FE126e gives you two more db sensitivity than the FE 127E, and it looks slightly less peaky above 5khz.
But, while neither speaker has gotten huge attention here, the FE127E seems favored. (The specified difference is that the 127E is shielded, though the the 127e also shows higher Qms Qes, Qts). What am I missing?
thanks
http://www.fostexinternational.com/docs/speaker_comp/pdf/fe126e.pdf
http://www.fostexinternational.com/docs/speaker_comp/pdf/fe127erev2.pdf
But, while neither speaker has gotten huge attention here, the FE127E seems favored. (The specified difference is that the 127E is shielded, though the the 127e also shows higher Qms Qes, Qts). What am I missing?
thanks
http://www.fostexinternational.com/docs/speaker_comp/pdf/fe126e.pdf
http://www.fostexinternational.com/docs/speaker_comp/pdf/fe127erev2.pdf
fe126e
Hi,
The fe126e is a relatively new driver and I think not many people have experimented with it (at least there is very few information on the web).
I got my pair about 2 weeks ago. They are built on ~10 L BR enclosures for testing purposes and I already like them very much. Very detailed, although I cannot compare them with any other fostex driver. The response is not peaky, but rising up to 6.5K and then falling down about 6db/oct. Although they are quite listenable as they are I think they should be corrected or placed in some kind of horn.
The BL/weight ratio is very large on this drivers. If you calculate Bl*cone diameter/mms you obtain the largest figure of all the fostex drivers.
I plan to build small closed cercamic enclosures and augment them either with dipole or closed woofers, actively chip-amplified and with active crossover & compensation circuits.
I am triying to find out what is the best approach to correct the respone electronically (perhaps a shelving lowpass, a notch at 6.5k, plus even a shelving downpass at 15 k) and what to integrate on the chimamps circuit and what to build with more opamps.
Hi,
The fe126e is a relatively new driver and I think not many people have experimented with it (at least there is very few information on the web).
I got my pair about 2 weeks ago. They are built on ~10 L BR enclosures for testing purposes and I already like them very much. Very detailed, although I cannot compare them with any other fostex driver. The response is not peaky, but rising up to 6.5K and then falling down about 6db/oct. Although they are quite listenable as they are I think they should be corrected or placed in some kind of horn.
The BL/weight ratio is very large on this drivers. If you calculate Bl*cone diameter/mms you obtain the largest figure of all the fostex drivers.
I plan to build small closed cercamic enclosures and augment them either with dipole or closed woofers, actively chip-amplified and with active crossover & compensation circuits.
I am triying to find out what is the best approach to correct the respone electronically (perhaps a shelving lowpass, a notch at 6.5k, plus even a shelving downpass at 15 k) and what to integrate on the chimamps circuit and what to build with more opamps.
greetings!
I have a pair of these drivers; I built a pair of mini Karlsons, the chamber has a folded transmission line. At this point the k wings have not been installed. I can tell you the bass is very good and reaches 40 hz. There is a hybrid horn design included with the fostex information which is also a good option.
I also have the fe206e in a back loaded horn enclosure; very good dynamics and bass
My amp is a lm3875 gainclone with a 12au7 tube "foreplay" preamp
Seems like a fostex trait is the rising response that can hurt your ears! Transient response, bass, dynamics are all there. It is not to difficult to get good bass from this fe126e driver ; the key is the back loading and tuning.I put some thick dense mineral insulation right behind the driver to absorb reflections.
Maybe there is something wrong with my ears-just a few observations:
I have an old small transistor radio; I like the sound of that speaker! I lke the sound of my tv! I'm considering placing 4 tv speakers per side in a series parallel grouped in a square 4 per side on a baffle.
doggy
I have a pair of these drivers; I built a pair of mini Karlsons, the chamber has a folded transmission line. At this point the k wings have not been installed. I can tell you the bass is very good and reaches 40 hz. There is a hybrid horn design included with the fostex information which is also a good option.
I also have the fe206e in a back loaded horn enclosure; very good dynamics and bass
My amp is a lm3875 gainclone with a 12au7 tube "foreplay" preamp
Seems like a fostex trait is the rising response that can hurt your ears! Transient response, bass, dynamics are all there. It is not to difficult to get good bass from this fe126e driver ; the key is the back loading and tuning.I put some thick dense mineral insulation right behind the driver to absorb reflections.
Maybe there is something wrong with my ears-just a few observations:
I have an old small transistor radio; I like the sound of that speaker! I lke the sound of my tv! I'm considering placing 4 tv speakers per side in a series parallel grouped in a square 4 per side on a baffle.
doggy
I've wondered about the performance of Fostex drivers with chip amps. My experience is that tube amps bring out the best in these drivers while SS and chips produce that "rising response that can hurt your ears". According to Nelson Pass that can be shown empirically, the exception being a current source SS amp as opposed to a voltage source SS amp.
Tim, I couldn't agree more. I brought my speakers down to the Atlanta DIY (108e sigma in sealed enclosures with subs) and first had them plugged into a vintage tube amp and they sounded quite nice, about what I had come to expect from them... then at the end of the day GM and I took them over to another room and plugged them into someone's gainclone. They sounded quite thin and painfully bright, this of course could be partially blamed on my design/construction, but I'm only willing to take part of the blame . They definately sounded fuller, and less piercing on a tube amp.
Joe
. They definately sounded fuller, and less piercing on a tube amp.Joe
I gave up on the smaller Fostex drivers because of weird ear-ache causing rising response, even with SET tube amps. I built three cubic foot sealed boxes with Tru-Sonic FR80's to replace pretty but trying fe103 TQWP and now all is well. I would like to try Fostex 225's in a backloaded horn in the near future. Nothing smaller than 8" for me from now on (please hold double entendre jokes, "that's what she said last night", etc.).
John
Hi all
Probably true about the ss gainclone adding brightness; but I love the power and good tight bass. I also have some bottlehead 2a3 paramours which have been unplugged for a few months; it's like having different cars in your garage. My gc is the lm3875 briangt deluxe kit. fun to build and inexpensive.
cheers
doggie
Probably true about the ss gainclone adding brightness; but I love the power and good tight bass. I also have some bottlehead 2a3 paramours which have been unplugged for a few months; it's like having different cars in your garage. My gc is the lm3875 briangt deluxe kit. fun to build and inexpensive.
cheers
doggie
I have among others a pair of FE108EZ Sigma's in D-101a Swans and FE208 Sigma's in Jerico horns and run them with many different amps / preamp combinations including an inverted gainclone through a VSE FVP5 that I built from Allen's book and found the gainclones + Fostexs' to be a very good combination. Horses for courses I suppose.
Andrew
Andrew
Exactly. There will always be some that don't care for the Fostex sound.
CD, back to your question.
I think it may come down to what type of enclosure you want to build. The Fostex recommended design for the FE126E (BLH/BR hybrid) is probably going to be your best bet there. We've been running sims between the 126 and 127 on another thread and the 127 looks much better in a TL than the 126, IMHO.
Higher qt of the 127 naturaly make it more apropriate for a TL. But, for the correct application the 126 could be better: aon the one side the magnet is much, much bigger (the xx7 series is just meant to be the HT series, therefore smaller main magnet + shield), therefore more detail, specially on the high end. On the other a rising but less "peaky" response that can be easier to manage. I would therefore go for the 126 unless expecting full range on a TL or BR.
Really intersting is not a question about the best tuning/enclosure for each driver, but about the sonic qualities, specially the 126 against the ff85k, probably the most acclaimed smaller fostex.
Really intersting is not a question about the best tuning/enclosure for each driver, but about the sonic qualities, specially the 126 against the ff85k, probably the most acclaimed smaller fostex.
Thanks Timn8ter. I've been following the reference project thead with great interest -- it's really educational to be able to sit in on these conversations.
I used the FE127E, in a short-wide t-line and reported results in another thread,
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=42744&perpage=10&pagenumber=2
to which you added a comment there about possible problems interacting with the chip amps. That make sense. I do note that most people using Fostexes are not listening in the nearfield, and many seem to prefer tube amps.
It might be interesting over time -- maybe I should ask this over in class D after more people have the SI amps running -- to figure out what kinds of drivers do interact well with the tiny chip amps. It's just so convenient to have a plausible amp that's smaller than most crossovers and runs off a battery.
I used the FE127E, in a short-wide t-line and reported results in another thread,
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=42744&perpage=10&pagenumber=2
to which you added a comment there about possible problems interacting with the chip amps. That make sense. I do note that most people using Fostexes are not listening in the nearfield, and many seem to prefer tube amps.
It might be interesting over time -- maybe I should ask this over in class D after more people have the SI amps running -- to figure out what kinds of drivers do interact well with the tiny chip amps. It's just so convenient to have a plausible amp that's smaller than most crossovers and runs off a battery.
Thanks! I did a little searching and reading on the WR125S. Maybe next birthday I'll treat myself to new drivers. I didn't see among your posts much detail on your enclosure, though -- have you put them up anywhere?
Because I'm really lazy, I'm wondering whether the WR125S might be a plausible drop-in replacement for the FE127E in the vented box/mini t-line that I made (described in link in my last message).
The main difference in specs seems to be that the WR125 has Vas of 5.8L while the FE127E has Vas of 9.9.
The actual enclosure I made has about 22 liters, though one could probably reduce that with vigorous stuffing in places.
Because I'm really lazy, I'm wondering whether the WR125S might be a plausible drop-in replacement for the FE127E in the vented box/mini t-line that I made (described in link in my last message).
The main difference in specs seems to be that the WR125 has Vas of 5.8L while the FE127E has Vas of 9.9.
The actual enclosure I made has about 22 liters, though one could probably reduce that with vigorous stuffing in places.
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