That was my impression. I was just joking around, but they either must be really special, or else the psychology of limited edition rarity kicked in.
David recommends 30 hours at low volume and then you start turning it up a little over the next 100 hours. I would recommend at least 100 hours before you start listening. Just leave them on during the day. I did that for a month or two.
Even with the small Xmax these drivers are pretty hard to destroy. You hearing will be damaged much before the drivers. That said, don't turn up to silly levels until after 100 hours.
The peakiness never really goes away. That comes from the resonances, IMO. Once the suspension loosens a little, you get some more bass and it stops sounding shrill. This is very noticable on male vocals and I think that's when you'll feel like they are broken in.
I just finished my surround sound speaker build
The movie explosions scared my wife off the couch and shook the house. My dog gets confused so it must be realistic--project complete. Now that my wife understands when I ask how big something can be--it means that is the minimum size! Banished to the garage!
Now I want something different, something that is not spec sheet accurate--something alive, something vibrant--with that BIG sound! There is a set of monoblock tube amps from the 50's with my name on them--I just have to go get them. (and replace the wires/caps etc) My son plays guitar, so does my best friend. Plug that sucker and and kick those tubes around. Time to have a labor day party? Switch to the Carver amp to drive the speakers--crank the tapped horn sub up a notch or 3 and commence to grilling. Time to kick back with a beverage and listen--really listen to a grand piano, pipe organ or violins? Turn off the sub and run full range/helper tweeter.
Zilla did a write up on the Emenence Beta12LTA 12" full range with whizzer. Cut out the dust cap, put a phase plug in and it is rather smooth out to 8 KHz where it rolls off naturally and smoothly. Perfect for a single cap filter on a helper tweeter? The sub is active so no inductors required... The Beta has a really BIG sound, handles a decent amount of power and at 97 dB 1w/1m--would rock the garage with a 25 watt tube amp or chip amp.
Helper tweeter? Leaning towards Selenium D220Ti for durability with a cap and L-Pad...that Fostex FT17 looks like a nice match though. Can I build a speaker with PA parts that sounds good?
At this point, the Beta12 has the nod but I'm open to full ranges from 8 to 12 inches that are very efficient. I have time since I'm learning Horn Response to build a tapped horn for my 10" Tangband sub that is sitting on the shelf. Once the "garage horn sub" is done, then the main speakers will hit the table saw.
The horn sub will teach me horns so I can model a large full range in a BLH alignment. That would be for critical listening without the subwoofer in operation.
The perfect wide band full range--the Quest for the Holy Harmonic continues.
The movie explosions scared my wife off the couch and shook the house. My dog gets confused so it must be realistic--project complete. Now that my wife understands when I ask how big something can be--it means that is the minimum size! Banished to the garage!
Now I want something different, something that is not spec sheet accurate--something alive, something vibrant--with that BIG sound! There is a set of monoblock tube amps from the 50's with my name on them--I just have to go get them. (and replace the wires/caps etc) My son plays guitar, so does my best friend. Plug that sucker and and kick those tubes around. Time to have a labor day party? Switch to the Carver amp to drive the speakers--crank the tapped horn sub up a notch or 3 and commence to grilling. Time to kick back with a beverage and listen--really listen to a grand piano, pipe organ or violins? Turn off the sub and run full range/helper tweeter.
Zilla did a write up on the Emenence Beta12LTA 12" full range with whizzer. Cut out the dust cap, put a phase plug in and it is rather smooth out to 8 KHz where it rolls off naturally and smoothly. Perfect for a single cap filter on a helper tweeter? The sub is active so no inductors required... The Beta has a really BIG sound, handles a decent amount of power and at 97 dB 1w/1m--would rock the garage with a 25 watt tube amp or chip amp.
Helper tweeter? Leaning towards Selenium D220Ti for durability with a cap and L-Pad...that Fostex FT17 looks like a nice match though. Can I build a speaker with PA parts that sounds good?
At this point, the Beta12 has the nod but I'm open to full ranges from 8 to 12 inches that are very efficient. I have time since I'm learning Horn Response to build a tapped horn for my 10" Tangband sub that is sitting on the shelf. Once the "garage horn sub" is done, then the main speakers will hit the table saw.
The horn sub will teach me horns so I can model a large full range in a BLH alignment. That would be for critical listening without the subwoofer in operation.
The perfect wide band full range--the Quest for the Holy Harmonic continues.
That's what I needed to know. Is it useful to put them in a sound proof box in the basement and leave them on? or put them front to front out of phase? Just to minimize the number of days. I think I'd like to listen to them right out of the box and then not hear them until later after some run-in time. Is that a good idea?
InclinedPlane said:
sprinter said:
maxlorenz said:
Hello all,
As a proud owner of a pair of Fostex FE208ES-R drivers I can say they're very much discontinued. You guys have the facts correct, there were only 250 pairs made world-wide, so just finding a pair can be extremely difficult. As far as cost goes when they were released "if" you could get a pair they cost about $1750pr USD. When I was lucky enough to find and purchase my pair I paid more than that and consider it a great purchase. Now for those who don't know to the best of my knowledge or as I was told, the FE208ES-R drivers are essentially the FE208E Sigma maxed out to the ultimate possible performance Fostex could achieve. Here's some info about the FE208ES-R driver:
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
•-- FE208ES-R sold for $1750/pr.
•-- FE208EE-R has a 6.8Kg Alnico magnet.
•-- FE208ES-R has a bio-cellulose based hybrid cone.
•-- FE208ES-R has a die-cast zinc frame.
•-- FE208ES-R has a magnesium dust cap that is directly attached to the voice-coil and acts as a central dome tweeter. Fostex "claims" it will take frequency responce up past 30k. Being magnesium it's lighter & stiffer and will have a higher break-up mode. I've been told Fostex tries to keep this under control, as much as possible with these metal dustcaps!
•-- FE208ES-R has UDR tangential surround & spider. The UDR or Up/Down Roll is created by joining up-roll and down-roll at their tangential surfaces while utilizing FEM or Finite Element Analysis to determined the optimum bonding points. This plays a key part in the overall performance of these drive units by providing better anti-resonance & superior amplitude characteristics.
All I can say is since I've installed the FE208ES-R in the Sachikos, I've never been happier. Of course that's after adding a pair of very rare, 16 ohm, Pioneer HW-7 horn tweeters with their large, heavy alnico magnets. They XO in at 8KHz with 12dB slope using vintage sprague and russian pio caps. The HW-7 horns are used to cover from 8KHz and above.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
So what it all boils down to is "if" you can ever purchase a pair of FE208ES-R speakers do it! I cannot imagine you ever regretting the purchase...
Thetubeguy1954 (Tom Scata)
Last edited:
Hello MP9,
My friend of mine has a pair of the FE138ES-R drivers in Angel cornerhorns by Andrew Vanderkruk of Bentwood Horns in Canada. http://www.bentwoodhorns.com He liked the FE138ES-R drivers so much they actually replaced the Lowther A55 drivers that were previously installed! Plus he's a Lowther rep, so I know his A55's were working correctly.
I'm curious as why & how you feel Fostex "blew it" with the FE138ES-R drivers? I haven't heard them yet so I don't know what they sound like, but I should be hearing them very soon.
Thetubeguy1954 (Tom Scata)
Last edited:
That sounds good. 24/7, No noise. Everybody here agree that a single frequency is adequate? It's just a matter of loosening up material, right? Should you get them to go to near max excursion or is that not necessary?
I know my little Tangband full rangers handle it without issue
The little guys also have vented pole pieces so their 2mm peak to peak movement kept the voice coils cool. Hung them up with some wire to allow the vents to work and they were blowing cool air after 15 minutes and silent. Ran them at half their Fs at a watt so they could get some stretch going at low power.
So the AN drivers can't handle any power below Fs? I guess a high pass filter must be used since they protest at a watt.
The little guys also have vented pole pieces so their 2mm peak to peak movement kept the voice coils cool. Hung them up with some wire to allow the vents to work and they were blowing cool air after 15 minutes and silent. Ran them at half their Fs at a watt so they could get some stretch going at low power.
So the AN drivers can't handle any power below Fs? I guess a high pass filter must be used since they protest at a watt.
Hi Sprinter!
As much as I am a proud papa, I consider myself very blessed because I live on a monthly disability check ---{at least until the USA crashes financially}--- yet I seem to manage to find these rare beauties and always at a price I can afford! Thanks for your kind words...
Thetubeguy1954 (Tom Scata)
It pays to be patient, doesn't it? Sure, I wish I could afford anything I want, but what's the fun in that? (At least that's what I keep telling myself) lol
Tom do a search in the full range forum, lots has been said by those who used them. In short they're allot of work, the HF plot looks like the the tour de france alpes d'huez mountain stage. I suppose to someone used to lowther's or if they don't mind correction networks and LF and HF augmentation they could be nice. For me that defeating the purpose of a full range driver. I really wanted to like them, especially when madisound blew them out on sale at ~40% off and then some, but took the advice of those here with more experience than i.
Hi...
I'm new here...I've just finished to built backloaded horn using FE206En and Solo 206 from Humblehomemadehifi (also use the filter - it help very much)
for the first 25 hours it sounds so nasty...edgy, harsh, you mention it..
after closing to 100 hours, the sound become listenable but I still disturbed with the shout so I decide to make several phase plug from 4 different wood
I start to cut off the dust cap and put the phase plug there (the magnet sucks them tighly - I put 3 iron screw onto the plug)
The result is very satisfying, the shout is gone, the treble and midrange become smoother and also the heaviest and the hardest wood is the best
I'm new here...I've just finished to built backloaded horn using FE206En and Solo 206 from Humblehomemadehifi (also use the filter - it help very much)
for the first 25 hours it sounds so nasty...edgy, harsh, you mention it..
after closing to 100 hours, the sound become listenable but I still disturbed with the shout so I decide to make several phase plug from 4 different wood
I start to cut off the dust cap and put the phase plug there (the magnet sucks them tighly - I put 3 iron screw onto the plug)
The result is very satisfying, the shout is gone, the treble and midrange become smoother and also the heaviest and the hardest wood is the best
- Status
- This old topic is closed. If you want to reopen this topic, contact a moderator using the "Report Post" button.