Dahlquist Profiles PDQ-Ref1t

[WeWillFall]

Dahlquist Profiles PDQ-Ref1t

I just moved to Vancouver from Montreal and was looking for a system on a low budget. I ended up with a Sansui 8080(Too noisy for my Sennheiser hd 650 critical listening). I got the 8080 for 150$ at a used audio shop restored but the FM won't work.

On the speaker hunt I found these Dahlquist Profiles pdq-ref1t at a pawn shop for 100$ I didn't think I could find a better deal this quick so I went with them.
I think they sound great and are built decently as well.

I NEED INFO ON THESE SPEAKERS !!!

Searching the web has been fruitless for finding the watts and any other specs on these. All I have found so far is as follows

"built in 1998 and they were made by AUDIOSPHERE TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION. They stand 38" tall and have an 8" woofer , 4 inch midrange and 1 inch tweet. They are trapazoidle in shape, about 12 inchs wide bottom tapers to 8" wide at the top."

I need something smaller then a Sansui 8080 for my apartment and it is a bit noisy for my headphone listening. I'm planning on getting an integrated amplifier to replace it eventually after saving some money .

Are these speakers worth building a system around after selling my Sansui or should I sell both. Keep in mind I only paid $100 for the speakers and my budget is low.

Thanks for ANY info on these Speakers

 

[hjames]

My rule has always been, if I like the way they sound, they are keepers!
You can always trade them up later, but now its time to find good integrated amp or receiver.
Maybe something like a CR800 or so - one of the older vintage silver-faced Yamahas might be nice -
they have a sensitive tuner, have TT inputs and pretty quiet and fairly robust

 

[nclh77]

Very nice looking. I would not worry too much about the lack of info. They definitely have the technology Dahlquist utilized toward the end of their life. I have the predecessors to these and my wife loves them.

 

[WeWillFall]

I'm more looking for the info on the max watts on the speakers to try and better match an integrated amplifier.

 

[hjames]

I'm guessing you'd do well in the order of 80 to 140w/ch -
just don't crank the bass way up and don't run them Wide open and it'd be safe.
Find something with clean watts and don't seek max watts and you should be fine

 

[elgato8905]

I think there's something wrong with your 8080. That should be a killer sounding receiver even at low volumes. IMO... It beats the hell out of a Yamaha CR-800 or almost any other Yamaha from that period when working correctly (and I know, because I have the 8080 and I've had the 800 and most of the other Yamaha receivers of that time.)

As for the speakers... Those must be a super rarity because I've owned quite a few different kinds of Dahlquists and I've never even heard of the model that you have.

 

[WeWillFall]

*BUMP*

I know this is old, but I'm still seeking more info after all this time.

Help/ info appreciated.

Is a Cyrus Two amplifier powerful enough for this? or should I get a au-717/9

 

[cubdog]

I'd love to hear your speakers. I'm a fan of Dahlquist but have never seen nor heard of these. How about giving us a review of how your Dahlquists sound? As for the AU 717 it is an excellent vintage integrated.

cubdog

 

[nclh77]

Really, what do you need to know? They are going to be between 4 and 8 ohms resistance. Frequency response, who cares at this point. Max power ratings, what for. All that matters now is how they sound. Unless you are going to crank them for extended periods, a few watts will drive nearly any speaker on this planet. I doubt they are notoriously difficult to drive. Your receiver should do fine. Enjoy them. I'm guessing they were made in Canada, which all Dalquists were at the end when they were bought out. I have a pair of the CA line and they are fantastic.
On a side note, it you are asking about power, power ratings are generally asked by individuals who don't understand power and speakers. There is peak power, continuous power, impedance and power interactions, frequency and power interactions, ability to dissipate heat, amplifier interactions, etc....... Power is not an easy answer. What specifically do you want to know about power? What is the power rating of your amp at what ohms? What is its db headroom (time and power), ability to dissipate heat at different continuous and transient levels, etc....

In conclusion, unless you are expecting to do something out of the ordinary, the receiver you show in the picture is fine for these speakers.

 

[mark902]

Those look pretty awesome. If they sound good then i'd say they were a good deal for a hundred bucks.

I have a set of acoustic profile 88.6 made as well by audiosphere. I got them for 14.99 and they sound fantastic. I've done extensive googling but haven't come up with any info other than a guess at 200 watts handling.

I wish you better luck.

 

[WeWillFall]

Really, what do you need to know? They are going to be between 4 and 8 ohms resistance. Frequency response, who cares at this point. Max power ratings, what for. All that matters now is how they sound. Unless you are going to crank them for extended periods, a few watts will drive nearly any speaker on this planet. I doubt they are notoriously difficult to drive. Your receiver should do fine. Enjoy them. I'm guessing they were made in Canada, which all Dalquists were at the end when they were bought out. I have a pair of the CA line and they are fantastic.
On a side note, it you are asking about power, power ratings are generally asked by individuals who don't understand power and speakers. There is peak power, continuous power, impedance and power interactions, frequency and power interactions, ability to dissipate heat, amplifier interactions, etc....... Power is not an easy answer. What specifically do you want to know about power? What is the power rating of your amp at what ohms? What is its db headroom (time and power), ability to dissipate heat at different continuous and transient levels, etc....

In conclusion, unless you are expecting to do something out of the ordinary, the receiver you show in the picture is fine for these speakers.

I am sorry I'm not so knowledgeable about the terms I am looking for. As simple as I could put it is this.

A lot of the speakers I have owned bookshelves to floor standing all sounded better with a certain amount of watts per channel going into them. I was wondering from the beginning of this post as to what someone would be an ideal watts per channel going into these speakers would be. IE what is there max watts or minimum. For example paradigm 3se specs list :
SUITABLE AMPLIFIER POWER RANGE:
15 - 150 watts

I'm aware that having too powerful of an amplifier for these is not the problem.

I'm mostly curious to see if ANYONE else has listened to these speakers as well. I think they sound very good although my Sansui 8080 isn't the most "Accurate" it still sounds superb with the Dahlquist speakers. I play mostly vinyl and use the phono inside the 8080 otherwise a usb dac with flac files into the aux. Call me crazy but they sound like giant paradigms.(I had a sansui 661 and Paradigm 3se combo before) sounds similar but bigger and better with this combo.

 

[24HACKER]

Dahlquist = keepers

 

[Blue Shadow]

SUITABLE AMPLIFIER POWER RANGE:
15 - 150 watts

With such a large range of power input possibilities for the Paradigm you mentioned, I don't know why you would need a range like that for the for the Dahlquist. But if you do, try 25-200. Those are good numbers and if you don't dump all that power all the time, you'll be fine.

 

[hjames]

The company is gone, specs were not available for most of the later models ...
Its not rocket science - its just reasonable use of gear.

Really, its sensible stuff - abuse them, kick them too hard and they will burn/blow ...
treat them nice and they should be fine for years.

"having too powerful an amp" isn't usually a problem,
its blasting them way too loud with whatever you use with them.
Use something in the range of 100-150w/ch - maybe 200w/ch max ...
and don't kick the loudness in at high volumes
and don't crank the bass way up at high volumes and you should be fine.

I am sorry I'm not so knowledgeable about the terms I am looking for. As simple as I could put it is this.

A lot of the speakers I have owned bookshelves to floor standing all sounded better with a certain amount of watts per channel going into them. I was wondering from the beginning of this post as to what someone would be an ideal watts per channel going into these speakers would be. IE what is there max watts or minimum. For example paradigm 3se specs list :
SUITABLE AMPLIFIER POWER RANGE:
15 - 150 watts

I'm aware that having too powerful of an amplifier for these is not the problem.

I'm mostly curious to see if ANYONE else has listened to these speakers as well. I think they sound very good although my Sansui 8080 isn't the most "Accurate" it still sounds superb with the Dahlquist speakers. I play mostly vinyl and use the phono inside the 8080 otherwise a usb dac with flac files into the aux. Call me crazy but they sound like giant paradigms.(I had a sansui 661 and Paradigm 3se combo before) sounds similar but bigger and better with this combo.

 

[kfa888]

Like them. Never seen them but liked every Dahlquist speakers I have ever heard. They seem to like to do things their own way and i like that too. Find an amp that does them well (you will never know which one til you hook it up and give it a go) and enjoy.

 

[lanwanman195]

I have the info on these speakers from my old Audio magazine October 1998 Equipment Directory issue.

MSRP was $799.00/pair
Frequency Response is given as 40-20 +/- 3db
Efficiency is given as 90db
Nominal impedance is 8 Ohms

No min/max power rating is given nor is the crossover frequency specified. They are listed as being magnetically shielded.

 

[baco99]

pulling this thread from the depths.

about six months ago i picked up a Profiles by Dahlquist PDQ-8 powered subwoofer. It's a compact, but VERY powerful and impressive speaker. i'll try to post some picks. my research shows that they made 8, 10, 12 and 15 inch versions, all with higher powered amps as you go up in size.

i'll post here anything else i can find out.

if you find Profiles by Dahlquist, don't hesitate, pick it up.

 

[BOUXY]

Talking about pulling something out of the Grave!
Just picked up a perfect pair of DAHLQUIST PROFILES PDQ-REF-1T's on the cheap and already they sound better then my Bozaks or W90's ever did!
Build a System around them,no not really but I've added them into my already built System just like that.Just sorry I hadn't heard/found them earlier

 

[BOUXY]

Nice:

Deleted

 

[himey]

Talking about pulling something out of the Grave!
Just picked up a perfect pair of DAHLQUIST PROFILES PDQ-REF-1T's on the cheap and already they sound better then my Bozaks or W90's ever did!
Build a System around them,no not really but I've added them into my already built System just like that.Just sorry I hadn't heard/found them earlier

Do you still have them. I am thinking I may pick some up locally. Right now I am using Speakerlab monitors with an eight inch woofer and Vifa dome tweeter and a couple eight inch sub woofers with a passive crossover. Not sure how much of an upgrade this would be.