Newbie at FR w/FE163En-S drivers

[Gary the Grey]

I just bought a pair of FOSTEX FE163En-S full range drivers from Madisound. (The drivers are beautiful btw). The drivers come with box plans for a back loaded horn. Are these plans optimal or are there better plans for this driver out there?

[guangui]

Originally Posted by Gary the Grey

I just bought a pair of FOSTEX FE163En-S full range drivers from Madisound. (The drivers are beautiful btw). The drivers come with box plans for a back loaded horn. Are these plans optimal or are there better plans for this driver out there?

A back loaded horn is a suitable enclosure for that driver, and many people have reported very nice results. Having said that, though coming from the driver manufacturer, Fostex plans are known for not being the best ones out there, not necessarily bad, just not the best. Personally, I don't have experience with them, as I like to research a lot and make my own, or go wth someone else's design that has been extremely proven. My design might come out worst than Fostex plans, but for me is the learning curve that matters.

Planet 10, aka Dave, can provide you with plans, if not mistaken, at a reasonable cost. There are others that will do the same. But, if you want to try to design your own, in another thread Dave does some recommendations and comments that might be very helpful for you.

In another forum there is also a discussion of a large Bass Reflex enclosure being very good for this driver. Another point of view, check it out.

Independently, you have gotten yourself a fine driver that will give you much enjoyment of music. Keep us updated, as your project progress'.

[xrk971]

Those are some nice drivers.

There might be a design for a Metronome with this driver.

You might also want to check out the Cornu spiral BLH for this. It is a little big for the standard 70 cm square size but you can probably scale the base plan up to 88 cm square and it will work well. The Cornu is unique in that it is a wall mount with 4 radial horn mouths and has a very big sound for its size. The best part is that it is very easy to build and doesn't require a workshop with power tools. The 88 cm size is comparable to the 36 in square one built by 6L6. Here is the link to the relevant threads:

Ever think of building a Cornu Spiral horn? Now you can!

Foam Core Board Speaker Enclosures?

Good luck.

[planet10]

Originally Posted by guangui

...Planet 10, aka Dave, can provide you with plans, if not mistaken, at a reasonable cost...

Scott @ Woden, not me.

They should work in Victor, or in Hauna.

dave

[hm]

Hello,

check out the double horn POSAUNE
for two driver the back driver should be a
Monacor SPH-165 or similar.

[Scottmoose]

With a mass-corner of 464.73Hz, a metronome style box is out if you want any real LF output (unless you're running a current-source or near-current-source amplifier). They're specifically designed for back-horns & high output impedance amplification (confirmed by the designer of the FExx6E series), although the cabinet design Fostex supply doesn't have all that much gain judging from the FR plots. It'd like a larger horn if possible; that's just the physics of the situation unfortunately. If you want a simple box, a BIB style conical horn would work providing you have corners available.

[Gary the Grey]

Thanks for the input guys! Interesting projects here but very low WAF or they look too big for me. I think I'll go with the FOSTEX plans but with a textured black front and varnished Imbuya on the sides and top. If there's not much bass maybe I could build a matching bass box or subwoofer. Or if any of you have a plan that would lend itself to the treatment above that isn't too much larger than the FOSTEX plan, please let me know! Fun stuff this!!!!

[hm]

"I could build a matching bass box or subwoofer. Or if any of you have a plan that would lend itself to the treatment above that isn't too much larger than the FOSTEX plan"

if you will use a sub you can go much smaller look my SCHALMEI Sat

[planet10]

Originally Posted by Gary the Grey

Or if any of you have a plan that would lend itself to the treatment above that isn't too much larger than the FOSTEX plan, please let me know! Fun stuff this!!!!

RonHorn Austin A166

dave

[Scottmoose]

The Austin should beat the stock design by a fair margin; it might have a little more gain than with the design unit (the defunct FE166E), but that's no bad thing -you can always damp it down some if necessary.