Duntech Ruby

I've owned and used these Duntech Ruby Stereo speakers for 16 months now and am still infatuated with them.

Out of the box they immediately impress with their timber finish - 2 sheets of bookmatched Jarrah veneer; one sheet wrapped around each speaker (front, top and sides - not sure quite how they managed this).

Run-in time seemed interminable. For the first 3 months or so I found them somewhat fatiguing, then the top and midranges mellowed out. Female voices on track 4 of "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou" soundtrack quietly soared and when joined by the males all voices were nicely seperated and distiguishable. Track 7 on the same album, the "Man of Constant Sorrow" instrumental ambled along perfectly. The bass remained a tad flat for at least 9 months (a reflection of the music I listen to?) before developing the richness I'd hoped for. The speakers apparently bottom out at 40HZ but are sufficiently accurate that you are frustratingly aware that the bass organ notes on the "Adagio for Organ and Strings" (Albinoni/Giazotto) continue past audible range. With my son's Prodigy CD playing and the volume set between 10 and 11 o'clock (old 80 watt RMS amp) the bass wasn't booming but still had serious grunt - the oak frame of my old club chair actually shook!

One surprise - between notes, between voices, between tracks was silence. I hadn't realised that silence could have presence and impact, was important. Still can't figure this one out. But I really like it!

Like all accurate speakers the Rubies are unforgiving of poorly recorded source material leading to a quick cull of your collection. Sad but worth it.

One last thing, the people at Duntech were really helpful, answering emails long after they had my money which is not that common these days!