I've recently fell in love with my small Fostex driver (FE127E). Although not in an ideal cabinet I have an idea of what it can and will do in a proper enclosure.
I am getting some Audio Nirvana Alnico 10's for free......well I do have to drive a buddy 400 miles round trip to pick up some Oris 150's and he'll give me the NIB AN's.
Should I scrap all plans moving forward on the Fostex and work with these Audio Nirvana's? We're obviously talking two totally different drivers but could someone maybe compare the two?
I am getting some Audio Nirvana Alnico 10's for free......well I do have to drive a buddy 400 miles round trip to pick up some Oris 150's and he'll give me the NIB AN's.
Should I scrap all plans moving forward on the Fostex and work with these Audio Nirvana's? We're obviously talking two totally different drivers but could someone maybe compare the two?
YES. From my experience, the ANs will beat the pants off the fostex drivers... they are more detailed and natural sounding. The fostex are right up there too, just that the ANs are that much better.
Build a voight pipe or some horn enclosure. I wouldn't recommend bass reflex because you won't get much bass out of it. The other option is to slap'em on an OB with a 15" driver. That'll work really well.
Build a voight pipe or some horn enclosure. I wouldn't recommend bass reflex because you won't get much bass out of it. The other option is to slap'em on an OB with a 15" driver. That'll work really well.
A few issues I may have with a larger driver. My system is "near field" and I only have about 13" in width to work with for each speaker so it will need to be taller and slim.
Secondly, I have zero wood skills and zero tools so if I could do a simple cabinet with a port for these AN's that would be great. As it is I get ALMOST enough low end out of my Fostex.
Secondly, I have zero wood skills and zero tools so if I could do a simple cabinet with a port for these AN's that would be great. As it is I get ALMOST enough low end out of my Fostex.
Well, if you're satisfied with the FE127's low end, maybe a bass reflex for the AN may not be such a bad idea.
OB will work well and requires minimum skills and tools, but you will need another driver for bass plus a crossover. Might be too much at this stage.
May be just stick with the bass reflex then. The ANs will not disappoint
OB will work well and requires minimum skills and tools, but you will need another driver for bass plus a crossover. Might be too much at this stage.
May be just stick with the bass reflex then. The ANs will not disappoint
Given that both drive units are utterly different animals, it is impossible to make any sensible comparison. About as far as we can go is to point out the blindingly obvious, viz. that the AN10in unit is the more efficient, and will have far more linear dynamic range. Given that it is more than five times larger than the little FE127E, this isn't exactly startling.
FWIW, the AN wants a big box; standard 4th order max-flat vented by the factory spec. (about which I have reservations) is 480 litres tuned to 27Hz. You can go smaller (these things are relative) but I wouldn't personally want to use it in a BR much smaller than 250 litres -assuming a half-decent alignment is what is wanted. The AN drive units are not immune from the laws of physics. Sealed would be a better bet if a more modest sized box is needed; 0.707Qtc is around 252 litres but if you're willing to accept a slight rise to 0.8 140 litres should theoretically be reasonable.
FWIW, the AN wants a big box; standard 4th order max-flat vented by the factory spec. (about which I have reservations) is 480 litres tuned to 27Hz. You can go smaller (these things are relative) but I wouldn't personally want to use it in a BR much smaller than 250 litres -assuming a half-decent alignment is what is wanted. The AN drive units are not immune from the laws of physics. Sealed would be a better bet if a more modest sized box is needed; 0.707Qtc is around 252 litres but if you're willing to accept a slight rise to 0.8 140 litres should theoretically be reasonable.
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I don't know which of the manufacturer listed specs hold water in real life, but with a pretty low Fs (35Hz) and such a Qts (0.53), it is IMHO an ideal contender for an aperiodic box. Design for a sealed enclosure of Qtc~0.95 and de-Q it down to your liking with ScanSpeak Variovents or a DIY resistive vent.
I did a quick kludge/modelling, 80L sealed results in Qtc~0.95 and f3 could be expected around 70Hz (fudgier to estimate). This is of course a big compromise on LF extension to get a smaller enclosure.
IG
I did a quick kludge/modelling, 80L sealed results in Qtc~0.95 and f3 could be expected around 70Hz (fudgier to estimate). This is of course a big compromise on LF extension to get a smaller enclosure.
IG
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I have been very underwhelmed by the 8, 10, 12" AN stell basket drivers i have had thru here. The Alnico is likely a diifferent beast, althou with the cones looking the same they will have some of the same issues. When i looked at the Alnico 8, the big drop in efficiency indicated to me that the alnico may well exist for marketing reasons. You expect alnico to have a stronger motor, not a way weaker one.
When one looks at your listening conditions, and consider that at least a couple metres away is needed from a 10 to have it integrate, and then the big difference in required box size...
The 7k peak on the FE127 does need dealing with, but i've had practise with that.
But even as an "investment" the AN are likely good currency.
with reguards IG81's sim, a 13 litre FonkenPrime will net ~65 Hz.
dave
When one looks at your listening conditions, and consider that at least a couple metres away is needed from a 10 to have it integrate, and then the big difference in required box size...
The 7k peak on the FE127 does need dealing with, but i've had practise with that.
But even as an "investment" the AN are likely good currency.
with reguards IG81's sim, a 13 litre FonkenPrime will net ~65 Hz.
dave
My experience has been quite the opposite to planet10's. The ANs I have are far and away the better drivers compared to every single full range driver I've heard, bar the Lowthers. I recently got a chance to measure their impedance curves and there was an excellent match between the two I have. Even their specs were not too different the published ones. So, I don't know why people go on about the ANs lack of quality control. They're no different than any other driver on the market.
As for listening at such close distances, I would agree that the smaller fostex may be a better choice.
As for listening at such close distances, I would agree that the smaller fostex may be a better choice.
Thanks for the opinions so far guys. It turns out they are 8" and not 10" but never the less should be fun. I'm leaning towards building with the AN's first (can only afford one at a time). After all I do have the Fostex in cabinets that work for now. OB sounds kind of interesting, I do have some Jensen 12" 16ohm drivers that may work in OB with the AN 8". Building a x-over is WAY beyond me though.
Most full-rangers have that 7k peak. I personally use computer based DSP to flatten things out, but a low-Q notch filter will easily do the job, even on Lowther's.
Bob
Same ones as this pair. Your look OK.
Unlikely my measures are wrong, i did it 3 times to make sure and do literally 100s of impedance measures every month with the same kit.
Can you post the T/S numbers you goy (in text format) and i'll see how well they do match.
The An12s i had thru here were good, the 10s not quite as. These 8s i would not consider to be even the same driver. I've seen variances across sets of 100s of drivers not even half that.
dave
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