Review: Dunlavy Audio Labs SC-IVa


Category: Speakers

When I decided seven years ago to upgrade my audio system, I started by finding a speaker I loved. I searched for almost a year listening to every speaker available in the Minneapolis area. I found Magnepan and MartinLogan to be stunning but too dry and fatiguing for my taste. The midrange was not as deep and rich as I was looking for. Wilson had great sound but beyond the budget I was hoping to stay in. B&W sounded thick and boomy to me and Meridian was electronic and artificial. Thiel, Audio Physics and Dunlavy became the finalists. Being a late ‘60s early ‘70s guy, I came from Marantz and MaIntosh electronics and JBL and Altec Lansing speakers. The size and depth of the sound of Dunlavy along with the exceptional midrange were the final factors in my choosing Dunlavy IV as the speaker I wanted. The problem was I could only afford the Dunlavy III, exceptional midrange but not the ultimate bottom end of the IV.
It was about two years after buying the III's that I had the opportunity to upgrade to the IV's. It turned out that over those two years Dunlavy had improved the IV's and had a new model, IVa. They amazed me to find the IVa was even richer and deeper than the old IV model. The Dunlavy IVa speaker consists of two 10" woofers, two 5" mids and one 1" composite textile dome tweeter. Frequency response is 25Hz to 20 kHz, and Sensitivity is 91 dB with an Impedance of 5 ohms. Size is 72" high, 15" deep and 12" wide with a weigh of 190 lbs. each. $8495/pr
I believe Dunlavy speakers have no rivals within their price category. John Dunlavy is obsessed with designing the most accurate reproductions of sound. To meet this stringent standard Dunlavy has built one of the worlds best-equipped laboratories in order to test his designs. This has lead to some very harsh discussions between John Atkinson of Stereophile and John Dunlavy. It seems that JA does not like being out engineered by one of the great loudspeaker designers and the result was punishing JD by putting the once Stereophile "product of the year" Class A component into their B class after Dunlavy improved the speaker to JA's recommendation. Despite the politics of Stereophile Magazine, this speaker will hold its own with speakers two and three times its cost.
The highs are clear, grain less and extremely extended. JA spoke of them appearing a bit forward but I have never felt that was the case with this speaker, and can hardly believe a comment like that when compared with some of Stereophiles favorites MartinLogan and Meridian. Comments like these only strengthen my lack of trust for this Magazine. The midrange on all Dunlavy speakers is amazingly magical. I have not tried any other speaker that is as pure and life like with the female voice than Dunlavy. They display all the color and texture of the midrange with a crispness and transparency. Bass has long been the contention point of the IV series. The fact that they rate them at 25Hz meaning that it cuts off one organ pedal is hardly an issue for me. On the double bass, even the lowest note is crisply defined with no bloating or smear. The famous subway as heard on Water Lilly Acoustics "Natures Realm" with the Philadelphia Orchestra is deep under my floor forward and to the right. On Cowboy Junkies "Trinity Sessions" the foot pounding on the stage is as if he were in my livingroom pounding on my floor. I have no lack for bass from my speakers, in fact any more might be too much. Sound stage is wide and very deep. Excellent transient speeds, superb impact yet with an effortless smoothness. I truly believe these are the best speakers I can afford and is very much at home in my system. They have never left me lacking or longing for something better. That says a lot for a guy who is always looking for more, but never from my speakers. These are simply great speakers, and their service is exceptional as I found out with my III's, I twice had drivers replaced although it turned out the speakers had nothing to do with the problems I was having.


Associated gear
Sony SCD-1 SACD player
Placette active pre-amp
Plinius SA-102 amps
Nordost Valhalla speaker cable
Nordost Valhalla and NBS Statement interconnects
NBS Statement power cords
Hydra power conditioner

Similar products
Thiel CS7 series
Audio Physic Virgo
Wilson Watt/puppy
128x128jadem6
I almost bought a pair of Duntech. They are a bit wider as I recall. Nice sounding none the less, and it's great to hear I should be happy with my IVa's for years to come. I simply love them
Is there anyone out there that mods speaker crossovers, ie. changes out cheap parts with better parts?
hello everybody,
I'am from Belgium, in Europe.
We have here several brand of speakers and other components of high end materials but,even with chauvinistic I'm obliged (and proud) to say that I never heard loudspeakers that have an so accurate,so equilibrated,so magic than my Dunlavy SC4a... I never heard something that compare, they are the unchanging elements of my system.
My system is composed with:
-2x accuphase A50v (used in twice-mono)
-Drive & Converter Accuphase dp-dc 90-91
-Pré-amp Accuphase C275v
-Some speakers Spendor SP100,Zingali monitor 115,TAD 300,
Dunlavy SC2
-sennheiser Orpheus (great...)
-DG28 Accuphase (useless)
-All in wireworld gold linked.
Agree. I've changed just about every other component a couple of times over but the Dunaly's sound better each time I make an upstream upgrade. In most cases they're not the weakest link.

Try drinking a Belgian beer while listening. Even better.

Andrew
I have not quite completed my latest project of replacing the critical path capacitors, inductors and all of the resistors. I intend to write a full review including the process of establishing what components to use, as well as a hand drawn schematic for others to use if they choose to try this project.

What I can tell you now is I chose all Duelund components in the critical path and MOX resistors in the non-critical circuits. The improvement, although not as great as some have claimed is very worth the time and money. SMOOOOOOTH! Silky smooth is the first reaction. Resolution is increased, in visual terms it is as if I changed my computer screen resolution from a low setting to the highest and went from 256 colors to 1 million. All the same information is there, the presentation is just much higher quality. Some have stated that it is less grainy; I do not think this is the proper use of words in that I would not describe the Dunlavy IVa as grainy to begin with. Resolution in a visual sense is the best I can do.

Look for a full review in the coming months, I assure you it will be highly educational! It was for me.

Jade