Driver choice - Dayton or B&C in Singapore?

[MBK]

Hi all,

I am wavering on the choices to replace my 2x Vifa 10" setup for my dipoles. Availability and shipping cost seems to be the biggest issue. The best trade offs seem so far:

Dayton RSS390HF-4 15" . Aluminum cone, 14 mm Xmax and low Fs of 18 Hz. FIts the bill, and is cheap at USD 139 on offer at Parts Express. But the shipping is monstrously expensive, est. USD 270 for a pair, for a total of USD 548.

B&C18TBX100. This is a 9 mm Xmax pro driver with all the bells and whistles, demodulating rings, progressive spider etc, but a higher Fs at 34 Hz. I can get these locally in Singapore for about USD 700 a pair.

Prices and volume displacements are somewhat similar. Trade offs that I see:

The B&C would be running with the resonance peak in the passband (where linearity may depend mostly on the suspenson...). On the bright side it has a progressive spider which should linearize cone motion at large excursions. As a pro model it is also likely better built.

The Dayton has the right specs for the application, except that I can find no mention of progressive spider. Also, just having the right bells and whistles that customers excpect (...) doesn't always translate to better real performance. And I have a huge mental resistance to buy a driver where 2/3 of the price is likely due to shipping costs: 2x shipping around the entire Pacific Ocean (from China to US then back more or less).

Or does anyone know how to get Dayton drivers locally in Singapore (or from China directly where I suppose they're being made)?

Advice appreciated...

 

[Zaph]

This is a Europe supplier for Dayton speakers:

http://www.boxen-baustelle.de/

While it's still not local to you, perhaps they can ship to Singapore cheaper than what Parts Express will do. I can't read their website to see the shipping policies, I but I see that pricing is available in Singapore dollars.

Let us know if you can look into it. I see that people can buy the DA175 woofer there, and I have other projects in the works using Dayton drivers that I would like everyone around the world to have cheap access to.

John

 

[MBK]

Hi John,

thanks for the link. I speak German so no problem here. The bad news is that Boxenbaustelle seems to include the shipping from the US in their pricing . They do have the smaller 12 inch version of the 15" driver I am considering, but the price is, ugh, ca. USD 310, Parts Express sells those for USD 129 (AND has free shipping ... to the US). Ha.

Compliments btw for your website and all the high quality info on it. It's been on my regular reading list for a while ...

 

[MBK]

Just used the "chat with a tech" option at Parts Express. It actually works, very fast and friendly service (compare with customer "service" of, say, your typical phone company or such).

FWIW and whoever might want to know, the RSS390HF-4 15" does have a progressive spider, which should help keeping cone motion linear at extreme excursions, and the high output (low Q) and high fidelity (high Q) versions only differ in motor strength and cone mass, not in mechanical construction.

I have to say I am really impressed by the service experience at Parts express. Let's hope I / they find a way to fix the shipping price issue (they might be able to ship by regular mail) so I can translate this into a *customer* experience as well...