Who remembers the Dahlquist DQ-10's?

Samhar---what was the name of that small chain of Hi-Fi shops in SoCal, one of which Randy operated (the one in Venice) before starting Optimal Enchantment? I was a customer at the one on Sherman Way in Woodland Hills, at the North end of the San Fernando Valley. DCM Time Windows, NAD, etc.---high value, budget high-end brands. I still have my Eagle 2A and Dahlquist DQ-LP1 x/o! The Dahlquists always seemed to me be an attempt to make a dynamic version of the original Quad, which it sure looked like.

Yes, no secret the DQ-10 copied the exterior design of the Quad 57.

Early versions of the DQ-10 were produced with the same driver array for both channels, a common practice at the time.  A local dealer, Audio Directions, developed a few mods, including the mirror image array, later adopted by the factory.  I never knew if Jon Dahlquist was influenced by the store's demo or not?  Also it was popular to replace that Motorola tweeter.  And someone developed a wood box base that could be opened to the woofer to create a larger back cavity to extend the bass.

I remember being impressed by the demo at that store, but they were just out of my reach so I settled for early Vandersteen 2s.

Auditioned them at New York Audio Show 1974 based on strong recommendation from the AR (Acoustic Research) docent at the listening room that AR used to maintain at NewYork's Grand Central Station.  At the 1974 show the Nakamichi (tape deck) room was using the Dahlquost DQ-10s to show off the new Nakamichi cassette decks.  The crowd was in awe at the stunning musicality...myself included.  Had wished I could afford a pair ($700 a pair at the time).  Nowadays I drop that much on accessories.

I drove my pair with an Ampzilla, loved the big meters. An early c-j preamp and Phillips 212 TT and Nak cassette completed the system. I bet an updated/refurbished pair with current passive components would sound very good.

I really enjoyed reading peoples recollection of the speakers. I remember hearing them for the first time as a teenager In a store called Ear Drum in Nanuet NY. It was amazing to hear what sounded like an actual guitar in front of you. there was actually a Tech Hi FI right next to it, which was more of my budget at the time.

i can remember trying to get my father to buy us Infinity 2.5’s after that, which he would have no part of. He loved music and stereo but wasn’t into high end. Maybe those early days of being deprived of quality gear (I did have Pioneer HPM-100’s) in junior high and high school has lead to my lust for great gear today.

I still to this day don’t know how I came to crave quality audio even as youngster. No one that I knew of had anything good, but we were all rapid music fans. I can remember reading Audio magazine on the bus in high school, but my brother still has the exact same system he had in high school 35 years ago.