Anyone remember Dayton Audio Esoteric Series? 5" and 7" woofers?

[JonMarsh]

I was unpacking some Wharfdale Reva speakers to use for testing out an electronic crossover for Steve, and got reminded of these, because a bin of each was under the Revas....






They date back to 2014... crap, more than 10 years old. I'm sure the reason they caught my eye back then was the 3" edge wound voice coil on a titanium former, dual shorting rings, claims for FEA and Klippel optimized designs, and pretty dang flat impedance curves.









Now, I can imagine a number of interesting things to do with them, especially with some DA25TX tweeters, but folks on the forum couldn't buy them at this point- PE doesn't seem them anymore, I think they haven't for a few years. I'm thinking in terms of an MTM with either of these, working with a dual woofer combo, but which one?

Feels like a lost opportunity... though who knows... Maybe these were just too high tech for PE's general product lines and customers.

[DaveFred]

Why did they not take hold?

I think I have a pair of unused ES140's in the dungeon.

[Hdale85]

IMO there was kind of a lul for a couple years where it didn't seem like much new stuff was getting developed in the DIY space. And then covid and their prices shot up like crazy iirc.

I've been eying the Epique series cause they have a 5.5" mid and a tweeter they just released to go with the 2 "sub" drivers. Don't think they are on the same level as the Esoteric's though.