Good pair of speakers for <$200/pair?

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Just like the subject reads. Is the Dayton III MTM on speakerbuilder.net a good pair of speakers for less than $200/pair without enclosure-associated costs? I am looking for a nice pair to build for my brother and his wife. It doesnt matter if the speakers are bookshelf-size speakers, or full-size floorstanders so long as they sound good and are aesthetically pleasing.
The only criteria are as follows:
<$200/pair w/out enclosures (my father has all the veneered MDF/ curved veneer/solid wood/etc I could ever need)

Easy on the eyes

Readily available parts (I'd prefer Parts Express if possible)


Once again, is the Dayton III MTM a good speaker? I would also like to know if there are any good floorstanding speakers that are good for less than $200.
Or if someone could guide me in the right direction...
Has anyone used the Dayton series 8", 10" or 12" woofers?
For $29 for a 12", the price (and T/S) seems almost too good to be true.
I am currently using the Dayton DVC 12" (the $40 one, not the $120 one) as a subwoofer with an 80W sub amp and I do think it sounds very good at lower volumes, but I dont think it has very much x-max before it starts distorting and bottoming out. I guess that's what you get for a $40 speaker.
I also have it in a 4ft^3 enclosure tuned to 28Hz...is the box too big?
According to Thiele/Small's directions, the Qts, Fs, and Vas indicate that this box should be very nice for this particular woofer...?:confused:

I ALSO have a pair of oak veneered boxes that are 38.5"H x 14"W x 14" D. They still need one more coat of polyurethane and they are ready to go if anyone thinks these boxes could be good sounding floorstanders. The boxes dont have any holes cut in them, so they are still open to any design within reason.

If you've read this far, thanks for your time.;):cannotbe:
 
frugal-phile™
Joined 2001
Paid Member
Designed by Dr Busch, many drivers get used in these, FE103 being a prime candidate,

available at Madisound for $32 each

http://www.madisound.com/fe103e.pdf

People also use Radio Shack 40-1197 (a budget FE103), the FE103A (a vintage alnico FE103), 4" Tangbands. The Fostex FE108ES might well work too ($85 each).

dave
 

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Just two cents on the rounding in horn enclosures..

Unless my memory is far off, Dr Bruce Edgar recommended not to round anything off in a back loaded horn, amongst other odd things. For example, when you're using an L-bend, you'd be inclined to smooth it out in some way, or at least keep the area constant (or properly expanding) throughout the bend. That was also his assumption, but experimenting with it, it turned out that the best approach was to use a 45 degree reflector, and not compensate the area at all.
 
sreten said:
Whilst horns are nice for low powered valve kit, I wouldn't
recommend building them for some-one elses general use......
:) sreten.

Ummm, well I think the benefits of horns extend well beyond low powered tube systems. While that is commonly what they are used with there are folks who use horns with _gasp_ solid state.


markp said:
The speakers mentioned (Fostex) are not for your average 'Rock and Roll' listener....

I had Fostex and listen to a lot of Rock and Roll. Anything in this price range is definitely going to be better with a sub.

Planet 10 is pointing the man in a very good direction.

FWIW, there is a commercial version of the Buschorn with 4" Fostex driver that had a good review and rating in Stereophile.

Further, this and similar designs are highly thought of in Japan. I would think that a number of Japanese and others listen to Rock _grin_. They do have smaller rooms there, though.

The other designs may be very good or better.

However, I bet it will be very hard to beat or even come close to Dave's recommedation - for any system.

I would say to go with Dave's recommendation unless the room is quite large.

Just thought I would put in my two cents worth _grin_

Regards

Ken L

PS Come on Sreten, Jump in - Give horns a try.

You're unlikely to go back _big grin_
 
frugal-phile™
Joined 2001
Paid Member
Ken L said:
FWIW, there is a commercial version of the Buschorn with 4" Fostex driver that had a good review and rating in Stereophile.

Ed's "The Horn".

We had a miniDIYfest today and had a set if The Horns with FE108Sigma and a set of BHorn IIs with modified FE103A. (amongst others -- i'll post pics & comments later)

Calling the Horn a version of the Buschorn is not at all accurate, the folding topology is similar, but the BHorn is quite a bit bigger with resulting better bass.

dave
 
Ken L said:


PS Come on Sreten, Jump in - Give horns a try.

You're unlikely to go back _big grin_

I'm just saying I wouldn't build them to be used by
some-one else and also requiring spousal approval.

They'd be very unlikely to survive the first party.

IMO the D3's built into Tempo style cabinets would look
extremely good and perform very well given the price.

(The Tempo dimensions need to be made wider and deeper)

They are also far simpler to build. Your first horn cabinet could
be your last. IMO the time and effort required for a horn cabinet
does not make sense in context.

The D3 is perfect for "other" people who want a decent pair
of speakers and not interested in an additional subwoofer.

I've no doubt for a serious "hifi" system that in this
context more "musical" but compromised speakers
could be built for $200, but here its not the point.

:) sreten.
 
Cones and Domes

asauer,
The boards and forums are filled with diy 2-ways with Vifa, Audax, or the equivalent. They produce acceptable sound for the dollar, are fairly easy to construct, and nobody gets hurt too badly if they wear thin after awhile. You can always reuse the cabinets.

I'd look at kits from Adire like the Bang!, GR Research, etc. Call Dan Wiggins at Adire and give him the internal dimensions of your cabinet and he can recommend something that will work. Very knowledgeable guy.

http://www.adireaudio.com/

Figure what your brother's musical preferences are ahead of time.
It might make some difference.

I modeled the enclosure for the Dayton DVC 12" and you are right on the money. It should sound fairly good, but I suspect your amp doesn't have enough juice if you are pushing the SPLs hard. Try another amp, maybe, or scoot it around to another location. Bass reacts strongly with the room and you may just have room problems.

Where are you located in IN?

Tim
 
Simulation indicates the Dayton sub driven by 80W will
excursion limit between 30 and 60Hz, but minimum
power handling is 60W at 40Hz.

As its a reflex power handling goes west (or in the
USA south) below 25Hz, being around 20W at 20Hz.

I'd suggest a bigger amplifier won't help.

My simulations indicate 75L tuned to 30Hz is optimum
to achieve 80W power handling but this is chucking out
the baby with the bathwater, as its achieved by simply
reducing low bass efficiency.

Everything seems to be sensibly matched unless
its very low bass that is causing the problems.

Simulations indicate the driver is ideally suited to a ~ 2cuft sealed
box with a modest 50W of drive, which is fine for a budget driver,
in this form it will rarely get into trouble.

But of course bass levels below 50Hz are very
limited compared to a double sized reflex box.

:) sreten.
 
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