My favorite 8" hands down is the Fostex FE206ES-R. I've used them in my Sachikos for many years now. I run them with a Korneff 45 and they do pretty much any sort of music very well down into the 40's (Hertz) range. I used them straight up four a couple years and then took a risk and installed a pair of Dave's phase plugs and never looked back.
I'm glad I found a spare pair, I'll never part with them. My primary pair has a tiny "wrinkle" in one cone from a three year old girl that decided to bop them pretty hard while they were playing. It doesn't affect the sound but annoys me every time I see it. I'm going to move them downstairs into my smaller listening room and put them into Dallas II cabinets eventually.
I'm glad I found a spare pair, I'll never part with them. My primary pair has a tiny "wrinkle" in one cone from a three year old girl that decided to bop them pretty hard while they were playing. It doesn't affect the sound but annoys me every time I see it. I'm going to move them downstairs into my smaller listening room and put them into Dallas II cabinets eventually.
The B200 is very good but has laser-like top end without added phase plugs. When i 1st had them, if i was on axis i found the top too much, if i was off-axis, i was wondering how they would sound with a ribbon tweeter, Taking the dustcap away and adding a phase plug spreads the HF out so that it is more enjoyable.
Those are a clients. My personal ones have red spots & phase plugs (i need to finish the plugs and take some pictures). Destined for a small (100-200 litre) 1.5 way boffle or aperiodic box.
dave
Those are a clients. My personal ones have red spots & phase plugs (i need to finish the plugs and take some pictures). Destined for a small (100-200 litre) 1.5 way boffle or aperiodic box.
dave
I have not heard the super pricey stuff (Lowther, Seas Exotic, SAL, etc) but the best 8"er I've heard is the Wild Burro Betsy. But then again, I don't mess with boxes. Strictly open baffle.
In fact, I just sent them to Dave for treatment and phase plugs. They are definitely worth spending the extra coin on!
In fact, I just sent them to Dave for treatment and phase plugs. They are definitely worth spending the extra coin on!
Fostex FE206E with phase plug
Hi everybody,
My first post on this forum!
I took a bold step a while ago: I completely cut away the center dome of my FE206E speakers and installed a wooden phase plug directly on the magnet. An extremely delicate job! The sound "opened up" and especially the dispersion improved a lot! I don't remember where I bought the phase plug anymore. (A US company)
I have become very fond of this speaker.
It is in Tony Gee's (Humble Homemade HiFi) Solo 206.
Tony is the man behind extensive speaker capacitor tests. See his website.
http://www.humblehomemadehifi.com/download/Humble Homemade Hifi_Solo-206.pdf
The speaker frame was strengthened with duct sealing compound and the magnet is covered with thick felt.
Great speaker, especially on tube amp and vinyl.
I might replace it one day with a Tangband W8-1772. Does anybody have any experience with the Tangband in a BLH like the Solo206?
Henry
Hi everybody,
My first post on this forum!
I took a bold step a while ago: I completely cut away the center dome of my FE206E speakers and installed a wooden phase plug directly on the magnet. An extremely delicate job! The sound "opened up" and especially the dispersion improved a lot! I don't remember where I bought the phase plug anymore. (A US company)
I have become very fond of this speaker.
It is in Tony Gee's (Humble Homemade HiFi) Solo 206.
Tony is the man behind extensive speaker capacitor tests. See his website.
http://www.humblehomemadehifi.com/download/Humble Homemade Hifi_Solo-206.pdf
The speaker frame was strengthened with duct sealing compound and the magnet is covered with thick felt.
Great speaker, especially on tube amp and vinyl.
I might replace it one day with a Tangband W8-1772. Does anybody have any experience with the Tangband in a BLH like the Solo206?
Henry
Attachments
Last edited:
I have used the FF225wk. For the build, see:
[URL="http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/full-range/240874-pappa-tl.html”]Pappa's TL[/URL]
I prefer the 225 to the whizzered Fostex drivers. Note that they do need a tweeter to fill in the top octave. I used an Eminence APPT-80 w/ a 1.0 uF cap; pointed into the corner of the room--NOT at the listener.
Cheers, Jim
[URL="http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/full-range/240874-pappa-tl.html”]Pappa's TL[/URL]
I prefer the 225 to the whizzered Fostex drivers. Note that they do need a tweeter to fill in the top octave. I used an Eminence APPT-80 w/ a 1.0 uF cap; pointed into the corner of the room--NOT at the listener.
Cheers, Jim
We have heard all of the FFxx5wk series except the FF225 (i have a pair, just haven’t done anything with them yet.
The FF85wk is one of my favourites but lacks bass (all of these EnABLed). The FF105wk are almost as good, with greater bass potential. The FF165wk is in the same ballpark, more efficient and even greater bass capability. FF125wk is the odd duck, it has some HF issues that can be greatly ameriolated but stock…
dave
The FF85wk is one of my favourites but lacks bass (all of these EnABLed). The FF105wk are almost as good, with greater bass potential. The FF165wk is in the same ballpark, more efficient and even greater bass capability. FF125wk is the odd duck, it has some HF issues that can be greatly ameriolated but stock…
dave
8" full range drivers are too big to be used alone without a tweeter because they lack detail. People who feel they need more bass than full range speakers offer are better off just getting a nice 2-way speaker like an Ascend Acoustics CBM-170 SE. The Alpair 5.2 and Alpair 7.3 are extremely nice full range drivers for those willing to live with their limitations. When placed in proper cabinets, the smaller Alpair drivers will outperform most 2-way speakers commonly recommended. People with sub-woofer envy should look elsewhere.
I've looked at those Ascend's but haven't heard them but would be surprised if they have more bass than my half-changs with 206en's. The changs are not really the right box for them and I'm driving them with a Yamaha avr instead of the recommended tubes but wow. Detail is fine for me. They do have warts which Dave could probably fix but they're destined for my shop anyway so...
Freddi keeps banging the drum for these in K12's.
The CBN-170s are very nice at their price point and I have no problem recommending them to anyone. For better bass reproduction, the Sierra 1 is a better choice because it features a Seas woofer. These speakers do like lots of amplification while full range speakers seem perfectly happy with good clean fleawatt amplifiers.
