Diamond Audio, Rainbow, or CDT?

[exige 10+ year member]

outdated was probably the wrong term to use there, but it's being refreshed into a design tooled in-house that won't have the large housing on the back. it's gonna be an even sweeter tweeter that'll be your normal 1" dome dimensions in a standard housing.

 

[t22a80 10+ year member]

Thats cool, the large mounting plate is a pain to install.

 

[OldOneEye 10+ year member]

careful, there's only so much truth to all that. people have dug up vifa drivers that they say are thee same, when in reality they're not or not even close. CDT's stuff is built for a car environment, IB. Vifa is built for home audio setups. major difference there. secondly, all the new stuff is tooled in house. sure the ES-01 bears some resemblance to a certain vifa driver...ES-01 is outdated and being replaced with a brand new driver that was designed in house. ES-02, M6, M6+, etc.......there are no other companies involved besides CDT. you won't find other versions of those drivers. i can't speak for some of the stuff in the past, but all the new stuff is CDT's own. they were designed and built by Ken, and they're not built for any other company or application.

So they are building the stuff in the US? Or is someone else OEMing Ken's design for him (and he owns the design)? Either way, it seems that something similar from Vifa is much more affordbable and looks similar so outside of the R&D costs, it might make you wonder where all the extra cost is.

Juan

 

[exige 10+ year member]

The CDT buildhouse is located in Sweden, final assembly in California. The current drivers are designed by Ken, and sent off to the buildhouse to be built. CDT has used some designs from OEM drivers in the past from Vifa...specifically the ES-01 tweeter, but the drivers built today are all CDT drivers. The ES-01 tweeter will be replaced very shortly with a new tweeter (standard size this time) called the ES-010. When the ES-01 is killed off, I do not know of any drivers at all that are using OEM designs. To my knowledge, the ES-01 is the last one. So to put it how it is: All current CDT drivers are non-OEM drivers; they are designed and tooled by CDT, and built by CDT's own buildhouse. Vifa, nor any other company, has no involvement in any of the process. Everything today is CDT's.

 

[OldOneEye 10+ year member]

The CDT buildhouse is located in Sweden, final assembly in California. The current drivers are designed by Ken, and sent off to the buildhouse to be built. CDT has used some designs from OEM drivers in the past from Vifa...specifically the ES-01 tweeter, but the drivers built today are all CDT drivers. The ES-01 tweeter will be replaced very shortly with a new tweeter (standard size this time) called the ES-010. When the ES-01 is killed off, I do not know of any drivers at all that are using OEM designs. To my knowledge, the ES-01 is the last one. So to put it how it is: All current CDT drivers are non-OEM drivers; they are designed and tooled by CDT, and built by CDT's own buildhouse. Vifa, nor any other company, has no involvement in any of the process. Everything today is CDT's.

Now, it seems like you are answering a different question. Who makes the speakers, versus who makes the pieces. Sure, the designs are CDT, but are the ingredients they use that much different than the stuff they used to use? I mean, don't build houses have to have economies of scale to be able to survive? So regardless of the who and where, does it justify the price (I mean, nobody seems to be showing a link to Madisound or Parts Express for a driver that costs more than a CDT driver)?

Juan

 

[exige 10+ year member]

i tried to make it very clear and i think it is pretty clear....don't twist my words around....anyways lets try again: (Besides the ES-01) no company, outside of CDT and CDT's buildhouse.....located in SWEDEN....has any involvement with CDT. Vifa is located in DENMARK. their factories are in CHINA and DENMARK. CDT's factory is in SWEDEN.

you don't seem to understand the concept that many companies...such as Sundown (buildhouse in Korea), such as Diamond (buildhouse in China).....have buildhouses located in other countries. CDT's buildhouse is located in sweden. they build drivers for CDT. the drivers that are built for CDT, are NOT used by any other company...or designed by any other company. CDT drivers are designed by Ken Persson, the president of CDT. nobody besides Ken has any involvement in driver design. does this clear it up for you?

this statement should have done the trick the first time:

All current CDT drivers are non-OEM drivers; they are designed and tooled by CDT, and built by CDT's own buildhouse. Vifa, nor any other company, has no involvement in any of the process. Everything today is CDT's.

so stop taking what im saying and twisting it. it's clear as day.

 

[exige 10+ year member]

And honestly man...if you don't believe me.....just go pull up the ES-02, ES-06, ES-06+, etc,etc,etc.....then find another company who makes those....you won't...because CDT is the only one who makes them.

 

[OldOneEye 10+ year member]

i tried to make it very clear and i think it is pretty clear....don't twist my words around....anyways lets try again: (Besides the ES-01) no company, outside of CDT and CDT's buildhouse.....located in SWEDEN....has any involvement with CDT. Vifa is located in DENMARK. their factories are in CHINA and DENMARK. CDT's factory is in SWEDEN.

I'm not sure where you got that I said anything else. Does this build house build for other people? If no other company is involved, is every piece a custom, one off piece made specifically for that buildhouse? Or are pieces bought from a supplier in Asia anyone else can use (lets say for example... I don't know, Vifa?).

you don't seem to understand the concept that many companies...such as Sundown (buildhouse in Korea), such as Diamond (buildhouse in China).....have buildhouses located in other countries. CDT's buildhouse is located in sweden. they build drivers for CDT. the drivers that are built for CDT, are NOT used by any other company...or designed by any other company. CDT drivers are designed by Ken Persson, the president of CDT. nobody besides Ken has any involvement in driver design. does this clear it up for you?

this statement should have done the trick the first time:

so stop taking what im saying and twisting it. it's clear as day.

I understand much more than you seen to think. I have friend who work for manufacturers, who do consulting work for manufacturers, who do design and consultinig work for manufacturers (including doing work for Tymphany when they set up their Chinese operation0 and in fact I had dinner with one of the guys who owns a larger buildhouse in China at CES. (Sonavox if you are curious).

I also understand how they operate. A build house has certain off the shelf parts and certain custom parts. To have a part that doesn't really add that much to the performance (a basket or magnet) custom made takes tons of time and money. The parts that are easier to tweak (voice coil, surround, cone, etc.) are usually what is modified.

So never said Ken didn't do the design work. I'm asking a very specific question. Does the buildhouse that CDT use make drivers for other people? Ken designs it, probably owns the design, but that doesn't keep other people from making something similar, especially if the hard parts are available to anyone who wants them.

So cliff notes:

Does CDT's buildhouse make for other people?

Does CDT's designs consist of only custom made parts, or are they using off the shelf parts?

Do some other company's have access to similar hard parts?

Typically there is a reason that stuff looks similar.

Don't confuse my lack of posts with a lack of understanding of how the speaker business works.

Juan

 

[exige 10+ year member]

K...your missing the main point....I've said it quite a few times already. KEN PERSSON, THE PRESIDENT OF CDT AUDIO, DESIGNS TODAY'S CDT DRIVERS. NOBODY ELSE DESIGNS THEM. THEY ARE BUILT USING PARTS TOOLED FOR CDT AND CDT ONLY. NOBODY ELSE HAS SPEAKERS THAT UTILIZE THESE PARTS. NOBODY ELSE HAS ACCESS TO THESE SPEAKERS OR PARTS. my point has been clearly made multiple times now. get it juan?

 

[tbasile1 10+ year member]

Rainbow ftw!

 

[djdilliodon 10+ year member]

K...your missing the main point....I've said it quite a few times already. KEN PERSSON, THE PRESIDENT OF CDT AUDIO, DESIGNS TODAY'S CDT DRIVERS. NOBODY ELSE DESIGNS THEM. THEY ARE BUILT USING PARTS TOOLED FOR CDT AND CDT ONLY. NOBODY ELSE HAS SPEAKERS THAT UTILIZE THESE PARTS. NOBODY ELSE HAS ACCESS TO THESE SPEAKERS OR PARTS. my point has been clearly made multiple times now. get it juan?

There is one part cdt uses that is an off the shelf vifa part and that is the cast frame used on the standard HD and ES driver //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif They have been using that frame since the 1980's on the hd driver and it would be silly to replace it with a new custom piece (just not cost affective). The es-01 was also an off the shelf tweeter. That is about it. The cl line though cdt does not make, they design it and have it built in some asian country. Pre 1995 cdt designed and built for orion, cliff, and a few others. When cliff got bought it was a big account for them so they stopped doing for others and made there own line "CDT audio" or AKA CD Technologies //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[OldOneEye 10+ year member]

There is one part cdt uses that is an off the shelf vifa part and that is the cast frame used on the standard HD and ES driver //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif They have been using that frame since the 1980's on the hd driver and it would be silly to replace it with a new custom piece (just not cost affective). The es-01 was also an off the shelf tweeter. That is about it. The cl line though cdt does not make, they design it and have it built in some asian country. Pre 1995 cdt designed and built for orion, cliff, and a few others. When cliff got bought it was a big account for them so they stopped doing for others and made there own line "CDT audio" or AKA CD Technologies //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

Hmmm......

 

[t22a80 10+ year member]

Thanks for the info Don!

 

[exige 10+ year member]

There is one part cdt uses that is an off the shelf vifa part and that is the cast frame used on the standard HD and ES driver //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif They have been using that frame since the 1980's on the hd driver and it would be silly to replace it with a new custom piece (just not cost affective). The es-01 was also an off the shelf tweeter. That is about it. The cl line though cdt does not make, they design it and have it built in some asian country. Pre 1995 cdt designed and built for orion, cliff, and a few others. When cliff got bought it was a big account for them so they stopped doing for others and made there own line "CDT audio" or AKA CD Technologies //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

news to me, thanks for the info don.