This is a monster of a speaker ! Was over at Mike’s place to listen to music with kakis to this beautifully restored 1980’s speakers from JBL. It’s a 4 way speakers and Mike is using 2 set of amp to run the highs-mid & woofer separately.
Cranking it out to almost concert level music listening at 95db. Truly the hallmark the legendary JBL sound but most importantly music and frens.
And that my friends is audio for the win.
Very happy today with the delivery of Jeff Rowland Design Group Model 10 power amp. I must thank William for the wonderful opportunity to acquire this beautiful and well maintained 10 years old amp. The previous owner (original) was a violinist from Hong Kong and listen mainly to classical music to it.
Here are some of my initial highlights in reference to previous setup with the Yamaha PC2200 power amp.
a) Bass more forceful with sense of confidence and can project low frequency unheard of. Reference track is Track 1 of Stefanie Sun Kelper album. I would need to test drive James Blake’s There A Limit to Your Love too.
b) The music presentation is beefier (compact & firm)
c) i suspect the Model 10 power rating > 150Watts as similar dial setting on the Yamaha produces loudness
d) drive the Duntech PCL 15 speakers with ease
e) vocal sound intimate and sweet
f) a more articulated soundstage and the deepening perception provides a listening connection to the music
William says these are the hints of musicality of the power amp. Indeed, i had a bit of a goosebumps moment listening to it and yes that’s it : Music.
Music my friend is audio winning.
Pricing details : Introduced 2000 at retail price US$7,900. Current trade in value is US$3.1k with private party sales around US$3.8 – $4.2k
With the introduction of Jeff Rowland Design Group Model 10 into the house, i experienced audio hum & buzz! Initial troubleshooting showed removing the 3M lighting 2 pin plug from same power strip to resolved it . Apparently it worked for 1 night.
Configuration is CD Player > Pre > Power Amp.
To cut long story short, after trying out several combination to trace the source issue. It is the the RCA – XLR cabling from pre to power amp. Right now, I am using RCA – RCA to the Rowland amp (unbalanced selector) and the noise floor drop to acceptable level again.
Yamaha PC2200 Power Amp is the workhorse! thrown anything at her so can produce. The RCA-XLR is an audio hack which the Ferrari JRDG rejected. It might be unfair to compare the Yamaha with JRDG but it looks like my new girlfriend is very particular to get the best out of her.
I think i earned my morning breakfast with the 45minute troubleshooting and work out.
And that my friend, is audio FTW.
Since I am waiting for my Barcelona chair to arrived in January, I decided to try a diagonal speaker placement. There are two reasons: comfort listening while resting on my bed and reduce some standing waves issue.
In short, it works! Had shifted the equipment rack sitting at the corner and trying to find the widest parallel plane for the speakers. With the diagonal position, i am able to get a very decent soundscape balance. Also, I swapped the custom speakers stands and use a more solid filled Atacama stands coupled with Finite Elemente Cerapucs base. The mids are back and the high less shrills. My reference disc is Penny Tai “Unexpected” where it is very obvious to me that something is wrong and need to be fixed.
And that my friend, is audio winning 🙂
The weather was very hot the past few days. I cannot enjoy the music with the humid air lingering in the ether. Air-con was not helping and i had to push it to overdrive mode just to get some cool air circulating the room.
I suspect the deterioration in audio performance might as well be coming from the old pair of GE JAN 5670W tubes in the Vimak DT300 CD Player. I have been using it since I bought from the previous owner early last year. The combination of humid air and awaiting for the Jeff Rowland Model 10 power amp this weekend prompted me to take action. Finally, I paid a visit to Frankie of Wells Audio at Burlington Square to buy a new pair of tubes.
With the heavy downpour this afternoon and a fresh pair of vacuum tubes, i find the music is alive and well again.
And that my friend is audio winning.
Continuing with my previous post on this exceptional fine pair of monitor’s history. She is known as the Duntech PCL-15 “The Little Dutchess” or “Dutchess” closed box, with speaker finish of either sapele mahogany or black oak.
The blue book states that years of production is between 1988-1999, with a MSRP initial retail pricing of US$1300 per piece (today value of approximate US$2600). The current used market value is around US$350.
It is a VERY RARE speakers in the marketplace now.
Which led me to think if the pair that I have the fortune to own now is part of the original production line or was it ala carte custom order. See, Kelvin (original owner) mentioned he ordered this pair in 2001 through a local dealer. It is not available off the shelf. A check archive.org of Duntech Audio website all the way back to 1999/2001does not provide any clue either. In their studio line, there is no mentioned of PCL15 product , just the PCL 10 & PCL 25
What is different from this pair to most PCL 15 is that it is a professional configuration, with neutrik connector bi-wire connections. Aside to the better audio quality over the + / – terminations, it is easily to plug-in & out the cable connection. Just one twist of the neutrik connector to unplugged it from secured connection.
There is one thread on the web that talks about different version of the same model.
“I have had a black pair of PCL-15’s for a few years now and thought they where accurate but lacking in bass. However I recently purchased another pair of PCL-15’s, a light timber veneered model and the main driver is mounted on a square aluminium plate where as the black pair has the driver mounted on the speaker box timber.. Other than this, they look identical,however the sound of my newer pair is a great improvement in the overall sound especially the bass. I use them for mixing my recordings and the black pair to me seemed like rather like the Yamaha NS10M, hard to achieve a pleasing mix but once you where there it translated well to other speakers and systems. So I thought it was their design of being very revealing and accurate but not pleasing. The new pair i have seem much more musical but still accurate. This has me thinking there is a possibility there is something wrong with the old pair. Has any one else experienced this variation in within the Duntech PLC_15 model? All pics on the net of the black pair seem to have the aluminium plate as well? I am hoping some one can shed some light on this for me. ”Material used:
Most Duntech models had the internal space pretty much completely filled with an open cell yellowish soft foam (Dunlop Hypersoft HS1730 :-)). The crossovers normally used air cored inductors, first order crossovers and Solen or Bennic polypropylene capacitors. The crossovers should be mounted on a piece of MDF, with connections made via plated pins approx. 5mm diameter, mounted into the MDF. All crossover cabling should be very neatly formed, not haphazardly wired. All the crossover components should be mounted with heat glue to the MDF. Van Den Hul internal cabling was often used. – By Sub SonicNote:
PCL 10 (4.25″ woofer, 0.5″ tweeter) is produced from 1996 at MSRP of US$1400 per pair.
PCL 25 (6.5″ woofer x 2 , 1″ tweeter) is produced from 1995 at MSRP of US$2000 per pair.
I have recently acquired this wonderful pair of speakers. Always wanted to own a pair of Duntech designed by John Dunlavy during my audio days.
The previous owner, Kelvin, is a sound engineer, audio designer and music lover. He bought it in 2001 at the cost of S$4500 and comes with matching 31″ SST speakers stands and studio cables. Speakers connections are Neutrik bi-wire type -banana plug.
Based on his estimate, there are probably only 3 pairs of such speakers in Singapore.
Kelvin takes care of the speakers by oiling the wooden body every six months or so. For a 14 years old speakers, i must say it’s still in very good condition ! Obviously, the sound is stellar and that’s for another post.
Some comments by Studio engineers and Reviewers :
“ The most accurate monitors available….period”
“Absolutely phase coherent”
“Super extended, super sweet & throws a huge soundstage”
“Incredible mids & highs. MAGICAL!”
“Ultra accurate & Very detailed reproduction. Excellent stereo imaging”
There’s very limited information to this speakers and would like to post and share the joy of owing it. More to comes on how I got it as well as photos and thoughts on it.
For starters, here is the full specifications of Duntech PCL 15 (Pro) speakers.
DUNTECH PCL 15
PROFESSIONAL CONTROL ROOM LOUDSPEAKER
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
cabinet design : sealed acoustic suspension
drivers : 7” woofercc(3” voice coil & 3” damped central dust cap) 1” silk dome tweeter (with proprietary flared duct waveguide & acoustical felt damper)
crossover : passive 2-way
crossover point : 3.8kHz
frequency response : 50Hz to 20kHz +/- 3db
sensitivity : 83db 1 watt @ 1 metre
max power handling : 100 watts
maximum SPL : 110db
nominal impedance : 6 ohms
minimal impedance : 6 ohms
speakers connections : Neutrik NL 4 MPR Bi-wire Pin 1+ / 1- HF Pin 2+ / 2- LF
dimensions : 13” (H) x 9” (W) x 7.5” (D)
weight : 14 lbs per speakers
DUNTECH INTERNATIONAL AUDIO STANDARDS CORPORATION PO BOX 421, Salisbury , South Australia
And that my friend is audio winning 🙂