Imaging-accuracy-midrange

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The finest used value in the world.Nothing even remotely in the same price point comes close. I have had people offer well over $500 for mine but I'll never sell them. Once you've heard them......

coherence

no real deep bass

I owned a pair of these from the late 70's to the early eighties. I sold them and bought a pair of maggies. I have owned many speakers over the years, but I have never owned or heard a speaker I liked better than the DQ-10s. I have regretted selling them many times over, but my wife did not like the way they looked. I wish I had kept the DQ-10s and sold the wife, instead. Why can't somebody take the original design and start building them again?

Lovely, tireless listening. Realism to vocals that few speakers can touch. Have had for >20 years and have yet to hear any speakers <$5,000 that can touch the imaging, sound stage, and separation of these babies. Coherency and separation that I've been satisfied with for years.

Low bass, power hungry, size, finnicky room positioning. Company now out of business.

Been listening to these babies for a long time and still love 'em. With a Phase Linear amp (>250wpc) and preamp (series 2000), these guys still sound great. Most recently had an M&K subwoofer, but wasn't happy with it, so away it goes. Currently, I am shopping for a sub to go with these guys. Any opinions on the NHT Sub Two?

Had to have my woofers reconed--other than that, no build quality issues. Would buy Dahlquist again if they were still in the business. Have not upgraded the caps or crossovers.

Now looking to find a dsp that can work with uncoded/ encoded signals so that I can use the DQ10s as part of a home theatre system. Any leads would be most appreciated.

Similar Products Used:

M&K subwoofer, Magnepan, Polk, others

These are very good speakers

Extraordinary imaging and sound stage, clarity and speed.

Power hungry, positioning critical, low bass unavailable without subwoofers.

I have a pair of DQ10's, a pair of DQ 1W's, and a modified DQ LP 1 Crossover. The DQ 10's are heavily modified by Randall Research upgrade (add an additional $800 and three engineers working about ten hours to mod them). They are powered by CJ MV 75a1 and an Iverson Eagle 2 on Subwoofers.

Never have I heard speakers under $7500 to rival there accuracy, speed, and clarity -- truly the only better experience is the concert hall.

John Dahlquist designed a speaker easily capable of playing classical or rock. With Randall mod, these speaker are very fast, very accurate and the stage -- simply close your eyes and point to the instruments.

Listening is an event close to heaven!

A couple of recommendations if you would love to have them even more perfect.

First, years ago, Frank Van Alstine recommended to things -- wrapping each driver and sound board with clay (kid variety) and also an inch on inside of of speaker. It kills any box sound of a speaker. That's the truth.

His second suggestion is pure physics -- the heaviest component of a speaker is the woofer magnet and consequently the sound seems to fall or recede -- lead on top, the more the better, has the sound rise out and around the speaker -- try it, you will be very surprised. Mono your system and lift weight from one to test for yourself.

I have an older stereo system in my house, but I think that it still sounds very good even theough it is almost 25 years old. I have 4 dalquist DQ-10's, 2 stacked on top of each other. I found that this gave a very good all around sound for my application. To make up for the slight lack of bss in these speakers I bought two Janis w-1 subwoofers, they have 2 15 inch drivers in them. I have a 25 foot long room and I placed the speakers at the long end of the room so as to have the lowest possible bass note from the woofers. To power the woofers and the 4 dq-10's I have two Hafler 500 amplifiers. One for the woofers and one for the 4 Dalquists. I have found that these amps give ample power for this system. I have a hafler pre-amp and a variable crossover for the subwoofers. I have the crossover set at around 60 cycles. I have a carver CD player. When I purchased all of this equipment I wanted the best possible turntable, so I bought a techniq SP-10MK2 and I have an infinity black widow tone arm with an infinity moving coil cartrige. I love the way that the Dalquists sound when I play organ music on them. The highs are incredible!!

Enormous soundstage,open,crystal detail.

Needs a big room.

I rescued my DQ-10s from a local pawnshop. I had admired them over the years, and knew if I saw thm for the right price that I would buy them. They were a little beaten up, so I was prepared for a restoration project. I contacted the Regnar techs for advice and armed with the info they gave me , I negotiated a price of $260.00. In addition to refinishing the side rails and cleaning the grilles, I discovered the original Woofers had been replaced with auto subwoofers with the wrong impedance. I used Advent woofers for the replacement and the end result was astounding!. the sound was very open and detailed like my Synthesis Twos but the soundstage was much bigger. the highs were crystal clear and the mids were lush and warm. I find no fault with the bottom end, the bass can be felt in the walls, and thats enough for me.You can talk about specs but the true test is the listening experience. these speakers have depth and character, bottom line, I have rediscovered my favorite music. Groups like Special EFX, Weather Report sound great!.

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Synthesis Two - Produced by a division of Conrad Johnson

Excellent presence, beautiful harmonic reproduction.

Power hog, not a lot of bass.

I purchased the Dahlquist DQ-10's about 9 years ago. They have the most beautiful sound of any speaker I've ever heard. They bring out the sounds of all the instruments simultaneously, you hear what you've never heard before through other speakers. I play them with a Pioneer SX-125 receiver from the late 70's, it has a power output of 160 watts per channel. To make up for the loss of bass and power I have 2 Bose 901's being powered by a Yamaha P3500 amplifier rated at 390 watts per channel. The Bose have a great powerful sound but lack the crisp highs of the DQ-10's The combination of the 2 types of speakers makes a wonderful sound of thunderous bass and crisp clear highs. You hear the subtlties of the female vocalist and feel the house move with the most powerful bass I've ever experienced.

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Bose 901

They play music. Open sound, big stage, excellent mid range. Sound better the harder you drive 'em.

Not much

There are so many good reviews here that I wondered whether I should bother. What the hell!
I bought these in 1980 and used them for about 5 years, a lot. Then my interest faded (computers)although I played them now and again.
Then a couple of years ago I found that the foam had gone (not bad after 18 years). I had these replaced, not too expensive and once again, didn't spend much time listening.
In last few months the bug has come back and there's quite a bit of new gear here so decided to sell the Dahlquists.
Dusted them off and decided to check if they were still OK. Started to play. First half hour was pretty shabby but then, my goodness, they really kick.
Quite wonderful. Had a late night that night. No longer selling them. Just shows you how little real progress has been made in 20 years.
If you can get a pair for the US$500 mentioned elsewhere you will be delighted, even if they need repairs. Check that the bass driver is the Dahlquist original. Many have been modified, but this is not necessarily a bad thing.
Do have a lot of power on hand (actually, current capability - say 40 amps)
New RG10s are US$3500/pair. Wow!

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Several Lowther driven horns.

superb imaging

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To experience the excellent, rock-solid image created by the DQ-10 you must elevate them so the multi-driver array is at ear level. DQ-10's came with pathetic, little , walnut "feet". The optional stands appeared originally with three walnut columns connecting a shelf at the top to a base made of particle board and covered with black plastic. When the Dq-10 was improved with highest quality caps and resistors in the crossover, it became the DQ-10a. At the same time, the optional stand was redesigned and the three walnut columns were replaced with a 7 1/2" x 10" (W)x 2 1/4" block of walnut between the top shelf and the base. The huge dynamic capability of the DQ-10's cause enormous resonance through the stands. To enjoy a major improvement, lag bolt the top shelf of the stand to the bottom of the speaker, toss the particle board base and replace it with a piece of granite the same size. Have a hole drilled through the center of the granite and apply epoxy before lag bolting it to the block of walnut. Epoxy glue four "Tip Toes" (large aluminum cones)to the bottom corners of the granite. Buy another piece of granite that is thicker, and about two inches larger all around. Place the stand with the spikes in the larger piece. If the granite sits on wooden flooring, place vinyl stick-on squares on the bottom corners of the larger stone. After you place and center your DQ-10's, prepare to hear magic!

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