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Dayton Audio PM180 question

For anyone who has seen first hand or used the Dayton Audio PM180 (or PM220)...( @PWRRYD, tagging you because I know you have a pair)

The pics on Parts Express don't match the driver's that I have and I'm guessing it matters.

The PM180 has an "acoustically transparent" dust cap. The mfg's pic at PE shows an aluminum plate on the back of the driver sealing off the vent hole. My driver does NOT have this plate. (It looks like the pic of the PS180 below.) I can easily blow through the vent hole through the front dust cap. I'm thinking this is a big air leak??

Here is the Mfg pic of PM180. AudioXpress tested the PM220 and their picture matches this (i.e., had the metal plate).

Here is the mfg pic currently on PE of the PS180 which does NOT have the back plate, but the PS180 has a phase plug rather than the acoustically transparent dust cap so I don't think the issue is a problem here. Interestingly, some official pics elsewhere and an actual pic of an eBay listing show the PS180 WITH the back plate just like the pic of the PM180.

I'm thinking of rolling some 1/4-inch craft felt into a cylinder and putting it in the vent hole shaft and putting an aluminum disc over the vent hole on the back. Any thoughts on whether this is a good or bad idea?

Comments

  • Yikes ill need to check mine. Could be why they clearenced em out.

  • No, that was normal. The vented pole and dustcap is how they are.

    a4eaudio
  • @Wolf said:
    No, that was normal. The vented pole and dustcap is how they are.

    What do you think of the fact that there are some pics with and without the sliver back plate? Does it matter or is it just cosmetic?

  • I have a feeling they were taken from preproduction samples, or they were mislabeled. I know the PS180 has the backplate on it .

    I remembered about them because Rory and I chatted about their development at one point, and I also found it atypical in my mind to be able to blow through the driver.

  • I'll look at mine when we get back home from Colorado. Off the top of my head I don't remember the aluminum plate.

    I do remember the guy who did the cone slicing (Jbrunner) carefully removed the dust cap (which is acoustically transparent), and plugged the pole vent with a phase plug he made out of a wooden dowel rod). Then he reattached the dust cap.

  • @PWRRYD said:
    I'll look at mine when we get back home from Colorado. Off the top of my head I don't remember the aluminum plate.

    Thanks!

    I do remember the guy who did the cone slicing (Jbrunner) carefully removed the dust cap (which is acoustically transparent), and plugged the pole vent with a phase plug he made out of a wooden dowel rod). Then he reattached the dust cap.

    I tried putting some acetone on the edges of the dust cap to remove it but no luck. I decided to skip that mod before I ruin something. But that is what made me think of putting some felt in the through hole.

  • I bought a quad when they were on clearance. They all have a vent hole in the back and a mesh dustcap. May try slicing the cone based on the ecstatic posts reviews for the sliced cone.

    But Chahly - Stahkist don't want speakers that look good, Stahkist wants speakers that sound good!
  • Mine have metal plates on the back.

  • @rjj45 said:
    .... May try slicing the cone based on the ecstatic posts reviews for the sliced cone.

    I'm slicing mine. I don't think I posted it here, but before slicing my PM180s, which I did not get on clearance, I wanted to practice on something cheaper. Last year I sliced the $36 SB16PFCs and I took before and after measurements and the difference was just as evident as in Jbrunner's thread. I did not actually LISTEN before and after, but the sliced cones sounded great.

    rjj45
  • I think I remember you posting that, or maybe we just discussed it in person in Indy or Iowa.

  • I always wondered how that guy got the cuts so straight and consistently spaced.

  • He had experimented with a lot of cheap drivers before he got around to the PM180s and later SB15NRX

  • @DrewsBrews said:
    I always wondered how that guy got the cuts so straight and consistently spaced.

    I'm totally sure that I will 3d print a cut guide. Do not want to attempt freehand.

    But Chahly - Stahkist don't want speakers that look good, Stahkist wants speakers that sound good!
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