Dahlquist DQ-10

The Dahlquist DQ‑10 is one of the most legendary “looks‑weird, sounds‑amazing” speakers of the 1970s. Unveiled in 1972, it broke every rule in speaker design with its open, multi‑panel “phased array” layout inspired by the Quad ESL‑57—but built with dynamic drivers instead of electrostatics. Behind the grille, it may look like a wild science‑fair project, but the engineering was anything but random: each driver sits on its own mini‑baffle, time‑aligned and diffraction‑controlled for exceptional coherence. The result? A speaker that played like one seamless transducer, with stunning clarity and spaciousness that shocked the hi‑fi world. Designed by Jon Dahlquist with guidance from hi‑fi legends like Saul Marantz, the DQ‑10 became a cult classic—equal parts eccentric, innovative, and truly ahead of its time.