dc10audio use Duelund CAST capacitor ?

Each capacitor is hand built and sold in very small quantities.

I have been very lucky and have been privy to capacitor comparisons done at a speaker maker I know. He has 4 levels in his speakers - Erse - Erse bypassed with Duelund VSF Copper - VSF Copper and Cast. You can easily hear the difference with each level - its an increase in speed, clarity and naturalness.

I heard comparisons of two speakers both exactly the same except one used Mundorf SIO and the other Duelund VSF Copper. I listened to Patti Smith - Gloria with the Mundorf's - her voice was low, arresting and guttural - you go wow - but it did not sound like a normal female voice. Then the Duelund - it was not as arresting or as guttural, it sounded more recessed, you think its not as good as the Mundorf - but you notice its more natural and faster - things sound more life like. You go back to the Mundorf and you realize its false.

Forget the Silver - its a personal preference thing - some love Silver others like me don't like it - unless you really love what Silver does save your money and get copper. The speaker maker I know has checked it all out and doesn't even offer silver as an option - if you asked him he would build you one as a special order but at a much greater cost and you may not even like it - many, possibly even most, don't.

Regarding cost the Cast version of the speaker the manufacturer I know costs $13.5k. Expensive - yes - but there are many many much more expensive speakers out there. Personally I have not heard a speaker even close to that speaker regardless of cost.

Thanks
Bill

Hi Irish65

Thanks for your detailed write-up. Strange your experience with Silver is different to the maker I know. I don't really know why - maybe its the ribbon speaker wire he makes and uses internally - just a thought.

He has tried their inductor's as well - very good - but finds the inductor's he hand winds from 10 or even 8 gauge wire has the edge. Evidently he was mentored in his early speaker building days by George Short who impressed on him the need for loose hand winding from thick gauge copper wire and has found nothing better.

The much under appreciated product in the Duelund range he reckons is the Cast resistor and I have been fortunate to hear why. He had some late prototype speakers where one speaker had the Cast resistor and another a Mundorf because he was waiting on delivery of some more Cast. It was a joke - the speaker with the Mundorf sounded muffled - as if a blanket had been placed over the speaker. I asked why - he attributes it to their negative temperature coefficient. In fact I couldn't listen to the pair and asked if I could come back when they both had the Cast. When I returned a few days later it was like I was listening to an entirely different setup - it was no longer disjointed with one speaker sounding muffled.

Regarding size they are HUGE. The speaker the guy I know is building for me will have external crossovers and they are nearly as big as the speaker - in fact he has plans for an Isobaric 5.5 inch mini monitor and the external crossover will be a lot bigger than the speaker with Duelund Cast and 8 gauge loose wound inductor's - wild - can hardly wait to hear them.

Thanks
Bill

Hi Again Jeffrey

I didn't want to give any links to the speakers I was talking about since I don't want any accusation of spruiking, schilling or anything like that.

But they are Lenehan Audio on the Gold Coast in Australia and are close to where I live. I go down there all the time to hear their gear and own quite a bit of it. Of course that makes me biased so when I talk about their stuff I like full disclosure.

The custom speaker I am getting made is a variant of the following:
http://www.stereo.net.au/forums/index.php?/topic/46808-lenehan-ml-ii-reference-limited-edition/

The difference is mine will use HD3 instead of MDF, have external crossovers, have even more bracing and a special star grounding wiring harness that will dock straight onto monoblocks at the rear of the speaker.

Here is some pictures of the crossover in my current speakers:
http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?action=gallery;area=browse;image=35354

Thanks
Bill