3" driver audition Fostex/Mark Audio

[planet10]

Back to small drivers, yesterday Bernie came down the island and up the mountain and we had a bit of a listen to 3" drivers.

dave

[zman01]

Quite a collection there... some listening impressions pls.

-Zia

[badman]

So many speakers....

And not a "real" one in sight!



j/k

[planet10]

The session was far from definitive. Comments only apply to this session*. We didn't get as far as optimizing toe-in etc.

It did tell us that the 3 newest drivers (FF85wk), Alpair 6P and 6M, had an edge on the older FF85k. Their balance of strengths differ-- i need to do more listening, with more kit (ie amps) to get any options that are les squiggy.

Alpairs were capable of more bass. FF85 & A6M have more shimmer up top, FF85 images the most precisily, A6P seems likely to be more forgiving. One would generally say that that gives FF85 greater DDR, but on the A6p we had a hint of stuff in the mix that were not as obvious with the others.

From the impressions, at this point i'd choose FF85wk if i had bass support, A6P for single driver use, but i'd be happy with any of them. A6P if you have an amplifier that needs to be softened up a bit (ie HT receivers) All would make excellent mid-tweeters.

All drivers were treated & matched, the FF85WK with the reference treatment from Bud.

I will be changing out a couple older FF85 for the new, so will have some demos up for sale.

dave

*(iMac G5 with iTunes, AIFF rips of CDs, Edirol FA66 Firewire DAC, DynaMutt Amp (triode EL34/20 W), Fornaco Pre (6922, DC coupled CC->CF))

[vinylkid58]

Originally Posted by planet10

A6P if you have an amplifier that needs to be softened up a bit (ie HT receivers)

Add vintage Pioneer integrated amps (SA7500) to the list.

jeff

[planet10]

Originally Posted by badman

So many speakers....

Wait till i post the pics of the Ken-to-gether on the back deck. This selection are just the computer speaker (or necessarily small satelittes) -- althou within their bandwidth i was happy with their ability to fill my space (not all theat small).

dave

[badman]

Not a bad space at all. I have a similarly open space, with the living room/sound room being attached to the entry, main hall, kitchen, and dining areas. Works really nicely for sonics, though it takes a lot of sub to get "thwack", something I'm a big fan of

[chrisb]

Originally Posted by badman

though it takes a lot of sub to get "thwack", something I'm a big fan of

there are specialty sites for that

[planet10]

Chris & Bernoe came over today and we did another session with these.



Still no clear winner. Each has their strengths.

Personally if it was used all by itself, the bass that the Alpair6P brings to the party would give it the edge. If woofer support was available, the FF85k. The A6m was no sloch either, like the other metal Alpairs demand the best ancillaries. The A6p is more forgiving, and it would be more forgiving of amps.

The real hit of the session was when we took the drivers out of the wk optimized uFonken and put them into the prototype uFonkenSEt. A bit bigger then a uFonken, a bas shape that is trapezoidal similar to the Mar-Ken12, and made of solid Locust. With the etra volume there is a bit more weight in the bottom. Amazing how they can fill a large room.



After Chris left, we hooked up a pair of powered SDX7 woofers. That's what i'm listening to now. Nice.

In isolation it might be kind of hard to judge the size of these. Placed on top of Mar-Kel70:



dave

[ejfud]

The Locust cabs are beautiful!