Deciding on a Driver; How?
Feb 17, 2023 14:24:21 GMT -7
Post by bob on Feb 17, 2023 14:24:21 GMT -7
Hey all,
A recent thread discussing driver availability in 2023 very helpfully laid out the state of things as of the time of this post. The reigning Fi champion appears to not be as readily available at present, and so alternatives from AE, SI, and the likes are being considered. Per that post I've also become aware of a company called One Audio that I plan to look more into. Still a bit new to all this and trying to come to grips with what goes where and the process of it all.
That said I think now is a good time to ask help on something I've been trying to figure out for a while here as I read over the like of ThomasW's replies here over the years, the FAQ/Generic Info for building IBs, and many other places across the web on this topic.
Let's say some relatively more expensive individual driver (One Audio HT3; Stereo Integrity IB-24) has favorable performance in a WinISD sim compared to a less expensive driver(Stereo Integrity HT18-v3) 1 on 1. Let's also say for the given price point of those more expensive individual drivers ($600;$1000) it is possible to purchase and implement multiples of that less expensive driver. A less expensive driver which previously performed slightly worse than its more expensive competitors, but now when used in multiples (x3;x4) begins to outperform the individual more expensive drivers in SPL output, and presumably in minimizing room modes because of the ability to now utilize multiple manifolds/multisub placement...
That is, after running and observing simulations for a driverset- what should my next steps be? I believe I understand that a driver's QTS is indicative of its performance as far as transient response, but beyond that point what metrics should I be evaluating to decide if a driver or driverset is the best choice for me besides calculated SPL graphs?
I'd appreciate any and all suggestions on making this type of decision. Thank you!
To begin with, thank you everyone for being part of a place like this website. Thank you Thomas for being a voice helping over the decades. And especially thank you to all the users who have chronicled their journeys reaching all the way back to the turn of the century so that those who come after can learn from your experiences.
A recent thread discussing driver availability in 2023 very helpfully laid out the state of things as of the time of this post. The reigning Fi champion appears to not be as readily available at present, and so alternatives from AE, SI, and the likes are being considered. Per that post I've also become aware of a company called One Audio that I plan to look more into. Still a bit new to all this and trying to come to grips with what goes where and the process of it all.
That said I think now is a good time to ask help on something I've been trying to figure out for a while here as I read over the like of ThomasW's replies here over the years, the FAQ/Generic Info for building IBs, and many other places across the web on this topic.
Let's say some relatively more expensive individual driver (One Audio HT3; Stereo Integrity IB-24) has favorable performance in a WinISD sim compared to a less expensive driver(Stereo Integrity HT18-v3) 1 on 1. Let's also say for the given price point of those more expensive individual drivers ($600;$1000) it is possible to purchase and implement multiples of that less expensive driver. A less expensive driver which previously performed slightly worse than its more expensive competitors, but now when used in multiples (x3;x4) begins to outperform the individual more expensive drivers in SPL output, and presumably in minimizing room modes because of the ability to now utilize multiple manifolds/multisub placement...
How might I justify the price difference between the two?
That is, after running and observing simulations for a driverset- what should my next steps be? I believe I understand that a driver's QTS is indicative of its performance as far as transient response, but beyond that point what metrics should I be evaluating to decide if a driver or driverset is the best choice for me besides calculated SPL graphs?
I'd appreciate any and all suggestions on making this type of decision. Thank you!
