Is neo really worth it?

[Liquid Bass 10+ year member]

So with the price of neo steadily rising is it really going to still be practical for these companies to continue making neo motors? Is it really worth it?

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[FtheNutHuggers]

the ones that actually have any real engineering/development/goal behind their driver(s) that use neodymium magnets, sure. the ones that don't, no, they'll just be more expensive and just as worthless.

 

[Boomsday 10+ year member]

daily driver not really, just cool to say I have neo mags

 

[Bad4health 10+ year member]

i got neo in my door speakers

 

[sundownz Pro Seller]

I stopped development of my large SPL Neo drivers due to continually ballooning costs on Neo.

I think that for purpose built SPL drivers it will continue to be used and also for mids and highs that use smaller pieces it will remain practical... also some higher end specialty SQ drivers may continue usage (SI BM MKIII). But for anything consumer level I think it may fade out for a while unless the price comes under control.

 

[Fi Car Audio 10+ year member]

Trust me... its rough. We keep eating the exponentially growing cost of neo on our best selling line of sub. Makes us think smarter in terms of manufacturing efficiency in desperate attempts to keep pricing where it is. But it is a loosing battle.

With the govt stepping in to control the export of Neo from China, it has made things rough for manufacturers using it. Our neo for the N series of drivers has more than quadrupled in cost since the drivers were introduced... It also forced us to rework the Neo-SSD driver line back to regular ferrites after dies were tooled for the motors.

We will keep pushing on with Neo.

 

[Liquid Bass 10+ year member]

I think it should be an option but not a replacement. In the case of Fi I think the original btl appealed to a larger group and you guys still made money on an awesome product that was priced great. Even tho I can't think of many companies that can provide the quality and price Fi does. I like the way tc did it a few years back when they just kind of kept neo a behind the scenes option

 

[Ryan shaw 10+ year member]

Couldn't agree more liquid. It's a cool idea, but I think it's gonna hit a halt with price increases. Its a shame tc went under again, they were making the only motors strong enough to keep up with neos for SQL subs. (more or less). I'd like to see more motors like the btl single slug and dd 9515 on woofers with looser suspensions and lower fs for some killer daily subs.

But maybe I'm crazy

 

[Liquid Bass 10+ year member]

Couldn't agree more liquid. It's a cool idea, but I think it's gonna hit a halt with price increases. Its a shame tc went under again, they were making the only motors strong enough to keep up with neos for SQL subs. (more or less). I'd like to see more motors like the btl single slug and dd 9515 on woofers with looser suspensions and lower fs for some killer daily subs.
But maybe I'm crazy

What do you mean they went under again?

 

[Ryan shaw 10+ year member]

they're "back up" now, but they raised prices and started using cheaper stuff...I guess i'll always consider them under now

 

[Fi Car Audio 10+ year member]

Thing is... we are moving more of the N2s than we did the older versions. There are distinct advantages to them that people seem to like (weight and cooling for this design) vs the older drivers. We do get the odd request for the single magnet and older 3 stack versions, but normally that is to match up with a sub(s) that they already have.

Not too mention that our shipping dept loves the N2s over the last version. The extra 20+ lbs of weight savings doesnt go unnoticed by peoples backs at the end of the day.

 

[T.I.K. 10+ year member]

I was wondering what happened to the SSD's, i guess now I know, lol

 

[Wingman0121 10+ year member]

Neo magnets are often found in factory speakers in cars because it saves weight. The stock speakers in the newer Honda Accords all have neo magnets.

So we don't have any neodymium to mine in the US or what?