Any A12P owners out there?

[impuls60]

Thank you for the video! I really enjoyed it

[craigtone]

Originally Posted by vinylkid58

What's with the flickering video? Sounds a little better than what I had.

jeff

It was YouTube's Image Stabilization ... I reverted it back to the original video.

[murphythecat8]

Originally Posted by craigtone

Here ya go: Markaudio Alpair 12P Pensil 12.2p Speakers - YouTube

thanks for the video. I see you have a 8 inch fostex too? how do they compare?

[Scottmoose]

The Alpair 12P is a 6 1/2in driver, not an 8in, so not only would you not be comparing drivers with completely different design priorities, you wouldn't even be comparing units with equivalent dimensions.

[craigtone]

Originally Posted by murphythecat8

thanks for the video. I see you have a 8 inch fostex too? how do they compare?

As Scottmoose said, the Alpair is a 6.5", but my Fostex are the FE167E which is also a 6.5". As far as comparison, there is none! The Alpairs are in a different league (read better) based on my comparison of the 2 speakers.

[Scottmoose]

Having owned both, can't disagree.

[soundaatma]

Originally Posted by craigtone

As Scottmoose said, the Alpair is a 6.5", but my Fostex are the FE167E which is also a 6.5". As far as comparison, there is none! The Alpairs are in a different league (read better) based on my comparison of the 2 speakers.

can you please give a bit more detailed comparison of the Fostex 167 and Alpair 10. I suspect the difference in the difference in bass extension in a BR box (as the fostex is actually designed for horn loading). Have to tried to cross both to a bass unit below say 100Hz and then compare the sound qualitiy. The Fostex sure can generate more peak SPL and likely would give cleaner transient peaks at same wattage.

Thanks.

[craigtone]

Originally Posted by soundaatma

can you please give a bit more detailed comparison of the Fostex 167 and Alpair 10. I suspect the difference in the difference in bass extension in a BR box (as the fostex is actually designed for horn loading). Have to tried to cross both to a bass unit below say 100Hz and then compare the sound qualitiy. The Fostex sure can generate more peak SPL and likely would give cleaner transient peaks at same wattage.

Thanks.

To be clear, I am comparing the Alpair 12P with the Fostex FE167E.

Having been a sound guy in a previous life, I have a lot of experiences with "live" instruments and what they sound like. So, here are my observations:

Cymbals/Bells - Fostex hits the fundamental but does not have the ringing sustain and sounds shallow. Alpair has the "ring" and a metallic accuracy.

Drums - Fostex sounds good, Alpair sounds great. I can almost hear fingertip brushes and individual mis-aligned finger contact on bongos and djembes.

Piano - the MOST difficult instrument to reproduce! Again, Fostex is good, but the Alpair has a depth and body to it the Fostex does not possess. I hear resonance and foot pedals bottoming out on the Fostex. On the Alpair I can hear the strings resonating in the wood body and the strings singing when the pedal is pushed and sends a vibration through the piano body.

Vocals - this is the key for me. Fostex has some inherent aggressiveness that some CD's I can't even listen to. Blues Traveler is one. His vocals are like taking a cheese grater to my eardrums. I do not get that at all with the Alpairs.

Again, the Fostex is not bad and much better than speakers I have heard costing thousands of dollars, but the Alpair is in a different league in balance, smoothness, transparency and accuracy.

[Scottmoose]

Originally Posted by soundaatma

can you please give a bit more detailed comparison of the Fostex 167 and Alpair 10. I suspect the difference in the difference in bass extension in a BR box (as the fostex is actually designed for horn loading). Have to tried to cross both to a bass unit below say 100Hz and then compare the sound qualitiy. The Fostex sure can generate more peak SPL and likely would give cleaner transient peaks at same wattage.

Alpair 12P, not Alpair 10.

The FE167E was not designed for horn loading.

Are you certain about that? Per the Factory published data for both drivers, SPLMax for the FE167E is 107.029 dB. SPLMax for the Alpair 12P is 106.534 dB (take as SPL 1m/w + [10*log10[nominal power handling]]). I'm not entirely convinced that 0.495dB difference qualifies as 'sure can generate more peak SPL.' It's more, granted, but a relatively minor amount well within production QC tolerance of many drivers.

[soundaatma]

Originally Posted by Scottmoose

Alpair 12P, not Alpair 10.

The FE167E was not designed for horn loading.

Are you certain about that? Per the Factory published data for both drivers, SPLMax for the FE167E is 107.029 dB. SPLMax for the Alpair 12P is 106.534 dB (take as SPL 1m/w + [10*log10[nominal power handling]]). I'm not entirely convinced that 0.495dB difference qualifies as 'sure can generate more peak SPL.' It's more, granted, but a relatively minor amount well within production QC tolerance of many drivers.

I am sorry...not for front horn loading, but for BLH as is recommended on the Madisound site.
SPLmax may be the same for both the Alpair 12 and Fe166EN. However due to higher efficiency, much lower amplifier power (hence at a lower amp noise and distortion) will be needed to get the same SPLmax on the Fe166EN. As a corollary, loud transient peaks have a higher likehood of being reproduced cleanly with lower amp distortion on the Fe166EN than on the Alpair which will need almost twice the amp power. Not to mention the Alpair 12 costs twice the Fe166EN.

Initially I had the Alpair 10 in mind which has even lower efficiency when compared to the Fe166EN.