The Dalhquist DQ-10 loudspeaker has not as yet been formally submitted for review. (The designer tells us he is still working on the low end.) We auditioned a pair at the one local dealer we could find who had the DQ-10s on demo, and were immensely impressed. Obviously, Jon Dahlquist is on to something that other speaker designers have been overlooking, for, despite the multiplicity of driver speakers in the system, the DQ-10 sounds like one big speaker. There is no awareness of crossovers or separate drivers (except at the low end, about which more subsequently), and the overall sound has a degree of focus and coherence that is surpassed only by the Quad full-range electrostatic, which don't go as low at the bottom or as far out at the top.

Any criticisms? Mainly about the low end which, although well-balanced with the rest of the range, seemed somehow unrelated to it. Bass was a bit loose and flabby—which the upper range was not. The designer is acutely aware of this, and has been working to improve the bottom—here we go again!—which is why, we are told, we have not yet received our own samples for testing. Even as it stands now, though, the Dahlquist DQ-10 is near the very top in its price class, and is stiff competition for the no-holds-barred (and cost-no-object) Class A "Recommended" speaker systems.

In our opinion, the Quad still does a tiny bit better what the Dahlquist does extremely well, but the Quad is a very difficult load for many amplifiers, and won't put out anywhere near the sheer volume of of the Dahiquist. A tough choice.