DK Design Group X-Dream - wow

As the new owner of DK, which will be announced this next week, I can see from the preponderance of skepticism here that, either people don't believe the reviewer, or they believe he was unduly influenced due to the nature of the review.
Frankly, this was a rush to judgement, so to speak, since the company was about to change hands, and quite possibly it may have been handled better, in retrospect.
The issue at hand here is the very heavy speakers in question, weighing in at almost 400lbs each. To ship them, and ask someone to review them quickly and (I am not sure easily applies).
Someone, less prone to scarcasm here, stated, "Don't judge until you have a chance..." or words to that effect.
I would have to agree. Not everything is always as it seems.The speaker is quite a revolutionary product, with plate aluminum as the super structure, and utilization of 48 db elliptical crossover networks. So this is not just any speaker we are looking at here.
Someone made a comment about the cost of product involved in manufacturing, and their comments are simply wrong. Sorry, but much of the cost in this product is the hands on creation of it, with the use of CNCs that had to be weighted, for precision cutting. This is quite a piece of art work, as well as a magnificant speaker, plus one that won't take up the whole room. Quite a feat, I think.
Before buying the company, there were many considerations to be weighed--the random charges of shilling and so on.
I can tell any and all, that I do not know of, nor will I use anyone to promote our product in any untoward manner. This is not to say that it was done before, I SIMPLY have no proof either way.
The X Dream is a unique product that, given it's price, will interest less than 2% of the respondants on the page, if they fit within the normal demographics, so that may be worth some thought.
Please, in all fairness give us a chance to earn business from you in the future.
I can already tell you that some improvements are in the works for the Integrated, simple things like a metric allen wrench, so the tubes can be changed without having to leave your home and search for a (I believe number 8, metric.)Also, if I can arrange it, better stock tubes will be put into the base units, though through my own experience, changing the tubes was part of the trill of ownership.
Also, we have the Series Three Integrated, coming out at a very reasonable $3295. We debated going to $3500.00 which frankly sounds very similar to most consumers according to our marketing people, but it wasn't necessary, and we want to be open and fair.
Also, to be released, in answer to someones comments on this thread, will be our Loudspeaker Line for the masses, the LSA Group, (which now owns DK Design) Loudspeakers.
They comprise a bookshelf at $1000. with a unique shape, and either a Rosewood or Black Maple Finish. We feel that these speakers outperform most speakers costing up to $3K.
Additionally we will have the Floorstanding model, the LSA 2 which will be about 36" tall, so similar in physical size, to the X Dream, yet will be of traditional wood, with the same Black Ash or Rosewood, at standard pricing, of $2000.00 per pair. We are thinking of offering them for a 30 day trial, with full refund available to those who do not find them to their liking.
Some will not. I designed them to sound very organic, and without the heavy handed tweeter, so familar to so many audiophiles out there.
The new owners have a combined 70 years of business experience, and hope to make changes in DK which will prove successful for everyone.
I just noticed that I failed to mention a Center Voice for about $600. which should have been shipped with the other products, but as is usually the case, this didn't happen.
We will be approaching our broad dealer base in the USA for distribution of all the LSA Speakers, with more to come shortly.
There will be a press release sent to all the major publications over the next few days. During the transition period some things may fall through the cracks, as is always the instance with new ownership, so I beg your indulgence as we try to do the best we can.
One other quick note. I was praising this product some months ago, simply as an owner, with no interest in the company, just 20 plus years of industry experience. And after a lot of thought and work, decided to actually buy the company--mostly out of respect for the great products that they, now we, create.
Thank you all for your interest in DK, and also, in the future, LSA Group, its parent company.
Best,
Larry R. Staples
President LSA Group

Thanks TVAD,
All anyone ever wants is a reasonable chance.
Having worked in the industry, I realize what an awesome responsibility it is to make good products then stand behind them correctly.
We want first quality products, and good customer relations. That will take us a long way toward some modicum of success.
The most interesting aspect for me is the unveiling of our new LSA's which I mentioned several months ago--it has taken all this time for me to finish them. This is not an easy business, and one should only be involved with it if it's your passion--but you must remember to treat it like a business.
I will bow out now as I have months of work to do in just days.
Thanks again TVAD& Howard.

I said I was bailing out, but I feel that it's worthwhile to explain to Boa2.
The 2% figure was purely financial.
Let's be real, not many people, even the audio enthusiasts on Audiogon are in a position to pay $25K for loudspeakers.
It had nothing to do with the speakers ability to work with 2 Watt Amps. Not many will...
The speakers are a benign load, and about 90 db1W1m. for general information.
So really, depending on taste, perhaps a small, though not 2 watt amp could work.
Best,
Larry R. Staples
President DK Design/LSA Group

Thank you all, so much for the support.
Having worked as a dealer for 12 years, then as Director of Sales for THIEL Audio, then President Emeritus, (meaning an unpaid consulting position) for Von Schweikert Audio, I have a good background.
Audio is a hard business, and the customers are very demanding, as they should be for the prices we ask.
That damn F 7 costs us a fortune to construct, given the complexity of the CNC work.
It is a new generation of product, bypassing the typical MDF (medium density fiberboard construct) and utilizing an aluminum outer body, which costs us more than most speakers cost to make, just in labor for the aluminum.
They are as good as advertised, and underpriced, as it relates to retail versus cost to make.
We wanted to make a statement. Everyone, including Wilson is using MDF, and why not, is that mdf is cheap. This is a new wave of product that will take us to the next step in design.
We need to think of how to make construct cheaper, so we can all enjoy the benefits of the improvements that plate aluminum can make in the cabinet. Hey we're audio groupies too, and want better sound just like all of you.
The whole problem is 'how'to do it so we can all benefit.
Please support our hard work and know that experienced audio people are working hard to make products that are better, as well as, cheaper.
If you doubt that just look at our square wave output on the Austrailian Hifi magazine. Our Square wave is really perfect at the 1Khz output. Not even the vaunted Halcro can do this, at multiples of this price.
All things being equal, measurements are one important key.
Best,
Your Audio Friend,
Larry R. Staples
President DK/LSA Group

To all the well wishers, TVAD, Trelja, (thanks for the discs) Chadnliz, Boa2, and any I may have missed, THANK YOU.
We really will work to gain your respect.
Sometimes marketing goes over a line of reality--and given that these are our 'babies' so to speak we, may even do that. Just remember, that we are one of you, trying to service you and put wonderful music and enjoyment in your homes.
We offer 30 day full refund on all products, (well, probably not the F7, since we're back ordered) and it may not get much better than that.
We support our dealer base, and if we sell direct, we will reimburse the local dealer (if there is one) with the profit dollars they would have gotten had they sold to you.
These Brick and mortar guys are going to work, just like all of you, working, hopefully to earn your business.
I would like comments from any and all of you about GREAT potential dealers. If you like them let me know, and we'll try to put them on for you.
As to the Bay Area, if you want a serious demo, I will have them taken to your nearest dealer, whoever that is, if they'll allow it-- these F7's take almost 3 months to carve out of aluminum, with weighted CNC machines--so back orders 'is us' in perpituity, until I can maybe talk a great company with several really good CNC operators into helping us. (Jim Thiel of THIEL Audio my former employer comes to mind.) Who better than Jim, to do good cabinet work??? We all know they are one of the best--and if they can keep their staff busy and making money, even though we're competitors, why not? You really have to hear these things to believe it, and even though $25K is a chunk, our margin is razor thin on this speaker because of the labor involved.
Anyway, thanks again, and write me with suggestions, @ my email, or call me personally at my private, number 502 671 7988 any time.
Best,
Larry

Sorry,
Virtually everyone--I am swamped, and didn't complete the thought.
The industry in general uses MDF, (even I use them in my own line which I developed prior to this purchase.)
Sorry for the miscommunication.
At THIEL the front of the cabinets for the CS 6 was a mineral filled polymer, which was fairly exotic, so why I would blanket statement, is a tribute to too much happening at one time.
I am not aware though of anyone using our product, in the manner we are. That is probably what should have been said.

Best, and thanks for the correction.
Larry R. Staples

Three months was the requirement to set all the files for the CNC Machine, obviously we won't be looking at that time for future pairs, otherwise why do it?
Any CNC companies out there looking to bid this project should email me.
Thanks,
Larry R Staples

Drubin,
I have asked previous ownership, to no avail, (people tend to use what is available rather than what may make sense in the morning) why we didn't use the Mark III amp to drive these speakers which are, about 89 db 1W1M in most measuring situations, and also, a benign load...so what's the problem?
Anyway, maybe with the rush for press that's what was there, I really can't excuse it.
But to answer Drubin, the Mark III will drive 1.3 ohms up over 800 Watts per channel before clipping. And these don't present a 'load' of that nature.
Some questions, such as this, have no good answer.
I know I personally like the sound of many amps, but it sure makes more sense to use the DK with DK speakers.
That's how the road show with LSA will happen, I can assure you all that.
Best to all.
Larry R. Staples
DK Design LSA Group LLC
President

Thanks for the kind words from 'tweak' and Bratschman.
The speakers (even if I did design them) are REALLY good.
They do not sound anything like a monitor loudspeaker. Both models have a 'big' live sound which belies their size.
There is much more to be said, but more is a commercial.
Best,
Larry R. Staples
DK Design/LSA Group
President

The size should be on our website, though we are in the process of adding quite a bit, and it may be temporarily off the site.
The size is 39"High. The width in the front of the speaker is 8" widening to 9 1/4" then tapering to 6" at the rear.
The depth is 16 1/4 inches, not counting the binding posts.
Thanks for the interest.
Best,
Larry

Speaking of which...
In Vegas one year, I was with a group of guys doing the WCES.
A friend and I were waiting for the rest of the guys to show up to go to dinner, as we stood on the perimeter of one of the many casinos.
Up walks a young woman in a business suit, name badge and a briefcase. As a fleeting thought, when she approached us, I thought she might ask for 'directions' to a restaurant or whatever--happens all the time.
She came face to face with us and said, "Would you gentlemen like some company for the evening?"
This was totally out of context for that moment, so I said, "Excuse me?" She repeated, "Would you gentlemen like some company for the evening?"
I can't remember, but it seems that I stammered, "Uh, no thanks."
Las Vegas--what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas...until the blood tests prove otherwise.

Larry

OK, some 3 years later, I can inform you, that, there is no evidence that Positive Feedback heard the speakers...and further that as Owner/Founder of LSA who purchased DK Designs and wrapped them into the umbrella of LSA Group, the the speakers in question, never really existed, therefore the review had to have been a complete fabrication...a complete fabrication.
I tried on numerous occassions to speak to "Jimmy Olson", the reviewer, and he never would respond to me.

I analysed the speakers on gaining access to them, and found that they had never been completed--which is to say they were NEVER attached to a crossover...of course the principal ingredient in making sound.
My evaluation, as Owner and Founder of LSA Group, which purchased all assets of DK Design, is that these speakers were never played for the public...ever. It was impossible to have done so...as no crossover was ever designed, until I did so several months later.
This is the worst example of deception that I have come across in the audio industry. I supposedly 'magnigicant' speaker, which never really existed.
Having said that...I selected drivers, crossover points, and made calculations after the fact...and created the 'best loudspeaker' I have ever heard...at any price. It was a purely magnificant product...though only one ever existed. This, my friends is the whole unabashed truth.

Larry R. Staples
LSA Group Founder

I responded last night, well...at 4:14am this morning, privately. Now, I'll elaborate on my last email.

He stated:

"I talked with 2 actual owners, however I was never given a chance to hear the speaker..."

Again, there are no multiple owners. The cabinets were subcontracted to an aerospace design firm, and only ONE pair of cabinets was ever made, and the XDREAM, later LSA10 was discontinued in Feb. 2007. (See LSA's Website)
Upon purchasing the 'assets' of DK Design, I contacted the company which had done the aluminum work for the speakers, (that was their sole task)only to find out that the speakers were being held, until the significant invoice for their work was paid, a 'mechanic's lien' if you will.
I had many lengthy conversations with this company and then obtained their files which clearly showed that only one pair existed...no second gunman, for those who suspect anything else.
After paying their invoice, I, along with John Tucker of Exemplar, who I had hired to head up engineering, examined the cabinets. It was then that we discovered that there was simply no way ANYONE had ever heard these speakers. One example, there was no pathway for wires, no way for a crossover to have ever been placed inside, OR even outside the cabinets. No binding posts, it goes on like this. We were pretty stunned to say the least.
It was then that John began to work to select the best crossover components available, and I selected the drivers for the speakers. BTW, the 'photos' of the speakers, were computer generated, no actual drivers were ever in the cabinets! So I selected among the very best drivers from all over the globe (subjective, but I had very specific requirements as to the crossover points as well as the slopes that I wanted to employ, and these drivers were the best for that particular crossover and slope).
After the crossovers were complete, John came to Louisville, and we assembled them in my home.
The crossovers were enormous, given that the air core inductors, to name one part, were huge... HUGE.
After several hundred hours of playing, they began to sound as they ultimately would, which is to say, again the 'best' I have ever heard.
We took them to Denver, to the Rocky Mountain Audiofest in October of that year. Those who heard them early on, were impressed, but not blown away. The issue was that we were using an amp which was, while excellent, completely underpowered for driving this loudspeaker. Later in the show, we switched to the Statement LSA Amplifier and the sound was remarkable.
I hope that this puts this saga to bed.

I am still waiting, some two years plus later, to hear from Jimmy Olsen of Positive Feedback about his 'review', but he has yet to return any of my (then) frantic emails. Who knows, maybe he's out with Lois Lane or Clark.
Best,

Larry R. Staples