The Dayton III

[Rhythmatic]

I'm thinking about building the Dayton III speakers because I desperately have wanted some studio monitors, but decided this may be better. Here's a reference link I'll use: http://speakerbuilder.net/web_files/...D3W/index.html

Any tips for a future DIY-er? Is this project worth my time and money? Or should I just for some swans at newegg?

Thanks in advance.

[ooheadsoo]

Is $200 your max budget? If you can sacrifice some bass extension, I think you can do better for not too much more money (better drivers, better xover.) Wayne probably does the best he can with these cheapo drivers but unless bass is ultra important to you, you can consolidate the cost of the two 6.5" drivers and consider a better overall speaker.

Consider one of the budget versions of the mbow1 on www.murphyblaster.com
I just did the standard mbow1 2 way with premium parts. Dennis Murphy also has the mb20 using a morel dome tweet and a mb27 that uses a seas 27tffc. He is also working on a mbow1 variant right this moment that uses a H1224 Seas L18RNX/P woofer instead of the m130 gr woofer.

There are more 2 ways out there too, but these are great starting points. Building the cabinets is the hardest part.

[jmzzz01]

I built the Daytons and they sound nice, lots of low end, but the very high end is lacking. They're not bad, but I think if you shopped around on eBay you could do better. You just would lose out on the learning experience and satafacton of building your own, which can be fun.

I picked up a set of Vandersteen 1B's for under $300, and they are noticabely better. The price of the materials for the Daytons is a little over $300 not including the cabinets, and if you have to pay someone to construct them for you, well, you're not going to come out ahead IMO.

[dd3mon]

LOL - I love the caption from the woodworking picture from the link the first post:

Above: What? I can build my own speakers and only have to drop a few thousand on a complete woodshop? Tell me more!

-dd3mon

[ooheadsoo]

How is the price of the D3 over $300? For generic xover parts, it comes out to about $150+ship, certainly not over $200.

[jmzzz01]

Originally Posted by ooheadsoo

How is the price of the D3 over $300? For generic xover parts, it comes out to about $150+ship, certainly not over $200.

You're right. I checked my receipts:

All internal parts (incl. opt. components).......187.11 + S/H
Cabinets.......................................... .......100.00
1 sheet of veneer.............................apprx. 50.00
Contact cement & stain..............................10.00

There were also clamps, solder, glue sticks, a router bit, etc. that I bought - you may or may not already have these things. I do remember seeing on the site that the cost was approximately $150 (prices have gone up at PE since that was written) plus cabinets, but when you add it all up, there are a lot of things that aren't included. I still think you could do better used- Jim

[ooheadsoo]

Yeah, I wouldn't spend $200-300 on a dayton driver design either, which is why I mentioned the other kits that use better drivers with a x-over designer of good repute.

The only reason I can think of to do a D3 is to get bass extension for cheap. Whether you choose to do that or not depends on your priorities I guess. And I don't even think it's strictly necessary. In my room (I have a very very bad room) the bass extension of my 5" gr research m130 woofers goes down to about 35hz usable bass before rolling off. Your room may not be as problematic as mine (this bass extension should not be happening,) but I certainly don't regret not building a D3.

[Rhythmatic]

Wow, thanks for the responses.

My room is an 8'x11' with one window and a closet jam packed full of clothes. There's also of course a flimsy door. The only true bass I've experienced is from my Creative Labs Inspire 4400s 4.1 computer speakers, and some Klipsch promedia 4.1s from like 1998 or 99(they're a friend of mine's), so I don't know what true bass will sound like. I do know, that my creatives bottom out at 45Hz, and you can hear the port start to whistle like mad and it's just horrible. I think I might be too lazy to really invest the time and money on the D3s, so what speakers would you guys recommend that I could get maybe used here or eBay? I am looking for the ATH-A900 of the speakers, which is basically the best I can get for the budget. I am pretty sure I want 3 way, but if the price is okay, I could get 2 way and then a dedicated subwoofer. Currently, I am using some no name 3 way floorstanding and one of the subs have blown, so I'm stuck with the P.O.S. creatives (albeit the A500s of course ). Any recommendations? The budget would have to be probably no more than $250-300 and a bit over.

[ooheadsoo]

A 3 way is probably not ideal for your room because the greater driver spread usually needs more space for the sound of the 3 drivers to gel and become cohesive. Unless you're at one end of the room and the speakers at the other end with nothing inbetween. However, if you are dead set on 3 way floorstanders for cheap, my recommendation is a vintage pair of JBLs. I like'em. You're not going to get any newish model speaker of comparable sound quality to the jbl's at this price range...IMHO. Just make sure that the driver surrounds are in good shape because the foam tends to rot after 10-15 years. Or you could see if you can land a pair for cheap with bad foam and refoam them yourself with a foam kit.

In a diy speaker, the cabinet is usually half the cost of the speaker OR MORE. That's what makes the D3 a poor bargain IMO. The cabinet is something of a fixed cost, perhaps more expensive in the case of the D3 because it's a large MTM. Smaller speaker = cheaper cabinet = bigger proportion of your money goes towards drivers.

[Rhythmatic]

Well, I'm not really dead set on 3 ways, as I said I would go for some 2 ways and a subwoofer. I have some 3 ways on top of a DESK (hahaha!) and the direction they face and I sit is the shorter part of the room. I really honestly want 2 ways because they are commonly smaller. Anyone know of some studio monitors that sound good?

[ooheadsoo]

For $200, I think the only think I moderately like is the Event tr5 if you can get them used off of ebay.

[Disher]

Originally Posted by ooheadsoo

Is $200 your max budget? If you can sacrifice some bass extension, I think you can do better for not too much more money (better drivers, better xover.) Wayne probably does the best he can with these cheapo drivers but unless bass is ultra important to you, you can consolidate the cost of the two 6.5" drivers and consider a better overall speaker.

Consider one of the budget versions of the mbow1 on MurphyBlaster Productions
I just did the standard mbow1 2 way with premium parts. Dennis Murphy also has the mb20 using a morel dome tweet and a mb27 that uses a seas 27tffc. He is also working on a mbow1 variant right this moment that uses a H1224 Seas L18RNX/P woofer instead of the m130 gr woofer.

There are more 2 ways out there too, but these are great starting points. Building the cabinets is the hardest part.

I don't see the mbow1 variant that uses a H1224 Seas L18RNX/P woofer instead of the m130 gr woofer on Dennis's website.