My order is expected to arrive on the 27th. After much vacillation I have decided to build the factory cabinets, the lure of a horn was just too much to resist I just place my oder with the lumber yard for 4 pices of 18 mm x 60" x 60" Baltic Birch. The lumber yard will cut it to size per the cutting diagram that furnished them as I am horrible with a saw. My motto is measure 5 times and cut it wrong once. Hope to start assembly this weekend.
If anyone wants a copy of cutting diagram I can shoot you a PDF. I had to convert it to inches as the lumber yard wouldn't do mm.
Bill
wladieu at cet-inc dot com
wladieu at comcast dot net home
If anyone wants a copy of cutting diagram I can shoot you a PDF. I had to convert it to inches as the lumber yard wouldn't do mm.
Bill
wladieu at cet-inc dot com
wladieu at comcast dot net home
I ordered around the end of December. Pretty soon after the announcement, I think.
I'm building the recommended cabs.
Badwater - please send along that converted cut sheet. I've been trying to draw one but have run aground with a drafting program whose feature set doesn't seem to match its user manual.
-Smash
I'm building the recommended cabs.
Badwater - please send along that converted cut sheet. I've been trying to draw one but have run aground with a drafting program whose feature set doesn't seem to match its user manual.
-Smash
Mine arrived today. Physically they are fairly impressive. Monster Motor and EXTREMELY Delicate Diaphram and Inverted Surround.
I have them "running-in" now free-air with music signal (radio) at less than 1 watt but with a boosted signal at 100 Hz. I'll keep them running like this for about a week. By then I should have the USB (full duplex) sound card I ordered and can test them on my laptop with LoudspeakerLab.
What I'm not pleased with so far:
1. The frame is cheap and ressonant.. This used to be OK, but frankly GOOD driver frames can be produced so cheaply in China (proper), that it isn't all that forgivable any more. But hey, I knew what I was getting into here..
2. The connector tabs are PATHETIC!!! I'll retract this IF they are simply "tinned over" copper tabs - but they don't look it. There is ABSOLUTELY no excuse for this. At the very least they should have been copper tabs. Realistically though (considering the alloy of the VC wire) they should have been the same alloy as the VC wire. Essentially this means to get a really good electrical connection you'll need to consider attaching directly to the VC wire itself (and don't even think of any normal high-temp soldering).
As for the sound, well what can I say - I've only listened to them free-air with no baffle.. clear sound and virtually no bass, as you would expect a driver driven like this.
Things to be extremely wary of:
1. Because the diaphram and surround are so delicate you run a serious risk of harming them with minimal physical contact - BE VERY CAREFULL WHEN CONNECTING WIRE to the driver. Don't even touch the drivers diaphram otherwise you'll end up saturating the absorptive diaphram with your own body oil (eewwww). (though viscous dampening similarly may be a good thing with this driver - it should be reasonably uniform, something you are not likely to achieve by simply touching it.)
2. Again because of the delicate diaphram and surround, you will need to minimize cabinet reflections (and frame reflections) as much as possible without adding airflow resistance (stuffing if B A D). So think VERY carefully how the driver's rear-wave will re-act to ANY chamber behind it.
I have them "running-in" now free-air with music signal (radio) at less than 1 watt but with a boosted signal at 100 Hz. I'll keep them running like this for about a week. By then I should have the USB (full duplex) sound card I ordered and can test them on my laptop with LoudspeakerLab.
What I'm not pleased with so far:
1. The frame is cheap and ressonant.. This used to be OK, but frankly GOOD driver frames can be produced so cheaply in China (proper), that it isn't all that forgivable any more. But hey, I knew what I was getting into here..
2. The connector tabs are PATHETIC!!! I'll retract this IF they are simply "tinned over" copper tabs - but they don't look it. There is ABSOLUTELY no excuse for this. At the very least they should have been copper tabs. Realistically though (considering the alloy of the VC wire) they should have been the same alloy as the VC wire. Essentially this means to get a really good electrical connection you'll need to consider attaching directly to the VC wire itself (and don't even think of any normal high-temp soldering).
As for the sound, well what can I say - I've only listened to them free-air with no baffle.. clear sound and virtually no bass, as you would expect a driver driven like this.
Things to be extremely wary of:
1. Because the diaphram and surround are so delicate you run a serious risk of harming them with minimal physical contact - BE VERY CAREFULL WHEN CONNECTING WIRE to the driver. Don't even touch the drivers diaphram otherwise you'll end up saturating the absorptive diaphram with your own body oil (eewwww). (though viscous dampening similarly may be a good thing with this driver - it should be reasonably uniform, something you are not likely to achieve by simply touching it.)
2. Again because of the delicate diaphram and surround, you will need to minimize cabinet reflections (and frame reflections) as much as possible without adding airflow resistance (stuffing if B A D). So think VERY carefully how the driver's rear-wave will re-act to ANY chamber behind it.
Thanks for the info, Scott! I'd like to see the how the T/S specs compare to Fostex' data sheet.
My drivers should be arriving here on the west coast tomorrow (Friday). I can hardly wait!
FYI: If anyone is contemplating building the 'stock' back horns for these, I have found a source here (USA) that has 13 ply plywood that is 17.8mm thick! Almost a perfect match to the design specs. Granted this is core-only with no face ply, but they do carry 15 ply 3/4" with face veneer.
Here is the link:
http://www.environmentalhomecenter.com/shop.mv?CatCode=PRODUCT&ProdCode=EUROPLY
Note: I don't have any affiliation with this company, nor have I ordered from them (yet), but this is where I will get my materials for my cabinets when I build them.
-Hans
My drivers should be arriving here on the west coast tomorrow (Friday). I can hardly wait!
FYI: If anyone is contemplating building the 'stock' back horns for these, I have found a source here (USA) that has 13 ply plywood that is 17.8mm thick! Almost a perfect match to the design specs. Granted this is core-only with no face ply, but they do carry 15 ply 3/4" with face veneer.
Here is the link:
http://www.environmentalhomecenter.com/shop.mv?CatCode=PRODUCT&ProdCode=EUROPLY
Note: I don't have any affiliation with this company, nor have I ordered from them (yet), but this is where I will get my materials for my cabinets when I build them.
-Hans
Loose Parts?
Anybody else receive a pair of these with loose plastic rings on the perimeter of the surround? One of mine is detatched 1/2 of the way around while the other is loose along about 1/4 of its length. I would just glue it back down except that the surround material is bonded to the metal frame under this ring. There's no telling what might happen over time if I chose the wrong adhesive. Bummer
Anybody else receive a pair of these with loose plastic rings on the perimeter of the surround? One of mine is detatched 1/2 of the way around while the other is loose along about 1/4 of its length. I would just glue it back down except that the surround material is bonded to the metal frame under this ring. There's no telling what might happen over time if I chose the wrong adhesive. Bummer
Re: Loose Parts?
make sure you complain... if they don't get feedback they can't know to tighten their QC.
dave
Smashatoms said:Anybody else receive a pair of these with loose plastic rings on the perimeter of the surround? One of mine is detatched 1/2 of the way around while the other is loose along about 1/4 of its length. I would just glue it back down except that the surround material is bonded to the metal frame under this ring. There's no telling what might happen over time if I chose the wrong adhesive. Bummer
make sure you complain... if they don't get feedback they can't know to tighten their QC.
dave
hybrid Karlson/Transmission Line cabinet
I have built a number of hybrid Karlson/Transmission Line cabinets for a number of Fostex drivers. Currently I am running a set of fe166e's as well as fe126e's in these cabinets. I have run both fe167's as well as fe127's in these cabinets. I have included a photo of an early version of the cabinet used for the fe 127/126e driver. The benefit of this cabinet is that it provides a significant load to both sides of the driver. This then generates a very good impedance match between the driver and the air in the room which results in excellent output with the limited excersion these drivers have.
This idea is not the norm that I have seen on these forums and is very different from what common wisdom would call for but the cabinet is compact while its structure is very ridgid and bass response is better than I had hoped for. I do not have any measurements to supply but I have previously built ML TL for both of these (all four) drivers and find the hybrid K-Line to have superiour bass performance. Best regards Moray James. I don't know if the photo will attach but if it does you can get the general idea of this design. can't seem to paste the photo perhaps someone could walk me through it?
I have built a number of hybrid Karlson/Transmission Line cabinets for a number of Fostex drivers. Currently I am running a set of fe166e's as well as fe126e's in these cabinets. I have run both fe167's as well as fe127's in these cabinets. I have included a photo of an early version of the cabinet used for the fe 127/126e driver. The benefit of this cabinet is that it provides a significant load to both sides of the driver. This then generates a very good impedance match between the driver and the air in the room which results in excellent output with the limited excersion these drivers have.
This idea is not the norm that I have seen on these forums and is very different from what common wisdom would call for but the cabinet is compact while its structure is very ridgid and bass response is better than I had hoped for. I do not have any measurements to supply but I have previously built ML TL for both of these (all four) drivers and find the hybrid K-Line to have superiour bass performance. Best regards Moray James. I don't know if the photo will attach but if it does you can get the general idea of this design. can't seem to paste the photo perhaps someone could walk me through it?
Attachments
Per the Madisound web site the FE166ES-R is old out.
My drivers arrived in perfect conditon. I checked the plastic surround retainer ring this morning and it was tight all arround. I have been playing them free air sitting on a table for the past couple days to assist with breaking them.
I should get my cut Baltic Birch from the lumber yard next week. The fun begins.
My drivers arrived in perfect conditon. I checked the plastic surround retainer ring this morning and it was tight all arround. I have been playing them free air sitting on a table for the past couple days to assist with breaking them.
I should get my cut Baltic Birch from the lumber yard next week. The fun begins.
All's Well That Ends Well
Regarding those defective drivers - Madisound must have kept a little something in reserve. I called first thing Monday morning about the loose plastic rings (I'm sure there's a technical term for them) and was informed by sales that they were, indeed, sold out. A small amount of pressing (barely twisted the guy's arm) got me forwarded to the service department, where I was informed that they did have ESR's and would swap out my set. (Can't say how many reserve sets they might have - didn't ask. And they probably wouldn't have told me if I had).
Madisound issued a call tag, which saved me the cost of shipping them back and sent out the replacements the same day - should be here on Friday!
I'm impressed. If only the rest of the world operated this way...
Apparently, we've caused quite a stir over these drivers. The service rep commented that this special order has been keeping them busy. Hopefully, this bodes well for more goodies. (Which makes me wonder: Where do you guys keep all your finished projects? If I get too head over heels with this stuff, I might have to open a B&B with a hi-fi in every room!)
I know this is off topic but could someone explain how to quote another message? Looked at the FAQ and searched to no avail. - Thanks!
Smashatoms
Regarding those defective drivers - Madisound must have kept a little something in reserve. I called first thing Monday morning about the loose plastic rings (I'm sure there's a technical term for them) and was informed by sales that they were, indeed, sold out. A small amount of pressing (barely twisted the guy's arm) got me forwarded to the service department, where I was informed that they did have ESR's and would swap out my set. (Can't say how many reserve sets they might have - didn't ask. And they probably wouldn't have told me if I had).
Madisound issued a call tag, which saved me the cost of shipping them back and sent out the replacements the same day - should be here on Friday!
I'm impressed. If only the rest of the world operated this way...Apparently, we've caused quite a stir over these drivers. The service rep commented that this special order has been keeping them busy. Hopefully, this bodes well for more goodies. (Which makes me wonder: Where do you guys keep all your finished projects? If I get too head over heels with this stuff, I might have to open a B&B with a hi-fi in every room!)
I know this is off topic but could someone explain how to quote another message? Looked at the FAQ and searched to no avail. - Thanks!
Smashatoms
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