Mark Audio/Fostex... what to choose for new speakers

imagios · 30th October 2011, 12:55 PM

Hello,
after a friend visited my and listened to my MKII with Fostex 167E he directly offered me to buy them from me... I never thought to sell them, but since my little daughter (10 months old) likes to touch the drivers, and I will not easilly find a replacement, I do play with the idea, to give the speakers away as long as the drivers are not damaged...
So what now, ... I think to build a new couple of speakers, they should outperform the MKII, I was looking a little around, and SEAS exotic, Lowther and Supravox are out of my budget, so I have now two possible manufacturers, Fostex I can say that my current speakers in Bob´s desing are awesome.
Or Mark Audio, that caught my eye for some time already. Tang Band I cancelled from my list...

what would be our opinion? Im looking for a speaker that will have a clarity of the 167E, deliver more bass and top end and overall more detail (althout that is not a easy task)
I play with the idea for the following drivers:

Markaudio Alpair 10.2
Markaudio Alpair 12
Fostex F200A
Fostex FF225WK

The F200A might be the champ, but I´m not certain whether he is as well not out of my budget...

What would be you oppinion?
Any experience with the Alpairs? How much detail do they deliver, when the sensitivity lies below 90 Db?

zman01 · 30th October 2011, 02:59 PM

Imagios,

I've been very impressed with my Alpair 12 - very clear and detailed, and good bass in the Super Pensil 12 cabinet. I haven't heard the FE167E, so cannot comment on how both drivers compare - I leave that to other members who have heard both. The sensitivity is 89 dB IIRC and plays pretty loud with a 5 watt/channel tube amp.

Blue Planet Acoustic had it on sale last time I checked - noticed you are located in Prague.

imagios · 30th October 2011, 06:45 PM

Well I looked into Bobs webpages and it seems he is working currently with the MA 10.2
Brines Acoustics
Looking forward to see the result, but anyway still the choice will not be easy between thouse drivers

chris661 · 30th October 2011, 07:22 PM

I'm not so keen on Mark Audio drivers. For lack of a better word to describe it, they sound a little too polite.
It is a minor criticism, but I still prefer Fostex - perhaps it's the ragged frequency response, but they sound more exciting to me.

buzzforb · 30th October 2011, 07:46 PM

Don't know about the Fostex, but I have heard both the A7.3 and 10.2 from MA, and while the 10.2 is polite, the 7.3 is truthful and vibrant in its sound.

planet10 · 30th October 2011, 07:57 PM

You are talking 2 quite different approachs to providng a musical expereince with a different set of trade-offs.. Which trade-offs suit you, only you can decide. I can only share my preferences.

What kind of amp do you have, how big a room, and how big a box?

FF225wk needs a helper tweeter -- at least based on comments of those who have implemented them.

Alpair12s are getting scarce on the ground, you'd have to check with bpa as to whether they actually have any (they say they still CHP & No6 woofers, but i have indirect info that that is not the case)

I'd personally choose A10.2 over A12, if has more DDR and more extension at both ends, the larger 6.5" A12 will do weight better. For the same kind of money i'd get A7.3 + helper woofers.

When we come to the Fostex, they all seem to have niggly little issues that mostly go away with treatment. So far of the new drivers we have sampled FF85wk, FF125wk, FF165wk, FE126En, FE166En, FE206En, in the right enclosure they are all fine (ie Victor is outstanding). Still a preference for the small ones with helper woofers.

dave

vinylkid58 · 30th October 2011, 08:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by imagios

Hello,
after a friend visited my and listened to my MKII with Fostex 167E he directly offered me to buy them from me... I never thought to sell them, but since my little daughter (10 months old) likes to touch the drivers, and I will not easilly find a replacement, I do play with the idea, to give the speakers away as long as the drivers are not damaged...

Whatever you have for speakers, you'll need a protective grill, so why sell them? The MA drivers are even more fragile than Fostex.

jeff

chrisb · 30th October 2011, 11:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vinylkid58

Whatever you have for speakers, you'll need a protective grill, so why sell them? The MA drivers are even more fragile than Fostex.

jeff

substantially so

imagios · 31st October 2011, 05:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by planet10

What kind of amp do you have, how big a room, and how big a box?

dave

The room is 25m2,
and I think to sell my whole set, that would mean, for the new speakers I would build a GainClone amp,... and a passive preamp, or tube preamp.
This is just the opportunity to improve my system, so I play around with the idea...
Especialy when I would build new speakers I would already integrade some holes for screwt for protection... that I did not in the current ones

imagios · 1st November 2011, 10:19 PM

btw what do you think about this reduced set:
Hobby Hifi Markaudio TakeFive Bausatz - Lautsprecher Selbstbau by blue planet acoustic
its the MA A5 and the A10 Woofer...seems to be a nice combo

30th October 2011, 12:55 PM	#1
imagios diyAudio Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: prague	Mark Audio/Fostex... what to choose for new speakers Hello, after a friend visited my and listened to my MKII with Fostex 167E he directly offered me to buy them from me... I never thought to sell them, but since my little daughter (10 months old) likes to touch the drivers, and I will not easilly find a replacement, I do play with the idea, to give the speakers away as long as the drivers are not damaged... So what now, ... I think to build a new couple of speakers, they should outperform the MKII, I was looking a little around, and SEAS exotic, Lowther and Supravox are out of my budget, so I have now two possible manufacturers, Fostex I can say that my current speakers in Bob´s desing are awesome. Or Mark Audio, that caught my eye for some time already. Tang Band I cancelled from my list... what would be our opinion? Im looking for a speaker that will have a clarity of the 167E, deliver more bass and top end and overall more detail (althout that is not a easy task) I play with the idea for the following drivers: Markaudio Alpair 10.2 Markaudio Alpair 12 Fostex F200A Fostex FF225WK The F200A might be the champ, but I´m not certain whether he is as well not out of my budget... What would be you oppinion? Any experience with the Alpairs? How much detail do they deliver, when the sensitivity lies below 90 Db?

30th October 2011, 07:57 PM	#6
planet10 frugal-phile(tm) diyAudio Moderator Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Victoria, BC, NA, Sol III Blog Entries: 4	You are talking 2 quite different approachs to providng a musical expereince with a different set of trade-offs.. Which trade-offs suit you, only you can decide. I can only share my preferences. What kind of amp do you have, how big a room, and how big a box? FF225wk needs a helper tweeter -- at least based on comments of those who have implemented them. Alpair12s are getting scarce on the ground, you'd have to check with bpa as to whether they actually have any (they say they still CHP & No6 woofers, but i have indirect info that that is not the case) I'd personally choose A10.2 over A12, if has more DDR and more extension at both ends, the larger 6.5" A12 will do weight better. For the same kind of money i'd get A7.3 + helper woofers. When we come to the Fostex, they all seem to have niggly little issues that mostly go away with treatment. So far of the new drivers we have sampled FF85wk, FF125wk, FF165wk, FE126En, FE166En, FE206En, in the right enclosure they are all fine (ie Victor is outstanding). Still a preference for the small ones with helper woofers. dave __________________ community sites t-linespeakers.org, frugal-horn.com ........ commercial site planet10-HiFi p10-hifi forum here at diyA

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30th October 2011, 02:59 PM	#2
zman01 diyAudio Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Dhaka	Imagios, I've been very impressed with my Alpair 12 - very clear and detailed, and good bass in the Super Pensil 12 cabinet. I haven't heard the FE167E, so cannot comment on how both drivers compare - I leave that to other members who have heard both. The sensitivity is 89 dB IIRC and plays pretty loud with a 5 watt/channel tube amp. Blue Planet Acoustic had it on sale last time I checked - noticed you are located in Prague.

30th October 2011, 06:45 PM	#3
imagios diyAudio Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: prague	Well I looked into Bobs webpages and it seems he is working currently with the MA 10.2 Brines Acoustics Looking forward to see the result, but anyway still the choice will not be easy between thouse drivers

30th October 2011, 07:22 PM	#4
chris661 diyAudio Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Lancashire Blog Entries: 7	I'm not so keen on Mark Audio drivers. For lack of a better word to describe it, they sound a little too polite. It is a minor criticism, but I still prefer Fostex - perhaps it's the ragged frequency response, but they sound more exciting to me.

30th October 2011, 07:46 PM	#5
buzzforb diyAudio Member Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Burlington, NC	Don't know about the Fostex, but I have heard both the A7.3 and 10.2 from MA, and while the 10.2 is polite, the 7.3 is truthful and vibrant in its sound.

1st November 2011, 10:19 PM	#10
imagios diyAudio Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: prague	btw what do you think about this reduced set: Hobby Hifi Markaudio TakeFive Bausatz - Lautsprecher Selbstbau by blue planet acoustic its the MA A5 and the A10 Woofer...seems to be a nice combo

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