Dutch & Dutch 8c
At first glance, this active, DSP-controlled loudspeaker system, with dynamic drivers firing to front and rear, may seem an alien invader from the world of recording and mastering monitors made by such brands as Neumann and Genelec. I wouldn’t dispute that perception, but I offer another perspective: The engineering that has gone into the Dutch & Dutch 8c ($12,500/pair) is an all-out attempt to meet the goals that all designers of high-end speakers hope to attain: wide, smooth frequency response; sufficient and linear dynamic performance; crossover management; a cabinet free of audible resonances and edge diffraction; control of the dispersion of sound energy throughout the audioband.
This last challenge is one that is of increasing interest to me, as illustrated by my reviews of Bang & Olufsen’s Beolab 901 and Kii Audio’s Three2 speakers (respectively published in January and September 2017), which also employ built-in amps, active crossovers, DSP, etc. It has also been paid vigorous attention by such builders of passive speakers as Bryston, Dynaudio, Paradigm, and Revel/Harman.3
What is it?
The Dutch & Dutch 8c is a clean, rectangular box meant to sit on a stand, though it’s rather large and heavy for that application. The upper portion of its front baffle, made of injection-molded damped acrylonitrile butadiene styrene and polycarbonate, is formed into an 8"-diameter waveguide, or acoustic lens, for the 1" aluminum-magnesium–alloy
