fostex 8" in Bose 301 cabs

[brsanko]

I'm thinking about putting some fostex FE206s in some old Bose 301 boxes, and using them for studio monitors, possibly with a subwoofer. Any comments or suggestions welcome. Or if you know of a driver that would work better. The boxes look to be about .3 cu ft and are vented. For the time being I'll just be powering them with an old technics integrated amp till I can afford something better.

[Godzilla]

I don't think that will work well. The 206e needs a larger box designed to bring up its bass response in line with its mids and highs. You may not like the sound you get because it will produce very little bass.

Maybe a Pioneer B20 would work better? Or a woofer designed to work in a small ported box would be better still. There should be plenty to choose from but they will require a tweeter. If the tweeter works on your 301 you can use it.

Personally, i would leave the 301 as is and not modify it with the Fostex driver.

[3-LockBox]

Some drivers won't be as responsive in that small of a cabinet, some will. Even though you don't require any deep bass from a satellite speaker, you still want midbass, which gives you your punch. If a driver that is designed for a large cabinet is put into too small of a cabinet, its midrange will be exaggerated, but the midbass will be muted.

You'll end up with a satellite that has a poor bass rolloff, say around 200hz. Many powered subs employ electronic crossovers, the cut off on a powered sub is usually no higher than 100hz with a slope of -24db. You end up with a 'hole' in the bass region between where ever your sub's crossover is set and the lower limits of your satellites (in other words, it'll sound like a Bose Acoustimass setup).

Try a driver with a low Vas and low Qts for that small of a cabinet, or you'll wind up with a sonic gap twix your sub and your satellites.

[brsanko]

I don't have any of the original drivers for the 301s but I currently have dlk 8" woofers in the boxes and they sound pretty good but I don't have any Idea what the specs are for the woofers or how acurate their response is in these boxes. the tweeters I have are junk so they definitly need to be replaced. So I'm tring to figure out what the best driver compement would be for the boxes and whether or not I would have to mess with the crossovers.

[3-LockBox]

Originally posted by brsanko
So I'm tring to figure out what the best driver compement would be for the boxes and whether or not I would have to mess with the crossovers.

Go to Parts Express...look up the size driver you want...check out their specs...find a driver that has the lowest Vas cuz yer talkin about a small cabinet, and hopefully its got a low Qts as well.

Or you could use the one you have and try extra stuffing in the cabinet to tune, especially if you like the way they sound already. I'd be shocked really if there was an 8" woofer that would play very low in that small of a cab, but I could be wrong. There are some car subs that don't require very large boxes, but often they have very poor mids (well, because they're not designed to have good mids).

There's been a lot of talk about this tweeter lately:
http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showd...number=275-030 - you liiiike?

While you're at it, replace the cheap electrolytic capacitors with better poly caps (for the tweeter - I'd be shocked if its more than just a cap).

Try e-bay too, as they always have 301 parts for sale.

[brsanko]

I'm not looking for low bass 100hz is fine I just want flat response I'll most likely add a subwoofer. BTW it looks like it already has poly caps in it. I think Bose actually cared a little about quality back in the '70 when these boxes were made. Actually what you suggested is what I'm Doing right now. Once again these are for recording so flat ferequency response is crucial.

[brsanko]

I just measured the cabinets and it looks like they are closer to .47 cu ft no .3 as I had estimated this gives me a few more possibilities.

[planet10]

Originally posted by brsanko
I think Bose actually cared a little about quality back in the '70 when these boxes were made.

No they built junk in those days too...

1st, in terms of a Fostex driver that will work in that size box, you could fit an FE167, but an FE127 would be better.

2nd. The quality of construction of those boxes is poor. The same driver as above in a properly built box will wring a lot more of the driver's potential from it. I would burn the 301 boxes and just start from scratch.

dave

[vinylkid58]

Originally posted by planet10

I would burn the 301 boxes and just start from scratch.

I'm glad you said it first.

Jeff

[planet10]

Originally posted by vinylkid58
I'm glad you said it first.

It had to be said.

dave