Dayton Audio Nails Affordability With Its New MK402 Bookshelf Speaker

Dayton Audio Nails Affordability With Its New MK402 Bookshelf Speaker​

(Dayton Audio)(February 12, 2018) Dayton Audio has announced an exciting new bookshelf design that’s both space and wallet friendly. The all-new MK402 carries an MSRP of $70 and can be purchased directly from both Parts Express and Amazon.

The MK402 is a two-way design featuring a 4” treated paper woofer and 3/4" silk dome tweeter, managed by a simple crossover utilizing a 2.5 kHz 2nd order low pass and a 3rd order high pass (both utilize acoustical slopes). Overall frequency response is rated down to 60 Hz. The speaker is relatively demanding, power-wise, with a sensitivity of 84 dB (40 Watts RMS / 80 Watts max, 4 ohms).

Externally, the MK402 is sized (9-1/2” H x 5-3/4” W x 6-5/8” D) to offer supreme placement flexibility. Its lightweight cabinet (10.5 lbs) sports an attractive baffle with an angled design, a durable black vinyl finish, and a front peg-mounted black cloth grille. The rear of the speaker houses a small rear-firing port and two five-way binding posts.

"The goal was to create a bookshelf speaker with excellent build and sound quality for under $70.00," says Dayton Audio Product Manager Judd Baker. "We designed the speaker for smooth sound experience that minimizes listening fatigue and maximizes sound quality. The form factor is small enough that it could be used for desktop listening, yet features enough presence to fill rooms of significant size in such a way that rivals larger speakers in even home theater applications."

Dayton says a Bluetooth enabled version of the MK402 (MK402BT) and a center channel (MK442 Center Channel) are scheduled to hit the market in March 2018.

 

[leecreek]

Emotiva styled cabinets.

 

[Todd Anderson]

They do have that flavor. Night quite as aggressive, but trending in that direction! Good call

 

[leecreek]

The T2's and E1's disappear in low light for movies.

 

[BD55]

I'm curious to hear how these are in comparison to their B652-AIR 6-1/2 bookshelves. I looked at these MK402s, but ended up getting a pair of the B652-AIRs for my wife for Valentine's along with their DTA-2.1BT bluetooth amp. I know they're totally different drivers and crossover, but could the cost difference be attributable to the cab design or better woofer?

 

[Todd Anderson]

Nice Valentine's day gift BD!

Two speakers have similar list prices... I kind of like the fact that the B652s have AMT tweeters!

 

[Todd Anderson]

Parts Express is having a flash sale on these puppies: $59!!!!

https://www.parts-express.com/dayto...&utm_content=300-455&utm_campaign=email021518

 

[tesseract]

Emotiva styled cabinets.

A lot of folks are using angled, faceted baffles. Emotiva has recently adopted this. They are great for minimizing baffle edge diffraction.

 

[Matthew J Poes]

I'm curious to hear how these are in comparison to their B652-AIR 6-1/2 bookshelves. I looked at these MK402s, but ended up getting a pair of the B652-AIRs for my wife for Valentine's along with their DTA-2.1BT bluetooth amp. I know they're totally different drivers and crossover, but could the cost difference be attributable to the cab design or better woofer?

These are so different that it really is more of a matter of what best meets your needs. The MK402 is quite a bit more compact but because of the high xmax driver and low tuned ported enclosure has bass that extends cleanly past 60hz. In room it will be much lower because the port tuning is more like 50hz or so.

While the crossovers are different they are both fairly simple. Both could be better speakers if they had 6-8 elements in the crossover, but the cost of the speakers would need to nearly double.

While AMT tweeters are cool, they aren’t magic. The 3/4” dome tweeter in the MK402 is a really nice low distortion tweeter with an extremely smooth and flat response that extends well past 20khz.

One known issue with the poly woofer in the B652 is a breakup mode that causes a rough response and some congestion in the midrange. The smaller woofer has that mode pushed higher and is better damped. It’s also easier for simple crossover to handle a mode that is higher up.

Having said that, the simple crossover on the MK402 doesn’t totally tame the breakup in its woofer either. However I think it’s a better compromise to make between the two. As I said, fixing this would actually increase the price so much it wouldn’t be a competitive speaker anymore. At $60 there is very few speakers of similar quality. At $120 you can pick up the Andrew jones designed Pioneer speakers which are larger, have nicer cabinets, and better crossovers. I’m not saying the MK402 couldn’t be better still, just that it would face tough competition.

 

[Matthew J Poes]

I’ll add that I’m currently reviewing the MK402. Expect my full impressions within about 30-45 days and hopefully measurements. If the snow doesn’t clear in that time I will add measurements (free field) in the spring time or as soon as the weather is good.

I also have the factory crossover modeled in PCD and can share how their crossover works and the the choices they made. It is my opinion that the crossover is as optimized as possible in a speaker at this price range.

If you want my quick take based on 2 days of use, these are well worth their price. If you want a more nuanced review, you will have to wait for my review to post.

 

[Todd Anderson]

Looking forward to that review Matt!

 

[Sonnie]

Looks like a potent little speaker for the size and the price.

 

[Matthew J Poes]

Looks like a potent little speaker for the size and the price.

It is! It's a pretty unusual design for a small bookshelf. The port is said to be tuned to 50hz which is very low for a speaker this small. It's said to play way down into the 60hz range but if it's truly tuned to 50hz then when used near a boundary or corner, it may actually play down to 50hz and below. Pretty good for a 10"x5" speaker with a 4" woofer. The woofer also has a good bit more excursion than is typical of a 4" driver of this price.

I'll start really listening to it tomorrow and should have a better sense of its sound.

 

[Sonnie]

Looking forward to your impressions.

 

[Jeff S]

Parts Express is having a flash sale on these puppies: $59!!!!

https://www.parts-express.com/dayto...&utm_content=300-455&utm_campaign=email021518

Just checked to see if they are still on sale-and the ARE!. Great deal. Thanks Todd

 

[Matthew J Poes]

Please let us know what you think!

 

[Todd Anderson]

Dayton has released a wireless version of this speaker: MK402BT

It’s a Bluetooth enabled speaker, 80 Watts, with a control panel found on the top.

Price = $98

 

[tesseract]

That is cool, Todd. Stereo pair is possible?

 

[tesseract]

I see now. I might have to scoop up a pair for the fiancee.

http://www.daytonaudio.com/index.ph...bookshelf-speaker-pair-with-3-5mm-aux-in.html

 

[Todd Anderson]

Yes, I'm fairly sure they are linked: one powered, one passive.