Dunlavy SC IV Speaker- Any Good???

There are a pair of Dunlavy Audio SC VI for sale at Skyfiaudio in Ridgewood NJ.

As per usual, they are asking 80% of retail for a pair of speakers that are 20+ yrs old. I guess it's a good thing they aren't asking more than they cost new. We've seen that too.

More good info. I saw the SkyHi Audio VI ad. 500 lbs each at $20k- Nope.

They did offer to cover shipping. All in the amazing MU% they operate on.

The SC IV pair I will be listening to is owned by a sound engineer

who uses them in his home so they have not been in a garage for

20 years otherwise I would pass.

The Duntechs are likely fantastic but not in my wheelhouse price-wise.

What does anyone think is the minimal WPC required to operate

these? I listen at a max of 75db. Vocals and acoustic music mostly.

Do the Duntechs do well at lower volumes???

Best,

I owned the big Duntechs (forerunners of the Dunlavys) back in the 80"s & they were substantially better in just about every way than anything else available at that time other than maybe the Infinity IRS & the bigger Apogees.  The had no spikes & even as big & heavy as they were, they benefitted from my silly looking but highly effective retrofit. I lived in a rented, cool converted  carriage house on an estate & my system was in a large living room (20' x 30') w/ a hard oak paneled ceiling. I put a piece of felt on top of the speakers,  then a small piece of plywood w/ a 2x 6 going up to the ceiling capped by another small piece of plywood. This was wedged in tightly to put reasonable downward pressure on the speakers. It made a substantial improvement in clarity & dynamics. Along w/ my Conrad Johnson Premier One power amp  & the original Basis turntable, lots of good times & good music!

If you can get those speakers for reasonable $, & an they sound good, go for it! Very little better options today for anything less than about $20,000. 

The veneer on the SCIV's I had started delaminating. I wasn't impressed with that. This was at least 10 years ago. Joe

As to your question about power, I think Dunlavy suggested 100 watts per channel.  My recollection is that the Dunlavys were about 90db efficient, and a nominal 4 ohm load.  For my Duntech Princesses, a similar load, I used a Krell KSA 80 (100 watts pure class A), ARC M300 (300 watts pentode) and then Classic 150 monoblocks (130 watts triode) and Jadis JA80 monoblocks (60 watts), and also used a Sonogy Black Knight (200 watts per channel) and Concept 60 (60 watts per channel) solid state amps  The JA80s were weak in the deep bass but a wonderful midrange and easily drove the speakers; the higher powered amps did a better job controlling the bass and were a little more dynamic, though at the volumes I listened there wasn't that much of a difference.  I heard the SC-IVs with, among others, VTL amps (about 120 Watts) and a VAC Renaissance 30-30, and the VACs were surprisingly good, again a little weaker in the deep bass.  I think I saw you have a lower-powered Pass amp, but if it's Class A it might be able to do the job. 

My recollection is that the speakers did well at lower volumes, but I'd say they did open up a bit at higher volume levels.  Perhaps our current owners can address that question.