25 Most Underrated Vintage Speakers

Mikado463 said:
Fond memories of my DQ-10's, long gone but not forgotten !!
Click to expand...
Dizzie said:
Mine were stolen along with the solid walnut stands I built. Moved on to Apogee.
Click to expand...
Speaking of Dahlquist DQ-10s, I have a pair i picked up from an engineering colleague that he obtained in the late 70/early 80s. They were restored by myself back to original condition (with the exception of new binding posts).

After the work was completed, the speakers were moved to the main system and connected with more modern electronics and received signals from digital sources, analog vinyl, and analog tape.

The sound of these now 40+ year old Dahlquist speakers was still impressive all these years later.

I had a close friend, who owned a pair back in the late 70's, visit and we listened to them for several hours. When we were done, his comments were along the lines of saying these speakers sound excellent with modern electronics and he's never heard them like this and they are much better than he ever remembers and has ever heard. He went on to say any Dahlquist owners need the hear these speakers like this.

BTW: I acquired the Dahlquist DQ-10s from my colleague and will use them in a vintage speaker-based system I'm slowly collecting components for.

The finished mirrored pair are shown in this picture below
fetch


P.S. If you want to see more about my restoration project you can visit this link:
https://www.audionirvana.org/forum/andre-s-avenue/off-the-grid/192904-dahlquist-dq-10-restoration

Dre
 
On a trip to the US in the 80s, I visited a New York showroom with KEF Reference 107s on display. I'd never seen these big speakers in the UK - most were exported, so I was on the lookout for a used pair. I found some advertised and bought them in excellent used condition for a few £000.

Not sure if they were "underrated", as the only review I've read was from Stereophile that said about them "Overall, I consider the KEF 107s to be an engineering marvel and, by a clear margin, the best full-range conventional speaker money can buy." They were unconventional and costly when new - Stereophile quoted $3900 in 1986 and $5900 a few years later..

I enjoyed them for a few years before making a big mistake - changing them for ATC Active 50 speakers.
KEF Reference 107 Cutaway.jpg
 
Last edited:
After Quad ESL 63, Apogee Duetta, Avalon Radian I settled with Avalon Ascent2. In 1990 these speakers were awesome, they still are. Thank you Mr Hansen!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top