Favorite Drivers at every price point and WHY?

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#1
I have actually put a lot of thought into this. So, maybe I offended many of you with my brutal off hand remarks; no offense intended; just an old guy with over 50 years experience and trying to get it all out there before much longer and I am no longer able in mind, body or spirit!

For sure the idea is to actually help here the newer people make some good choices and not have to fumble around and waste a ton of money on things that don't work or sound good.

My favorites are well known by some of you; let's get "your" favorites and why. We could say super budget; under 25 or 35 dollars US per driver...move it up a notch to between 35 and maybe 50 or 65...then 65 to 100, then 100 to 150, 150 to 200, and so on up to true state of the art, no cost or money matters!

I vote for best tweeter $20 US and under the Tymphany/Vifa/Peerless Silk dome, horn loaded (100 dB)...model no.

Peerless by Tymphany BC25SC08 - 1" Tweeter

Best small mid woofer smaller than 5 inches under $35 US is the Dayton paper cone

Dayton Audio RS125P-8 5" Reference Paper Woofer 8 Ohm

Best 5 to 6 inch budget Mid-woofer...

5″ SB13PFCR25-8 / Paper – Sbacoustics

Best 6 inch mid range $150 US or about

61/2″ SATORI MR16P-4 / Paper – Sbacoustics

And so on...

My personal choices and I can give specific details as to why if anyone really shows interest here...

More later...
 
#2
One of my very first designs in the early '70's used a 8 inch paper cone with Whizzer and pleated surround. I started with an Olsen (sp?) tweeter that burned out quickly with Grand Funk RailRoad Live LP! I upgraded to a Philips soft dome; huge improvement. The box was about 18x15x25 inches. It was a hybrid bass reflex/front horn. F3 about 42 in room, perfect for teen age '70's rock in a large basement bedroom. Some of my rich buddies had Advents and even AR3A's! I did a 12 inch 3-way in the mid '70's; same as my 8 inch 2-way; hybrid BR/horn. Paper cone 12 inch with pleated surround, wide angle rectangular horn and the same Philips dome tweet. These are STILL working perfectly today and in daily use by my old buddy's brother in law...over 45 years!
 
#3
current cheap faves: tweeter: Dayton ND20FB-4 - cheap as chips & flat as a pancake;
mid: Dayton PC105-4 - once again, very cheap, and behaves very well with a simple notch filter added;
Mid woof: The Wavecor WF146WA01 edges out the SB13PFC, but here's not much in it
 
#4
Hi PeteMcK! I was in Sydney for 24 hours only in 1977! I have a new GF at my age in the mid '60's; she want's to go to Hawaii, NZ and see you Aussies as well! I was in Honolulu for just a few days back in '79 I think; over new years. Met an Aussie Lass; we had the best time of my life; live music; great food, perfect climate and then some...I have Wavecor as well. The guys that left Scan Speak, Vifa, etc. started SB and Wavecor; great designers; better bargains. If the design and quality control are up to snuff, I don't give a rat's behind where they produce them!
 
#5
Actually I'm an expat Kiwi - beautiful place, but prefer the warmer weather here. My next build, when I get around to it (don't hold your breath), is a pair of SB15MFCs. I'll probably use 6" Wavecors to add in the BSC. My current design focus is small, apartment appropriate speakers, ~20-40 Litres.
 
#6
I will be the very first owner in North America of the SB Satori MW13TX. I have a pair pre ordered. I think the ideal driver would be 100 Hz to 10 KHz flat as a pool table! Long story as usual; 300 Hz to 6 KHz is a goal; if you study music, you will understand! Fullrange drivers have a very strong following for many reasons. I did my Navy years in Japan in the '70's, '80's and early '90's. Make fun if you will... Do any of you know the history of US jazz being introduced to Japan after WWII??? Study that; there in lies my roots! Hint; Yokosuka, Navy...I was there not after WWII obviously but the roots and vibe are still very much alive and will continue on...the MA Pluvia P7PHD paper cone fullrange does the very best job from 400 to 4000 of any driver on the planet less than $50 US; the roots are as above...do some home work and research...trust you own ears!!!
 
#7
My favorite ST is the Fostex T90A. It lists for over $220 US but worth every penny for us old guys...WHY? Extremely clean and very accurate, no nonsense, no exaggerations, just pure music at 8 KHz and above...Don't believe me?...try for your self!
 
#8
Of course, we can only discuss drivers with which we have first hand experience, but here are my suggestions:


budget, A$25 each : Peerless 830656 mid ; VIFA BC25T series tweeter;
mid (A$40 each): SB Acoustics SB16PFC, Peerless DA25 aluminium tweeter;
high(er) end ($A100 each) : Dayton RS180P, Morel CAT378


Geoff
 
#11
Can anyone recommend an AMT tweeter in the $100 US or under range? I am a little afraid of quality in the very cheapest of these. I heard an original Heil back when they first came out but haven't tried or heard any other AMTs since, 40+ years!
 
#14
oldspkrguy said:
Can anyone recommend an AMT tweeter in the $100 US or under range? I am a little afraid of quality in the very cheapest of these. I heard an original Heil back when they first came out but haven't tried or heard any other AMTs since, 40+ years!
Click to expand...

I used few Dayton AMTs, the bigger, and the smaller, I preferred the small, less beaming. Sounds great to me, replaced HiVi ribbon.

Dayton Audio AMT2-4 Air Motion Transformer Tweeter 4 Ohm
https://www.parts-express.com/pedocs/specs/275-092s.pdf
 
#16
Thanks guys on the AMT recommendations! Adason, would you say the spec sheet is accurate? Can these really do 95 dB (@ 2.83 Volts) on the high end? Wolf; same question for you; is the RT5002 spec sheet accurate?

Thanks again!

I REALLY want a RAAL ribbon or Mundorf AMT but no way can I justify the expense right now; especially after just giving up over $600 US (including shipping charges) for a pair of Satori MW13TX!
 
#19
oldspkrguy said:
I don't have any Dayton RS225 but many say these are the ones that stand out for great performance in that price.

Search results for "rs225"
Click to expand...




But in Europe, the SB23NAC & SB23NBAC (both aluminium) are as cheap if not cheaper and perhaps better.


Perhaps Hificompass hav esome ideas as he listened some. He likes more the plastic cone of the SB acoustic than the ceramics... Satori being above, so not in the very cheap driver.


At iso price Wavecore, but exceptions, beats ScanSpeak Revelators range.



there are also little Monacor and Thymphany that outperforms the Dayton tweeters listed in this thread for less here.

So, it's very about howmuch you can source the drivers. (as the passive parts of the filter) where you are living.

I have zero experience with AMTs but some guys I do believe here are saying cheap are not so good (frontier seems around 150/200 usd). Ribons is certainly another story ?

Who are manufacturing Adam amt tweeters ?


From readings, not my own experience.
 
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#20
In the USA, the Daytons are less expensive. No doubt the SBs are better though. I have said many times; SB has the best drivers for the money spent; budget to Satoris and everything in-between. Of course, some of the Design Engineers came from Scan Speak and Vifa so no real surprise at all. The CAC series are REALLY good at low distortion; especially in that price range...
 
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