206e alternates

[blumenco]

I really know what you mean about needing creaminess on top.

My introduction to the real audio world 7 years ago (graduating from the car audio world) was through a pair of hd600s, and then 650s. I played that system for Terry Cain, to his surprise with how far headphone technology had come since his early days. I course, I got his speakers shortly thereafter. In college, speakers throw a better party than headphones I started working for him on the side and it just all spiraled out of control from there.

The 206e, even if the cone is tamed, it can still be a bit beamy and will dramatically lack upper hf response off axis, even by 10-15 degrees. A phase plug should incrimentally help this trait but will most certainly not "erase" that trait. I tend to use the smaller Fostex drivers in my commercial designs because they have the best HF tone quality and off axis response to my ears. Frankly, it is a matter of personal taste.

While the 206e is indeed a fine, fine driver, and while I have built and sold loudspeakers with them and will continue to do so in the future, they also are what they are. The cast iron that Fostex uses in the "e" series is of marginal quality for magnetic permeability, even on many of their more expensive drivers than the fe206e. If you can notice an ultimate graininess in the upper frequencies, then you will hate me for saying this but it will take a different magnetic material and magnetic circuit material to help this out. Not even cone treatment to an extent can help this trait out. Of course, YMMV, and if you now hate me for telling you this, then it is because this is where things get expensive. F200a, or most anything with Alnico will have an advantage in upper frequency chillaxing and bottom bass blossom boosom booming. Your tube amps will agree. your ears will agree. People that want to sell you something cheaper will likely not agree.

A tweeter will help but can pose a risk of other issues. A true full range driver, or learning to curb your expectations regarding final extention out of the less expensive full rangers is very much worth the effort, IMO as far as your personal music appreciation factor goes, unless you want to spend more on the tweeter setup than the fullrange driver itself.

Of course, not all Alnico/low carbon steel or iron ceramic is created equal, as the circuit geometry and material varies from manufacturer to manufacturer. I am cursed while listening to most speakers because I can hear these little differences in every manufacturer's approach very clearly in the final sound of a given driver after having worked at Feastrex for a time and also having heard several Lowthers and Fostexs of different magnetic types. Lately, I have gotten pretty darned picky as to whether a driver sounds like it has enough magnetic "torque" regarding a stable HF speed while being able to handle the variety of different conditions that music presents for the whole physical/electrical system. Most marketers gloss over this inescapable law of how the whole magnetic system's quality affects the innate tone quality. That is because most speakers use cheap magnets. Not a bad thing, because even cheap materials can sound fabulous, but it is simply a "that's the way it is" thing.

If you are otherwise not able to hear such a grainy tone quality out of the FeXXXe series drivers, or the cost/benefit ratio turns you off for what is in the end mostly an aesthetic trait rather than something that affects measureable frequency response, then mod forth on the FE206e. Many people do and are pleased with the results.

I have not yet heard Dave and Chris's work on the 206eN, but I am happy with the results on the 126eN and 83eN which I have had them OEM for me on occasion. For the money, they are pretty hard to beat. Of course, I have not heard every last competitor in those price ranges, but I have heard many. There are lots of things that Fostex does right with their drivers. If you could ask me what they should change, it would be for them to offer consistent production of different types of magnets and frames on what is roughly the same cone. I would enjoy it if they had options with nicer magnets, even if the price is much higher (which it has to be if the material quality is actually up to snuff). The old Japanese made Fostex drivers were very nice in this regard, if not quite as high performance and environmentally friendly as the banana pulp cones.

I would recommend trying the 206e drivers out stock first with phase plugs and seeing where to go from there. The 207e is another option, but you loose a little speed to get the smoothness. As far as what studios exist to send your drivers in for modification, either 206 or 207 or beyond, I am as yet unaware of other people than Dave and Chris offering such a service. They are nice guys to boot. Also, I have not personally tried an 8" BIB, but I have been quite happy with the 6", 5" and 4" BIBs that I have made. Good for the style of reproduction that you are seeking.

Cheers,

-Clark

[BudP]

For my interest, which is a very well balanced FR, without any hint of shriek or burn in the highs, Planet 10's F127 en in a full Fonken box is totally satisfying. Solid to 35 Hz and open, liquid and only musical through the rest of the frequency range.

Naturally the F 200 A en has at least 3 times the resolution and has no FR drawbacks at all. Just a bit lacking in dynamic color, such as you find in the 127 and all Lowther's once EnABL'd. Both of the Fostex models will rival your headphones for information content and even the 127 will surpass the headphones in some areas of transients, space replication and textural depth, for content like a full orchestra provides.

I have a pair of Audio Nirvana 8 inch drivers in for EnABL treatment currently. Untreated you would not like them. There is a rising high end and though mostly well controlled, when it loses control it is pretty painful. I suspect I can control all of that and at that point they should be superb as they start out with a good dose of information content, before the patterns do their work.

In short, you cannot go wrong with one of Dave's products, because music is all they do.

Bud