3D printed classic 3-way budget speaker project using SB and Dayton drivers

[ppataki]

I was having lengthy discussions with Claude Opus 4.5 and he was also recommending the SB26ADC
Additionally, he was recommending the Peerless DA25TX as a strong contestant.
Do you guys have any experience with those?

 

[Ktacos]

Is there a goal to changing the tweeter? I certainly would not put anything without a waveguide into your little cabinets, the diffraction will be pretty bad.

 

[ppataki]

Is there a goal to changing the tweeter?

No, just playing around, getting experience with different technologies, different solutions, etc.

 

[DanielT]

But shouldn't you try a compression driver, if you are in the process of testing different tweeters? You like Lavoce, then maybe Lavoce DN10.142, 8 ohm, 1.0 inch?
Can be purchased at TLHP for €63.70IT/piece.
Note that I only have rudimentary knowledge of compression drivers so it might be best to ask someone else, but it was a good price and its FR looks good. A little choppy around 15 kHz. Maybe audible for young people ...

https://en.toutlehautparleur.com/compression-driver-lavoce-dn10-142-8-ohm-1-0-inch.html

One inch standard thread so you have many Horns & Waveguides to choose from. Choose the dispersion pattern that suits you. Parts Express (before they close down?) has many:

Horns & Waveguides

Explore our stock of horns and waveguides. Find the partner for your horn driver to deliver midrange and high frequencies, with reliable range and coverage.

www.parts-express.com

They have a hell of a high sensitivity so you don't need many watts to power a compression driver up.
Do you power up your drivers bass, mid, tweeter, separately now?
I don't remember how you solved it.

Those compression drivers seem like a (fun) rabbit hole to fall into.

Compression drivers?

How common are Compression drivers for Hifi speakers, for home use, home hifi that is? I do not see them that often. How is it that? Too expensive? Difficult to design good speakers with? What about Compression drivers regarding FR, directivity and distortion? They have a high sensitivity, I...

www.audiosciencereview.com

By the way, I bought a pair of XD120s used a few years ago:

Eighteen Sound - Professional loudspeakers

www.eighteensound.it

It was special to work with such highly sensitive tweeters.
Unfortunately I burned one due to clumsiness on my part with the crossover. That plus the fact that it turned out that the horn created an uneven FR resulted in them being left gathering dust in a cupboard. Sad, but you don't need to have such bad luck.

 

[ppataki]

Thanks @DanielT for all the suggestions, appreciated!

Do you power up your drivers bass, mid, tweeter, separately now?
I don't remember how you solved it.

The system is fully active, all drivers have their own channel (now using a Scarlett 18i20 4th Gen DAC), own amps (various) and DSP is done using Jriver and various VST plugins

I might try PA tweeters as well in the future but for now I would like to try something that might not make much sense

@Ktacos mentioned earlier that trying something similar like the SB26STWGC-4 would yield similar results - now I would like to try that
Maybe for nothing else but the fun part

I have already ordered a pair, they shall arrive in 4-6 weeks' time - I will report back with the measurements accordingly

 

[Ktacos]

I would be surprised if one could find a CD+horn combo off the shelf that would sound better than the ND25FW. They'll get louder, but IME they don't really sound very good in the home. Most horns tend to have some internal reflections that make them sound like horns, most have mismatches in the CD throat angle in relation to the horns throat angle.

 

[ppataki]

So the SB26STWGC-4 tweeters have finally arrived!

They look really nice, all metal and a very sizeable magnet:

The throat curvature of the waveguide is a bit different vs that of the Dayton tweeters

Now let' see the measurements!!

Let me start with saying that there is no considerable difference between the two units I ordered - neither from an FR nor from a distortion perspective

FR from the MLP, approx. 250cm (showing both the units):

FR vs the Dayton:

The SB is a bit more flat, but with DSP there is nothing to worry about either way

Distortion, SB vs Dayton

Now we are talking....
So it is clearly visible that the SBs can go lower, even at 1kHz the distortion is acceptable
Above 3kHz the SBs perform a tad bit better

IR SB vs Dayton

The SBs have a bit less post-ringing (undershoot-overshoot)

ETC curve, SB vs Dayton

It shows the same: less oscillation with the SBs

And finally, the wavelet diagrams (SB: left, Dayton: right)

Again, less post-ringing with the SBs

I am not sure if anything of the above will be audible, but I am not sending these back, that is 100% sure
So far, based on the objective measurements I would say that if one needs a tweeter that can go 'low' (below 2kHz) then the SBs are definitely a better choice vs the Daytons - but otherwise the Daytons are the absolute insane price/value champions

In the coming days I will be printing the cabinets for them and then I will post my subjective experience

 

[Ktacos]

So far, based on the objective measurements I would say that if one needs a tweeter that can go 'low' (below 2kHz) then the SBs are definitely a better choice vs the Daytons

The sacrifice here being that you lose pattern control.