I originally intended to get P.Audio stuff, before I knew I could get the other stuff in australia. The B&C I've heard are really good, much better than selenium, which is why I would like these instead. They do considerably more than some of the P.Audio stuff, except for the P.Audio SD line.

TIA!

Adrian

I would like to make clear that I have no experience with any of these.
I have shopped for drivers long and hard and noticed the P-Audio PA-D45 and BM-D450 looked like good candidates for a 2370 horn.

The B&C also has frequency resonse that looks complimentary to 2370, but has a reccomended range of operation starting at 2,200 Hz and a bottom limit listed at 1,500 Hz. I would be afraid that you would be running the driver at resonance with a 1.6 Khz x-over (Fs isn't listed for the B&C). On a horn designed for 650 Hz, or with a Pi x-over (1600 Hz) I like lower Fs. I also wonder about the sound or the mylar diaphragm on the B&C as versus titanium.

At 1600 Hz x-over the cuttoff of the horn and the resonance of the driver are both more than an octave away. This is said to be the best situation, and should push throat distortion and resonance issues out of range. On paper this combo is a very good fit! A nice bonus with low Fs and horn cuttoff, you could cross over a bit lower if you wanted to (especially in home use), making even more woofers a viable match.

Keep in mind I am an amatuer and this is just an armchair assesment.

Let us know what happens, It's real cool when people find a way to do the Pi thing where "standard" parts are not always available.
Thomas

I did notice the high reccomended cutoff of the B&C as well. I checked out the two P.Audio drivers you mention, the PA-D45 looks nice, with reccomend 1K xover freq. I am using the Pi Crossover, at either 800Hz or 1.6KHz (have not decided yet). I'm thinking that the PA-D45 is designed for PA use (hence the model number!) so it may sound like crap for Hi-Fi purposes? I did also look at the BM-D450, it looks nice too, but reccomened xover of 2.2K and freq range of 1.5K to 20KHz :( What do you think of the P.Audio SD line? The SD-450 N has fs=750Hz, and freq range of 500-20KHz. The freq response graph can be seen below:

http://www.paudio-europe.com/products/db_product.htm?v_tipo=2&v_tipo_desc=DRIVERS&v_num_series=13&v_des_series=SD-SERIES&v_id_art=284

I am not sure what horn this is measured on though. Maybe you can just let me know if you think its a worthwhile driver?

Oh ya, do you think titanium is the best for the diaphram?

Thanks for your help so far! Adrian

as a back up plan don't let the PA-D45 being a "PA" driver bother you. Depending on price it may remain an attractive alternative. There is nothing more "PA" than my Eminence drivers and they sound sweet.

That bad association with "PA" sound is likely your objection to uncompensated radial horn frequency response. Between the great parts you are collecting and the Pi crossover, I seriously doubt you could get that sound you dread with any quality compression driver which is appropriate for the design.

I think your gonna build a winner!
keep us posted!
Thomas

I'll be sure to let you know how it sounds! Thanks for your advice! Adrian

I'm going to be buying mine from www.cannonsound.com.au but if you are not in australia then www.loudspeakersplus.com sells them, also www.speakercity.com but they dont have this model, they could probably get it in though.

Just been reading your coments regarding compression drivers. I've done testing on sd-450n, bm450, d44. They all sound quite similar. The d45 is similar to the jbl 242x series. I compared to B&C, selenium, beyma cp 380m and new beyma cp385n. Out of all of them I liked the BM 450 the best, very smooth open and clean, especially on the P audio PH 220 horn which is very nice.

The sd-450n sounded a little gritty, but not that different from the BM, they both share a similar coil assemble but obviously the sn is a neo. The beyma cp385n is a reel ripper if your after max. spl go for that.

cheers

alex

The BM-450 is AU$150, and the SD-450N is AU$215. I do need the compression driver to go 800Hz though..... I dont think the BM-450 is capable of that according to the P.Audio website, with freq range of 1.5K to 18KHz. The graph however does show good output to 800Hz, would you reccomend the BM-450 is fine for 800Hz xover? Otherwise I will have to stick to the SD-450N.

Thanks!
Adrian