Driver question for Planet10 Fonken Floorstander

[cjkpkg]

I have built a pair of Fonkens with a pair of FE127E that I enabl'd myself. I love these little speakers and now want to try my hand at the Fonken tune floorstander MKII.

Would the CSS FR125SR driver be appropriate for this cabinet? Should I just stick with the proven Fostex driver.

It seems that the CSS driver has been successfully implemented in the Fonken cabinet I just have not seen the mention in the Floorstander version.

Thanks in advance!
Carl

[chrisb]

Carl; the FR125 mini-onken enclosure actually preceded the Fostex version, which IIRC from Dave's conversations only needed minor adjustments to port dimensions, so it would make sense that the floorstander would be as easily adaptable.

If you have a pair of the FR125s, this is certainly one of several designs to try them in.

Having said that, if you're looking to try a driver / enclosure with a slightly different flavor than the Fonken Prime/FE127E, and don't already have the FR125 on hand, I'd highly recommend the CSS EL70. While they don't have the XBL motor or sexy metal phase plugs, they sound fantastic. They have a more laid back presentation than the Fostex, most notably in the upper midrange, but deeper bass extension.

I currently have 2 pairs of speakers in the house incorporating these drivers, a version of the Fonken prime, and the dual driver "castle" microtowers.

They loves them polka dots.

I'd not want to have to choose only one - fortunately there are enough rooms in the house that I don't need to.

I've lived with the FR125s in the past, and just never quite took a shine to them.

[planet10]

The same way the Fonken was adapted to make a floor-stander Fonken, the miniOnken could be morphed into a similar floorstander for the FR125.

But, after playing with the FR125 more, the best performance we obtained (other than in Calhoun), was in 4.5 to 7 liter aperiodic boxes.

The "fonken" for the EL70 -- Mar-Kel70 -- could also be adapted into a floorstander.

dave

[cjkpkg]

Thank you Chris...I am not married to any driver and I really want to build the floorstander so I think I may check out the EL70. The price sure is right..

[planet10]

Add a false base to the halfTower (in the microTower document on the CSS box plan page) and you have an enclosure in the format required.

dave

[cjkpkg]

would the EL70 be subject to the same enabl treatment as the fostex?

modpodge
dots
gloss
?

[planet10]

Yes. Indeedy.

dave

[cjkpkg]

Awesome...thanks Dave. The Floquil I have is black so these will be "stealthy"...

[cjkpkg]

I have received the drivers from CSS - fast shipping too!!!

This weekend I have completed 2/3 of one cabinet - enough to clamp on the unglued side for a little listening to adjust the damping material. I have also eNabled the drivers. Two thin coats of modpodge - black Floquil for the patterns(I used the JX92S ring template as my guide), and two thin coats of Microgloss. The floquil I have is black so they look really stealthy(if thats a word...). The dots were not very visible at all until I put the gloss on and now they are subtly there.

Initial impressions? These little drivers really sound nice. I cant wait to glue up the other cabinet and finish these off.

Pics to follow shortly.

[cjkpkg]

Pics...got the lumber cut for the other cabinet...ran out of glue...