I'd say low cost, first and foremost.what makes one cheap in the first place? Like a stamped frame vs casted?
I would define it as me being able to go and buy the drivers in question for lower than the market average would suggest [either for a speaker of said price class, or just plain under the average market price].what makes one cheap in the first place? Like a stamped frame vs casted?
Yes with DIY speakers definitely. There are many cheap very good drivers out there. It is also relatively easy to build a very good cabinet which didn't cost much if you only consider the material costs.Has anyone heard great speakers that used cheap drivers? I have actually.
Usually factors like:what makes one cheap in the first place? Like a stamped frame vs casted?
extension makes tweeters expensive. like the linkwitz orion needs to make it all the way to 1.4khz, thats low for a dome so its expensive. but the tweeter in lx521 is crossed over around 7khz.Does the JBL Studio 580 count? It uses fairly cheap drivers but the implementation is very good.
I have yet to hear the Linkwitz LX521, but the tweeter on that isn't what I would call "expensive"...
Getting a really good speaker with really, cheap, readily replacable drivers is really IMHO the best thing ever. Just find a pair used, replace with brand new drivers, get a tech to replace the caps in the xover board, buy new batting, and put a coat of furniture polish on the cabinet and enjoy.A lot of the whipper snappers around here probably don't remember Dunlavy Audio. On axis measurements were near perfect as well as time alignment. John didn't believe in spending hyper dollars on drivers rather he picked drivers based on frequency response and measured performance. Most of his really successful designs used Vifa drivers. Mainly the p15 and p17 for mid-bass drivers. His go-to tweeter was the D27 silk some. Back in the day those drivers were all about $25 a piece.
Dunno--I think that's pushing it a bit, particularly if that $10k speaker has deep bass extension. I source my drivers directly from the factory, albeit in smaller lots than the big boys do, but $100 wouldn't begin to cover the woofer cost for the $3,700 tower--or the $1,700 monitor for that matter.Most drivers are cheap
A $10K speaker can have 100$ worth of drivers
Getting a really good speaker with really, cheap, readily replacable drivers is really IMHO the best thing ever. Just find a pair used, replace with brand new drivers, get a tech to replace the caps in the xover board, buy new batting, and put a coat of furniture polish on the cabinet and enjoy.
I think that's a fair statement. Decent, but not super premium drivers, plus a well designed crossover will beat a Haphazard crossover + a $2500 diamond tweeter and exotic material woofer any day. But if you want a woofer that combines deep bass reach with low distortion, reasonable sensitivity, and linear response at the top end, you still have to fork over some $$.You can easily rack up thousands in driver costs, but the fact that the top performing brands don't is what's telling to me. Revel, JBL, Adam, Buchardt all use drivers that cost less than or about $100 a piece. Most of them accomplish quality with control and design. I always find the "lowest effort" designs have high expense components expected to be valued above actual effort, like Wilson's monitors and the entire B&W lineup.
I only bring it up because most high end drivers are treated more like jewelry than clockwork. At this point it's as likely to inspire my criticism as my curiosity. For example, I know the Philharmonic BMR is a top-quality speaker design, but the $400 tweeter almost makes me suspicious at that point. Not the $25 midrange, but I see the ribbon and think "hand spun gold wire by tibetan monks in a nitrogen purged EMI sheath" instead of a perfect horizontal dispersion pattern. Maybe ASR is rubbing off.But if you want a woofer that combines deep bass reach with low distortion, reasonable sensitivity, and linear response at the top end, you still have to fork over some $$.