Fostex FE206/207 or others

[JC951t]

Hi Guys,
This is my first post in this forum. Have a couple of question that needs your expert opinion

1. which is the better speaker, the 206 or 207 ?
2. Is there any other brands in this price range which
is better. meaning overall smoothness
3. decware is selling a phase plug for the 206.
does it reallly improve the sound ?
4. Will build either a G Chang or Bruce cabinet. between
the 2, which one sounds better ?

Sorry, have never been into single driver speakers. Need
all the help that I can get.

Thank you all in advance for the advice

[planet10]

Originally posted by JC951t
1. which is the better speaker, the 206 or 207 ?
4. Will build either a G Chang or Bruce cabinet. between
the 2, which one sounds better ?

With the mentioned enclosures, 207 will be best (since that is the driver the boxes were designed for). Choose a box designed for the 206 and it will have the edge. The FExx7 drivers in general are smoother than the FExx6 drivers and they go into easier to build (simplier) cabinets.

2. Is there any other brands in this price range which
is better. meaning overall smoothness

Hard to beat Fostex for the price, lots of enclosures for them, and driver modifications are fairly well documented.

3. decware is selling a phase plug for the 206.
does it reallly improve the sound ?

I can't speak for the Decware ones* but the whizzer cone Fostex do get better/smoother with my plugs. Some consider them mandatory. http://www.planet10-hifi.com/pp-testimonials.html

*(i don't really like the idea of putting a vacuum tube, with all its rattly bits, right there in the centre of the loudspeaker where it is going to become a secondary sound source. We tried and published pictures of such an experiment at one of the diyFests (predating the Decware application by over a year) -- replacing the tube with a wooden plug proved better.)

dave

[JC951t]

Hi Dave,
Thank you for he advice. BTW I was'nt referiing to the tube
phase plug from Decware. The one I'm talking about is like
a wave guide with a hole in the center

Thanks you

[Alex from Oz]

You mean this one.

Cheers,

Alex

[JC951t]

Hi Alex,

Yes this one. Do you have an experience with this ?

Thanks

[hm]

Hello,

without any measurement in comparison,

it is for me like WIKI:
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phase-Plug
google translate helps

"Es ist also durchaus im Bereich der Möglichkeit, dass Hersteller Phase-Plugs zweiter Art einsetzen, ohne dass es zu eindeutigen Verbesserungen, die durch Messungen belegbar sind, kommt. Dieses wäre dann eine Art Modeerscheinung."

"It is therefore perfectly in field of possibility that manufacturers phase-Plugs second kind to use, without there being any clear improvements, the measurements are suitably comes. This would be a sort of fad."

[Alex from Oz]

Originally posted by JC951t

Yes this one. Do you have an experience with this ?

No, but it is an interesting design concept.

[planet10]

Originally posted by Alex from Oz
No, but it is an interesting design concept.

Yes... poking around in the shop... "wonder if this socket would work as a phase plug?"

Glad to see he finally went with a plastic imitation... a socket is really hard to remove after being installed.

dave

[beauistheman]

so you say in a matched enclosure the 206 has the edge on the 207? I was under the impression that the 207 had nicer low end to it but ran out of puff somewhere around 12khz. Where as the 206 has more of a full range to it, but not as nice in the lower range as the 207 (in a matched enclosure). Please explain this to me as i am contemplating either of these 2 drivers myself.

[Saturnus]

Well, that's much it.

All else being equal the 207 sounds a bit smoother and more relaxed out of the box than the 206, whereas the 206 is more in your face and involving.

You can almost describe the difference as with the 207 you're watching a concert from a distance and can watch the entire stage and everything that goes on the time where 206 takes you to the front row or the mosh pit. What you prefer is up to you.

For upgrading I would prefer the 206 though as they sound incredible when mounted with a phase plug and an extra magnet mounted. My main caveat with the 207 is that you really need a supertweeter when you you want the most out of it whereas the 206s little lacking bass can be helped by the right horn or adding a (very good and fast) subwoofer to the setup.