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Any opinions on these speakers.. I am very interested in them. My son is wanting my VR-4's, so now's a good time to upgrade.. These actually have a smaller foot-print than the VR-4's, but are taller. I am going to hear some soon.. but everything I've read about them is very positive!
Your opinions and experiences are appreciated!
Mike
may be a better match than the SC-IVA. Here is a recent post from rec.audio.opinion regarding the Athena:
Author: Steve Zipser (Sunshine Stereo, Inc.) Eugene: Dunlavy Audio Labs, Inc. The Athena Speakers by Irwin Claus Hi Steve, I just couldn't wait to send you my (first) review of the new Dunlavy Associated equipment: Sony CDP-XA50 ES CD player, Audio Synthesis My room is about 14x28x10. The speakers are placed along the long wall In the last 5 years, I’ve owned 3 pair of speakers. The first I replaced the Virgos with a pair of robust Dunlavy SC-IV speakers (low Due to plans of moving to a house with lower ceilings, I planned to buy Even after only three days I find the Athena in every area to be better Other speakers I considered buying as replacement for my SC-IV were: JM I am glad that I bought the Athenas. They satisfy all my audio needs. Kind regards, Erwin Claus Reply-To:
My wife and I listened to these medowlarks today. I was pretty impressed with the sound. The mid was very clear and defined. They had great imaging and the bass was pretty stron too for 2- 7" woofers.
Hi Mikem, Like others I can only claim to have heard the SC-IV. On that unit the tweeter produced a rather unrefined treble that became noticably tiring after a fairly short time. If I were to audition the IV/A, I would be sure to take some solo violin and soprano of known quality. If you're not a classical fan, some female vocal with strong centre image should suffice. Have fun Steve
Steve, You impress me as an exceptionally acute listener. As one who has spent many an hour in front of the original SC-IV, I can tell you that this unit's tweeter is indeed its weakness. That's not to say it's a weakness that cannot be dealt with, by the by. The reason for this is revealed quickly and obviously by listening to white noise. The speaker exhibits a bit of roughness in the upper midrange. This range almost "protrudes" through the sonic fabric. Careful amplifier matching is a must. But the effort is worth it in my opinion. For the Dunlavy can sound truly superb. Cheers. Nigel
great with C-J amp at the dealer, but sound harsh and raspy in the treble at home with a Jolida SJ202a with Svetlana EL-34's. I preferred and bought the Apogee Centaurus Ribbon Monitors, which sound much smoother in the treble (and had better bass for a speaker of that size and price range). But I definitely heard potential with the Dunlavy's - I just wasn't ready to spring for a C-J or other expensive tube amp at the time. Dave VH
A lot taller than the VRs ;) DaveB and I listened to them a while back at a dealer. They put out a big, tall, deep soundstage and are tonally excellent. Also quite easy to drive with medium powered tube gear, we started with a BAT VK-5i/VK-60, but a tube dying ended that. Even so, you could tell the match seemed quite good. With the BAT SS pre/VK-200, they could play anything at insane volumes tho became noticeably a bit more forward with a loss of that tube magic, oh well. We really wanted to hear them with the Carys..... If I were picking nits (real little nits), they don't quite go full range but then you have a sub. The bass is tight, quick and sounded quite natural. I like 1st order designs but I'm not quite sure about MTM. I was walking around a bit and Dave was listening more critically in the 'sweet' spot. To me walking around and standing, there was something nagging me that didn't seem quite right. I'm not sure if it was coherency or that the bass was seeming up too high or that I just not used to the sound or what. Bear in mind, this is in the context of expecting to hearing a world class speaker. We were not disappointed except for the fact that the tube rig had problems and it was too late to hear the Carys by the time that was sorted out. In the sweet spot, the images were fleshed out and if anything almost bigger than real life, no singers on their knees here. Speakers were set up nearly in the middle of the room (about 20x35 room) on the long wall, 10 feet from front wall and around 10 feet apart or so. Dave would know as he had them set them a certain distance. Definately worth a listen.
I only roughed them into position after the dealer gave no apparent thought to position at all. I quickly listened and modified the speaker position to my taste within that particular rooms' serious limitations. Out of self defense, I chose a more nearfield / equilateral triangle arrangement that helped negate room problems but didn't allow enough distance from the speaker to listening position for proper integration of the MTM configuration. It was the best I could do with a 15 minute time budget. Rod and I did listen for about an hour, even though the BAT tube gear died on us and then we suffered an unwelcome amplification substitution. Even though, the speakers survived this combination and we were able to enjoy their result as Rod described. I associate Rod's comments on listening to them from a non sweet spot position to what I've described above. This is a loudspeaker design I could live with and I would love to hear with a good OTL tube amplifier. I will try to arrange for such a listening in the near future.
I definately agree. Could be that nasty SS had more to do with any preceived problems than anything ;) I'd love to hear them really setup well in the right room with a good tube front end.
Maybe we should have a pre-view, I just hate typos ;( One other thought is that I suspect these need a BIG room to fully bloom.
Mike, Best of luck with your speaker shopping!
Date: 1999/03/14
Forum: rec.audio.opinion
Here are some comments from one of our customers, Erwin Claus - and he
has compared several of the JM Labs speakers to some Dunlavys and b&w's
and other topnotch speakers. You might find his comments of interest.
I'm sure he'd welcome email if you need to ask him more.
Cheers
Zip
Athena. If you put it on your website, please correct the typing errors.
Passion passive preamp, Pass Aleph 3 power amp, Siltech FTM3
interconnects and Dunlavy DAL Z6 speaker cable. The kind of music I
listen to includes Rebecca Pidgeon, Enya, Jennifer Warnes, Badi Assad,
Joan Armatrading, Sara K.
about 8 foot apart and listening position is about 10 foot away from the
speakers. The speakers are not toed in and are less than 1 foot from the
back wall. All my previous speakers were also placed like this due to
room restrictions.
"audiophile" speakers I ever bought were the B&W 802/III speakers. Main
shortcomings IMO were lack of detail, bright treble and the forward
midrange. An overall good speaker, but in the meantime I heard better.
After 1 year, I replaced these with the Audio Physic Virgo. These are
IMO better than the 802/III. They have more detail, less forward sound
and are not too bright. Shortcomings: not very extended and sometimes
slow bass, the speakers do not completely disappear. Perhaps this is due
to the speaker placement in my room. After about 1.5 years I sold them
because in the meantime my daughter was born and I thought the Virgo had
a very low Child Acceptance Factor (due to the fact that the Virgos are
not covered with a grille cloth).
WAF, but high CAF) after hearing them several times at several
locations. These speakers are IMO far better than the previous speakers
I had. Although they are VERY big, the SC-IV completely disappears. I
found no shortcomings till now. Their strong points are: very good
soundstage, extended and controlled bass, very good detail, very
coherent sounding. These are the most natural sounding speakers I ever
heard. They are better then the Virgos in every way IMO. BTW, I do not
understand why the Virgo are so highly regarded in the US. In Europe
this is not the case. Here they are considered good speakers, but not in
the top class. In Europe they cost only one third of the price of a
Dunlavy SC-IV.
a pair of smaller Dunlavy because of the new room restrictions.
Fortunately DAL came out with his new speaker, the Dunlavy Athena. This
speaker is much smaller and also has a higher WAF and CAF than the
SC-IV. These speakers arrived three days ago. And how is the sound? I
was not prepared to hear this level of improvement over the SC-IV (my
SC-IV were the latest model). In almost every song, I hear new detail.
The Athena speakers have slightly more air in the upper frequencies.
Soundstage is slightly better than with the SC-IV. The off-axis sound is
also better than with the SC-IV. The sweet spot is a bit larger and the
bass is VERY and I mean VERY fast and even more extended than with the
SC-IV. The -3dB point of the Athena is at 25Hz whereas the -3dB of the
SC-IV is at 33hz. The bass is incredible, not boomy but very fast,
extended and controlled. I never heard bass like this before. In short,
they are IMO the most natural, most coherent sounding speakers I ever
heard.
than the SC-IV and I think the sound will only get better when the
speakers are fully broken in.
Lab Mini Utopia and B&W Nautilus 802/803. The mini Utopia has very good
detail, but sounded a bit too much like a speaker IMO. Bass is not very
extended. The speakers did not completely disappear in the room I heard
them. B&W Nautilus 803 has very little bass (complete bass lines
disappear) and is still a bit bright IMO. The B&W Nautilus 802 is a very
good speaker also, but the bass is not as extended and quick as the
Dunlavy Athena. The 802 is also not as natural sounding as the Athena
IMO. In Europe the Dunlavy Athena and B&W Nautilus 802 cost about the
same price.
Furthermore, the support I get from DAL (Andrew Rigby) is more than
excellent. Thank you.
From: "Erwin Claus"
To: "Steve Zipser (Sunshine Stereo, inc.)"
Cc: "Erwin Claus"
Subject: Review of the Dunlavy Athena
Date: Sun, 7 Mar 1999 12:19:26 +0100
In Reply to: Dunlavy SC-IV/A posted by mikem on March 27, 1999 at 08:36:25:
My listening room is 20' x 20' with large opennings to 2 other large rooms.
I'm not sure if the herons can "fill" the room to satisfaction. Of course my wife loved the size and shape... so the search goes on..
Thank you all for the feedback! I really appreciate your info.
mike
In Reply to: Dunlavy SC-IV/A posted by mikem on March 27, 1999 at 08:36:25:
In Reply to: Re: Dunlavy SC-IV/A posted by Steve on March 27, 1999 at 11:44:21:
This speaker will unfold its particular glories best when tethered to fine tubular amplification. However, hook it up to solid state and you're in for a "relentlessly revealing" listening session which will, as you noted, prove quickly fatiguing.
In Reply to: Re: Dunlavy SC-IV/A posted by Nigel on March 27, 1999 at 12:54:59:
In Reply to: Dunlavy SC-IV/A posted by mikem on March 27, 1999 at 08:36:25:
In Reply to: Re: Dunlavy SC-IV/A posted by Rod M on March 27, 1999 at 10:00:18:
In Reply to: Re: Dunlavy SC-IV/A posted by Dave B on March 28, 1999 at 09:12:07:
In Reply to: Re: Dunlavy SC-IV/A posted by Rod M on March 27, 1999 at 10:00:18:
In Reply to: Dunlavy SC-IV/A posted by mikem on March 27, 1999 at 08:36:25:
I have not yet heard the SC-IVA and have only heard the SC-IV
briefly...but am very interested in hearing the new Dunlavy Athena.
Though I am sure the SC-IVA has greater extension than the Athena
(as it had better for the extra $2k), the Athena certainly looks like
it would take up a whole lot less space than the other huge Dunlavy
towers.
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