How good are the Dayton Reference Series woofers?

[tcpip]

I was wondering how good are these Dayton RS series metal cone woofers?

From what I read, metal cone or other stiff-cone woofers generate the cleanest bass, provided the xo includes sharp notch filters to clean out the resonance peaks. Considering that there are high-quality designs using the Seas Excel woofers with their very sharp peaks, I guess such xo's are worth trying. Not only that, it seems (from their FR graphs) that they have smooth responses reaching quite high for their diameters, if the peaks can be removed.

So, while looking for high-quality metal-cone woofers, I chanced upon the Dayton RS series. They seem to have some of the features found in much more expensive Seas and SS drivers, and they come in all sizes from 5" to 10". But how good are they?

I also found the slightly more expensive HiVi Ma series drivers, but HiVi doesn't seem to have anything at 10".

Any experiences or opinions? I was thinking of using 2 Dayton RS 10" woofers per side in a three-way design some day, together with some good metal mids (the HiVi B3S comes to mind, or even the CSS WR driver, both of them have received such positive feedback from you all) and perhaps a good metal dome tweeter. Alternately, try a two-way standmount with one 8" Dayton RS woofer and one tweeter per side.

So, can you please tell me something about these RS series woofers? Is there any other 10" (or even 8") high-quality metal-cone woofer at comparable prices that you feel I should look at? When I ask how good, I mean will they be much better than Dayton's paper-cone woofers in terms of accurate bass (for music, not HT)?

 

[joe carrow]

I suppose the biggest factor is the cost to you outside of the US. Are you living in Mumbai right now? The Dayton RS drivers are of excellent quality (so I have read), for the money, but if you double or triple the cost of the drivers by adding shipping and duties, then they become less competitive to drivers like Seas and Peerless.

One thing to consider is that the drivers don't have a very sharply defined resonance peak- it's a wide band of breakup over the high frequency range. A single sharp notch isn't enough; the entire range above their bandpass must be suppressed.

 

[tcpip]

I suppose the biggest factor is the cost to you outside of the US. Are you living in Mumbai right now? The Dayton RS drivers are of excellent quality (so I have read), for the money, but if you double or triple the cost of the drivers by adding shipping and duties, then they become less competitive to drivers like Seas and Peerless.

How I wish this was the case!

The sad state of diy audio in India is that other than pro drivers, the only brand-name international drivers available are these. Period. Therefore, when I talk of comparing Dayton with SS, both will have to be imported.

Oh for the day when we'll get Vifas, Seas, SS, Fostex, and the rest of them in India at approximately US prices.

One thing to consider is that the drivers don't have a very sharply defined resonance peak- it's a wide band of breakup over the high frequency range. A single sharp notch isn't enough; the entire range above their bandpass must be suppressed.

Yes, I was looking at that too. Glad you brought it up. However, for most of the published graphs, it seemed to me that if I built a single slightly low-Q notch to encompass the two or three tallest peaks, then I'd be able to cut down all of them in one go.

How well do these Dayton RS things compare with big-brand hard-cones like Seas Excel and SS, I wonder?

 

[exhausted mule]

i'm kinda curious about these as well.

not much about these speakers yet as i assume they are relatively new.

my design is similar to yours, however i have yet to design a crossover.

 

[mac]

See Mark K's site for some Dayton RS measurements. Most agree that they are very good drivers for the price.

http://206.13.113.199/ncdiyaudio/mark/Testing/testing.htm

 

[tcpip]

See Mark K's site for some Dayton RS measurements. Most agree that they are very good drivers for the price.

Strange how the mind works. I'd seen his site before I discovered the RS series, and the fact that he's covered the RS series' members so thoroughly had not registered at all. Now, thanks to your pointer, I've got some spectacular data. Thanks a million.

It appears that the RS series are not just great VFM, they're probably very good at any price, going by the distortion data. This is really spectacular news for anyone looking around for hard-cone bass and midbass drivers. This probably classifies as one of those "finds" for all of us diyers. Thanks.

 

[bombardon73]

I did build some excellent speakers with the RS150.
The crossover is 2500hz 12db/oct , there's no need for an additional LCR network to damp the resonances at 9khz because they are dampened enough by the crossover.
http://www.symfocity.demon.nl/IMG_1121Large.JPG


A very easy speaker to work with, and placed in an enclosure of approx. 10-12 liters it gives enough bass and goes louder then most other 5,5"drivers (because of the shorting rings and the relative high xmaxx)

 

[exhausted mule]

thanks as well. this is invaluable.

 

[kjax]

I did build some excellent speakers with the RS150.
The crossover is 2500hz 12db/oct , there's no need for an additional LCR network to damp the resonances at 9khz because they are dampened enough by the crossover.
http://www.symfocity.demon.nl/IMG_1121Large.JPG


A very easy speaker to work with, and placed in an enclosure of approx. 10-12 liters it gives enough bass and goes louder then most other 5,5"drivers (because of the shorting rings and the relative high xmaxx)

Still got some pics/info available? Broken link.

 

[sliceofhogan]

look here: Mission possible DIY
the rs series is one of the favourites, some think even better then excel ....

 

[kjax]

Saw that. The Modula looks nice. Too big (RS-180).

 

[dwk123]

i'm kinda curious about these as well.

not much about these speakers yet as i assume they are relatively new.

Wow. I guess this goes to show that 'the net' is not a uniform audience. If you frequent the Madisound, PE Tech Talk or HTGuide boards as well as DIYAudio, the RS drivers have been a VERY hot topic of discussion since they came out. They probably have more activity and designs out there than any other 'budget' drivers - there are a bunch of 2-ways and two or three 'proven' 3-way designs out there; some of these use the RS28 tweeter, some use Seas tweeters (amazing bargains in their own right).

Here at DIYAudio, though, they haven't gotten all that much press. I suspect that's partly because DIYAudio is rather more international in profile and the RS are only available in the US, and partly because the other forums are 'the place' to discuss the RS drivers, so there is little need to overlap.

Anyway, I don't have any personal experience with them, but from the first-hand reports of those that have used them and the measurements, it's clear that they are very good drivers by any measure. For the money, they're pretty remarkable.

 

[kjax]

I was having problems with search terms on the HTGuide forum. Found stuff to look at after figuring out what to use. Thanks.