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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
timlub
2,053 posts
 

I have worked on DQM9 and DQ10's.  Understand their limitations, with that, they are a fine speaker.  They are time aligned and image well. They are relatively in phase, but you need to get their height place correctly. At the correct ear height, the phasing is good.  Today's speakers do stay in phase better when your ears are a bit above or below tweeter level much better than the DQ 10's. The driver layout does accommodate time alignment quite well, but the driver layout can make tow a bit of a problem. Horizontal off axis will have more issues than a speaker with vertically stacked drivers.  What I am saying is:  Take your time getting them set up. Once you get them locked in, don't overthink it, certain small adjustments are not good for a DQ10.  Get em right and these are very enjoyable speakers regardless of age. I hope this helps,  Tim

danomar's avatar
danomar
22 posts
 

To my ear, the DQ-10 is a bit weak in low midrange clarity but otherwise is a very good speaker—comparable to many contemporary speakers in the ~5k range. As previously noted, they really should be off the ground and near ear level; the imaging is particularly good this way. I found the horizontal imaging much wider and realistic than most other loudspeakers,

gownaus_king
5 posts
 

A blast from the past... I had a pair back in the 1970s... sounded really good and a conversation starter with the interesting styling back in the day. I had them mirrored and mylared too. Bought them from Liberty HiFi on Madison Ave.

I think I paired them first, with a Sansui 9090DB receiver, a Kenwood KD650 table, and a Tandberg TCD310 cassette deck. Later I 'upgraded' to an Apt Holman APT1 and a NAD pre. 

jazdaddy
1 posts
 

I love mine. I bought them from the original owner who owned a local hifi shop. Previously I had Klipschorns. I replaced the original woofers with identical new ones. No plans to upgrade to new speakers although I did recently add an SVS SB2000 PRO subwoofer. Playing through a Parasound P6 I recently bought and Parasound HCA2200 I got from the same individual who had the DQ10s. 
 

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