New Budget Speakers - Dayton tower speakers

Review - Dayton Audio MK442T transmission line tower speakers:

These are definitely a new contender in the large field of budget, modern speakers that perform above their grade level.

Andrew Jones designed some of the most well-received modern, budget speakers for Pioneer and Elac. I read an interview where Andrew Jones talked about options in speaker building on a budget. He said often you put your money into the drivers and less money into the cabinet to get the best bang for the buck.

Jones had no role in these Dayton speakers, but the Dayton engineers did the same thing here - the cabinet and binding posts have a cheap look and feel. But they did something clever with the cabinet design - using a transmission line design to boost low-end performance with small drivers. It's clever stuff.

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My interest in two-channel stereo has recently drifted to a fascination with low-cost systems. I had to try these speakers.

These speakers cost $200 (for the pair) plus tax. Shipping is free.

When they arrived in this big, double box I thought - how can they do that? The UPS slip said the box weighs 50 pounds. So you get a double box, free shipping and two full-range speaker towers for 200 bucks. I don’t understand it. But I’m not complaining.

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How do they sound? I say they sound very good.

I think reviewing stereo is all about trigger points. Does the change to your system hit your trigger points? We each have different trigger points. Trigger points bring you closer to the music. I like speakers that are detailed but not a crispy high-end, the midrange sound is very important to me, and the tone of the low-end is more important than how low they go. I don’t need the speakers to go super-low and I’m not using my stereo for movies or any hook-up to a TV. I don't need my speakers to "disappear". I want a stereo that makes me appreciate the music - old music and new.

These Dayton budget towers seem to do everything about right regarding my trigger points.

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These speakers also rock.

AK member "cube-tube" gave an excellent review of these speakers. I agree with everything here:

The Dayton's provide a slight bit more heft in the bottom end and better evenness of that heft throughout, offer a bit more output given the same volume level (obviously), better dynamic range and an overall very pleasing and detailed sound. Midrange is quite neutral and great on both male and female vocals with more lifelike body. That little .75" tweeter is shockingly airy and smooth. Together, they produce a balanced dose of naturalness, detail and space ...... and make for a nice large sound stage with decent width, height and depth.

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Some final notes:

These are 4ohm speakers and require an amp with some good power to drive them.

I have been testing them in a system that currently has the Elac UB5 speakers. I like the UB5. Will I replace them in the long-term with these Dayton budget towers? I don't know. Time will tell. But they do compete well with the UB5.

We live at a fortunate time in the history of two-channel stereo with many affordable options to put together a great sounding setup.

Cheers,

Snade
 
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What I'm curious about is how the bottom end sounds after 50+ hours on them. Being a TL design I'd expect big (aka low) things. But, in comparison of the manufacturer's specs these don't look too impressive on paper.
Dayton Audio MK442T - rated down to 40hz.
Elac UB5 - rated down to 46hz.
Polk S20 (my speakers) - rated down to 39hz.
I guess the proof will be told upon further listening. Much looking forward to your impressions.

Ray
 
I want to know what you think after a month.

What I'm curious about is how the bottom end sounds after 50+ hours on them. Being a TL design I'd expect big (aka low) things. But, in comparison of the manufacturer's specs these don't look too impressive on paper.
Dayton Audio MK442T - rated down to 40hz.
Elac UB5 - rated down to 46hz.
Polk S20 (my speakers) - rated down to 39hz.
I guess the proof will be told upon further listening. Much looking forward to your impressions.

Ray

I feel this can answer both questions...

I'm sure his thoughts will be the same or even better once the Dayton's are fully broken in. The only reason, and I do mean the ONLY reason I went back to my NHT 2.9's is because of space in the new house and the real inability to run subs, at least not where I want to run them. I listen to a lot of pipe organ music and didn't want to be left out on that last octave or more with the little Dayton's. Don't get me wrong, they can and do produce some staggeringly good quality bass, but of course they feather off rather soon for my type of music. That bass also goes away quicker the further you have them out in the room for proper imaging and staging, which they do extremely well. In short, they need a sub or two to be complete.

Now that I have the NHT 2.9's up and running in the new home, I can comfortably say that those little Dayton's come shockingly close to what the NHT's do from say 100 Hz on up. Tonality wise, both are very close. A lot closer than they should be considering one pair costs $200 and the other cost $2500 back in the day. Not to mention the Dayton's weigh in at less than 25 lbs each and the NHT's are nearly 80 lbs each!

One thing one of my brothers pointed out is that the Dayton's midrange is just ever so slightly on the thicker side of neutral. The NHT's on the other hand are dead-on neutral. It's nothing drastic or negative at all. Consider it being similar to running a SE 2A3 tube amp vs a P-P EL34 or running a Class A SS amp vs a standard Class AB SS amp. There's just a bit more warmth and heft in the midrange that's very inviting and pleasing. If you had nothing else to compare it to, you probably would never know it.
 
I want to know what you think after a month.

Well it's been a little under a month with these guys - Dayton Audio MK442T transmission line tower speakers

I don't find any obvious weaknesses with these speakers. Surprising good low end, a full midrange and the highs are detailed and easy to listen to.

I'm keeping these guys for now in a bedroom setup that I frequently use to stream new and old music of all types.

Certainly at $200 with free shipping (for two speakers) they are speakers that perform well above their pay grade.

I think they compare well to my UB5 Elac speakers at a higher price point.

Should everybody go out and buy them as the hottest, new, budget speaker? No, I'm not saying that.

But if you are putting together a budget two channel stereo, these guys would make a nice addition to that setup.

If you are like me and like to experiment with new gear and get some satisfaction out of finding low-cost speakers that sound great - go for it. It is all fun.

(Note, these two 4" woofers do require a few weeks of break-in before they sound their best.)

Cheers,

Snade

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Nice
Can’t beat the price
AyI bet better than most anything
The big box stores sell
Enjoy
 
These guys are priced at $175 (for the pair) at PE today (Nov 29, 2019) for black friday.

I am still enjoying them more and more in my bedroom setup. I gave a demo to friends yesterday and got a thumbs up.

Cheers,

Snade

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They're definitely great little speakers. I'm now running a pair of new Klipsch Heresy III's and loving them. Changed nearly the entire system as well!
 
I think I'd be interested in buying a set and tinkering with them, basic mods and such.

@Snade what IS it about stuff overperforming on the cheap that I so love??

Sure is a great time to love music. Really, it takes next to nothing to have a great system, access to tons of great music, so many wonderful options.
 
I think I'd be interested in buying a set and tinkering with them, basic mods and such.

@Snade what IS it about stuff overperforming on the cheap that I so love??

Sure is a great time to love music. Really, it takes next to nothing to have a great system, access to tons of great music, so many wonderful options.

Right, one of my favorite threads on AK is the one about putting together a great sounding system for under $500. So many options these days and many of them sound really good. Playing around with budget gear has more interest to me right now than more expensive gear. That may change anytime, and it's all fun.

Cheers,

Snade
 
These Dayton Audio transmission line tower speakers are used in a guest room and the WAF needed to be very high.

These tower speakers have a small footprint and meet the WAF goals.

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I had them ready to check out at 169 bucks and change, and then I thought of all the speakers I have on the sidelines...NS690 III Yamahas, Vandersteens 2c's, Polk SDA 1-B's.....

Still, that's a smoking deal, and still kinda want them.
 
I had them ready to check out at 169 bucks and change, and then I thought of all the speakers I have on the sidelines...NS690 III Yamahas, Vandersteens 2c's, Polk SDA 1-B's.....

Still, that's a smoking deal, and still kinda want them.

You have some great speakers. These Daytons are nice, but no need to do it.

Smile.
 
These Dayton Audio transmission line tower speakers are used in a guest room and the WAF needed to be very high.

These tower speakers have a small footprint and meet the WAF goals.

View attachment 1686280

Dang...

If I didn't have an insanely destructive one year-old daughter I'd love to have a pair of these. I just ordered some of the MK402Xs to use temporarily as TV speakers with a Lepai 2020TI.

How would these compare to the $300 Tritix t-line kit?
 
What I'm curious about is how the bottom end sounds after 50+ hours on them. Being a TL design I'd expect big (aka low) things. But, in comparison of the manufacturer's specs these don't look too impressive on paper.
Dayton Audio MK442T - rated down to 40hz.
Elac UB5 - rated down to 46hz.
Polk S20 (my speakers) - rated down to 39hz.
I guess the proof will be told upon further listening. Much looking forward to your impressions.

Ray

But, keep in mind those Polk specs are very likely at -10db..(Since no variation is given)..not the normal -3db range.

At -3db they would more realistically go down to maybe 50-55hz about. Same story with the Elac....

But again, the Dayton has no level of variation either....but I would imagine the transmission line would surely provided deeper bass than the Polk or Elac, but probably be a bit limited on overall sound level.
 
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But, keep in mind those Polk specs are very likely at -10db..(Since no variation is given)..not the normal -3db range.

At -3db they would more realistically go down to maybe 50-55hz about. Same story with the Elac....

But again, the Dayton has no level of variation either....but I would imagine the transmission line would surely provided deeper bass than the Polk or Elac, but probably be a bit limited on overall sound level.
Fair enough. Then the same could be said about the Dayton's. So, we're back to square one. But, don't get me wrong... I'd like to think the Dayton's would do bass better than the other examples given.

Edit: That's why my subs are crossed over at 55hz. ;)
 
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