dahlquist dq-10

halo71

Anyone know about these speakers? Looking at a pair that I presume have been modded cause they are mirror imaged. One tweeter is not working. Ideas on a fair price?

txcoastal1

Nevermind

dromunds

Dahlquist are very nice speakers. Image like a mother. Not sure about used prices of DQ-10's. You may be able to order a tweeter from Regnar/Dahlquist but won't be cheap. Check their website.

F1nut

They have basically no bass and the piezo tweeter is best disconnected, IMO. Other than that, they have an open airy quality somewhat like an electrostatic. I wasn't impressed.

leftwinger57

they also must have the stands and are the absolutely ugliest grill off speakers made w/ their patchwork of mda, masonite with what looks a hap hazard placement of speakers. I have heard them and at the time were just ok and that grill opened back area were the x-overs reside is the biggest dust collector I had ever seen. Better than 901s yes, and at that time that was a competitor like Rectilinear and Fraziers and some other east coast sounders.


http://www.syer.net/dahlquist.htm

leftwinger57

meant to say mdf as the primary wood.

Polkaguy58

The sub that went with those is awesome on the other hand (DW1 ?)
I had one given to me years ago and hooked it up to an old Velodyne amp plate that I zip tied to the back of my stereo rack.
Originally it would have been powered by a seperate stereo to mono amp/xover unit.
I made the mistake of giving it away and buying a more "modern" ported job.
That Dahlquist was built like a rock (and just as heavy) with a multi chambered grid inside the back of the cab, each stuffed tight with fiberglass.
Until I recently bought my Cambridge Soundworks sealed sub, I haven't heard one that I liked as much as that Dahlquist.

heiney9

Upgraded x-overs make a huge difference. A friend has a very nice modified pair on custom stands, etc. Not a lot of bass, competent, but not very deep. They have an addictive, open, airy quality that is great for vocal, acoustic, jazz styles of music. Not a rock speaker and certainly not a speaker to listen to anything involved in the "loudness wars".

Everyone should experience a nice pair in their audio journey. If I had space and time, I would rotate a pair in and out now and then. For certain types of music they are really very, very good. Never will they be an "all purpose" speaker, perhaps if you added a sub that would make living with them everyday a little easier. They also can get rather strident if played too loud.

Grills off they are butt ugly and looking at the driver arrangement you say "WTF"!, but it works. Also, the sweet spot is pretty small and they accel in the sweet spot. If you're not in the sweet spot, they loose most of their charm, IMO.

Closest thing I can think of that sort of sounds like them are electrostatics (as Jesse said). Electrostatics are better, but the DQ10 has that same type of imaging and presentation.

H9

P.s. The sub, cross over unit that went with it, was the ticket.

Mystery

Great speakers but they need a lot of power.

notified

The DQ10's were first made by Jon Dahlquist and Saul Marantz in 72 and I think ran till about the late 80's,They're a 5 way design with their drivers mounted on individual baffles with each of the mids and tweeters crossed over at different frequencies, The piezo horn super tweeter is crossed between 10khz-40khz [which is said to be inaudible to some] They're 8 ohm with a recommend amp rating of 60-200watts but due the crossover design require a amp with a healthy current push to get their intended performance abilities.
Although the bass which uses a Advent woofer is tight, they were meant to be used with their dw1 13" passive sub and cross over module to augment the low end[Although many owners use a active as a alternative]
They had some cross over upgrades along the way. Their best model improvement was making them in mirror imaged pairs. This further enhanced their wide sound stage and improved the imaging[This improvement can be applied to earlier versions]
Due to their revolutionary box less design and also perhaps what is claimed to be [time aligned]speaker placement,[meaning the snd from each driver reaches the listener at the same time] they have come to earn a respected position in audio history.
With proper stands and positioning reviews describe their snd as airy,detailed with a wide sound stage and positive imaging.Attributes of which many owners including myself have come to admire.
When new their MSRP was around $800-1000 for the mid 80's models. Most older sites suggest a average resell price of around 300-400 However lately a lot of them are priced on E Bay for between 400-800 [some modded some not]
When buying used be aware that the woofer surrounds are noted for deteriorating[although not a expensive repair]
I've had mine for about 12 years in their stock form [along with a set of sda1's and a
couple of other 80;s era speakers within the same original price point that I occasionally revolve for their differing snd characteristics,And the DQ's present a presentation of snd that I don't think I'd want to go without.
As for the dead tweeter that the op mentioned. It may be a result of slight corrosion on a terminal [if not a fuse issue] I had mine sit for about 5 months last year and when I returned them to service I had the same problem with one of the regular tweeters. It was resolved with a light scraping of the green oxidation and a quick spray of electronics cleaner

madmax

I like having the tweeter dead on my pair.

halo71

Thanks guys. Going to go check them out this weekend.