I am not an Audiophile but since the purchase of the SC-III's I'm well on my way to becoming one. I have enjoyed owning the SC-III's for almost a year now. These speakers as with any of the Dunlavy speakers are simply amazing. Before my purchase I auditioned to name a few, B & W, Hales, Martin-Logan, NHT, ProAc, Theil, and Sonus Faber. To me the Dunlavy's were an easy choice. I have listened to them for hours with no sign of fatigue. The speakers are extremely warm, smooth with quick bass, and a very realistic soundstage. The only down fall is the lacking of deep bass, but add a very good sub and boom, instant SC-V's... (well almost),
If you are currently shopping for speakers I strongly suggest you audition Dunlavy before you make your final decision, you will thank me later. I believe Dunlavy put to rest the age old saying that the speakers are the weakest link in the audio chain. Now all I have to do is upgrade my electronics to match the ability of the Dunlavy's... which I doubt will ever happen, but I will certainly enjoy trying. Please feel free to visit my web page: www.trader.com/users/5013/9229/homehifi for more information on my system and other audio stuff.

I owned a pair of SC-IIIs for about six months. I heard them at Dunlavy's factory in Colorado Springs, and thought they sounded great in their large room. I ordered a pair without hearing them in my listening room. BIG MISTAKE!!!
These speakers require, need, demand a large room. In my regular listening room, I sit about 6 feet from the plane of the speakers. This is too close, and results in poor imaging, integration, etc. I moved them to my living room (400 square feet), where the listening seat is 12 feet from the plane of the speakers. Much better. However, I never felt these speakers were sonically competitive with others in their price range. For example, the Aerial 7's image better, are easier to ship, and have better bass. A pair of used B&W 802s Series 2 or 3 (under $2K) will blow SC-IIIs away. PSB Stratus Golds are also worthy of consideration.

Please try to audition these in your listening room before purchase.

I received SC-III yesterday from Sunshine Stereo (Miami, FL). SC-III replaced my old speakers, which I used for last 6 years until yesterday and still consider them as very good sounding speakers. When I connected SC-III to my Conrad-Johnson Premier 11A/PV-12, Oh God, there was a sound from Heaven. I had never heard a sound this beautiful. They produced very well controlled soundstage, neutrality and most importantly it was so musical. Just as any audiophiles out there, I listerned a lot of brands, you name it, such as thiels, Wilson, Legacy, Spendor,Von Schweikert. There are all good or great. But SC-III, at least my system with limited power, are most musical to me. I listern mostly classical music (>95%) on CD or LP. Their weak base (?) was not problem to me. I listerned both Bach's cello suit No. 1 and Beethoven's violin sonata No. 5 last night. I and My wife thought Mrs. Rostropovich and Mr. Pincas Zukerman were visiting us. If you are looking for a speaker, go out and listern Dunlavy or you will regret for long long time later.
Five Stars?-- Absolutely and Positively
Enjoy your music. They are so wonderful.

I've owned a pair of SC3's for afew month now. My system consists of a P.S. Audio 200 c amp,a tube pre amp that was built by a friend and replaced a P.S. 5.0 and a micromega stage 5 C.D. player.
These speakers are stuff that hi fi dreams are made of. They are transparent,
and have a huge sound. and by huge I mean wide deep and tall soundstage. If you listen to a big band or an orchestra it will sound like one.
I've listened to a system that consisted of Mark Levinson 33 monoblocks (The real thing not the 33H's)Wilson watt and puppy's 5 a big wilson sub powered by Rowland amp, M.L. Transport and DA converter and cables that cost more than my entire system. I came back home and fired up my system and for the first time
was happy with what I heard. The Dunlavy is such a great speaker that you'll find yourself looking to replace everything else around it...

Dunlavy IIBest sound for the money, huge soundstage in a big room, alittle lite on the lower bass but overall an incredible product! Audtioned MartinLogan Aerius,Alon I and Two but the Dunlavys` won hands down!
In fact the entire line is possibly the best line of speakers out there today!

"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.

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.

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.

Similar Products Used:

Proac, KEF, Acoustic Energy, Paradigm Reference, Martin Logan

Dunlavy SC-III speaker is a great product. I have listened myself so I know what I am writing about. Jerry is wrong. Other great speakers are VR 4, Emminent Technologies VIII, any Proac Response series, Martin Logan, Thiels, NHT 2.9, Magnapen, Mirage, Totem, Sony ES series (surprisingly); some of the name I can mention for around $3,000 to $3,500 price range. I have listened all them above. They are as good as Wilson Watt/ Puppy's for sure.

I just purchased a used pair of SCIII's which I got an incredible deal on!I love these speakers and agree with all the positive already given them above
The best way to sum up these speakers is that unlike most speakers out there today, they do not have a strong point; that is, they don't excell at anything.
Instead, they just do EVERYTHING really well. Every speaker I have ever owned has always had a compromise in some area, until now. For example, the SCIII's are replacing a pair of Martin Logans on which you cannot play rock n' roll.
Just 'cause I'm an audiophile doesn't mean I don't like to rock-out every now and then and these puppies let you! Also, I suffer from listening fatigue very easily (can't you just hear the Paradigm, Klipsch, Polk, PSB, B&W, Definitive Technology, etc., etc., "nails on the chalkboard"?). God, I HATE bright speakers. And as far as lack of bass is concerned, funny, I've been to a lot of Jazz/Blues clubs as well as symphonies, and I don't ever remember the ground shaking or the walls rattling or a "sock" to the stomach. Live music does NOT have all that bass!
Anyway, these blow the Martin Logans away! Great job Mr. Dunlavy!

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

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.

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.

Similar Products Used:

SC II, SC IV, Proac Response 3.5, 5, Totem 1, PSB 300, PSB
Gold, PSB Stratus

High accuracy, very defined sound image

Too big, too place sensitive

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!!!

Similar Products Used:

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