Who's Heard the Dutch & Dutch Speakers

That listening room looks so sad, it's like your lined up in front of a firing squad.

 

That’s just plain mean. I had to choose between window, headboard and trouser press. I went with trouser press.

Next year I’ll book earlier and get a bigger room.

 

If they can sound good in that space and decor no problems, just the thought of sitting in them seats and some ac/dc blasting out whilst next doors horns are playing a string quartet arrgh.

 

I did have to apologise to the neighbours once or twice.

 

Indeed it does look awful, even for the 8c... I really respect your work and not being afraid to accept the challenge, even with the worst room it is better than sitting home and just staring at the computer all day. But you do need more space to really wow people, I have heard the 8c in several rooms and something a bit bigger worked wonders. Again, people like you make all the difference.

 

The room was fine. We could have used the extra space provided by a larger room to seat more people, but that’s all really.

 

In the hands(ears?) of someone who knows what he's doing it sure is enough. If you liked it and found it decent then it must have been OK, my rooms is 3.5mX7.5m and I hate it

 

In my 5x4m room, with room measuring and some sensible DSP, I’m happy.

They, coupled with the rest of the kit, seem to show what’s on the recording ok to me.

 

The true advantage of something modern like the 8c's or the Kiis shows up in the small room/unusual room setting. You can get really good sound, even really big sound with quality bass, without too much trouble, add-ons, or fiddling.
My kit pleases me in a small room in a way no conventional system anywhere it's price would.

 

I have said it several times - in my awful room the Dutch&Dutch 8c simply killed my 40K system. But then I heard it in a large(ish) space and I honestly almost forgot about the Magico M6. Well, I almost

 

Those Magicos are certainly pretty. They remind me of the wing sails used on racing catamarans.

 

I’m interested in this kind of speaker design because on paper it seems to offer so much, including adaptation to different rooms, high quality, and a reduction in box count. I’ve now heard the 8Cs twice at Cranage. Last year was a reasonably large room, and I got the impression of a bright, highly resolving speaker. My concern was whether it would be fatiguing to listen to for long periods of time, but as the music being played then was also likely to be brickwalled, it was quite likely to be attributable to that.

My first thought on going into the room this year was that it would be a real test of whether these speakers could adapt to a difficult room. I was able to listen to the first two movements of Shostakovich’s 8th quartet, and also Miles Davis' ESP. In the quartet, violins were bright, but the viola and cello were muddy and unfocussed, to the point where there was no stereo image of the musicians, and the music did not 'gel'. Exactly the same problem with ESP – bass was badly focussed and seemed to be largely one smeared note, disconnected from the rest of the quintet. Trumpet was OK, but nothing special. I did ask what room correction was configured, and I think this was a filter applied through the mini DSP SHD, not the 8Cs – I don’t know if it would have made a difference to have tried a different configuration.

I’ve hesitated writing my comments on Cranage because I do appreciate the effort made in presenting at a show like this, often in less than optimal conditions. I’m still interested in this kind of design – it’s likely to be the way forward, but based on what I've heard, I’ll probably wait for another couple of years to see what other designs come to market.

 

Why not book a home demo? Find out what they can do in your room when set up to suit your taste. Give me a call and we'll book something in.

 

Can anyone explain to me how KR managed to have the speakers and listener forming an equilateral triangle with the speakers toed in 45°? He claims that Dutch and Dutch recommend this; but surely a speaker requiring a non-Euclidean listening room is a very specialised product.

 

Ask him yourself, he posts over on ASR.
Keith

 

True- I might do that.

 

Maybe the speakers weren't facing the listener, but facing a spot a bit in front of the listener?

 

I think what KR is saying is that the *positions* of the speakers are such that they form an equilateral triangle with the listener’s seat, but that the speakers are toed in by 45 degrees.

 

I’ve never thought a hotel room at a hifi show is a good test for speakers. All it does is replicate precisely that. At the prices involved, a home demo would prove very useful.

 

Thank you - will do, probably later this year.