DAP Audio? Good Or Rubbish

[MisterJames]

Hey Everyone,

 

 

Im looking into buying some DAP Audio RW Stage Series Passive 12" Full range And 18" Subwoofers... They look the part but the price is cheap and as my dad once said if it says they do 240wrms than the price should be more than 240 ** laughs out loud **... Whether thats true but in a little way it makes sense?

 

I am on a budget so DAP looks the part and plays in my budget. Are they really good or can you guys and girls recommend something that will blow my socks off...

 

Idea is I stack them Subs at bottom full range on top the Amplifiers will be DAP Audio too.

 

Specs Below

 

RW-12:

12" Driver

1" CD Horn

Frequency Response 63Hz -17kHz

Power Rating RMS 230W

Impedance 8Ω

Sound Pressure Level 94dB

 

RW-18B Subwoofer

18" Speaker

Frequency Response 38Hz - 180Hz

Power Rating RMS 300W

Impedance 8Ω

Sound Pressure Level 102dB

 

So what do we think? Is DAP actually good? or another behringer

 

Cheers

 

James

[Pete Alcock]

James,

 

DAP Audio stuff is generally OK, but you have to understand it's manufactured in the Far-East and as such, while the construction will be solid and precise, the components (the important bits like compression driver, crossover and woofer) will be Chinese, so really built down to a price. My experience is that for non-critical applications they'd be OK, but if you put them side by side with boxes with B&C, RCF, JBL or other drivers in, the difference would be immediately apparent. Smoothness of response, (hence gain before feedback) and definition, detail and clarity are unlikely to be as good.

 

The other factor is the structure of sales and support of DAP Audio changed last year, and you'll now be relying on support/spares coming from the Netherlands.

 

If you want good looking, reasonable sounding boxes, look at W-Audio from CPC, or Dragon Spirit Dragon Spirit. Both these are Chinese manufactured speakers, but the importer is at least in the UK, so you'd have a chance of getting a replacement driver if you ever blew one. Thomann would be another good source of similar cabinets, or of course there's always Behringer.

 

Pete.

[KevinE]

You're better off listening to some of these rather than ordering some because they 'look the part'. This is simple advice!

 

Highlite UK (formerly Overt Light to Sound) are in Calne, Wiltshire and managed by an ex Electrovision/Soundlab guy.

Spares and support can be sourced through them, stock is held centrally at Highlite in the Netherlands as already mentioned but you can still deal with the uk office on 01249 819494.

[TonyMitchell]

RW-12:

Power Rating RMS 230W

Sound Pressure Level 94dB

 

That's circa 117dB continuous, which as mid-high boxes go, is pretty quiet. In comparison, the sub is pretty efficient.

 

Taking Pete's valid point regarding support, if you do go with this brand, you'd probably do best to buy from Terralec in Southend, whom shift lots and lots of this stuff, as they're a decent bunch and you'll get some after-sales support if you incur problems.

[MisterJames]

Right... thanks everyone... Taking away support... Do you recommend saving up for something more impressive? I choose these because they look good plus I will rarely use them so there cheap in that respect but when I do use them they will need to be good perfermance and yes its all good buying HK or JBL or EV for 2000 pounds but that big waste of money for them to come out once a year.

 

I get so stressed when choosing speakers as there so many brands claiming to do this and that and unless you have 2000 pounds picking from the rubbish bin as it were you never know who telling the truth

 

W-Audio! Their damn good... I had some active ones PSR series sadly the hall I use is a little short on mains sockets and we had trouble this year so we've got rid of them!

 

Please understand I value qaulity very much as I love classical music and like to hear every bit note of it but when your budgets tight it hard to get what you need.

 

Kevin I will be listening to them now... I think I really need too! ** laughs out loud ** Cheers

 

So DAP audio or just scrap it? I think I just need to judge myself dont I?

 

Thanks guys

[bruce]

... and yes its all good buying HK or JBL or EV for 2000 pounds but that big waste of money for them to come out once a year.

 

If it's only once a year, then maybe hiring them rather than buying makes more sense. That way, you don't have to spend your capital, you get better kit than you could otherwise afford, and don't have to worry about storage...

[Shez]

I choose these because they look good plus I will rarely use them so there cheap in that respect but when I do use them they will need to be good perfermance and yes its all good buying HK or JBL or EV for 2000 pounds but that big waste of money for them to come out once a year.

I assume you've already considered and written off the possibility of hiring? If they'll only be used a couple of times a year, it'll be cheaper to hire in a much better rig than you would ever afford to buy and you won't have to deal with storage, maintenance etc.

[MisterJames]

Oh Hiring! Yes please ** laughs out loud **... No No they wont do that... something about something else... Plus then the kits there ready... and I can setup it before hand... Thing is sometimes it used for 2 hours just for dance or primary school thing. I agree with them it be pointless hiring and in long run it would be cheaper and storage not a problem and maintance... yes that a point but also we have quite a handy... DT tech who seem to be able to repair stuff and replacement parts wouldnt be problem were in contact with a DAP supplier just about

 

So the kit has to be all ours!

 

I know :( Thanks for the suggestions but it was over ruled

[TonyMitchell]

James, as far as your question regarding the quality of these DAP RW boxes go, I imagine it will be similar to the 15" boxes from the same series that you already own.

http://www.blue-room.org.uk/index.php?showtopic=39004&hl

 

 

How do you find the quality of the 15" boxes?

[Sound In Gloucestershire]

I doubt we'll get a reply now if im honest, perhaps the original poster should check out the Next Generation forum in future?

 

id recommend the w audio psr speakers, I have plenty and for the price, you cant go wrong! As for lack of sockets, have you ever heard of an extension? You are going to have to run a cable to the speaker anyway

[Brian]

RW-12:

Power Rating RMS 230W

Sound Pressure Level 94dB

 

That's circa 117dB continuous, which as mid-high boxes go, is pretty quiet. In comparison, the sub is pretty efficient.

 

117dB if you are lucky. The danger of simply working up from the 1W figures is that without the manufacturer being honest and quoting the 'power compression' figures then you may be between 2-4dB too optimistic.

 

Drivers don't continue to get louder in proportion to the power going in; as they reach somewhere around the half-way point it starts to tail off. In the extreme, with a poorly designed driver, you can get the situation where you get no noticeable increase in sound output for a doubling of power going in. Any decent manufacturer will give you a power compression figure or will quote sound output at both reference level (1W) and full power and even better will quote all three.

 

It a shame that after so many years manufacturers, and even users, seem unaware of this phenomenon, or maybe that just choose to ignore it. After it, it makes the marketing numbers look bad.

 

Also, 94dB seems very inefficient for a mid-high driver combination.

 

I'd take ANY figures for budget boxes with a huge pinch of salt (if you can get any! (salt that is)). They are often more of an aspiration then a specification.

[MisterJames]

James, as far as your question regarding the quality of these DAP RW boxes go, I imagine it will be similar to the 15" boxes from the same series that you already own.

http://www.blue-room.org.uk/index.php?showtopic=39004&hl

 

 

How do you find the quality of the 15" boxes?

 

 

I was talking in a IF context... I just worded it wrong! That post is to identify amplifier I will need this is to question whether the DAP units are any good. But sometime if you dont state you have them people recommend other types which is helpful but im not rich and people do say JBL and I love them but I cant afford them no matter how much I save up.

 

My apologises if me posting different things has annoyed you. but wording my question way I do helps me.

 

Cheers.

 

A concurrent post has been automatically merged from this point on.

 

I doubt we'll get a reply now if im honest, perhaps the original poster should check out the Next Generation forum in future?

 

id recommend the w audio psr speakers, I have plenty and for the price, you cant go wrong! As for lack of sockets, have you ever heard of an extension? You are going to have to run a cable to the speaker anyway

 

Yeah W-Audio is good but that now two wires im running... whats wrong with one speakon? You seem to think I havent thought about this or come across the problem before. Active suits some passive suits others.

[paulears]

James - I've read your last post and can't quite work it out.

but wording my question way I do helps me.

If you 'word' it for yourself (who already understands it) this doesn't help.

 

The bit about cables is odd - passive or active???? No idea what you're saying.

 

It does seem to me that if this is for your job, and you have a few quid to spend, why not invite local suppliers to loan you a system and if you like it, buy it. Buying sound equipment from paper specs means so little. The key question is what does it sound like? I've done what you're doing plenty of times to fit available budgets, and sometimes my 'guess' worked fine, other times the stuff was poor, and drivers unreliable when abused. I did buy a big KME system from Thomann - a German company flogging a German product, and I was very pleased with it.

[martin3030]

I was an agent for Highlite in 2001.

Dap audio do some good stuff-I was particularly impressed by some of their audio leads.

The speakers I found were no better or worse than others made in China-typically you know the drivers are not up to much when you pick them up.

What I did find was that there will always be customers who buy on price alone-and it is educating them about paying a bit more.

I can recall getting quite a few DAP cabs returned with blown drivers-typically the 10/12" series.

I decided to try replacing them with higher end specs such as Eminence Fane and Celestian....obviously the crossover needs to be looked at too.

I had many discussions with the sales rep from Celestian who agreed with me that its probably better to buy some second hand JBLs Peavey or OHM than a new pair of Chinese.

 

Interestingly,the suppliers seem to have concentrated on upgrading these cheap speakers,in the knowledge that it maybe ok to keep selling a replacement driver for £15,but at the end of the day the customer will go looking somewhere else...once he has had to do this a few times.