SBA offer clearly the best value for money imo. Dayton RS range is pretty good too. Scan prices just went up by quite a margin so "I'm out" as Alan Sugar says
It would be very interesting to compare two way 6.5"/1" with say 18w4531 vs DA RS180 using the same tweeter and xover point. 15w4531 vs DA RS150 also. I have yet to see any manufacturer to make a 5" midwoofer as good and smooth as 15W4531.
Costly they are but with quality to back it up imo.
Edit: as for me, SB is good enough for me and would be option no.1 - so +1 for the post above.
Costly they are but with quality to back it up imo.
Edit: as for me, SB is good enough for me and would be option no.1 - so +1 for the post above.
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Bill - we mustn't forget that the vagaries of international distribution, currency exchange, duties etc, can bend the "value for money" assessment almost as much as the driver's actual performance.
Yes true, just a general observation.
For example SB are keenly priced in most countries (sadly for me the Thai distributors mark them up too much)
SS 15W is certainly a good piece of technology with remarkable
woofer qualities, but we know that there is a price to pay for that.
A large box and lower sensitivity as a 2 way inevitably, beside a
€ 200 tag for a single unit.
Peerless HDS range of drivers is best buy IMO.
woofer qualities, but we know that there is a price to pay for that.
A large box and lower sensitivity as a 2 way inevitably, beside a
€ 200 tag for a single unit.
Peerless HDS range of drivers is best buy IMO.
Well, Dayton audio RS150-4 (the best 5" midwoofer Dayton offers as far as i know) is a bit worse than SS 15W4531 in almost every way. Scan Speak plays lower bass than Dayton in the same enclosure volume. Sensitivity wise they are the same and the price tag for 15w4531 is 134 euros not 200.
I think that we shouldn't mix apples and oranges. I wouldn't put Dayton RS150-4 in the same class with Scan Speak 15W4531. You could argue that SS is expensive but we are talking about sound quality based on objective evaluation, not the price tag - as you wrote earlier in this thread.
So next would be the comparison of any 6.5" Dayton vs any SS. Now that should really be interesting. SS and Seas have a very strong line of 6.5"-ers.
I would really like to hear them side by side.
But as i said earlier, i bought SBA and i'm very happy with it. 2 x 17nrxc35 and 2 x SB29RDC-C0004 for 150 euros - even cheaper than Dayton in Europe.
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The question is do you actually need that smoothness? Yeah the driver extends very high without so much of a peak in sight but that's way beyond where you'd cross it over to a tweeter.
Sure lots of people use 5" drivers up too high where the 15Ws inherent smooth nature would appeal, but with a typical 2-2.5khz xover, most 5"s will do fine.
I mean I would much rather go for the 5" Satori than the 15W unless absolute bass extension was required.
I always need more smoothness if i can afford it. The thread was open to compare Dayton and SS/Seas and i started to do so. If I cross it at 3KHz, i want it flat and problem free to 5KHz at the very least.
I would also buy (as i did) SB/Satori/Seas Prestige instead of 15W4531 but the thread is Dayton vs Seas/Scanspeak not about what has better value for the money. Dayton is the winner of that and even the OP is aware of that judging by his first post.
As for me, if it was cheaper or if i start to earn more money i would deffinitely try Revelators and/or Illuminators at my home. Not for bragging but for the experience - just to see how do i like that extra smoothness.
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Audio technology 5" are probably the smoothest, if you can afford it. At the budget end, one of the HDS drivers. Just throwing those in..
Kind of a tangent, but speaking of SS Revelators, I keep thinking of projects with their Illuminator Equivalents. Sexy looking and top of the line as far as I know, but then I look at the top end of the response and realize that maybe I'm not geek enough (gender neutral) to compensate for it, or that it seems to have more of a break-up problem than the Revelator. Is my assessment incomplete? Here is my problem. The 18W/4531:
vs. the 18WU/4741:
Trying to cross them over closer to 3kHz than 2 kHz seems more of a challenge, and possibly more distortion with the Illuminator. Are my fears ill founded?
Erik
vs. the 18WU/4741:
Trying to cross them over closer to 3kHz than 2 kHz seems more of a challenge, and possibly more distortion with the Illuminator. Are my fears ill founded?
Erik
The prices vary. In the western hemisphere about $215 a piece, in Germany
€ 210 ( A.O.S.). I'm not particularly confident everything would go smooth
with suppliers that offer the same thing for €170. What about paying taxes and
import charges? Ensign Crusher, evasive maneuver if you please!
Regarding sensitivity, somehow I fail to see how come RS 150-4 and SS 15W4531
are in the same league. Zaph's measurement says for Dayton 90 dB
2 pi. Assume we subtract full 6dB which leaves us with 84 dB/2,83V/1m.
SS is about 87 dB, minus 6 dB equals 81dB/2,83V/1m.
Very different types of drivers, only the size is similar. Not sure why there's a comparison when they'd be used for different builds/ applications
The prices vary. In the western hemisphere about $215 a piece, in Germany
€ 210 ( A.O.S.). I'm not particularly confident everything would go smooth
with suppliers that offer the same thing for €170. What about paying taxes.....Ensign Crusher, evasive maneuver if you please!
Of course the prices are varying but you go and find the best deal that you can. If someone wants to buy them at a higher price at some store that wants to earn more money than they should, there is nothing i can do. Audiocomponents.nl - Rolf in particular - offers them at the same price as audiotransducers web site and very often gives great discounts.
Outside EU VAT is excluded so with import charges it comes to about same price - more or less. If you are talking about shipping to USA - that is expensive and it is the main reason people don't buy them more. Import charges between EU members doesn't exist afaik.
You are right about that one, i was looking at the RS150S Zaphs measurement by accident.
What type of drivers do each of them belong to ? I wasn't aware of that.
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I contacted them by mail. Their headquaters is in Poland, and they have substation in Sofia BG.
I am preparing to order 5 or 6 of SB23MFCL45-4 so soon i will be able to check that out first hand.
That sub looks amazing. The first that looks like the one that makes it worth transfering to multisub system in smaller rooms (20sqm). It needs very small enclosure, plate amp and DSP. Three small cubes with that sub in i can hide almost anywhere in the room. It has more than enough of linear travel to ensure good bass and reliable operation. I'm drooling again, am i 🙂
I am preparing to order 5 or 6 of SB23MFCL45-4 so soon i will be able to check that out first hand.
That sub looks amazing. The first that looks like the one that makes it worth transfering to multisub system in smaller rooms (20sqm). It needs very small enclosure, plate amp and DSP. Three small cubes with that sub in i can hide almost anywhere in the room. It has more than enough of linear travel to ensure good bass and reliable operation. I'm drooling again, am i 🙂
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Troels didn't mind. That breakup is almost gone at 30 deg off axis. That means that if you handle it well with xover on axis, it's benign.
Illumina-66
Good back and forth in this thread, useful opinions and experience being shared =)
To the OP, if you haven't given the Dayton RS line of drivers a try definitely do, they are not the best but for the money they are very tough to beat.
The bass output of the RS180 and RS225 always astound me, the tweeter line is excellent too.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
To the OP, if you haven't given the Dayton RS line of drivers a try definitely do, they are not the best but for the money they are very tough to beat.
The bass output of the RS180 and RS225 always astound me, the tweeter line is excellent too.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk