Have a look at Dayton Audio RS-series. several of my friends use both their 8, 15 and 18" - and they work really great. In comparison I never think about scanspeak anymore.
They have 2 different within each size - namely a HO and HF.
The HO should be the High Output and the HF should play a bit deeper - but require much bigger box.
A 15" RSS390HO-4. Give it a 60-70liters closed box and around 6-800W( 8ohm) - beat it with a DSP and you will get awesome clean and deep sound.
SS might give you something - a bit smaller - but at a much higher price.
The HF and HO versions are designed as subs - should also note that the RS225 and RS270 are 8" and 10" drivers designed for use as woofers if you want some other options of that size.
I recently used the RS100P in a set of micro bookshelf speakers, and I have to say I'm impressed with the sound quality, especially for the price. The bass is non-existent at that size of course, but at the frequencies they actually play at they're great!
I recently used the RS100P in a set of micro bookshelf speakers, and I have to say I'm impressed with the sound quality, especially for the price. The bass is non-existent at that size of course, but at the frequencies they actually play at they're great!
But how is a Dayton RS in front of an Acuton c190 serie or a Seas metal cones ?!
Dayton RS beats ScanSpeak Revelator serie ? or even the lower driver line (think to the excelent 10F and his 8" big brother for the monney !
Spec on the paper show not so great thing about the Dayton : often big Le, bad Qm, concistency problems between two drivers at measurment...
Why not a Visaton metal cone, What are so great with the Dayton RS serie ? Price ? Are we just thinking H2 & H3 and forgot all what Linkwitz, Mark, Zaph, now HifiCompass and so many learned to us to be add to the list
Dayton RS beats ScanSpeak Revelator serie ? or even the lower driver line (think to the excelent 10F and his 8" big brother for the monney !
Spec on the paper show not so great thing about the Dayton : often big Le, bad Qm, concistency problems between two drivers at measurment...
Why not a Visaton metal cone, What are so great with the Dayton RS serie ? Price ? Are we just thinking H2 & H3 and forgot all what Linkwitz, Mark, Zaph, now HifiCompass and so many learned to us to be add to the list
All the Dayton drivers I've seen, has been of great quality and I heard of no problems with them.
Accuton and Seas are great too - but a ceramic 15" ???
And Seas does not build anything larger than 10" - sooooo - gotta look somewhere else
Still - the use of a given driver, should be of more importance, than price and name/brand.
I've heard alot of very expensive drivers in tons of different speakers. DXT tweeters sound great in Kii3 and Grimm.... why rob a bank to buy Scanspeak, when awesome engineering does not cost that much. I get that we have to have development and new stuff. But alot of basic science and technology already gets you 95% of the way - for us people with basic income
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Agreed. For me, the number 1 overriding consideration is price/performance ratio. This is why I will probably never use Scanspeak, Accuton, diamond tweets, etc. This is also why I really like drivers by Dayton, Peerless, and SBAcoustics - they are well designed, excellent drivers that give you 95% of what the top can at 10-20% the cost.
My old 18W8545 cost 230$ each - and I have 6 of them!
I got them used and way cheaper.... or else that was not an option for me
Can't beat a good deal!
After a quick search at Madisound and Parts Express I'm not seeing anything else in the $60 range that measures better than the dayton actually. Peerless 830869 seems similar. Even the SB23NACS45-8 (new version sb23NBAC) is notnmuch better and costs $109. Only real option might be some old Scanspeak drivers on a buyout special at PE right now, M22WSR-45 and -46, but I haven't found any measurements. The two 8" Scanspeaks that have been measured by Hificompass are a bit better, but both cost several times more.
After a quick search at Madisound and Parts Express I'm not seeing anything else in the $60 range that measures better than the dayton actually. Peerless 830869 seems similar. Even the SB23NACS45-8 (new version sb23NBAC) is notnmuch better and costs $109. Only real option might be some old Scanspeak drivers on a buyout special at PE right now, M22WSR-45 and -46, but I haven't found any measurements. The two 8" Scanspeaks that have been measured by Hificompass are a bit better, but both cost several times more.
This is going to be a general comment, so non take it personally.
What bothers me about DIY audio is that for some reason and for a lot of people, it has to be cheap. I get that designing, building and auditioning your latest creation is fun and you get a kick out out it, but why does it have to mediocre or Low-Fi much of the time ? - The "I'll show them " kinda attitude. People have different agendas, goals, budgets and all that. But rather to be in a hurry to just have something that makes sound, spending a bit more time on planing, r&d and perhaps save up for a while.
I can take myself as an example. Back in 2014, I didn't know any technical aspects of loudspeakers, I was a proper n00b. Knowing this, I started to audition and listen to lots of loudspeakers, from cheap to ultra expensive. In part I wanted to discover exactly what I personally liked and in part what made a loudspeaker cheap vs expensive, what are the actual parameters. I listened to soft & hard dome, paper, composite and metal cones. After doing so for a few years and reading books, technical articles and reading forum thread, what I found was that the general public, including audiophiles tend to lean towards the "warm and musical".
This was not how I envisioned a neutral and accurate loudspeaker, so soft dome and paper was out of the question EVEN if many of them has a very smooth presentation, non of them was what I considered accurate or life like. That brings us to what is described as analytical. But I don't like that term ... ANALYTICAL. It is actually used as a curse word for does who enjoy warm and relaxed loudspeakers. I have heard analytical loudspeakers that becomes very fatiguing after half an hour or so and I have heard "analytical" loudspeakers that got it right (YG Acoustics).
Hificompass.com, THE source which connected the harsh metal drivers through harmonic measurements. That is my true golden nugget. Discovering why some hard dome/cone drivers sound fatiguing while others not even if the drivers present a fairly flat FR response was the key to unlock my path moving forward.
I've been waiting a long time to build my first loudspeaker. I saw no reason in doing it for the sake of doing it or just repeating what someone else had done, my loudspeaker needed a proper purpose. It took a while to get here
What bothers me about DIY audio is that for some reason and for a lot of people, it has to be cheap. I get that designing, building and auditioning your latest creation is fun and you get a kick out out it, but why does it have to mediocre or Low-Fi much of the time ? - The "I'll show them " kinda attitude
. People have different agendas, goals, budgets and all that. But rather to be in a hurry to just have something that makes sound, spending a bit more time on planing, r&d and perhaps save up for a while.I can take myself as an example. Back in 2014, I didn't know any technical aspects of loudspeakers, I was a proper n00b. Knowing this, I started to audition and listen to lots of loudspeakers, from cheap to ultra expensive. In part I wanted to discover exactly what I personally liked and in part what made a loudspeaker cheap vs expensive, what are the actual parameters. I listened to soft & hard dome, paper, composite and metal cones. After doing so for a few years and reading books, technical articles and reading forum thread, what I found was that the general public, including audiophiles tend to lean towards the "warm and musical".
This was not how I envisioned a neutral and accurate loudspeaker, so soft dome and paper was out of the question EVEN if many of them has a very smooth presentation, non of them was what I considered accurate or life like. That brings us to what is described as analytical. But I don't like that term ... ANALYTICAL. It is actually used as a curse word for does who enjoy warm and relaxed loudspeakers. I have heard analytical loudspeakers that becomes very fatiguing after half an hour or so and I have heard "analytical" loudspeakers that got it right (YG Acoustics).
Hificompass.com, THE source which connected the harsh metal drivers through harmonic measurements. That is my true golden nugget. Discovering why some hard dome/cone drivers sound fatiguing while others not even if the drivers present a fairly flat FR response was the key to unlock my path moving forward.
I've been waiting a long time to build my first loudspeaker. I saw no reason in doing it for the sake of doing it or just repeating what someone else had done, my loudspeaker needed a proper purpose. It took a while to get here
I used 10 years to find most of my gear - used.
Computers, software, soundcards and microphones.
I have build my own amplifiers, speakers, subwoofers and cables. I have learned about measurements, electronics and design. All speakers and subwoofers are hand made from 30mm birch.
My preamp is a Groundsound DCN28 and my amplifiers are 6xGroundsound PA3CC - Subwoofers are 2 x HPA2:
Ground Sound
Drivers:
Tweeter 2x Seas Magnum
Midrange 2 x Accuton C82-T8
Mid woofers 6 x 18W8545
Subwoofers 4 x XXLS 830952
Not to mention all the drivers that I went through to learn this stuff
Cheap??
My point was only - that I have to admit - that sometimes I hear drivers that cost way less - that playes great - simple as that
PS - I dont take it personally.... I just remembered how much time and money I spend on this
We all find different paths to our goals, or should I say stations as I am sure there are more than one stop. Sometimes we spent more time on one station than another and so forth. I am in the process of collecting hardware (building) myself and its by no means cheap. Took some effort to get here, so DIY does not equal cheap as a rule, but cheap seem to be something that is a driving force for many - on the other hand, paying more than you need to makes no sense either.
As long as we are able to build what that thing we really like and enjoy it, then that is ultimately what matters. And we will always have a debate about it ... he he.
As long as we are able to build what that thing we really like and enjoy it, then that is ultimately what matters. And we will always have a debate about it ... he he.
You are not the first to have that idea. SBA does sell or offer raw components, unassembled. So... perhaps its just an email way.
Yep.... off with the dull paper and make a sweet affair between hard cones and delicious moto/basket design