Price Paid:  $6000.00 from NY

Summary:
I wanted to tell people about this great mod on the Dunlavy Speakers. I have the Dunlavy Aletha speakers. I had heard that the Aletha's use cheap parts and I recently found a great guy to do Mods here in New York. I had Blackie Pagano at www.tubesville.com look at them. He said the crossover was very complicated for a first order one and used the cheapest parts imagineable. For a $1000 he put in hi grade caps and resistors but did not change the topology at all. He just upgraded parts. What I got back was 75-100% better. It was amazing! The same sonic signature was there but everything was dramatically improved.

Strengths:
Great mids and bass

Weaknesses:
none

Similar Products Used:
BW Nautilus 802s, Dali Grands

Price Paid:  $5700.00 from Analog Shop, Victor, NY

Summary:
It's true, as stated by Dylan in his recent review, that Dunlavy Audio is under new ownerhip, though John D. is doing their R&D (good thing!). It is also true that Cantata and Aletha models are no longer being produced. According to Rand Clark, new DAL CEO, these models (6-sided Aletha in particular) were costly to produce- fully finished cabinets I suspect. They also did not "fit in" with the rest of the Dunlavy line. Personally, I could never consider any of the traditional full-range signature Dunlavy models because of huge dimensions and overpowering appearance.

DAL reports it has a new speaker, SC3A, which has a two- tiered grill, wood trim around the grill, and (I'm guessing) a different finish on the sides and back. It has the same drivers and down-firing woofer as Aletha and Cantata and should sound similar. No idea on pricing.

Personally, I'm glad to have the uniquely designed cabinet and the easy to accept visual appearance of the Aletha. Even more unique now that it is no longer being made. I'm sure the new SC3A will continue the Dunlavy tradition of accuracy and musicality, and though relatively "expensive" in absolute terms, good value.

Strengths:
many. see my earlier review

Weaknesses:
none at all

Summary:
At CES I swung by the Dunlavy room, where they were demo'ing a 5.1 channel system based around the new SCIIIA speaker. It looks very much like a Cantata. There was also a prototype subwoofer. The presentation was excellent as one would expect, with a most impressive bottom end.

Apparently Dunlavy is under new management, and they are trimming the line. The Cantata and Aletha and SCIII are out of production and will have a single replacement, the SCIIIA. Looks like the Aletha just became an instant classic!

As a followup from my previous post, I have settled in with these speakers and feel confident they will be in my two channel system for many years to come. I just can't find anything to fault with them. I recently added a Marantz SA-14 SACD player. Whoah, just when you thought it couldn't get better, it does. This player is a sleeper; too bad nobody is reviewing it. Just wait and see, it will get discovered.

I've also used the Alethas as near field monitors, which of course defeats the time-coherent properties of the speaker, but they do remarkably well off-axis and up close (5 feet away). Try it sometime.

Strengths:
Proof that solid engineering practices can yield amazingly good sound.

Weaknesses:
They're no longer made :(

Similar Products Used:
Lots of great demos heard at CES2002 from Nearfield Acoustics, Gershman Acoustics, mbl, Burmester, Joseph Audio, and Verity Audio

Price Paid:  $4200.00 from audio store

Summary:
I've had these sweet sounding babies for 4 months now and ,if my lifestyle permitted, would listen to them 24/7.As it is my music listening has increased dramatically while my other endeavors have suffered.
These are the best speakers I've heard...period. Totally musical and non fatiguing in every respect. Dunlavys are known to be pretty accurate speakers, maybe that is the key. They are well balanced and very cohesive... not like listening to separate drivers. They don't have the "sizzle factor"....just a relaxed , ease of presentation that is totally involving with any type of music. They don't draw attention to themselves , just the music that is being played.
I could go into detail and talk about the down firing woofer, the attactive hexagonal shape, the impressive measurements, etc. but that would take away from my listening time. Besides , I'm not a real detail guy...I just enjoy listening, listening and listening........ah..heaven.

Strengths:
cohesiveness, liquidity, accuracy, non fatiguing, ease of presentaion

Weaknesses:
none

Similar Products Used:
B&W, Pro-Ac, Vandersteen, Avalon

Price Paid:  $6000.00 from Goodwins High-end

Summary:
The best loudspeakers I've ever heard,by far,no doubt about it. And I think that the only other loudpakers in the world that can sound better than the Alethas are the higher models from Dunlavy Audio Labs.

Strengths:
almost impeccable linearity in the amplitude domain, the phase and time domain; extremely fast settling of siganal and very rapid decay of any residual energy thereby created signal excitation; very low amplitude distortion(harmonic) and intermodulation distortion; sound wave radiation pattern mimicking that of the agrregate average of some of the most important and common live instruments; point source propagation property that couples to the air very well, like the Doppler Effect caused by resonances propagating through water.

Weaknesses:
It's maximum Spl may not be as high as some professional studio monitors(but who listens to his stereo at Spls above 100dB in a domestic setting)?

Similar Products Used:
I used the paragon regent,the wilson watt2/puppy3,the paradigm studio 60,the dunlavy sc-iii, and listened to the B&W Nautilus series, the Revel Salon, the thiel cs6 and cs2.3 and cs7, the dynaudio evidance,the audio physics spark, the Kharma ceramique series(1.0,2.0),magnepan mg3.3, martin-logan sl3,the wilson cubb,the Infinity Kappa series.