Enclosure help for a newbie - Fostex FE166E

[adamzx3]

Hello,

I have always been a tinker-er and am thrilled about building a pair of floor standing speakers. I used to build custom enclosures for car audio and have access to a full woodshop.

After several days of searching I think I am going to use the Fostex FE166E drivers. They seem to be the right size, price, and quality I'm looking for. Building an enclosure "right" would be the key. Does anyone have any idea's on where I can look for some plans?

So far I came up with these: This , which seems to be untested.

The Frugal Horn Project level 0 seems to be simple enough, a bit complex inside but not bad!

I have a Onkyo SR606 receiver and a 10x 13 room, if that helps. I am also looking to get that big lifelike sound my Klipsch Quintet II's can't seem to produce (unless as 75% volume) I also am ordering a Elemental Designs A2 - 300 subwoofer so i'm not worried about the real low bass.

Thanks in advance, much much appriciated!

[Scottmoose]

A couple of pointers. Firstly, the Frugel-horn is designed for the FE126E, not the FE166E, which is far too large for it.

The 166, frankly, is a pain to get working right. You could take a look at the Frugel-horn pages -Ron's A126, Bob's Daleks, or the Hiro double-horn all do very well & don't require multiple drivers. WRT Onur's design, I'm not entirely certain what he was trying to achieve with it -IMHO, that is not the sort of cabinet that the 166 will thank you for putting it in.

If you would prefer a simpler design, the FE167E is a little more versatile & can be used in a wider variety of enclosures.

[DaveCan]

This is the one you want http://homepage.mac.com/tlinespeaker...6Mk2-plans.pdf

166es-r in a austin a166 & construction ?

http://www.audiophiletalk.com/cgi-bi...num=1201567978

http://www.decware.com/newsite/DFR6.htm

The Decware modded driver was used in Karl's build and he really likes them.. Of course there are an exceptional amount of bias's to wade through the forums these days, so take that into consideration when choosing drivers etc....

Dave

[planet10]

Originally posted by adamzx3

Onkyo SR606 receiver and a 10x 13 room

That receiver has an aweful lot of features for not much money, and a whole lot of power. You may well find that any of the Fostex drivers -- even stock -- ruthlessly expose its shortcomings.

Your room is also quite small. The kind of box needed for an FE166e is likely not going to work well in this room.

For this room, and if you intend on keeping the Onkyo for awhile, you might get better synergy with CSS FR125SR.

dave

[serenechaos]

Originally posted by DaveCan
This is the one you want http://homepage.mac.com/tlinespeaker...6Mk2-plans.pdf

166es-r in a austin a166 & construction ?

http://www.audiophiletalk.com/cgi-bi...num=1201567978

http://www.decware.com/newsite/DFR6.htm

The Decware modded driver was used in Karl's build and he really likes them.. Of course there are an exceptional amount of bias's to wade through the forums these days, so take that into consideration when choosing drivers etc....

Dave

I have a pair of those in an 11.3 x 13.6 room; (what started as a clone of this room: http://decware.com/paper36.htm -- well, he moved, and the link/info's not as complete as it was).

Anyway, they work well in there, room treatment helped (a lot), but you can get into overwhelming spls pretty easy.
And that's with a small tube amp.
The alcove helps, or a door you can open to rest of the house.
Bass is flat to 40 Hz corner loaded, I recommend building subs into the rear deflectors for below that.
Robert

[adamzx3]

Thanks for the info guys!

After browsing articles and posts all day, I think I have narrowed down to two enclosures, the MJ King box and Brines FT-1600 MkII. And using the FE167E instead.

I was wondering how complex the inside of the FT-1600 MkII is? I cant find much besides it using rockboard on the inside.

I measured my room and it is 11x17.5, will this make the drivers in-efficient or just overpowered?

That receiver has an aweful lot of features for not much money, and a whole lot of power. You may well find that any of the Fostex drivers -- even stock -- ruthlessly expose its shortcomings.

Hmmm, I plan on upgrading it in near future...is it that bad? I have never listened to speaker any better than the Klipsch floorstanding at bestbuy (vf-35?) and if they sounded even that good I would be tickeled. I was hoping at lower power the SR606 would be decent.

[adamzx3]

I just realized the Martin J. King box I was looking at was for the FE206E and FE207E after hours of reading I guess all these names are starting to sound the same!

I guess i'm settled on the FT-1600 MkII using a FE167E , as long as it will work ok with my setup.

[serenechaos]

What kind of music do you listen to?

I had a FT-1600 MkII, also a MLTL for the FE206E, and a Decware HDT. They all have strong & weak points.
I find the Transmission Lines are nice, but more "polite," less dynamic than the Back Loaded Horns (Austin 166, etc).

Although I'm currently breaking in a FE138ESR on a kludge baffle on the HDTs.
About a hundred hours on it, totaly wrong driver for the box, but it sounds a lot nicer than the FE206...

Robert

[rjbond3rd]

Hi guys,

I was lucky enough to hear the FT-1600 MkII with the FE167e (w/phase plugs) and I liked them very much. (My room is about 11x11 and I have the larger Brines 8" model (LT-2000's) which is overkill for that space.)

I love the MLTL's very clear "hear every note" quality in the bass. No boominess -- upright bass sounds exactly the way it should. Jazz, female vocal, acoustic and chamber music sound excellent to me. I drive mine with a singe inexpensive watt of tube power (and it's plenty, even with BSC).

P.S. OT but Robert, I envy you on the FE138ES-R's -- have you chosen a cab?

[adamzx3]

I made the plunge and went with the FT-1600 MkII, the plans look great and I cant wait to start building. These ones are going to my parents, but i'm wondering when I build myself a pair, will the Onkyo TX-SR806 (THX Ultra2 Plus certified) sound a lot better to my average ears than better than my current SR606 ? If so, I might be able to return mine in the next 10 days.

http://www.onkyousa.com/model.cfm?m=...s=Receiver&p=s