Luke (Uof I)

http://quicksitebuilder.cnet.com/wrnch2/apex.html

The PE Audax TM is probably a good option for price and size plus the drivers are on a good sale now. This may also be around $100 after crossovers: http://www.zaphaudio.com/audio-speaker13.html

What I often see lacking is business sense/experience/professionalism. A lot of companies are started by engineers and enthusiasts that are usually either incapable of successfully running a company or at least hampered. I have no qualms with the way pricing has worked out as it just reflects the market. The margins are similar to other consumer electronics and in most industries as the price level increases the margin % also increases e.g. a product that costs twice as much probably doesn't cost twice as much to produce. Someone mentioned trying to undercut larger companies but then again if you made an amp that cost half as much as a Zapco and said it was as good as a Zapco, who's going to believe you? My last note is that I think some buildhouses could improve quality and quality control. Some could probably benefit quite a bit from Deming's principles.

Dynavox and Max Fidelity came about as Dyn clones after Dyn left the DIY market. HiVi just happens to have a line with big VC's (which was the most notable characteristic of the Dyn mids). HiVi does have some good stuff though, but they are really diverse and I've only had a chance to listen to a couple of their speakers. BTW If you are making your own design, how do you plan on designing the crossover?

Hmmm... well Dynaudio doesn't sell raw drivers anymore, so its probably out of the question to have a Dyn CC. An easy and fairly inexpensive route would be this: [url="http://www.madisound.com/cgi-bin/index.cgi?exact_match=yes&product=KAU&cart_id=%25

What are his other speakers? How much does he want to spend for just speakers and crossovers for the CC?

that would be awesome, Luke and Steve are helping me figure it out which model to go with, the Dayton are 4ohm, but a little lower in quality that I want, but the 7" Dayton Euros and Reference models look to fit every need except they are 8 ohms, I could run them mono and they would see much more power <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I forgot to mention that a couple months ago, Darren Kuzma mentioned something about releasing a 4 ohm, non-shielded version of the RS drivers. I have no idea where they're at for that or even if they still plan on doing it. The RS drivers really are very nice, I can't find it now, but I read an objective comparison among the RS, Seas Excel, and some SS drivers and the RS did very well against them not even considering the huge price disparity. I'm sure the 8 ohm version will be at the tent sale considering its the house brand for PE and they can afford to reduce their margin.

I've used HiVi, but only the full-range stuff. In that price range and at 4 ohm, I would probably pick up the CSX if they have the 4 ohm version. If not, Madisound does.

Are you building the Dr. K MTM's?

well I was going to ask for some assistance, it has been a while that I have bough dedicated mid-bass, and parts express does not carry Eclipse or Orion or Crystal and espically ID, so I am a little out of my expertise when it comes to some of these companies, the Morel's have very nice specs, along with the Davis mid-bass but that is more than I want to spend, I am not looking for super high end, just a quality mid-bass that will go into a small console box upfront, helping me bring my sound stage a little forward, I would probably run them at 350hz and below for this particular install, <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Does it have to be exactly a certain size or just around 6.5-7"? Vifa PL, Peerless CSX, Dayton RS. The dayton is shielded and only in 8 ohm, so that may be a problem. The Vifa is available in 4 ohm, and the CSX has been available in 4 ohm, I don't know if PE still has some though. The Dayton is a very high quality driver and you shouldn't have any problem with cone resonance at that bandwidth. I've heard mixed reviews about the Vifa, but I think that was just about the midrange, should be good for midbass and I'm pretty sure it shares some parts with the JL XR. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I will look at the Dayton, do you have experince with Daivs or Morel? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I don't really hear that much about the Davis drivers. For the price, it seems like there's better options. For $75-150/driver, there's some really top-end alternatives. I do know some people that have used Morel and enjoyed them, but just have only used the tweeters. This site hasn't been updated for quite a while but its still a good reference: http://ldsg.snippets.org/idx.php3 If you want some more to read check out: www.diyaudio.com www.diymobileaudio.com www.pesupport.com Really with the narrow bandwith you're looking for, there's quite a few cheap speakers that will work really well. But if you have money to burn I would suggest buying a few different speakers and auditioning them, then sell off the ones you don't like and buy another for a pair. That wouldn't really take advantage of the PE tent sale, but you can get comfort in having a first hand, comparative advantage.

well I was going to ask for some assistance, it has been a while that I have bough dedicated mid-bass, and parts express does not carry Eclipse or Orion or Crystal and espically ID, so I am a little out of my expertise when it comes to some of these companies, the Morel's have very nice specs, along with the Davis mid-bass but that is more than I want to spend, I am not looking for super high end, just a quality mid-bass that will go into a small console box upfront, helping me bring my sound stage a little forward, I would probably run them at 350hz and below for this particular install, <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Does it have to be exactly a certain size or just around 6.5-7"? Vifa PL, Peerless CSX, Dayton RS. The dayton is shielded and only in 8 ohm, so that may be a problem. The Vifa is available in 4 ohm, and the CSX has been available in 4 ohm, I don't know if PE still has some though. The Dayton is a very high quality driver and you shouldn't have any problem with cone resonance at that bandwidth. I've heard mixed reviews about the Vifa, but I think that was just about the midrange, should be good for midbass and I'm pretty sure it shares some parts with the JL XR.

Thanks Denim, I'll have to bookmark this site. The Diamond TDX D9 and MTX 9512 have also been added into the test pool.

Hey guys, I hope you don't mind me posting on here, this is the first time I've been to this forum. I just thought I could address some of your comments/notions. I completely understand that you may think this will be biased, but all of the testing will be performed blind. The judges and the people taking measurements will have no idea what driver they're using. For taking measurements and SPL numbers, there'll be about 2400 watts on tap. And more can easily be gained if necessary. For the listening tests, there'll be about 1400 watts but it will all be level matched and they won't be receiving all that power as it will be at normal music listening levels. All of the subs will have a sealed and ported enclosure built to the specifications that the manufacturer requests for this particular test. There might be some overlap in designs which will help and also for sealed enclosures we might adjust Vb by simply adding something dense inside. But each sub will be in a box that is to the manu. specs. I assure you that Jeremy is not looking forward to building all those enclosures, but he does build enclosures on a regular basis often several a day so it's not a huge concern. In reality, its a bunch of people that have been long time audio enthusiasts and jump at the opportunity to listen and handle all these great drivers. Its not meant to be a definitive answer to people's purchasing decisions, but can be used as an additive tool and to be informative. Take it for what its worth, there's nothing being hidden so you can draw your own conclusions based on all the info that will be provided. - Luke (damn, this place has a lot of smilies.)