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Dahlquist M905

Wolverine

Wolverine

AK Subscriber
Subscriber
Just picked up my first pair of DQ's in the form of model M905 while on a business trip.
I know they are from a later period and not TOTL but the price was right.
Looking forward to giving them a listen when I get back but in the meantime is there anyone out there who knows them?
 
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I bought a pair last year- local craigs list - original owner with stands & paper work !
Hooked 'em up and was pretty impressed, enough so that another pair came up 2 weeks back
I bought them & use them in my office .
Very nice all around musicality . I had some very nice Spendor speakers that were great for Jazz but
fell short with rock .. Thats where the 905's shine , they can give you a bit more low end .
Nice full sounding speakers at a ridiculous low price . The Build quality & materials used are
above their price point
Use them ! Let us know what you think .
 
Thanks for the feedback guys!!
That review has whetted my appetite to give them a listen when I get back. The seller was supposedly the original owner and I wonder if he had the original stands. I have a some stands that should work. I will make sure to share my impression of them.
 
Got home late last night with them and have got a couple of hours with them this morning. Have only played some Jazz and Acoustic so far but every thing that has been said here and I have read seems to be dead on. They won't replace anything in the main listening room but I will A/B them against the the EPI 100's in the upstairs TV room and see if they find a home there.
 
I bought a set new in '88 with the factory stands. I sold them four or five years ago because they got boxed up and stored away as the house we have doesn't have a proper room to hold them. Dumbest thing I'd done in a while.

They were replaced (well before selling them) by Athena Technologies AS-B2s on stands. Those sound nice enough but don't/can't compare give a proper environment.

They really silly thing is I bought a pair of Klipsch KG5.5s (couldn't help myself for the price) two years ago. They take up the same floor space as the Dahlquists and are currently sitting where the D's were.

Funny that I just found this thread as this morning I found a pair of M905s for sale nearby (no stands). Waiting for photos before I think any more about them.
 
I have a ratty pair I picked up for $50. During their continued tenure I have had KLH model Sixes, Dynaco A-25s, EPI 100s, JBL L-19s, Tannoy System 8s, some sort of Mordaunt Shorts, and a whole host of other well regarded two and three way speakers and they have ALL been sold along yet the M-905s remain. As a matter of fact they are the pair of speakers I use when I demo amps and other gear for sale as they always sound great and impress whomever is listening. I even found a pair for a friend who enjoyed mine so much while auditions my dual mono block Haflers P-3000s he was buying from me.

They really are wonderful speakers.

Enjoy
 
4C6F8CC4-1233-4CB4-9C4A-616B605A8C7D.jpeg Several years ago when I first posted on these speakers I had limited space (still do to some extent) and as much as I liked them they left about a year later when I needed to make room due to other changes since forgotten.

Fast forward to today and I came across another minty pair at a Salvation Army being sold as a combo with a HK receiver. Fortunately they agreed to sell them separately at a ridiculously low price with an additional 25% off. So I have once again become the owner of this wonderfully underrated speaker.
 

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I’ve owned them, they are a very nice speaker with nice build quality. They have the velvety black ‘cloth’ covered baffle right?
They should have been on my never sell list, I miss them.
 
Qtronic said:
I’ve owned them, they are a very nice speaker with nice build quality. They have the velvety black ‘cloth’ covered baffle right?
They should have been on my never sell list, I miss them.
Click to expand...

Yes. I'm glad I have got a second chance to own a pair!
 
Nice speakers. How lucky that you found a replacement pair for the ones you sold. That doesn't happen often, it must be destiny for you to own M905's. :)
 
Wolverine said:
View attachment 1634249 Several years ago when I first posted on these speakers I had limited space (still do to some extent) and as much as I liked them they left about a year later when I needed to make room due to other changes since forgotten.

Fast forward to today and I came across another minty pair at a Salvation Army being sold as a combo with a HK receiver. Fortunately they agreed to sell them separately at a ridiculously low price with an additional 25% off. So I have once again become the owner of this wonderfully underrated speaker.
Click to expand...


Nice find! I look forward to hearing them.

Stand by for you-know-who to chime in and tell you that they’re set up incorrectly.
 
Again, the entire M line from Dahlquist is wonderfull. They are a speaker that does everything very well - all kinds of music. Just overshadowed by the DQ's. sunvalleylaw has the 907's I sold him and I have a set of M5 in their boxes packed away that I refoamed.
 
Just bought a set of m905’s the other day for $360 from Craigslist.

Incredible! Best speakers I’ve ever owned (which doesn’t say much since I’ve only owned a few). Guy I bought it from gave a demo. First song Feeling Good by Michael Buble. Beginning of song when the drums and trumpets drop at the outset blew me away. These are the first speakers I have heard that got it just right. Every other speaker falls short in the bass dept with that song at that junction. I don’t know why speakers struggle so much there. Maybe there’s just too much going on because you’re going from almost dead silent to really loud and literally every instrument is playing full blast.

I don’t have proper stands. Currently using my regular bookshelf stands (24”) which make the speakers look absolutely enormous. It feels like they are on top of me. I’m also pretty sure it’s affecting the way it sounds too. They are not full size speakers but way too large to be called bookshelf. The Dahlquist m905’s are a throwback to an earlier time when ppl put their speakers on 12” stands. Nobody makes speakers this size anymore.

Don’t know if I should recap or not. Someone said they use film capacitors and it’s not necessary to replace. Glad these speakers have the fuses to prevent blowing them out because my Adcom GFA 5400 lacks speaker protection and could blow them out otherwise.

The speakers get loud quickly until around 9oclock. When I move past this, the sound doesn’t seem to get appreciably louder, just incrementally. I’ve seen this happen with Bose systems but not separates.

Wanted to give a perspective on my experience. Currently also own pair Focal Chorus 705’s, Bowers and Wilkins CM1’s, Bowers and Wilkins DM302’s, and Mission 750LE’s. Have owned in the past Emotiva B1+, Elac B6.2 and 5.2, Boston Acoustics A60’s and others.

Really excited to build a pair stands and get the most out of these bad boys. I’m so impressed I think these might be my end game speakers. I’m super sensitive to listening fatigue and the Focals give me fatigue in spades as do the B&W CM1”s. There are no critical reviews on the Dahlquist m905’s from Stereo Review or Hi Fi Magazine that I’ve been able to find. It’s mostly just a lot of ppl giving generalities like “I’m sorry I sold my m905’s” which doesn’t really tell me how it sounds.

Speaking of sounds I can say a little bit. First off, the presentation isn’t too far off from my favorite speakers, the B&W’s DM302’s. The tweeter is quite neutral, not bright. But it’s really not fatiguing like so many Klipsch speakers are. The woofer really sets itself apart from the 302’s though. It’s much deeper and makes sounds effortlessly. The speakers as a whole are not flashy like the Focals. The Focals are perhaps better at creating a 3d sound stage and depth and gee whiz type of vocals and highs, but the m905’s are like watching Tim Duncan play basketball. They simply go about their job methodically and purposefully without pomp or show. They hit all the technical aspects of music reproduction without leaving out any details. Don’t get me wrong, the Dahlquist m905’s are not boring to listen to like the Elac B6.2’s, they are exciting enough.

I’m still trying to figure out the subwoofer cut off point. The m905’s supposedly go down to 40hz which is pretty low. Rule of thumb says to put crossover around 50hz. All my test listening was done at 75hz, the crossover point for the previous set of speakers.
 
I own a pair of M905's and have to agree with you. They sound really great with every receiver I've paired them with.. The bass is there and it's tight, the highs are there but non fatiguing. They are accurate without being clinical, the tweeter is fantastic, I believe they used quiality Seas drivers. The cabs are nicely veneered and solid with a funky, fuzzy coating on the baffles, I believe to dampen unwanted sound reflections.

They handle every genre I've thrown at them and I think they do rock particularly well. They crank and don't fall apart at loud volumes.

At the time I got them I had been running some ADS l520's that I liked. When I hooked up the 905's the upgrade in sound was readily apparant, they just have the sound of a quality speaker. They are no joke.
 
likebike23 said:
I own a pair of M905's and have to agree with you. They sound really great with every receiver I've paired them with.. The bass is there and it's tight, the highs are there but non fatiguing. They are accurate without being clinical, the tweeter is fantastic, I believe they used quiality Seas drivers. The cabs are nicely veneered and solid with a funky, fuzzy coating on the baffles, I believe to dampen unwanted sound reflections.

They handle every genre I've thrown at them and I think they do rock particularly well. They crank and don't fall apart at loud volumes.

At the time I got them I had been running some ADS l520's that I liked. When I hooked up the 905's the upgrade in sound was readily apparant, they just have the sound of a quality speaker. They are no joke.
Click to expand...
I've been listening to the M905's all day and I must say, if I could add anything to my review above (it won't let me edit it), it's the the tweeter is just a bit fatiguing. I've never had a tweeter like this one. It slaps much in the same way as professional speakers do. The highs definitely hit just a tad forward. It's that same type of snappy treble you'd hear from a Class A solid state amplifier. I was away from my living room folding clothes when I realized, the highs reminded me of the way I would hear them at a rock concert. There's that crisp, snappiness that is just a bit fatiguing for me, but I don't mind it the same way other speakers fatigue me. My Focal Chorus 705's fatigue the living **** out of my ears (the treble and the bass). At least the M905's aren't that bad. My amplifier is Adcom GFA 5400 which has good highs, but they are largely neutral. I do have an amplifier by Nikko whose highs are just slightly laid back. That might be a better combination for me.
 
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