Dunlavy SC-III speakers    back to Reviews
Date: August, 1997

I owned a pair of SC-IIIs for about six months. I spent a very interesting and enjoyable afternoon with the affable John Dunlavy at his factory in Colorado Springs, and thought the SC-IIIs sounded great in his large demo and listening room. I ordered a pair from my local dealer without first hearing them in my listening room. BIG MISTAKE!!!

These speakers require, need, demand a large room. In my regular listening room, I sit about 8 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. Given the size of the speaker and the presence of a pair of small woofers, low-to-mid bass is more on par with small 2-way mini-monitors than a speaker as physically imposing as these are. I never felt these speakers were sonically competitive with others in their price range. For example, the Aerial 7's image better, have a much higher "spouse acceptance factor", and have better bass. A pair of used B&W 802s Series 2 or 3 (under $2K) will blow SC-IIIs away in every area that makes listening to music enjoyable. And then I was blown away when I saw what it costs to ship these to their new home.

More than any other component I've heard, these speakers should be auditioned in your listening room before purchase.

Overall Rating:  6 LPs