Having owned around 25 pairs of various hi end loudspeakers, I had no idea what I was in store for when I bought these Duntech Princess loudspeakers. Obviously they are HUGE, at over 6 feet tall, and 160lbs each. They need space from the walls. When set up properly, they are simply amazing. The detail they portray is fantastic. I have heard things in my CD's that I have never heard before. Every nuance is in the presentation, from top to bottom. The sound stage is huge. For a huge loudspeaker, they are very focused sounding. No bloated bass, or sharp treble. Voices sound like they are live. These loudspeakers are neutral. Better in, means better out. They do need at least 120+ wpc to drive them properly. I am using 120wpc, and could probably stand to buy a more powerful amplifier. I would say 200wpc would be just right. Having heard some Focal Utopia loudspeakers, I can say that the Princess sound better. I would put these loudspeakers against anything from Wilson, Dynaudio, Focal, etc. I never get tired of listening to these loudspeakers. Now it's time for another power amplifier. Highly recommended.

These speakers are simply breath taking. Never have I sat in from of a pair ok speakers and felt that I have never heard musci before. It made my resonably expensive old speakers sound like a pile of junk. They are simply amazing and I keep thinking that I need another pair just in case the un forgivable happens to them. I am even of the thinking if I were to get married I would go to the length of putting them solely in a prenu, so I could never be parted from them.

The sound, my friend, the sound.

They are ugly beasts, so the WAF is very low.

This review is for the Crown Prince model, later replaced by Princess.
Having owned a pair of Genesis APM-1s for quite some time, I began looking for something more refined and musical. After drawing up a shortlist I finally decided on Duntech's Crown Prince (PCL 1000). After a lengthy search I managed to locate a pair and close a deal. They were delivered two months ago and I have been practically living in my listening room ever since. I take all advertising slogans with a healthy pinch of salt, but "The world's most accurate speakers" seems to be a fair representation of their sonic performance. My pair is 19 years old, but all 4 bass drivers have recently been refurbished by Dynaudio and the crossover reconstructed. The main difference between these speakers and my previous ones is that the sound the Duntechs make is, for want of a better word, "organic", while the APM-1s are showy and "in your face". They cover practically the entire spectrum, going down to approximately 25 Hz, and doing this in style. The Morel tweeters deliver plenty of high quality details, seamlessly merging with a natural and rich midrange. All this is set on a bass foundation that is both tight and powerful. While I realise that Duntech's flagship - the Soverign, delivers more in the bass department, the Crown Prince is more suited to classical music and music played on accoustic instruments. Having said that, when I put on Deep Purple's "Made in Japan" on vinyl, I was almost transported in time to the hall in Osaka. The reproduction of human voice is also exceptional, with every shade and nuance put before the listener on a plate. All in all, a great product which proves that proper design and application can be timeless. So, if you can get a pair in good condition for up to USD 2,500, buy them and your quest for perfect speakers may well be over. Mine certainly is.
However, to really appreciate their full potential, you need a large and accoustically adapted room and powerful amplification plus decent cables.
My room is 8 m x 6 m x 3 m and professionally adapted.
The rest of the system comprises:
McIntosh C41
McIntosh C352
McIntosh MCD7010
Thorens TD 2001
Synergistic Research Resolution Reference cables
Fadel Art Hotline Plus and power cords

Customer Service

I have nothing but praise for the people at Duntech's customer service department. Although I was buying a long-discontinued product on the pre-owned market some 10,000 miles from Australia, they patiently answered all my questions, providing comprehensive information and useful tips. Full marks!

Similar Products Used:

Genesis APM-1

Imaging, Dynamics, Accuracy

Size, Weight, Cost

These speakers are the best I have ever owned. They posess the best characteristics of the planar and esl speakers yet are much more dynamic. The music just sounds "right". On the downside are their size and weight. Placement and room size are critical to get the most out of these incredible speakers. I was offered a pair of these speakers for a price I couldn't refuse, well under $2000, so I made the purchase. I don't regret it at all, eventhough my wife has a different opinion. If you can pick a pair of these up for under $3000 on the used market, and you have the space, by all means do so. Highly recommended.

Associated equipment:
Pioneer Elite CD Player
Adcom GFP-750 Preamp
Audio Research 100.2 Poweramp
DH Labs interconnect
Analysis Plus speaker cable

Similar Products Used:

Martin-Logan Quest, Magnepan 1.6 Q/R, Klipsch LaScala, Klipsch Forte II Vandersteen 2Ce

The speakers are very natural sounding. Insturments and voices sound almost live. This is a great 'well rounded' speaker.

Size. You need a large room to fully appreciate the speakers.

This is a great natural sounding speaker. The Princess sounds better than the Dunlavy IVs that I heard at an audio show. These speakers can do everything well.

Other Equipment:

Crown MacoSeries Amp
Harmonic Technology Cables and Interconnects
Hitachi DVD/CD HDCD,24/96

Similar Products Used:

Dunlavy IV

Musicality. Ability to handle huge power loads (1000 Watts). Immense soundstage!

These are really big speakers -- bring in the forklift!
Expensive - list $14,000.00.

These are quite simply the best sounding speakers I have ever owned. These speakers have been listed as Class "A" without extreme low frequency.Every speaker has its talents but these so everything well.

My system includes the following equipment:

-Theta Data Basic II CD Transport
-Golden Theater GTX 24/96 DAC & Processor
-Pair of Bryston 3B-ST's running @ 400 watts bridged
-Sunfire Signature Subwoofer
-Silver Sonic Speaker wire run as bi-wired

These speakers are extremely musical and have the kind of refined nature that you can listen to for hours without tiring. For their size it is possible to listen at very low volume levels and still be very satisfying. Acoustical music has the kind of shimmer you only hear on rare occasion. And when you want to rock these babies can blow out windows and make your neighbors ears bleed. I also use these as mains on my home theater set-up and they outperform any theater speaker I have ever heard. Duntech makes one model above these (The Soveriegn) but I can not imagine any dramatic difference. These speakers are so full range I have my subwoofer croosed over at 40 Hz and I really only hear it on rare tracks.

The only knocks on these are their size, weight & cost.
-about 6'-0 tall
-about 150 pounds each
-$14,000 retail

If you can locate a used pair under $4,000 buy them, they are untouched in this price range. Then hire a forklift driver to move them to your house.

It should be noted that the Dunlavy IV is essentially the same speaker designed by the same engineer but manufactured
in the US (Duntech is Australian) at a much lower price due to shipping costs. I have listened to both and while I like both I feel the Duntechs possess a magic that the Dunlavy's do not. I can't explain why but I assume either the crossover or the drivers are slightly different.

Similar Products Used:

Magneplanar, Alon IV, Soundwave Pointsource 3.0, ACI Sapphire III's w/sub, Swans.

Refined and accurate with exeptional imaging and sound stage. Can handle peaks of up to 1000w but you don't need mosters to drive them.

Size and cost

Largely covered above. Only mild critism is that sometimes they are too restrained! This of course could be as much a function of room accoustics, other components or my ears.
Standing 6' tall and +/- a couple of feet deep they cast an imposing figure but like their sound they are refined and surprisingly not overbearing.
Coupled with a Meridian 506 cd player, ME pre amp and ME 850
power amp (Australian made) they produce beautifull music.

stupendous soundstage, excellent tonal balance, extremely transparent, classis design

size.

Purchased these speakers direct from Duntech. Thank you Mr. James Alexander for the wonderful service not to mention for making an excellent product.

I finally decided on the Princess after extensively auditioning the Dunlavy SC4A and 5. The Dunlavys sounded too technically correct that it wasn't musical anymore. It never drew me to the music no matter how hard I tried. The Princess on the other hand sounded so natural and and correct that my wife had to drag me out of my listening room. Furthermore, you could see the construction of the Princess as first rate. Hand rubbed wood cabinets as opposed to cheap laminate on the Dunlavy. I wanted to get the Dunlavy since we had a distributor here. However, going through the hassle of ordering the Duntech and having them shipped was worth it.

I agree that the Duntechs have been designed and engineered correctly from the beginning. No more upgrades and imrpovements to different series which is frustrating for us buyers.

My system:
Mark Levinson 380S
Mark Levinson 336
Theta CD player ( due for replacement)

Similar Products Used:

Dunlavy SC4 and SC5

Detail, Dynamics, Soundstage, Purity

serious speakers so you need serious electronics and a good room

This is my first system since crappy Bose 601's and a B&O amp from the seventies. The speakers were second hand and had been abused so I relpaced all drivers through Duntech and since then moved house so the sound has changed dramatically since I first got them. They sound amazing playing acustic guitar and vocals and with serisly blow your windows out if you play something like Bjork. They will castrate a bad recording though, as they are so accurate.
I like them and will hang onto them for a long while.
gear:
Krell KSA150 amp
Classe Audio four pre amp
Denon DVD5000 CD/DVD player
Audio researh balanced interconnects
QED silver bi wire

Similar Products Used:

ATC300