# Dayton Reference Drivers- How good are they really?



## kepone (Aug 15, 2006)

You guys that have actually used the Dayton Reference Drivers for Home Audio...

How do they actually stack up against the other brands? I am looking to build a pair of towers for mainly stereo/music listening, but also some limited home theater use . Right now, if i had my way I would use all ScanSpeak drivers, but since the economy is not having any of that, my choices are pretty much down to Dayton or Aurum Cantus drivers..

The Aurum's cost a lot more than the daytons, but the prices are still very reasonable..

How do the Dayton's actually stack up?

Or better yet, if you were out to build a 3 way setup, dual 7" midbass, 5" midrange, and ribbon tweeter on sort of a budget, what drivers would you use?


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## ocuriel (Oct 7, 2005)

They are very good. Probably the best lesser expensive speaker you can buy.


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## kepone (Aug 15, 2006)

Are there any woofers that they sound similar to? I am more than willing to try them, just curious as to how they stack up against the other big players out there, regardless of price.


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## ocuriel (Oct 7, 2005)

Built like $200 speakers each for a fraction of the price.

Copper in the motor to reduce distortion wich is unheard in this price range.

Unless you prefer the sound of a different cone material or need a driver to play higher then 1.8k-2.5k hz, I would go with these. 

They are very clean sounding drivers. 

Check out www.zaphaudio.com for more reviews and other options.


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## Aaron D (Jul 14, 2008)

kepone,
More or less reiteriting what ocuriel has said. You'd have to spend around twice what the Daytons cost to find anything comparable. Metal cones do encourage the need for lower x-over points (which means either a 3-way or a robust tweeter). Crossover design is typically more involved than some of the "soft" coned higher end drivers to keep everything kosher (drives up package cost some).

The Daytons also have the benefit of being used in a wide variety of well regarded existing designs. Check the zaph link and look at the ZDT3.5 design w/ matching center channel. Lots of good projects out there and Dayton drivers are on sale regularly,

Hope that helps.

Later,
Aaron


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