Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!uwm.edu!csd4.csd.uwm.edu!info-high-audio-request
From: hunter@nlm.nih.gov (Larry Hunter)
Newsgroups: rec.audio.high-end
Subject: Duntech Black Knights
Message-ID: <13452@uwm.edu>
Date: 26 Jun 91 12:57:26 GMT
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Hi-enders - 

I'm coming perilously close to buying a pair of Duntech Black Knights,
which I can get for $3650.  They are demos at a high end store that I
have sent a lot of business to.  My major comparison point are the B&W
801/Series IIs, which I can get for about $4500. In the contexts I
have heard them, the Duntechs are not quite as spectacular at imaging
as the B&W's, but even deeper and more dynamic, which, given my
musical inclinations, is more important.  I even have space for the
monsterous things in my listening room.

My questions to all you strongly opinionated types (and the rest of
you, too):

  1. Sound.  My ears tell me the Black Knights are spectacular, but
     the audiophile press (e.g. Stereophile, TAS) ignores them.  Why?
     Anybody else out there own them/love them/hate them?  Any
     net.advice? 

  2. Price.  Anybody ever priced these anywhere else?  What does your
     local high end store get for Black Knights?  Now that Duntech has
     a domestic manufacturing arrangement, I thought the price would
     go down, but it seems to have gone up in the last 6 months or so.
     What gives?

  3. Demos.  Any reason not to buy demo speakers from a reputable,
     fairly trustworthy high end dealer?  They come with full
     warranty.

  4. Setup and room acoustics.  Anybody in the DC area have a MLSSA I
     can rent or borrow for a few days??


The front end: NAD 1300 preamp, NAD 2600A amp (handles the fairly easy
to drive Duntechs just fine), Denon TT w/Denon 301 cart, Rotel 855 CD
player, thousands of records, hundreds of CDs, primarily Rock, Jazz,
Blues, Reggae, African Drumming, Female vocals, etc. etc.  Room is
large and L-shaped; with carpet, curtains and lots of books against
the walls (pretty good acoustics, I think).

					Larry

Lawrence Hunter, PhD.
National Library of Medicine
Bldg. 38A, MS-54
Bethesda. MD 20894
(301) 496-9300
(301) 496-0673 (fax)
hunter@nlm.nih.gov (internet)