thinking about the Dayton HO, any opinions?

[BLD 25 10+ year member]

I posted this on DIYMA, but i was disappointed with the lack of responses:

Hey, i have read and read on these, and i still have some questions. I have had a diamond TDX, Soundsplinter RL-P, Stereo Integrity Claw Magnum, Elemental designs e12K **** cone, ED 13Ov.2, an OZ ME, and an Infinity DVQ among others. To quote U2, "I still haven't found what i am looking for."

All were crossed at 80hz, and most were in a 2 cube box at 29hz which falls within recommended box size for most of these.

here are my impressions of a few

The TDX:

Crisp and bottom heavy, with very little upper bass.

Loud

RL-P

Very nice all around, not terribly efficient. this was an original RL-p that didn't have the shortning ring.

13Ov.2

Does everything all around pretty well. digs pretty deep, plays up high nice, clean, and efficient.

e12k

also does everything pretty well, but not quite as much as the 13Ov.2

OZ ME

very clean, nice in the middle of the spectrum (45-60hz), but not as much on either end. Crisp, loud on some songs, but not on others. Doesn't dig as deep as i would like. More of a sealed box woofer from the specs and from what i have read. I don't think i would get the output that i would want from a sealed box, so i might consider selling this one.

Claw mag

I didn't like as much. Very bottom heavy, not terribly crisp. Loud loud loud. I am almost positive i am going to sell this one.

DVQ

I remember i liked it, but it has been awhile since i have had one. It was also pretty nice all around and dug pretty deep too.

Anyway, now to the question. I have been intrigued by the Dayton HO for quite awhile now, and i want to know if anyone can compare it to any of these others from experience. would it be a step up from any, or a step down from all? WinISD shows it digging really low, but i also read that it didn't dig terribly deep.

As far as output, how would it compare to these others? I am looking to get one 12, as i don't want the box or the weight of a 15. I might consider two 10's, but then that is starting to get expensive. If these aren't really heavy, i might do one 15 since it could use a small box.

chime in to what you think on how these might compare to what i have had.

thanks for reading!!

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[BLD 25 10+ year member]

lame. should have put FI in the title.

 

[Immacomputer 10+ year member]

Well, it would help if you said what you were looking for.

Also, you said that you used pretty much the same enclosure for all of them. Changing the enclosure can have just as much of an effect on the sound as the subwoofer itself but they're usually much cheaper to change out!

 

[BLD 25 10+ year member]

^^the enclosure matches the specs pretty well of almost all of the subs and it models well for all of them.

i am looking for a nice crisp bass that will hit the lows well but also blend well, but i don't want to lose much volume. I really want to hear how this hits the lows and how loud it can be compared to some other subs i listed. I have read it sounds good, WINISD says that it goes quite low, but i am really concerned about output vs. TC9 subs, ED13o, etc.

 

[tcguy85 10+ year member]

i really like mine. i'd say it has two sides. it can blend very very well and almost disappear, and when you want, it can be quite loud and fun. it gets things shaking pretty good in my car on the lower notes.

it replaced a treo ssi 10 which was in treo's recommended enclosure size and tuning with just over their recommended rms rating. and i swear the HO is just as loud, if not a hair louder, especially up top, but it sounds worlds better. a friend of mine has a termlab meter and back when i had the treo i pulled a 134.1 legal on the dash on music.

i have mine in the recommended .7net tuned to 30hz. i have 620 watts on it from a DD C2a amp. it's crossed at 63hz/24db and i use it with no subsonic filter. i have played some very low stuff on it and watched the cone and i have no worries about causing any damage to it.

 

[Immacomputer 10+ year member]

^^the enclosure matches the specs pretty well of almost all of the subs and it models well for all of them.
i am looking for a nice crisp bass that will hit the lows well but also blend well, but i don't want to lose much volume. I really want to hear how this hits the lows and how loud it can be compared to some other subs i listed. I have read it sounds good, WINISD says that it goes quite low, but i am really concerned about output vs. TC9 subs, ED13o, etc.

It doesn't matter how well the subs model in your enclosure or that they fall within the manufacturer's specs. Neither of those know what you want out of your system and neither of them account for your car.

You should stop blaming the subs for not doing what you want and start looking at ways to improve your enclosure design to better fit your listening needs. Start by taking what you feel is your favorite sub that you still own and try different alignments to see if you can get the sound just right. I can make a list of enclosures that I have made using the same sub and my descriptions can sound exactly like your list of subs. Some of my enclosures have been bottom heavy with not much top end, some have lacked in the bottom end but blended well, some haven't been efficient and some have. I now have one that is the loudest, plays the deepest, is the most efficient, and blends extremely well. The best part is that I'm usually only out about $20-40 to try something new instead of out $100+ every time I want something different.

You can do what you want, but you should really take the enclosure design into consideration.

 

[bigbangtheory 5,000+ posts]

I have been looking at the Dayton HO's as well. That or a new Mag.

Can't do shit till after the new year, but those will be a couple options.

I am surprised you didn't like the claw SI.

 

[BLD 25 10+ year member]

I have been looking at the Dayton HO's as well. That or a new Mag.

Can't do shit till after the new year, but those will be a couple options.

I am surprised you didn't like the claw SI.

i liked the mag, but it was a little bottom heavy and bloated sounding to me. Still a nice sub, though, just not as crisp as i have wanted.

 

[groundpound4200 5,000+ posts]

try tuning it higher?

 

[Immacomputer 10+ year member]

try tuning it higher?

If a sub sounds bottom heavy, tuning higher will just shift that peak higher in frequency and increase the Q. Trying to use the port to boost the frequencies that now seem attenuated (upper bass notes) will only cause more peaks in the response and the upper bass notes won't really see any gain from the port.

Lowering the tuning is a better fix if you're trying to get rid of a bottom heavy sub setup. That will take the extra energy from the port away from the problematic frequencies and put that energy into a frequency range that is usually attenuated and where hearing sensitivity is starting to decrease. This will decrease efficiency though.

 

[BLD 25 10+ year member]

yeah, it was ported at 29hz already, so i didn't want to go lower. It also didn't blend as well, so going lower would have affected that also. Loud as crap though. Any more ideas on the HO?

 

[406er 10+ year member]

a tuning of 29Hz and your complaining off bottem heavy and not enough up top! tune higher. i think tuning to 29Hz or lower is getting to the point point of being useless. unless u have dedicated mid woofers on a bandpass to add some upper bass. depending on the car i would say tuning anylower then 32 is useless. u need to have something up top, as most car audio speakers in a IB set up can extend much below 70Hz anyhow. there are exceptions to this rule of courese but.

im wondering why you didnt play around with the box size and tuning of the eD 130v2 if you like it so much. a half cube here and a shorter port here maybe coulda ended your search! but good luck with your search

 

[406er 10+ year member]

or just go sealed

 

[tcguy85 10+ year member]

Any more ideas on the HO?

yea, just buy one! //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/tongue.gif.6130eb82179565f6db8d26d6001dcd24.gif

 

[denim 5,000+ posts]

The Dayton is a quality choice. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif