Fred, let me tell you a story about those drivers.
But before I tell you that story, let me tell you another story.
Many years ago I was doing a fair amount of business with Tang Band (now TB Speakers). When they really started developing some really good 3 and 4 inch drivers they started sending me samples of everything.
I remember getting a group of those 4 inch woofers and upon looking at them the W657S really looked good.
You can read about that driver here:
http://www.tb-speaker.com/detail/1208_03/w4-657sh.htmBut when I listened to all of those drivers (some of which sounded really good) that particular driver sounded awful. It was like listening to the vocals being played through a wet rag. It was very stale sounding. It was not musical at all. It had nothing going for it. It just had a muffled sound to it.
I knew of another manufacturer that had received samples of that same driver and he said that his sounded so bad that he gave them away to some neighbor kids. He also mentioned that it could really only be put to good use using it as a paper weight.
Later PE contacted me asking about various drivers from TB Speakers as they were looking to carry a bunch of them and they wanted my opinion on them, especially in regards to various tweeters.
Despite anything I may have said they did pick up the W4-657S. They looked great so they had to be good right?
Later I remember reading posts from customers stating that they didn't sound too good.
PE never ordered any more of them either.
The funny thing to me was that a lesser priced paper cone 4 inch woofer sounded great.
You can read about the lasted version of it here:
http://www.tb-speaker.com/detail/1208_03/w4-654se.htmThe original S version (not SE) did not have a response that was as smooth as this later version, but it sounded really good. It had a great vocal region that was really clear and detailed. It was smooth and non-fatiguing. It sounded ten times better than the 657 model.
But the 657 had the better frame and bigger motor structure...
So I asked TB to build the exact same 657 model and not change a thing except the cone material. I had them use the cone from the 654 model. See the new W4-655 model on the left.
This thing kicked ass. It sounded great. It totally blew away the metal cone 657. I A/B'ed it with some Jordan's and it blew those away too.
TB made 4 of this woofers. I got 2 of them and later 2 were sent to Bob Reimer at Creative Sound Solutions.
I then had TB build one to my parameters specifically for the line source application. These were used in the Epiphany line sources.
Bob later had them add an XBL^ motor and Copper coated phase plug. This custom woofer became the WR-125 and a full range version later, the FR-125. These woofers are really great sounding woofers.
That metal cone 657 just never cut it.
To me, the Dayton RS series sounds just like the old TB W4-657S. Everything about them sounds exactly the same.
I have had several of them over here. I have heard them several times. I have even had a customer bring his DIY speakers over using them because he just couldn't get good sound out of them. He thought it might have been his crossover, but it wasn't it was just the way the woofer sounded.
From my experience with them, I can't recommend them for anything. PE has other drivers that sound better even in the budget price range. There are better choices.
