What's the best 8" fullrange that you've heard?

[cotdt]

I've only heard the Alpair 12P and an old Fostex 8" (don't remember the model). The Alpair is really a 6.5" but qualifies in the same class due to good efficiency. I wonder how these compare to the more expensive stuff like Seas Exotic, Feastrex, Lowther, etc.

[zman01]

Which cabinet for the Alpair 12P and how did you find it?

[rjbond3rd]

For me, it's a tie between the Lowther field coil driver (I believe it's a PM6A retro-fitted) and the Feastrex D9NF (which is nominally 9").

I have a pair of AER 8" and they are very similar to Lowthers, and were a vast improvement over the Fostex 206E's they replaced. But whereas the Fostex "just worked," the AER's are (like Lowthers) fussier and you'll spend months taming them.

The 8" Betsy's also "just worked," which was great, but then I upgraded to the Visaton B200 and same story -- I spent months fussing with them and it was just annoying and I should have stayed with the Betsy's.

Before you buy an 8" driver, you might consider that some smaller, cheaper Fostex sound fantastic in the upper midrange and treble. I'm using the 4" FE103En's now, and I'm much happier (it's a sat-sub system which outperforms a few of the 8" systems in many ways).

It will be a long, long time before I buy another 8" driver

[cotdt]

Originally Posted by zman01

Which cabinet for the Alpair 12P and how did you find it?

I have a personal enclosure maker with a CNC machine.

rjbond3rd, thank you for the response. I will look into those drivers. I know a 4" has great clarity, but I like 8" fullrange because of the efficiency (my favorite amp uses the 45 tube, so only 2W power), however there is a bass and treble boost from the amp that compensates for what a typical 8" is lacking. It synergizes perfectly with the Alpair 12P (which sounds lifeless on an SS amp).

[zman01]

Originally Posted by cotdt

I have a personal enclosure maker with a CNC machine.

Sorry cotdt, maybe I put my question in a confusing way.

I meant that in which cabinet are you using the A12P, and how are you finding the sound?

I've heard the FE206EN in a BLH cabinet and found it having some of the characteristic Fostex sound i.e. forward presentation; For an 8" driver I was surprised by the top. I've also heard the FE166EN (6.5"), but to me the FE206EN seems to have a richer presentation overall. Probably slightly peaky in the mids but the divers were still relatively new when I heard them - maybe some more hours would help.

I have a pair of MA Alp 12 metal drivers and they are pretty good. A pair of Alp 12P are still undergoing break-in, and as of now they sound more mellow compared to the Fostex I've listened too.

BTW, just for reference I gave the Voxativ Ampeggio (Voxativ Loudspeakers) a listen at a shop in Singapore. The sound was pretty good (dynamic, live sounding), maybe slightly mid-forward for my taste but that could have been the source/material also. The bass was solid and they could play plenty loud.

[GM]

W.E./Altec 755A.

GM

[vinylkid58]

Originally Posted by cotdt

It synergizes perfectly with the Alpair 12P (which sounds lifeless on an SS amp).

That surprises me a bit, although I haven't tried mine with any SS amps.

jeff

[larryldspkr]

I'm really enjoying the Tang Band 1772 8 inch in a MLTL! Hard to beat this combo in my opinion!

Larry

[talaerts]

In my experience AER and Voxativ.

Now recently I bought the A12P after listening to them in the Superpensil. They were remarkable. Just before that in the same room an expensive Lowther was playing in the TP1 cabinets. The Lowther was nice, but without doing precise A-B comparisons I didn't have the impression that the A12P was significantly less good!

[planet10]

I hav enot heard an 8" yet that i would choose over any number of smaller drivers.

I've not heard any of the pricey ones thou. Ones i have played with include FE206s (included eSR), B200, TB W8s, Betsy, Omnes, Alpair 12 & 12p, various vintage 8s (some of the lesser know Corals are pretty decent). many of those tweked up.

I do have here B200s (this time not on an OB), FF225 & SEAS 8" (the cheap one) that i need to play with.

dave