John Dunlavy may not be with us much longer.

A pair of Duntech Sovereign's turned up on local Craigslist. I hadn't seen or heard about John Dunlavy in years, so I thought I would do some research. I worked with he and Jim Fosgate on the Fosgate Audionics 5.1 Systems (later Citation). Amazing acoustician, scientist (antenna's), I learned alot from him.

thanks gernot.pat

Pataldorr: The newer model is called Duntech DSM-15. I listened to it in the factory in Sydney in August 06. Not really expensive amplification/cables. One of the 10 best speakers I ever auditioned in 20 years, the size is similar to the Wilson W/P. Retail prize approx. 11,000 Aussie $, so probably 8,000 USD here. I will wait for the new Sovereign coming out in 2009. The new Princess is next, positioned in between the two speakers mentioned. I auditioned several versions of the W/P over the years, a few weeks ago the 8 in New Jersey with big amps. They are good but price performance is a problem.

Gernot, what is the newer model better than the w/puppy8

I met John back in the 90's. Both he and his wife were very gracious to me. He even took me into a locked room that only he had a key to, not even his employees. There were some "interesting" things he was into beyond speakers. Sometimes you can just feel when you are in the presence of somebody special. I certainly did that day. I will miss him.

John Dunlavy, what an amazing life. Thanks for the article Jea48.

I had two different pairs of his Sovereigns, a pair of the Black Knights, and several pairs of his wall speakers and the Thor subwoofer. I also once negatively reviewed his Standard Head Amps. He was an irascible but interesting guy. I very much enjoyed conversations with him although they were usually one sided. His big speakers were outstanding. A friend still has his and enjoys them everyday. He will be missed although I have not talked with him in at least 15 years.

I met John at his factory several years ago when I was considering new speakers. He took virtually an entire afternoon to give me a tour, demo his speakers, etc.--a very gracious,intelligent and fascinating man.

He pointed out that all his speakers sound the same except for differences in bass response. I ended up buying the Cantatas and still have no interest in changing. I've heard many others, but the Dunlavys just seem to get things right to my ears in a way that I have not heard bettered.

I am greatly saddened by his passing

That's a great interview. I may start looking for a pair of Dunlavys.

John will surely be missed. Below is an article than ran in Stereophile back in August, 1996.

Loudspeaker designer John Dunlavy: By the Numbers...

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John passed away a few weeks ago. Today I have contacted Kiat Low (Duntech Australia owner, see above) again and now and I'm very sad and sorry that I have to tell you that John Dunlavy passed away in January 2007. John was without any doubt one of the greatest people in the audio industry! We will never forget him.
The good news is that Duntech continues the development of loudspeakers based on John's remarkable designs and Kiat is currently working on an update of the SC-IV/A, called "Princess". Duntech's new smaller model is already better than the Wilson W/P 8 by the way.

As far as we know, he's not dead, Tony.

His designs were some of the best this industry has ever seen. Hopefully speaker designers will continue to follow and improve upon his principles of time and phase coherence.

John Dunlavy was a true pioneer and a legend..

What shame, perhaps one of the great minds in audio. I do hope he's happy.

Late 2006 I met Kiat Low, the owner of Duntech (Australia) and he told me that John lives in a nursing home now. He suffers from Alzheimer's disease.

Hi Ya, anyone know his situation now.

Here is an update from an AA member
http://www.audioasylum.com/audio/general/messages/421988.html

Mingo
A fund drive has been started to buy a gift for John and his family.

Aside from the tragical news, John was a very good speaker designer. I think most audiophiles were enthousiastic about the speakers he designed, for example the big Duntechs and DALs. I hope you and your family will gain enough strength to get through these difficult times.

Chris

Is there an update available or additional news?

Thanks,

Mingo

My energy to you John, see you in the unified field. You are truly missed.

That is very sad indeed. I also have had several conversations with Mr Dunlavy ove the phone when he used to run the Dunlavy Co.

Very down to earth person, easy to talk to. Zero ego. But, he had firm conviction of how the speakers should be designed and sound like. He also had a no nonsense theory about cable design. Mr Dunlavy's work will always remain at our house in form of I, II, IV, V and various cabling incarnations. I just can't imagine my system without them!!

God bless him! May my prayers go out to him and his family.

Tomryan here's some, but once your able to get into site there's a little more to read once you click on each person's individual link.

Posted by snowmiser (A) on January 26, 2006 at 07:39:39

I few weeks back I posted an inquiry about John Dunlavy. His daughter emailed me the following.
“Hello I read your posts on John Dunlavy and as his daughter, i wanted to let you know the status of him. At the moment he is alive but he is very sick and they do not give him much longer than a few days to live. My mom:Joan is holding on as best she can and taking care of him till the end.”

If you want additional information, you can e-mail me at this address or you can e-mail me at [email protected]

She also sent:

“Thank you so much I really appreciate it. As you can guess, it’s really hard on my mom. She is so busy taking care of dad that she does not keep up with the business side of things any more. I know that she would be very happy to know that dad is still impacting peoples lives.”

I am posting this information for those who may have been impacted by Mr. Dunlavy’s work. For those of you who have had a greater enjoyment of music because of Mr Dunlavy’s speakers and want to share those thoughts with Mr. Dunlavy’s family, it is appreciated in this time of sorrow. His daughter will forward any emails to the above address to her mom.

I don’t know Mr Dunlavy or his daughter personally but I thought this would be something compassionate to do for a fellow human being in a time of need. His daughter also did ask that anyone who may know the Dunlavy’s to please not call since her mom is getting very little sleep and she doesn’t want her rest interrupted by well wishers.

John Valvano

Thanks
Dave



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Follow Ups:

thanks for the post john - sunnysal 09:24:01 01/27/06 (0)
Owned his Cantatas - Quint 05:29:44 01/27/06 (0)
May God be with him and his family - nt - gonefishin 18:24:26 01/26/06 (0)
Re: News on John Dunlavy - Jeff Joseph 17:50:24 01/26/06 (0)
Re: News on John Dunlavy - Bruce from DC 17:42:29 01/26/06 (0)
Re: News on John Dunlavy - John Atkinson 16:33:30 01/26/06 (0)
Re: News on John Dunlavy - Mr_bill2 15:21:32 01/26/06 (0)
Sad to hear - SFDude 15:11:24 01/26/06 (0)
Re: News on John Dunlavy - brianjones64 14:58:15 01/26/06 (0)
Thanks for posting, John - Norm 14:43:38 01/26/06 (0)
I'm sorry to hear that. - Pat D 14:16:51 01/26/06 (0)
John Dunlavy--Quite a character! - Alex F. 11:49:49 01/26/06 (0)
His SC-IVs were true classics. (nt) - meisterkleef 10:16:39 01/26/06 (0)
Re: News on John Dunlavy - Robert Deutsch 09:47:44 01/26/06 (0)
Re: News on John Dunlavy - Brian Walsh 08:27:48 01/26/06 (0)
Thanks for the update.... Sorry to hear John's not well... - DevillEars 08:02:37 01/26/06 (0)

http://www.audioasylum.com/audio/general/messages/420527.html

Since I'm on a work computer that has that website blocked, can anyone tell us what's going on? It's a little curt to just say someone's in trouble and there is a website that'll tell ya something about it.

Several years ago, I purchased a set of Dunlavy IV speakers. It was a huge leap of faith. I had never heard them and was spending way more than I ever could have imagined. When they arrived, we were in the mist of our spring farm work but my wife insisted we set them up.

We began to listen. We spent the rest of the day and most of the evening listening. Several times we both had tears streaming down our cheeks. The sound was so wonderful.

The following morning, I phoned the Dunlavy factory to tell them how happy we were with our purchase and John answered the phone. I was amazed at how excited he was for us. He had re-established my love of music.

Over the years, I spoke several times more with John. He always had time for me. I now own my third set of Dunlavy speakers (V) and love them. My original IVs are at a friends and still sound wonderful. Another friend has a set of Cantatas.

Rarely has anyone had so much of a positive effect on my life and my friends.

Thank you John.

Go easy my friend.

Thank you guys, that was very kind of you.. It is also truly sad to hear that, since John Dunlavy was such a great guy and very known for his truly great speaker designs.
May my prayers go out to him and his family.
Thanks
Paul

Try this

http://www.audioasylum.com/audio/general/messages/420527.html
===========

"Details @A.A.(general section).?????????????????"

Audioasylum, in the "General" forum, is a post about this.

That is very sad news.
Bill

Details @A.A.(general section).?????????????????