Exciting new line of fullrange drivers from Feastrex

[cdwitmer]

Since Bunpei beat me to the punch on the news of the CD (with which Feastrex has no direct connection), I 'll just add a bit more information . . .



Sound samples (of the CD, not the speakers) can be heard here:
http://www.rambling.ne.jp/html/catal...1&id=RBCS-2293

Here is some more info:
http://blogs.colette.fr/caperinopepe...art-of-living/

http://blogs.colette.fr/caperinopepe...aute-fidelite/

Since I'm so out of touch with fashion and trends, I never knew until today that the dogs in those speakers are popular characters frequently appearing in Vogue Japan and other media:
http://www.addadog.com/v3/index.php

-- Chris

[cdwitmer]

Here is something you don't see every day . . . a D9e-II driver retrofitted to a Tannoy enclosure. This enclosure apparently required a lot of additional reinforcement but now sounds pretty good, I'm told.



-- Chris

[cdwitmer]

And here's an interesting one . . . Mr. Tanaka, the urushi craftsman who built the large "Nessie-like" enclosures for the high-end field coil drivers, has since come up with a smaller enclosure for the D5nf:



Normally a photo would be released with an attractive finish, but apparently someone who heard these at the stage of development shown said "the heck with the finish . . . these babies are going home with me RIGHT NOW." In other words, it is apparently a very successful design.

(One thing that can be surmised from the photo is that the inside of the enclosures as shown already has an urushi finish, because Mr. Tanaka always puts the urushi on the inside panels before assembling the box.)

The dimensions are W245xD380xH1200 (mm). The word is that these play very low for a D5nf speaker (down into the 30s), but without messing up the higher frequencies in the process. If you care to think of it as a horn (I have no idea about the specifics of the internal construction), apparently the total length is about 3 meters.

-- Chris

[doorman]

Or a MLTL?
Don

[Scottmoose]

More likely a trad style folded TQWT / conical horn judging from the dimensions Chris refers to above.

[blumenco]

Originally posted by cdwitmer
Here is something you don't see every day . . . a D9e-II driver retrofitted to a Tannoy enclosure. This enclosure apparently required a lot of additional reinforcement but now sounds pretty good, I'm told.



-- Chris

Reinforcement? No doubt! The Type II is a real "motivator." What is the material of that front panel?

Shown behind: D6 triple port enclosure, JBL horns.

The peaches that come from this fellow's farm are simply divine. Mr. Teramoto called them "The best in Yamanashi." I did not feel compelled to seek any others out for comparison.

Hmmm... fond memories/ missing summertime in Yamanashi with Mr. Teramoto, but loving all the free wine I get in Walla Walla and NF5ex. Life sucks.

-Clark

[cdwitmer]

Paulownia! Having lived in Japan for most of life, I have become a huge fan of paulownia (kiri) wood. The Japanese have traditionally made very extensive use of this wood, especially for chests of drawers known as kiri tansu. ( http://www.kamocci.or.jp/kamo/kamo_h...ut3/index.html ) Some of these have been in constant use for centuries! The kiri tansu are left unvarnished; when they get too dingy-looking, a craftsman will go over them with a hand plane and correct any looseness, etc. (the chests are traditionally held together without any nails or screws, although nails and/or screws might be used to mount metal hardware), and they'll come back looking like new and ready for another generation of use. Really amazing. Paulownia also makes among the very best (fastest burning) charcoal for black powder.

But I never thought of using Paulownia planks for loudspeakers! Check it out:



Yes, you saw correctly! That's the plain vanilla Feastrex enclosure, but with a Coral Flat 6 (16cm) driver inside! That belongs to the enclosure builder, and not to the folks at Feastrex. But everyone at Feastrex has a high opinion of Coral and it is possible that Feastrex might not even exist if it had not been for Coral. Anyway, here are some more shorts:





Feastrex's president, Mr. Akiyama, was speculating that finishing this wood with urushi would produce a sound character that is close to ideal.

I don't know if Paulownia in Japan and elsewhere are the same, but here is a bit more information on this unusual wood:
http://www.paulowniawood.com/

-- Chris

[blumenco]

"it is possible that Feastrex might not even exist if it had not been for Coral."

Chris, are you able to elaborate? I personally never heard this story (sounds like an interesting footnote in history) and also have never heard a coral driver...

-Clark

[talawalla]

Clark's Nf 5ex Loudspeaker:

Great Bass
Great Imaging
Excellent Texture
Has a kind of sinuous, lively quality perhaps due to the bamboo ply, black locust combo. I enjoyed having a chance to hear Clark's first effort. Out of the gate it is really excellent. I know he plans some final tweaking. Can't wait to hear when he's a little further down the path.

Joe C.

[Phil Townsend]

SWEET!!!!

I want...