Driver price sticker shock!

**ThomasW** · 24 May 2006, 12:51 Wednesday

The 'you-know-what' is going to hit the fan now that higher energy costs are being passed on by mfgrs.

So stock up on everything now, because it's only going to get worse, much, much worse.... 8O

**Jack Gilvey** · 24 May 2006, 12:55 Wednesday

Well, it makes sense that higher gas prices would hit drivers first.

You want skyrocketing, check out the new Tumult series.

**TacoD** · 24 May 2006, 13:55 Wednesday

Buy smaller cars, so you save money for some drivers.

. (it's a joke I do not want to flame the Americans here

).

**JonMarsh** · 24 May 2006, 17:30 Wednesday

Then, too, the currency exchange rates between the dollar and other currencies hasnt been getting any better- even compared with the Canadians!

~Jon

**opt-e** · 24 May 2006, 18:04 Wednesday

Originally posted by JonMarsh

Then, too, the currency exchange rates between the dollar and other currencies hasnt been getting any better- even compared with the Canadians!

A fact that us Canadians can only appreciate

The Canadian dollar is the highest it's been in years! If it weren't for those rediculous shipping/import fees across the boarder...

**Drew** · 24 May 2006, 18:12 Wednesday

Well, there's a reason why the manufacturers are moving production to China… People want European-made, inexpensive drivers but unfortunately we only get to pick one.

Hopefully the RS series is demonstrating that there’s nothing inherently shoddy about Chinese-made drivers.

The 'you-know-what' is going to hit the fan now that higher energy costs are being passed on by mfgrs. So stock up on everything now, because it's only going to get worse, much, much worse....

I wish that I could disagree with this, but it's spot-on. Commodities (copper, aluminum, etc) are very expensive right now, everybody knows about energy costs, and wages are still pretty flat despite our "recovery". Things are shaping up to be rough.

Just for "fun" - keep an eye open and note everywhere you see an oil-derived product being used. Fuel of course, but also plastics, pharmaceuticals, synthetic fibers (clothes, carpet - essentially plastics), fertalizer, paint, etc. Then all of these things are trucked to you. An 18 wheeler gets about 5 MPG.

So, inflation is going to keep creeping up, which means that interest rates are going to keep going up. It's going to be a big squeeze for a lot of people. I'm not a doomsdayer, but plan for the worst and hope for the best. I hope I'm wrong.

**Paul H** · 24 May 2006, 22:30 Wednesday

Originally posted by opt-e

A fact that us Canadians can only appreciate

The Canadian dollar is the highest it's been in years! If it weren't for those rediculous shipping/import fees across the boarder...

I keep preaching on the simple way to ship from US to Canada but I haven't gotten to everyone yet ....

Use US Post for your shipping - they'll turn your package over to Canada Post who will deliver to your home or local post office, and charge $5 for border clearing fees. Canada Post also collects from you PST and GST (or HST depending on what province you're in) on the value of the package - which is exactly what you pay every other store in your neighbourhood on any purchase. That's it - no other percentage assessments or fees.

Paul

**David Meek** · 24 May 2006, 22:56 Wednesday

Originally posted by Drew

keep an eye open and note everywhere you see an oil-derived product being used. Fuel of course, but also plastics, pharmaceuticals, synthetic fibers (clothes, carpet - essentially plastics), fertalizer, paint, etc

This too is spot on. Hurricane Katrina took down one of the "resin" plants that refine the base products for petroleum-derived products, and then there was a mishap in another one near Houston that shut it down for a time. Loss of stock materials from this added to the rise in costs of a lot of things.

**jkrutke** · 24 May 2006, 23:58 Wednesday

Geez, I bought the Peerless 830882's in my 5.5" comparison, and that must have been before the price increase. I think it was mid march when I bought those. I wonder what the real reason is for the price change. The catalog page still says $48... they must not have gotten around to changing that.

Originally posted by Jim Holtz

A driver that doesn’t get very much press is the Aurum Cantus AC130MKII. I used these in my line arrays and I think they are a superb driver. I see John Krutke is testing the poly version of this driver rather than the Kevlar/carbon fiber MKII version.

Just a quick tidbit on the AC130F1: It's very nice. The RS150 is a small bit better in the non-linear distortion , but the Aurum's response curve is nearly perfect. It has a smooth, mild amplitude breakup node that can easily be massaged into any target slope. The AC130F1 is tied with a couple of the Excels for smoothest response in the bunch. (getting close to done on this)

**opt-e** · 25 May 2006, 00:59 Thursday

Originally posted by Paul H

I keep preaching on the simple way to ship from US to Canada but I haven't gotten to everyone yet ....

Use US Post for your shipping.

Problem is places like PE tend to way overcharge for international shipping. It is also my experience is that big packages from commercial vendors tend to get tied up at the boarder. 25% of the cost of my NatP order from PE was in shipping and it took over 3 weeks to arrive. 8O

I've had much better luck with Fedex Ground which tends to be faster than USPS Airmail at about the same price and similar brokerage/import fees.

**BURRometer** · 25 May 2006, 03:01 Thursday

For you Canadians near Vancouver, try shipping to The Letter Carrier in Point Roberts WA. It's my prefered US shipping method. A one hour round trip saves a fortune on shipping and weeks worth of waiting.

Perhaps I've just been lucky but most of the time the border guards don't send me in to pay taxes or duty. :T

**Jim Holtz** · 25 May 2006, 05:57 Thursday

Originally posted by jkrutke

Geez, I bought the Peerless 830882's in my 5.5" comparison, and that must have been before the price increase. I think it was mid march when I bought those. I wonder what the real reason is for the price change. The catalog page still says $48... they must not have gotten around to changing that.

Just a quick tidbit on the AC130F1: It's very nice. The RS150 is a small bit better in the non-linear distortion , but the Aurum's response curve is nearly perfect. It has a smooth, mild amplitude breakup node that can easily be massaged into any target slope. The AC130F1 is tied with a couple of the Excels for smoothest response in the bunch. (getting close to done on this)

Hi John,

Thanks for responding. I'm really looking forward to seeing the results of your tests. Thank you for all the hard work. It's a real service to the DIY community.

Best regards,

Jim

**jkrutke** · 25 May 2006, 09:41 Thursday

Originally posted by Jim Holtz

Hi John,

Thanks for responding. I'm really looking forward to seeing the results of your tests. Thank you for all the hard work. It's a real service to the DIY community.

One more tidbit, and I don't want to break your heart or anything, but those outrageously priced out-of-reach Scan Speak Revelators have the lowest non-linear distortion in the group. Not by a small margin either. :twisted: :B

This time around, I'm doing some different rating schemes besides my normal barage of plots. 1 thru 5 stars for value, among other subjective things. Obviously the Revelators aren't going to be the best value.

It will be posted this weekend.

**dlr** · 25 May 2006, 10:07 Thursday

Got the RS52 in that list?

Originally posted by jkrutke

This time around, I'm doing some different rating schemes besides my normal barage of plots. 1 thru 5 stars for value, among other subjective things. Obviously the Revelators aren't going to be the best value.

It will be posted this weekend.

Just wondering if you have plans to do distortion tests on the RS52. I've got it in a 3-way using SoundEasy in a first test. I'm really pleased with the sound of it without doing any real tweaking or alternate XO attempts.

**Jim Holtz** · 25 May 2006, 10:18 Thursday

Originally posted by jkrutke

One more tidbit, and I don't want to break your heart or anything, but those outrageously priced out-of-reach Scan Speak Revelators have the lowest non-linear distortion in the group. Not by a small margin either. :twisted: :B

This time around, I'm doing some different rating schemes besides my normal barage of plots. 1 thru 5 stars for value, among other subjective things. Obviously the Revelators aren't going to be the best value.

It will be posted this weekend.

(sigh) You just had to tell me that didn't you. :rofl:

I heard the 5" version in a 3-way at Chicago's DIY event last fall. I was impressed with the clarity and sound quality. The price is obscene however. :E

Jim

**tktran** · 25 May 2006, 10:26 Thursday

Hi Jim,

Are you talking about any particular vendor, or just in general?

John,

Yay yay for the Revelators. I'm always disappointed when a high priced product measures poorly. If it's good, it might be worth paying extra for. Whether it's good value a different story.

I recall several vendors of high priced drivers that don't stack up...

regards,
Thanh

**Jim Holtz** · 25 May 2006, 10:39 Thursday

Originally posted by tktran

Hi Jim,

Are you talking about any particular vendor, or just in general?

John,

Yay yay for the Revelators. I'm always disappointed when a high priced product measures poorly. If it's good, it might be worth paying extra for. Whether it's good value a different story.

I recall several vendors of high priced drivers that don't stack up...

regards,
Thanh

I'm not bashing any vendor nor implying price gouging. Please don't misunderstand my comments. I was just lamenting the cost increases of so many drivers. Percentage wise, these are huge increases. Driver prices have remained fairly stable over the last few years so it was a shock to see the big increases.

That said, the Peerless 830882 is probably still a great value at $66. It was a better value at $48 though.

Jim

**tktran** · 25 May 2006, 11:13 Thursday

Hi Jim,

Well my comment is based on my observations of Madisound's retail pricing of Tymphany products.

Generally, that pricing is now in-line with WES Components', who have been the DST's Australian distributors for about 5 years now.

Rather than higher, I wonder if this revised pricing is more "correct".

eg. price differences between SS 9300, 9500 and 9700 tweeter are more in line with construction & performance differences, whereas before the 9700 tweeter cost twice as much as the 9500.

**toolsresearch** · 25 May 2006, 16:58 Thursday

Comment/Thanks/Request

Originally posted by jkrutke

One more tidbit, and I don't want to break your heart or anything, but those outrageously priced out-of-reach Scan Speak Revelators have the lowest non-linear distortion in the group. Not by a small margin either. :twisted: :B

It will be posted this weekend.

The Scans are easy to work with, too. There's something to not needing all kinds of crossover components.

Still expensive.

I don't know if "Zaph" will see this, but:

Thanks for the tests. They're a LOT of fun...to read, that is.

I have poured over them more than once!

Also, it would be great if distortion data were tabular as well as graphic. The plots are informative, but do not admit of further analysis, namely, in Excel. I would love to be able to slice and dice the data, e.g. calculate averages and standard deviations within specific bandwidths.

Thanks again.

**thylantyr** · 25 May 2006, 18:58 Thursday

Subjectively, in an array, the MKII's are ultra detailed with superb clarity. I’m not sure whether it’s because ten are doing the work of one or it’s just a very low distortion driver to start with.

Cheap drivers in an array are amazing.
Great drivers in an array are more amazing

/hee hee ha ha

**autio** · 25 May 2006, 19:19 Thursday

I know I am a little late to talk about prices sky rocketing on this thread... but has anyone seen the price of romex (standard 12/2) it is 125 bucks for a 250 ft roll at home depot!!!! Thats 500 for a 1000 ft reel. it was only 135 to 145 for the same 1000 ft less than 5 years ago when I wired my house!!! 8O

**toolsresearch** · 26 May 2006, 10:34 Friday

Competition

Originally posted by autio

I know I am a little late to talk about prices sky rocketing on this thread... but has anyone seen the price of romex (standard 12/2) it is 125 bucks for a 250 ft roll at home depot!!!! Thats 500 for a 1000 ft reel. it was only 135 to 145 for the same 1000 ft less than 5 years ago when I wired my house!!! 8O

There is tremendous demand for metals. The same situation that gets us great prices on RS drivers at PE gets us higher prices for raw materials: the industrialization of China.

**TheRedknight** · 27 May 2006, 08:33 Saturday

Originally posted by Paul H

I keep preaching on the simple way to ship from US to Canada but I haven't gotten to everyone yet ....

Use US Post for your shipping - they'll turn your package over to Canada Post who will deliver to your home or local post office, and charge $5 for border clearing fees. Canada Post also collects from you PST and GST (or HST depending on what province you're in) on the value of the package - which is exactly what you pay every other store in your neighbourhood on any purchase. That's it - no other percentage assessments or fees.

Paul

Learnt this lesson the hard way from Ebay sellers using UPS. Now I ask for USPS.
Canada Post did make an error - they thought I was importing car parts when they saw Parts Express. No extra charges though, just GST, PST, plus $5, and the box was not smashed to pieces

**Amphiprion** · 27 May 2006, 09:06 Saturday

Re: DST prices, yes they are high but their drivers really are fantastic, especially the Peerless line - great value. I'm building a sub with their XXLS drivers and the build quality is great. Light-years beyond the typical Eminence-built subwoofer build quality. I've also been a longtime fan of the HDS and CSC-X lines. I wish they would get that new HDS tweeter available over here though.