How do Dahlquist DQ10 stack up against current speakers?


I ran across a reference to the DQ10s that made me reminisce and think.  These were the speakers I drooled over in the 70s/80s.  But never had the money or a large enough room in my younger years to purchase a pair.

it did make me wonder how their sound held up over time.   Compared to current floor standing models in their price range (let’s say under 5k - but this is just a guess) how do they stack up?  Are they still pretty darn good, or has nostalgia colored my thinking?  “Great condition” used pairs are available for under 2k these days.

Has anyone listened to a pair of these recently and can comment? Prefer first hand experience.

thanks, Bill

 

meiatflask

I really enjoyed my DQ-10’s, but I changed them a bit fairly quickly. I removed the super tweeters and replaced them with some Decca ribbon tweeters (forget the model name) and it made a HUGE difference in the overall sound. And while I was in there, I replaced any exposed wire with a very high quality silver over copper wire.  I’m not sure if it did much to the sound, but it was a good selling point a few years later.  
I’m guessing that the DQ-10’s would still be a decent speaker for a daily driver, but with the improvements in box, driver, capacitor and circuit design etc, I bet you can now get better for less money.

I have a pair of DQ-10's that I completely restored a few years ago.  Sound fantastic, but they are not my reference speakers.  Although I could live with them forever, if I had to.

They aren't quite as detailed, nor have the bass that some of the newer speakers have, but man do they throw a huge, wide, open soundstage and just are a pleasure to listen to.

IMHO, everyone should at least hear them, if not own a pair sometime in their lives...

 

I owned DQ10’s for 23 years. I replaced them in 2003 with ATC SCM 35’s in 2003, financially (accounting for inflation) almost an equivalent swap. The ATC’s had superior detail, imaging, sense of depth, and much tighter bass that went about as deep as. The ATC midrange dome was much superior to any of the Dahlquist drivers, and the much simpler crossover 5 way to 3 way speaker) is part of it, especially in maintaining correct phase and thus coherence. Twenty years later I swapped the SCM 35’s for the SCM 40 v. 2’s, with a far superior tweeter that isn’t hard.

 DQ10’s are a five driver loudspeaker. I had to replace drivers several times; I think maintenance of the speakers would be a chore. They were great for their time, but there are really good speakers available in the $5-6K range.