. 75 watt conservative rating. Also have DQ-10, but the 20 is favorite. I have Vandersteen 2Ci also, and note a somewhat similar internal arrangement.
 
I love my DQ-20's and have owned them for almost 15 years. Never considered them that great in the low frequencies though. Accurate with what they have (acoustic suspension), but IIRC the -3dB point was something like 38Hz. I guess it's all relative though, so depends on what you are used to.
 
I agree the Dahlquist DQ-20s are really nice speakers. They have that same 10in (in 12in frame) woofer used in many Advent speakers. The bass enclosure is sealed, not ported, which is partly why they want so much power.

I have had these since 1990, got 'em @ Meyer Emco in DC new, and played them on about 8-10 different amps so far:
I had to totally rebuilt them (2015) after they got overdriven one time and and were smoking, fuses didn't blow.
I did the Regnar cap upgrades, new original scan speak tweeters, and got the new woofers from simply speakers, had to recone the mids, since they are no longer made.. A key thing was to replace the (burnt) resistors in the crossovers (schematics are on internet).
Now they are better than factory, due to better components.

the best ones I have tried so far:
Rotel RB-1092 (500W per ch class-D) really nice and detailed.
Pioneer SX-1050 (120 Wpc)
Kyocera A710 (100 Wpc)
Accuphase E-202 (100 Wpc, high current) ** best so far
Rotel RB-991 (200 Wpc)

And of these, my favorite hands down is the Accuphase E-202, 100Wpc high current amp.
Fantastic match, something about the higher current (lower voltage) for the 100Wpc rating.

I want to find another pair for a project.
 
jdlonecactus said:
Accuphase E-202 (100 Wpc, high current) ** best so far
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Of the power you mention, I would have thought it would be best. Dahlquist respond to excellent amplification. Although I only have half the DQs you have 10s in my case, they sound best with my best amp even though it is just 50 watts of tube power. The 200wpc SS is good for a bit more volume.
 
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Nice, I have not heard the DQ-10s, but they are highly recommended. what model 50W tube are you running?
I want to upgrade to the newer Accuphase E-480, but it is very expensive. I am also looking at the new Rotel/Michi E3 (200Wpc).

I think you are right, the Accuphase E-202 is probably the best quality amp I have run them on, very excellent, full, good bass, detailed, very nice high-end. Very transparent and smooth: great for classic rock like early Genesis, and even for newer EDM type music with good recordings, like Eat Static or Ozric Tentacles, Orbital, etc. I like some metal music, but this is not the rig for that: I have another setup with Macintosh C-50/MC-452, and JBL S3900s, that can handle any type of music at nearly any volume.
 
I've never heard a pair of DQ-20 but I have heard the DQ-10? My friend has a pair that he's driving with a Crown DC300A rated at 155 wpc @ 8 ohms, but actually closer to 200 wpc. I sold him my DC300A a couple of years ago and just texted him asking if he ever used both amps to drive his DQ-10 pair.
He replied no, but said it's an interesting idea. :rockon:
 
DesertRatt said:
Is Jon Dahlquist still alive? Involved in audio?
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Carl Marchisotto was largely responsible for Dhalquist designs/products going forward from this point including the DQ-8, DQ-12, DQ-20, DQ-20i, and the M series. Dhalquist was in a car accident in 1980 and quit working as I understand it. Marchisotto went on to form Acarian Systems which manufactured the Alon speaker systems. Eventually Marchisotto finaly formed NOLA Audio.
 
I've run 10s for decades. Dahlquists drink power with a serious thirst. Rarely something without 200wpc will surprise me, but it's been a long time. They sound good at all powers, but when you feed them with real power they sing.

For the 10s,they LOVE big old pro amps. Hafler p500 is my choice, and I know I'm not alone. Give them as much as you can, and yoyr grin will just get bigger.

But the stasis amps... I'm still looking for one.
 
jdlonecactus said:
Nice, I have not heard the DQ-10s, but they are highly recommended. what model 50W tube are you running?
I want to upgrade to the newer Accuphase E-480, but it is very expensive. I am also looking at the new Rotel/Michi E3 (200Wpc).

I think you are right, the Accuphase E-202 is probably the best quality amp I have run them on, very excellent, full, good bass, detailed, very nice high-end. Very transparent and smooth: great for classic rock like early Genesis, and even for newer EDM type music with good recordings, like Eat Static or Ozric Tentacles, Orbital, etc. I like some metal music, but this is not the rig for that: I have another setup with Macintosh C-50/MC-452, and JBL S3900s, that can handle any type of music at nearly any volume.
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Ozric Tentacles on DQ-20's...! That, I'd love to hear. Maybe some Waterfall Cities? :thumbsup: :)
 
I have a pair of these fantastic speakers. I've heard a lot of complaints about the bass response on these speakers, but my experience is way different. These things have absolutely FANTASTIC bass response. I got these given to me about 8 or 9 years ago and just can't let them go. I know this is legacy stuff, but they're so awesome and clear it's unbelievable. The bass blasts me away! I'm driving these effortlessly with an old Onkyo TX8511 4 ohm receiver (another old gem) and it's more than adequate. I believe these speakers are 6 ohms if I'm not mistaken. When I got these, I had to purchase a subwoofer re-foaming kit on ebay and I redid both subs. Then I removed the ugly gray carpet covering the grills to give them a more modern look. They have a tendency to collect dust and need to be disassembled every once in a while for cleaning.
 
Welcome to ak @DavieGravy . The DQ-20 is a fine speaker. Glad you enjoy them. Since it is a three-way speaker with woofer-midrange-tweeter a subwoofer would be an external box with a woofer in it. Even my 5-way DQ-10 doesn't have an internal subwoofer but has woofer, midwoofer, midrange, tweeter and super tweeter. The sub with my DQs is the DQ-1W a separate box with a SEAS 13" woofer in it. Whatever, it is all good and you should enjoy those DQ-20s they are excellent speakers.
 
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