TC9FD18-08 3-1/2" Full Range Paper Cone Woofer

MUY BUENO

If you are looking for something that performs exceptionally well, do not judge this driver by its low price. I have used this driver in transmission lines, back loaded horns and it sounds fantastic. It provides a very big sound. It has fairly high power handling and has great clarity and transient response. The mids and highs are excellent, great choice for jazz, vocals, small ensembles, big band with brass and woodwinds. Because it is a full range driver, it can be used as a point source for superior stereo imaging and soundstage, plus no crossovers are needed and the full impact of the amplifier is usable without loss of efficiency or phase-altering components to get in the way of the music's coherence. However, in order to bring out the bass, this driver needs a good cabinet design with either a transmission line or back loaded horn to fully bring out but when done properly, the results are phenomenal. A very simple folded transmission line can be easily made and provide very nice results. You will be hard pressed to find a better driver for 3x the price. This same driver is specified in many high end ($$$) commercial systems that use line arrays. Give it a try and you will not be disappointed. Do a search on DIYAudio.com for this driver and you will see that it is used in a lot of HiFi projects with great results and is highly regarded by all who use it. Two of these drivers, when used in a well designed cabinet, will produce music and performance rivaling or exceeding commercial speakers in $300 to $500 range.

As people have commented already, these are the real deal. I put these in a sealed cylinder (two 4" pvc couplings with ends glued and stuffed with Acousta Stuf) and mated them with a passive sub powered by a TPA 3116 2.1 amplifier. Wow! That's all I can say. These speakers and amp cost me $60 and the sound I get from this system is unbelievable regardless of the price. Compared to my Fostex FF105wk in a ported box, these play much more loudly and have better dynamics. The Fostex are more refined and transparent, but the Vifas are more musical. I will be buying more and trying different enclosures.

I used the 3 1/2 Peerless for my first speaker build, along with the knock down cabs from Parts Express. I used these with no crossover. After the break in they rival my Boston Acoustics xs ds 2 way 3" cubes that had a crossover network. The cubes are smaller but put out great mid and highs. The Peerless speakers have more clarity and midrange in the vocals.

For $12 each, I wasn't sure what exactly to expect and have been VERY pleasanty surprised. Oh my word these sound fantastic. I've got two on a Dayton DTA-1, in sealed oak enclosures that are about .1 cubic foot (sealed) each. Things I was worried about before purchasing vs My opinion 7 months later: 1. Lack of sound quality - These sound fantastic! I am impressed and I have plenty of experience with mid-high end speakers (Hybrid Audio Technologies, for example). 2. These two small 8 ohm drivers on ~5w ea won't be lound enough - As desktop speakers, I keep the volume under 25% most of the time. When I crank the volume up to higher levels, these can fill our rather large living room (consists of two rooms) with sound. I mean, we could probably use this meager setup for your average (5-15 people) college house party. 3. I might need more than two speakers to satisfy my audio needs - Nope, I'm fine with these two. Four speakers, or even six or so in an array would be great, but these two exceed my expectations for desktop speakers already. MY ADVICE: These speakers need a high pass filter to thrive. Throwing frequencies below their fs (like 125hz iirc) hinders their performance as one should expect. Get some sort of filter for these guys. I have temporarily EQ'd these on my computer to attenuate anything below about 100-125 Hz and am considering getting actual filters.