Dunlavy SC-III Floorstanding Speakers Reviews

Price Paid:  $0.00 from used

Summary:
It has been about 5 years since I got my SC3's and I still love them. But like I said years back that you'll find yourself replacing your system around them and that is what happened. The PS audio amp was replaced by LLANO design amp (available on line only)incredibly good amp do yourself a favor and listen to one. The micromega stage 5 was replaced by a classe cd player. The pre amp is linn Kairn now. And last but not least an REL subwoofer that just itegrates beautifuly with these speakers. Sad to know that dunlavy went belly up and they are no longer in business. Mine are here to stay till the budget will allow a pait of PBN MONTANAS !!!

Price Paid:  $3500.00 from Audio Broker

Summary:
Ya gotta follow directions, Jerry. Of course they'll sound bad at only six(!) feet away. You need to be about 10 feet away from them. And the angle subtended by the speakers should be greater than 60 degrees, so if you were sitting 12 feet away from the plane of the speakers, they would need to be about 14 feet apart for a good soundstage. The manual has very explicit recommendations for getting the best out of these speakers.

They did sound a little bright at first. Some sonex on my bare walls helped that. Neutral speakers + bright untreated room = bright sound. Note that Dunlavy is big treating the back wall with thick foam.

Their imaging is very good (expected at this price level), but seems a little diffuse. This may be because of my much less than ideal listening room, but I wouldn't expect pinpoint imaging from a speaker this size, either. However their soundstaging, i.e. the feeling of listening to real instruments in a hall, is wonderful on recordings that have this information. And the sense of natural scale, particulary image height, is something you're not going to get from mini-monitors or compact floor-standers.

The sealed box means you don't get that boomy, fat, slow, ported speaker bass, but fast and detailed bass. Double bass runs and individual bass drum taps that were a blur before are clearly audible. This means that _The Rite of Spring_ is more rhythmically brutal sounding even without that last bass octave.

One downside is that their is no provision (like spikes) for leveling and securing the stands on thick carpet. I wonder if this may be part of the "soundstage breakup" problem noted by other reviewers.

Equipment:

Bryston B-60 integrated (60W into 8 Ohms; 100W into 4 Ohms)
Arcam Alpha 9 CD player

Room: 16'10" x 12'8" with an adjoining dining room (about 10'x10'). Speakers are along the long wall. I sit with my head about 1' from the back wall and a little less than 10' from each speaker, and the speakers are about 11' apart. The left speaker is actually sticking out in front of a hallway! Luckily the speakers are easy to slide around on carpet.

Strengths:
scale; coherence; neutrality; lack of boom; detail

Weaknesses:
lack of very deep bass; they "float" on thick carpet; lots of space needed for setup

Similar Products Used:
Ariel; Soliloquy (not really similar IMO)

Price Paid:  $2500.00 from Goodwins High End

Summary:
Let's cut to the chase.....I recently bought a pair of Acoustic Energy AE2 Series 2 - great mini-monitor ($3795 in rosewood). I auditioned these Dunlavy's at a friends house and immediately had to have them! So, I got rid of the AE's and bought the SCIII's and I have to say that I have never had this quality and quantity of sound in my listening room...ever!! Once my wife got used to the size (once she heard them...size was insignificant) she was as impressed. First off...big sound, dynamics, imaging like I have never heard, soundstage (I close my eyes and I see every performer suspended in space) - these speakers and most of the DAL line have been called the largest "near-field monitors" in the world - believe it! They cost $4000!! My little, although very good in their category, AE2's are $3795??!! Sorry.....I had to take a cold shower to calm down. Also, the cabinet design is "acoustic suspension" sealed not ported, so there is no trace of "boomy" bass which can plague ported speakers in an average size room. My room size is 12' wide by 14' deep and I have them along the long wall. Certainly not a big listening room, but the SCIII's don't overwhelm the room - they just fill it with sweet, sweet music! Oh, and one more thing, you do not need a monster amp to drive them. They are 91 db and 5.5 ohms. I am running them with room to spare with a 70 watt Aloia amp with huge current inductive power supply. Please feel free to e-mail with further questions. Regards.

Strengths:
"Electrostatic-like" imaging & soundstage. Very dynamic. Allows for a full size presentation - opposed to everyone being 3 feet tall on most speakers. Bass is surprisingly tight and full. Tall, but very small footprint. easy to drive - you do not need the monster amps that need a hand truck to maneuver.

Weaknesses:
Very tall speakers - not for everyone's decor. The better your equipment, the more these baby's SING - so may be limiting based on the quality of the gear used.

Similar Products Used:
Proac, KEF, Acoustic Energy, Paradigm Reference, Martin Logan

Price Paid:  $3600.00 from Interboot España (www.interbootespana.com)

Summary:
I do love them. I had been looking for my new main speakers for a long time, and i did not find any that meet my spectatives. I found all the speakers I tried not worthing the money the cost.

I have to admit that the SC-III cost me about 50% more than their competitors, but I think that they worth the money.

In the shop, I heard them with Chord electronic. INCREDIBLE!!!

I first use them with my Micromega Stage 4 and my Aura 80 SE amp. (45W+45W). They sound quite well.
Then, I bought what is now my actual equipment: I kept my Micromega Stage 4 as transport, and bought Aida DAC, Tosca preamp and Celio power amp., all from Bell Canto.

They make my SC-III works as I wanted them to sound: sweet, accurate, and very controlled.

It is incredible the basses they give.

It is very important the place where you put them in your room. Just moving them about 40 cm makes the diference!!!

Strengths:
High accuracy, very defined sound image

Weaknesses:
Too big, too place sensitive

Similar Products Used:
(not used but compared) Pro Ac, Davis, Wilson-Benesch, NHT 2.5, B&W CDM7...

Summary:
For the price category it definitely deserves 5 stars. Sure, ther are not like the Proac Response 5 speakers or the Dunlavy SC IV-s, which give you a much deeper soundstage, more air, more bass, and so on, but they cost $3900 new and you can get them for about half price on the used market. For that money, you really cannot buy a better speaker. In fact, I would not replace my SCIIIs for Proac 3.5-s if the Proacs were given to me. This is not to say that the 3.5 is a bad speaker -- it is excellent -- but it is to say that the Dunlavy SCIII is outstanding and very hard to beat.

Strengths:
Musical Accuracy (Tone/Pitch/Rythm), Imaging, wide sound
stage, outstanding midrange and treble: voice, chamber music, etc.
Analytic

Weaknesses:
Loud passages in orchestral music: seems congested/compressed
or something. Maybe
I am only missing the lower bass (under 40Hz) or
maybe it is too analytic for those lush passages.

Similar Products Used:
SC II, SC IV, Proac Response 3.5, 5, Totem 1, PSB 300, PSB
Gold, PSB Stratus