Dutch & Dutch 8c Hi-Fi

Sale & demo on request

Price per pair

Our take

"Perhaps the most complete audio system on the market! Able to adapt to any acoustic environment, the 8c sound good everywhere, all the time. Their great neutrality and controlled directivity have made them as popular in studios as in hi-fi. They are used by renowned engineers and musicians such as Alex Gopher at Translab, Perceval Carré, Anna, Etienne de Crécy, Mathieu Chedid and Dave Pensado." - Victor Malvolti

Active loudspeakers with controlled directivity

Music deserves to be reproduced faithfully, without colouration from either the room or the speakers. To enjoy it, you need an accurate reproduction system. A system able to recreate a recording with nothing added and nothing left out.

That is a challenge for traditional hi-fi systems. Most audio systems are simply not accurate to begin with, and those that are usually ignore the room.

The 8c are both accurate and adaptive. They are among the most faithful loudspeakers in existence. And they make the most of your room through a set of technologies called RoomMatching.

Accurate

The 8c were designed for accuracy and clarity. Thanks to their constant directivity and flat frequency response from 20 Hz to 20 kHz, music can be heard exactly as it was produced. Nothing is added, nothing is left out.

Adaptive

Fit the system to the room, not the room to the system. The 8c adapt to the room they are in and can be placed (very) close to walls without losing performance. They are designed for rooms from 6 m² upwards, from a small living room to a large open-plan space.

To do this, the 8c combine a proprietary waveguide tweeter, a cardioid midrange driver, bass drivers coupled to the front wall and an active room adaptation system. The result: superb acoustic reproduction in any room.

All-in-one

The 8c include converters, amplifiers (1000 W per channel), subwoofers and high-end DSP. The system also features room adaptation and streaming.

All components are perfectly matched to each other and together produce a "big sound" from 20 Hz, while keeping a very high signal-to-noise ratio.

The 8c are more than just a loudspeaker. They are a unique acoustic concept, offering constant directivity from 100 Hz. As a result, in real-world conditions, the 8c outperform most other systems in terms of neutrality.

Design

Their smooth front baffle and solid oak cabinet make the 8c as pleasing to look at as they are to listen to.

The cabinet is made of 20 mm thick solid oak. The 8c are built in pairs so that they look identical.

Inside, the 8c are built from birch plywood. Compartments separate each driver and reinforce the structure. Their rigidity and weight make them acoustically inert: you do not hear the box, only the drivers.

Control

The 8c are automatically detected on your local network by Ascend, the official 8c app. Ascend gives you full control over settings such as gain, distance to the front and side walls, updates and many parametric filters. No internet connection is required. The control interface is also available as a web page hosted on the 8c themselves, accessible from any computer on the network.

The 8c are REW compatible for measurements. The new software platform introduced with the 6c, with the new Dutch & Dutch app and RoomMatching Align guided setup, will also be rolled out to the 8c.

Streaming and BACCH 3D

On top of the balanced analogue XLR or digital AES/EBU input, you can stream music directly to your 8c: each speaker has its own built-in streamer, and both stay perfectly synchronised. Set the left and right positions from your mobile device, and the rest happens automatically.

The 8c are Roon Ready and support Spotify Connect and Audirvana; Tidal Connect and Qobuz Connect are announced. On your local network, 8c can be grouped into several zones, in which music plays perfectly in sync.

The 8c is the world's first loudspeaker with native support for BACCH 3D, the spatial processing developed by Professor Edgar Choueiri at Princeton University (optional plugin): a three-dimensional soundstage that reaches far beyond the physical placement of the speakers.

Wireless updates

The 8c run on an evolving software platform: every year Dutch & Dutch adds new features to speakers already in use, delivered through wireless over-the-air (OTA) updates. These updates remain optional: by default, the 8c do not install them on their own, you choose which version to run.

Included

Dutch & Dutch's remote setup service (Remote Commissioning: a Dutch & Dutch engineer sets up RoomMatching for your room in a remote session), firmware updates and shipping costs are included.

8c Hi-Fi / 8c Studio - what are the differences?

The Hi-Fi and Studio versions sound exactly the same. A few things set them apart:

Finishes: the Hi-Fi version has a solid oak cabinet, while the Studio version has a high-density fibreboard cabinet. The Hi-Fi comes in many colour options, for both the front baffle and the cabinet. The Studio keeps two threaded inserts on the sides for surround mounting or other specific setups.

Streaming: the Hi-Fi version has it built in (Roon, Spotify Connect). The Studio version can get it with the optional 8c Studio Streaming Package, which also unlocks BACCH 3D.

Price: the Studio version costs less.

User experiences and feedback

"My experience with the 8C exceeded my expectations. Like all my friends and colleagues, I was extremely surprised by how good these speakers sound without acoustic treatment. Their ability to adapt to almost any room is impressive." - Benjamin Savignoni (mastering engineer at Translab)

"The Dutch&Dutch 8C replaced a complex system made up of several large electronic components - they blew the old system away with their precision and sonic richness!" - Mark Dolgonos

Technical specifications

• Type: active 3-way cardioid networked system
• Technologies: cardioid, Boundary Coupled Bass, constant directivity
• Frequency response: 20 Hz – 20 kHz
• Amplification: 1000 W per channel
• Room correction: RoomMatching, REW ready; RoomMatching Align announced
• Streaming: Roon Ready, Spotify Connect, Audirvana; Tidal Connect and Qobuz Connect announced
• Spatial audio: BACCH 3D (optional plugin)
• Updates: wireless (OTA), optional
• Analogue input: balanced XLR
• Digital input: AES/EBU
• Output: subwoofer out
• Network: Ethernet
• Room size: from 6 m²
• Dimensions (H×W×D): 485 × 270 × 380 mm per speaker
• Weight: 26 kg per speaker
• Cabinet: 20 mm solid oak, birch plywood internal structure
• Finishes: white or black front baffle, natural oak, white oak or black oak cabinet
• Included: Dutch & Dutch remote setup (Remote Commissioning), firmware updates, shipping costs