Review: Dutch & Dutch 8c Active Loudspeakers

Review: Dutch & Dutch 8c - Due to the possibility of sound adjustment, this speaker knows how to get the optimal sound from your listening room.

5/5 - (1 vote)

Interesting developments are taking place in the loudspeaker area. Active speakers seem to be setting the tone. In this market segment, Dutch audio manufacturers appear to be at the top of the Champions League. Dutch & Dutch is one of them. With their Dutch & Dutch 8c Active Speakers they set a new standard.

Dutch & Dutch 8c

I think the great thing about the Netherlands is that we have such a broad view of the world. We keep an eye on everything. We are also on top of everything in the audio world when it comes to developing new products from Europe, America or even China. The sky’s the limit. Our wide gaze may occasionally blind us to our view of what is happening nearby in our own country. At least that is my explanation for why I actually knew so little about the product to be reviewed now: the active speakers of the completely Dutch company Dutch & Dutch, the 8c (‘s). By coincidence, halfway through last year, when visiting a music lover who had a nice pair of speakers for sale from a brand well known to me, I came across a new audio brand. The host in question had meanwhile provided himself with new loudspeakers from the brand that is now the focus here. Listening to the speakers was not possible there at that time, because nothing was connected yet. But that gentleman assured me that we were dealing with something special here. My interest was aroused.

Buzz

Not much later (coincidence doesn’t exist, right?) a bit of a buzz started on a number of hi-fi forums around and a number of Dutch manufacturers of active loudspeakers. Let’s name names and numbers. Grimm Audio, Kii Three and… Dutch & Dutch. The first two I knew, impressive sound reproducers yes, the third not. Anyway, what was the buzz about? First of all, about the fact that ‘just’ three Dutch audio companies with three top products played in the premier league of active speakers. And two: who is actually the best of the three? And point three was actually why the third party was so little in the limelight. Well, I thought that last comment was correct. Do something about it! And start with yourself…

How we make the room disappear

After some searching on the internet I soon came across one of the makers and co-owners of the company. Martijn Mensink is his name and an appointment was quickly made for a review. In fact, he came to bring and install the speakers himself. See, that’s how I like it. And that in itself is astonishing. Because yes, the intrinsic qualities of a sound reproducer is one thing, but the playing field in which the product has to operate is another facet. And that is precisely the operating field where Dutch & Dutch wants to make the – different – difference. Or as the marketing department of D&D previously proclaimed: ‘How we make the room disappear’. Now I am very satisfied with my own living room, so I hope that that living space will not be gone forever after the installation of the D&D speakers. But seriously: the theory behind this was and is the removal of all disturbing factors in the relevant listening room. Of course that sounds fantastic and yes, as I have now learned, if something sounds fantastic on paper, it must be disappointing in practice, right? That may be a bit too strong a word, but the adage ‘First hear and then believe’ is highly regarded here. But to be honest, I am very curious how my listening room will come out acoustically and whether a lot of correction from the speaker system will be necessary. then it must be disappointing in practice, right? That may be a bit too strong a word, but the adage ‘First hear and then believe’ is highly regarded here. But to be honest, I am very curious how my listening room will come out acoustically and whether a lot of correction from the speaker system will be necessary. then it must be disappointing in practice, right? That may be a bit too strong a word, but the adage ‘First hear and then believe’ is highly regarded here. But to be honest, I am very curious how my listening room will come out acoustically and whether a lot of correction from the speaker system will be necessary.

Entrance

Somewhere in mid-December Martijn will drop by the speakers. We are now in quite a lockdown. ‘A maximum of one person on the floor’ has come into effect and we must therefore keep sufficient distance as a precaution. I help with unloading and at a certain point Martijn asks me to take the loudspeakers out of the ‘sealed’ packaging boxes. Why? There is a QR code on the boxes and Martijn is curious if I would see it. Not so. As usual I do as much as possible on ‘routine’ and forget to follow the directions on the box. The QR code leads you to a video that shows you the unpacking perfectly. ‘Point to take with you’, Martijn notes. The heavy speakers – 26 kilograms each – are packed incredibly carefully. I will now leave the rest of the work to my guest. Because the placement and adjustment of the speakers, that is what Martijn mainly came for. First of all, I am asked what my favorite listening position in the listening room is. From there, the two active speakers are then put in place. That is not much different from the place where I normally have my own speakers. Maybe (even) a little closer to the wall behind it. There’s definitely a reason, which I’m going to call that.

The looks

Did I already tell you about the appearance of two ‘Dutchess’? I don’t believe so. TheDutch & Dutch 8c is a real monitor speaker. Dutch & Dutch started out as a company in the professional studio world and the speakers immediately remind me of that in terms of looks. Think of a sleek design with few bells and whistles. The dimensions of these monitors are certainly not small. They measure 49 by 27 by 38 centimeters. This makes it the largest monitor speaker I’ve ever had in the house. However, in terms of height, those dimensions are just ‘limited’ enough not to appear too dominant in your living room. The depth of 38 centimeters is also quite (deep) of course, but because you can place the speaker very close to the wall, that also helps in ‘downsizing’. The 8c’s are available in different types of wood and colours. The funny thing was that Martijn called me at one point and asked which wood variant I wanted for the review. Give me white oak. ‘Let’s make it’. Hey, that’s how I hear it! What also strikes me most is the beautiful processing of the tweeter and mid-range driver on the front. The tweeter ‘disappears’ and the mid-range driver is located more on the front, where at the widest point the driver seems to come out of the speaker, like a kind of mouth. On the back are two woofers that can be DSP controlled. There are of course also further connection options. 1000 Watts of power are ‘hidden’ in each speaker, of which 500 Watts for the low and 250 Watts each for the middle and high. That should be more than enough for this space.

Adjust

Martijn can now really get to work, because now it really starts: the speakers are adjusted to the space. But before he does, he’ll let you hear the 8c’s. That sounds decent, as in “pretty loud.” But also as in ‘untamed’: the bass sounds over the top and seems too dominant. ‘We are going to do something about that’, says Martijn resolutely. His ‘toolbox’ appears, consisting of a laptop and a USB measurement microphone from miniDSP, the UMIK-1. First an attempt is made to establish contact between the laptop and the speakers via my network. But that doesn’t really go smoothly. ‘No problem’, Martijn reassures me, ‘we’ll make a direct connection between the speakers and the PC’. No sooner said than done. Martijn ‘orders’ me to take a seat at my favorite listening position. Sitting there, I can then also do something. I get the measuring microphone pushed into my hands and Martijn gives directions where exactly I should hold it. At each position, a test sound is heard from the speakers, the microphone receives the signal, which is then analyzed via the Room EQ Wizard (REW) on the laptop. Martijn continues to patiently give me instructions for the time being and after a dozen measurements we are ready. Martijn then explains a few things. ‘High-end DSP systems are integrated in these speakers. It is fine-tuning with digital filters. This allows you to neutralize any annoying standing waves very specifically at your specific listening position. Every room suffers from that. Especially with a speaker that continues to 20 Hz or lower, those bass booms can occur. Where those specific ‘crossing’ frequencies lie, depends on the shape and dimensions of your listening room. Based on a measurement of your room acoustics, the digital filters are easy to set and after that the bass always sounds clean, tight and controlled at your listening position.’ Martijn wants to make it clear to me experimentally. He lets a 100 Hz tone come out of the speakers. At the place where I am standing, a decent bass thump can be heard. If I step half a meter to the right, or to the left, I suddenly hear almost nothing… It’s almost a mind fuck. At the place where I am standing, a decent bass thump can be heard. If I step half a meter to the right, or to the left, I suddenly hear almost nothing… It’s almost a mind fuck. At the place where I am standing, a decent bass thump can be heard. If I step half a meter to the right, or to the left, I suddenly hear almost nothing… It’s almost a mind stuck.

Rest of the acoustics

Adjusting the speakers is one aspect of the acoustic philosophy of Dutch & Dutch and certainly not an insignificant one. But there are still two pillars that form the acoustic foundation of the sound reproduction of the Dutches. The sound chambers are designed in such a way that maximum sound reaches your ears directly from the speakers, so-called ‘on-axis sound’. In addition, there is also a so-called cardioid design of the sound reproducers. An acoustic reflection chamber on the sides of the speakers creates ‘counter-noise’. The loudspeakers thus dampen the remaining ‘unnecessary’ sound waves that are normally radiated obliquely, to the side and to the rear. This way they prevent unnecessary, indirect noise in your room, so-called ‘off-axis noise’. So there are already fewer annoying reflections present.

Dutch & Dutch 8c – Listen and shiver

All right then. I think we have completed all the preparatory work. And to be honest, my ‘hunger’ for the end result of all this fine-tuning is now so great that it is time to simply let music come out of the speakers. And to put me down in the listening chair, now more than ever to call it the sweet spot. I am testing with my CD player on a preamplifier. It is connected directly to the analog inputs of the speakers with XLR cables. Then the party can begin. The London Grammar CD, which was allowed to show the ‘untamed’ sound of the speaker before, is now allowed in the rematch. What is immediately noticeable is that the bass is now under control. Instead of being dominant, the low is now supportive. Still impressive, but now more in the sense of layered bass, where you hear the nuances much better. And above all: knows how to absorb the rest of the sound. From the accompanying rhythm guitar to the enchanting and intoxicating voice of singer Hannah Reid. The overall picture is now much better.

Test, test, test

The following weeks I was able to test the Dutch & Dutch 8c very extensively. I’ve fed them with just about every kind of music I could think of. From more acoustic work by singer-songwriters to the cool electronic music of bands such as Depeche Mode and Muse, from ‘easy’ rap music by Diggy Dex to classical film music. Everything sounded equally beautiful and above all completely natural: you often immediately got the idea of ’yes, that’s how it should sound’. At one point I caught myself looking for something the Dutch & Dutches wouldn’t have back from. Phew, I couldn’t find it. What I was afraid of at first was that the speakers would sound too clinical after all the measuring and adjustment work. But that wasn’t the case at all. Right from the start, the speakers have a very pleasant sound reproduction. hot, but not in the sense of ‘colored’, more glowing and in the sense of a completely matching whole. I believe that the reproduction of the bass makes a major contribution to this. The bass is strong, but never overwhelming, but very detailed. A good example of this was when I turned Dimitri van Tooren’s Staring more and more people at the moon, a song with a lot of bass. The Dutches play this low in such a way that you can see the bass guitarist in front of you, you hear all the bass lines in detail. And no, the rendering is not in an analytic way. Another example of more detail and less ‘work on sound’ is Ryan Adams’ CD, ‘1989’. An album that was recorded with a lot of reverberation. My own speakers have quite a bit of trouble with it, it quickly becomes too much at higher volumes. I hear something different from the speakers on duty: the reverb is much more controlled and less overpowering. The fat bass is again much more layered and continues to very low. Somewhere I read a sound guru saying that the bass sound determines thirty percent of the end result. I have no idea how such a statement should be proven, but I do know that these speakers deliver a special performance due to their bass reproduction: through the absolute bass, through detail and the power. Tilted by Christine and the Queens proves that once again. In this song the turbo kicks in after a minute and a half, as far as bass is concerned. The 8c then shows its distinctive strength (and seems to sing along… “I’m actually good”). It doesn’t have to be just the ‘heavy work’,

Surrender

In the end, there was one artist with one song that made everything clear. Bob Dylan was allowed to show up again. With a 24 bit 88 Khz recording of the song Man in the long black coat from hard disk via my own DAC, the two 8c speakers from Dutch & Dutch were allowed to show what they really had. This session took place on a late February evening. While I looked outside at a crystal-clear starry sky and the temperature had already dropped far below zero, the sound of crickets slowly but clearly rose inside my living room. In my head, the setting went to a rocking chair on a porch somewhere in the deep south of America. The soothing sound of the crickets is disturbed by the echoing sound of the Dobro played by Daniel Lanois. The tension is further heightened when suddenly the shrill sound of a harmonica flies through it. Silence follows, after which Dylan sings almost staccato, rapping. “There was dust on the man in the long black coat”. You can see it in front of you, but I seem to hear it too. Dylan just sings a song. But these speakers in my living room prove how unusually beautiful something like this can sound.

Conclusion – Dutch & Dutch 8c

With the 8c, Dutch & Dutch has launched a great active speaker on the market. Due to the possibility of sound adjustment, this speaker knows how to get the optimal sound from your listening room. You can make that adjustment yourself, but Dutch & Dutch recommends having the dealer do it. That should be enough for many people who have less technology, but everything with the best music experience at home, to seriously consider these speakers, despite the also serious price tag of almost twelve thousand euros. They are worth it.

Price of Dutch & Dutch 8c:

Dutch & Dutch 8c € 11.950 per pair