I've recently posted this information elsewhere, but I think it's just too good not to do so here as well.

Most of you familiar with my previous posts know that I own Dahlquist DQ-10's as well as B&W 802F Specials. Despite the retail price of the B&W's being five times that of the DQ-10's, in my current listening room, and with my current associated equipment, I prefer the DQ-10's by a considerable margin.

Unfortunately, the mid bass driver in one of the speakers is defective, and the supertweeter in the same speaker is dead. I spent over $300 to have the regular woofers in both speakers rebuilt by Regnar a few years back, and while I've been happy with their results, there are many who think I was out of my mind to have spent so much on what's basically an Advent woofer (Regnar claims several important differences between the two, but I'll leave that issue up to them).

The mid bass driver in the DQ-10 is no longer manufactured, and the only way to repair it is to send it to Regnar for a rebuild which costs almost the same as that for the much larger woofer - about $150. Regnar has the piezo supertweeter for sale at about $26.00.

I did an online search for replacement Dahlquist drivers and came across a Dayton RS125S-8 5" woofer that at least one poster feels is better than the mid bass driver in the DQ-10. The Dayton appears to be solidly built, especially in comparison to the stamped frame of the original driver, and best of all costs only $27.22! Not to have a mismatch in the two speakers I ordered two of them, and the entire order, including shipping, came to only $64.77 - still less than half the price of a rebuild of one driver by Regnar.

The piezo supertweeter in the DQ-10 has long been a subject of scorn and ridicule by aduiophiles. It's a very cheap device, with a characteristically "spitty" and abrasive sound, but, according to Jon Dahlquist, since it doesn't even start to work in the DQ-10 until 12,000HZ, most people would never be able to tell the difference between it and a far costlier driver. After the many years of listening to, and thoroughly enjoying my DQ-10's, I have to agree with Jon.

Motorola used to make the piezo device, then CTS, and now it's made in China. At Regnar, "original" replacment piezos (Motorolas, I would assume) sell for $26.00. At Parts Express, where I ordered the Dayton woofers, it sells for an astonishingly low $1.44!! At that price, how could I possibly afford not to give it a try?

So, now, instead of paying over $150 for a rebuilt woofer, and $26 for a replacement supertweeter, I've paid less than half of that for four new drivers to be installed in my DQ-10's. I'll be out of town for a few days and over the upcoming weekend, but I'll set about immediately installing the drivers upon my return home, and will happily report on my findings.

Let's hope this was worth the modest expenditure, and if it isn't, I can get my money back from Parts Express. All in all, a "win/win" combination, wouldn't you say?