Cornwalled Posted October 24, 2006 Share Posted October 24, 2006 Hey Guys, I know this probably isn't the best place to ask about a "non Klipsch" speaker, but you guys are the ones I respect most, so here goes: Is anyone familiar with Duntech speakers? I ask because in a few hours, I'm going to look at a pair of DL-15B speakers that I saw listed in Craigslist. Very little info, other than 3 ways, 32" x 24" x 18" 100 pounds, so roughly cornwall size. 15" woofer, 5" mid, 1" tweeter, however he says he decided to replace all the speaker drivers, simply because they were old![:S] He had a speaker repair shop do it, so he doesn't know what drivers they put in, only that he couldn't hear a difference? At any rate, he's only asking $100, and they're only 45 minutes away, so I figured it was worth a shot. Even if I just use them as surrounds for my Cornwalls, they ought to be pretty beefy. I'm just hoping the replacement drivers aren't horrendous. Does anyone know anything about these originally? Just curious to get your thoughts. I'll be leaving to check them out probably around 5pm, arriving hopefully before 6pm EST. -Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garymd Posted October 24, 2006 Share Posted October 24, 2006 Never heard a pair but according to their website, they might just be the greatest speakers ever made.[] All models listed are between 89 and 92db efficient so they might not mate too well with Klipsch as surrounds without some major adjustments. They look pretty beefy though. One model weighs in at 146lbs each. Let us know how they sound. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cornwalled Posted October 25, 2006 Author Share Posted October 25, 2006 I went to see the Duntechs yesterday. They're quite an unusual speaker. They're about 32" tall, about 24" wide, and about 18" deep. Sort of like a smaller Belle. Has a 15" woofer in the bottom section. Then there's a walnut strip that separates the bass from the mid/high section. In the top section there is a 5" mid driver and 1 inch metal dome tweeter. However, they are recessed behind foam! Very strange. It's not a dense foam, but I imagine it does attenuate the sound of the drivers somewhat. It must have been voiced to be this way. On top of the foam is conventional speaker fabric, very similar to Klipsch heritage fabric. Now their sound. The closest comparison I can make is with an old Bozak speaker. Smooth, with good bass, slightly recessed on the highs (foam influenced I'm sure) but never to the point of sounding dull. Fortunately there's a high frequency dial on the back. I turned it up about 1/3 past "flat" and that helped. I suspect they sound a little soft because it's not the original drivers. I imagine the original ones were voiced a little differently. At any rate, for $100, I'm quite happy, and they work well as surrounds. I also wired up the analog output of my DVD player into the rear channel discrete input on my receiver so I can listen to stereo cds using the Duntechs or the Cornwalls. Makes an interesting comparison. I was able to get one pic. Unfortunately light is not very good in my place, and I only have a cell phone camera, so it's pretty lousy. It can be found at: http://www.jonstrack.com/duntechsmall.jpg I'd be curious to hear your thoughts on the speaker. -Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cornwalled Posted October 25, 2006 Author Share Posted October 25, 2006 Well, in switching back and forth between the Duntechs and the Cornwalls, I realise I'm missing a lot of detail in the high end, so it's time to modify! I grabbed my exact-o-knife and pulled out the foam and cut a hole in it so the tweeter is no longer inhibited by it. That helped a fair amount. However, the grill fabric still has some effect on the high frequencies. I'm not sure what to do about that, as the speaker needs some kind of grill on it, otherwise you just see ugly yellow foam. Perhaps there is a type of grill fabric that is more acoustically transparent? -Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cornwalled Posted October 25, 2006 Author Share Posted October 25, 2006 Out of curiousity, I pulled out the midrange and tweeter, and they're pretty lousy! The midrange was a no-name somewhat corroded little square backed driver, and the tweeter is a realistic! I'm formulating plans to replace them, and had an idea for the tweeter: and Audax 1" driver: http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/pshowdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=276-152&ctab=10#Tabs I'm not sure yet about the 5" midrange, but was considering this Pioneer: http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=280-045 Any other drivers you guys would recommend? Seems like this thread's not getting much action, but I figured it was worth a shot. -Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mighty Favog Posted October 25, 2006 Share Posted October 25, 2006 Hmmmmmm.... Wonder if it's a "white van" special rebadged.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cornwalled Posted October 25, 2006 Author Share Posted October 25, 2006 No, they're real Duntechs. He has the manual and everything. What happened (as mentioned earlier) is he had the drivers replaced, because they were old? Don't know why, he just thought they should be replaced. So, he took them to a speaker repair shop, and they removed the nice drivers Duntech originally had, and put cheap Radio Shack drivers in. It's the repair shop that's at fault. They sound like con artists to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garymd Posted October 25, 2006 Share Posted October 25, 2006 How about some horns? It probably wouldn't be too hard to mod the upper cab face and you could voice them to match your Corns. I'm sure the gurus here could help with the networks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cornwalled Posted October 25, 2006 Author Share Posted October 25, 2006 I was wondering the same thing. There would have to be a fair amount of modification, as right now, the midrange has it's own separate chamber. However, the cab is 18 inches deep, so there should be no problem fitting a K-600 horn in there. The woofer chamber is smaller than the Cornwall I think, but the woofer that's in there actually sounds pretty decent. It's a little on the boomy side, but has what seems to be decent extension. As far as the tweeter, it currently has a 4 1/2 inch round cutout in it, so that would be very different than the T-35 requires. -Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheEAR Posted October 25, 2006 Share Posted October 25, 2006 There is no such thing as a cheap Duntech,Duntech is an Australian company in the same vein as Dunlavy(they closed doors ) was.They make outstanding quality speakers,mostly very large sealed cabinet speakers. Sound quality is simply amazing if you have a BIG room and a very high quality powerful and refined power amp.Forget to use some receiver,a total waste oof a Duntech. Like Dynaudio they deserve the best in solid state amplification and at least a solid 100W /ch power amp.They must be spaced at least one meter from the back wall and 1.5-2m from the side walls.Toe in is always a plus. I heard a few Duntech and Dunlavy,was amazed on all counts.So natural,so real.Frankly they put the R series to...well you get the picture.A whole other class of sound quality if you have again I will say it...the high end gear before them. The drivers changed?! Probably a scam ,the drivers match is aparamount to the end result and any changes made could very well destoy a synergy that is magical. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cornwalled Posted October 26, 2006 Author Share Posted October 26, 2006 TheEAR, Thanks for the Duntech/Dunlavy comments. I agree completely, including about the driver mismatch. The synergy has been lost for these speakers, and I would like to restore it, as close to what Mr. Dunlavy would have done as I can. These were made in the late 70s, so they are quite different from the very large, very tall speakers they make now, but still quite respectable. My biggest question is what drivers to use? I would like as accurate, and as close to what Duntech would have used as possible. Any ideas? Thanks for the help -Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djk Posted October 27, 2006 Share Posted October 27, 2006 The guy that 'fixed' them took all the original drivers? Duntech used Dynaudio drivers. Sounds like he put in some trash. You bought what I refer to as a pair of 'monkey coffins' (a nice wood box suitable for the burial of a small animal). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cornwalled Posted October 27, 2006 Author Share Posted October 27, 2006 Here's a pic of the front, attempting to show the recessed baffle that the midrange and tweeter are on. Also note the yellow foam on the right side. This goes all around the driver- front left and right, I removed all but the right side for the pic. I also cut a hole in the foam for the tweeter to fire through, as it was being hindered a fair amount by it. -Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
audiodave Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 Jon, I have a pair of Duntech DL-15B speakers. They are as close to a perfect speaker as I have found. Very tight well defined bass. Great low end and very controlled. No wallowing overshoots like most subwoofers have. They are accoustic suspension (sealed box) and give up efficiency for accuracy. 100W per channel is the minimum power you need. I drive them with a Crown D150A. The stereo image is very accurate because of the foam that prevents reflection of waves from the hard wooden box. The original paper dome tweeter has a soft horn made of putty that is applied to it that further directs the highs without reflections. The foam does not cover the tweeters. It is used to shape the dispersion of the high frequency energy in the near field. These speakers were designed by engineers that used radiation and reflection theory to time align the 3 speakers and also to control the dispersion for very accurate sound reproduction. The shop that replaced your drivers had no idea how these speakers were designed and how to restore them. What a shame. I have replaced the surrounds on the woofer cones as they have deteriorated over the years. They still sound great. They were designed for two pair to be stacked. The top speaker upside down so that the tweeters are close together This was known as the double duntech and were absolutely Awesome!!! I have the manuals for these and can send you a scan if you are interested. Dave Mackenzie Wilmington, DE davemack(at)udel.edu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cornwalled Posted January 15, 2011 Author Share Posted January 15, 2011 Hey Dave, Wow, I really didn't expect a reply to this thread! This has to be a record for inactive thread renewal. How'd you even find this? In an effort to increase space and reduce stuff, I gave the speakers away. The guy actually did a nice job restoring the cosmetics, and is using them in his basement. They sounded like hell though with those Radio Shack drivers. Real shame. Anyway, things are all different now. No horns, no unreliable tubes. I sure don't miss the tube gear, constant pain in the butt- it never really worked right. Course I've heard other people complain about VTL too, so who knows. Could've been different if I had CJ or ARC perhaps. -Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edwinr Posted January 16, 2011 Share Posted January 16, 2011 I had pair of stand mounts a few years ago. They had Dynaudio drivers. Those babies, although small, loved power. They sounded nice. Duntech closed down a few years ago, but they are now back. They've shifted operations from Perth, Western Australia to Sydney. They've released a new speaker which looks really nice. I haven't heard it yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.