Dayton drivers?

[jeffsg4mac]

Anyone ever use any of the Dayton reference series woofers? I am looking to put together a dual six 2-way for the bedroom and they look decent for the price. Quality looks similar to Vifa drivers but I have never heard a system built with them. I am either going to make a nice budget pair or just go out and get some Morel drivers or something like that.

 

[jliedeka]

I have some speaker building projects using the Dayton RS180s and Dayton RS28A-4 tweeters, the Natalie P and Modula MT designs. The project is on hold at the moment but I hope to get back to building them soon.

The RS180s are really nice drivers but they do have a breakup node that has to be dealt with in the crossover. You should read Zaph's reviews of their drivers and check out some the designs on the HTGuide forum.

Jim

 

[jeffsg4mac]

I have some speaker building projects using the Dayton RS180s and Dayton RS28A-4 tweeters, the Natalie P and Modula MT designs. The project is on hold at the moment but I hope to get back to building them soon.

The RS180s are really nice drivers but they do have a breakup node that has to be dealt with in the crossover. You should read Zaph's reviews of their drivers and check out some the designs on the HTGuide forum.

Jim

Yeah that is the driver I was looking at. They are on sale for $35.

 

[jliedeka]

There are a lot of published designs for that driver. In fact, Roman Bednarek posted a comparison of a bunch of different crossover designs for that driver in an MTM arrangement. He compared the Natalie P, The Modula MTM, the Dr K MTM, Dave Brown's MTM design plus a 2-way and 2.5 way of his own.

It's a great driver, especially for the price. You do want a tweeter that can cross over fairly low like the Dayton RS28A-4 or Seas 27TDFC. And you probably want a steep slope to minimize the breakup node. Jon Marsh used a 3rd order all pass in the Modula MT design and an elliptical design in the Modula MTM.

What type of arrangement are you thinking about? A simple 2-way MT or something else?

Jim

 

[Guiria]

I built the center channel mentioned here with the Dennis Murphy X-over.

http://www.htguide.com/forum/showthread.php4?t=15323

It uses the following for drivers:

DAYTON RS28A-4 Unshielded http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/psho...tnumber=275-130
DAYTON RS150S-8 Shielded http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/psho...tnumber=295-362
DAYTON RS225S-8 Shielded http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/psho...tnumber=295-366

The speaker overall is very nice and I enjoy having it as a center.

The one downside to the center (which may be room or amp related) is that there is some harshness in the upper midrange when I'm listening or watching movies at -15 to -10 reference level...it seems like at times things that make the "sssss" sound are a bit harsh. If I go down to -20 I cannot detect the harshness at all.

I have not spent time tweaking the stuffing behind the tweeter, etc, which I've heard can help. I also don't know if this could be amp related. I use a Yamaha 100 watts per channel amp and I'm not sure it is cut for a 4 ohm load center.

I'm also comparing the center to my DIY bookshelves that use relatively expensive Audax drivers and are as smooth as buttermilk.

Bottom line, I would build and will definitely consider Dayton RS drivers in the future.

 

[lsiberian]

Anyone ever use any of the Dayton reference series woofers? I am looking to put together a dual six 2-way for the bedroom and they look decent for the price. Quality looks similar to Vifa drivers but I have never heard a system built with them. I am either going to make a nice budget pair or just go out and get some Morel drivers or something like that.

I have no issue with anyone supporting Dayton they bring out some nice products. Sounds like fine too me. FYI they have kits at both recession kits madisound and dayton with some really nice deals check those first you may find something that suits your fancy at a great price.

 

[jeffsg4mac]

What type of arrangement are you thinking about? A simple 2-way MT or something else?

Jim

I was thinking of an MTM, but it does not have to be. I have always liked the way they sound though. However after looking at this design I might just build it and if I don't like it I will just put it in my sons room. I worked up a box down to about 34 in a little less than 2 cubic feet. I nice skinny tower for the bedroom, driven by an Adcom GFA 535II and a Denon DVD2200 for the source.

 

[WmAx]

Many of the RS Dayton drivers are world-class. Many compare to SEAS top of the line EXCEL series. That is, you can not substantially do better - despite the low cost - with most of the Dayton RS drivers. But, developing a true world class loudspeaker is far more involved than simply using high grade drivers.

-Chris

 

[jeffsg4mac]

Many of the RS Dayton drivers are world-class. Many compare to SEAS top of the line EXCEL series. That is, you can not substantially do better - despite the low cost - with most of the Dayton RS drivers. But, developing a true world class loudspeaker is far more involved than simply using high grade drivers.

-Chris

Just looking at them on specs alone they seemed to be to good for the price. What you said is true, but also true is that if you follow some basic rules and know what you are doing with software, you can build a darn good sounding speaker. It may not fall into the world class as you put it, but it will be better than a lot of stuff you could buy at 3 times the cost. In addition, you have the added satisfaction of knowing it was your design and you built it. I have made some pretty good sounding speakers in my day. My favorite being a MTM with all Dynaudio drivers and next to that an MTM with all Vifa drivers.

 

[jinjuku]

I built the Zaph ZDT3.5's. The driver is accurate and clean. Even when driving hard it doesn't break up.

Zaph's cross overs (along with others) take into account the break up node of the RS180.

 

[lsiberian]

Many of the RS Dayton drivers are world-class. Many compare to SEAS top of the line EXCEL series. That is, you can not substantially do better - despite the low cost - with most of the Dayton RS drivers. But, developing a true world class loudspeaker is far more involved than simply using high grade drivers.

-Chris

Yeah it involves learning from the ideas of certain members in this community.

Constraint Layer dampening, Bracing Matrix, and plenty of rockwool.

 

[lsiberian]

I wonder how they compare to Vifa drivers?

 

[jliedeka]

Based on the driver tests I've read done by Zaph and others, you have to be careful generalizing about lines of drivers. I would look more at the suitability of a given driver for the intended application. Every driver has some design compromises. Those darn laws of physics!

Jim

 

[audiohonic65]

I have read that the Dayton RS drivers are of excellent quality. The only problem is that the drivers don't have sharp defined resonance peak.