As mentioned in another thread (Buschorn driver update), I've pretty much satisfied myself with the nearly stock enclosure and well broken in FE108E sigma ( well worth the cost in $ and time )
I could probably live with the sound for some time to come, but who the F am I kidding, this is DIY audio - as soon as you stop hearing improvements in any given piece, it's time to move on.
But seriously folks, any thoughts on BLH enclosure for the 168? I built a pair of "Fostex recommend" BLH horn enclosures for the FE103's recently and didn't like them at all. For my money the B-horn MKII sounded much better when running a pair of FE103alnicos from the Planet10 driver stash.
I've also heard the Ed Shilling Horn, and in both cases, quite like the effect that the rear mouth gives. However, I have no delusions that even a highly compromised enclosure for the 168's will ever be as "cute and cuddly" as Ed's diminutive little boxes.
I could probably live with the sound for some time to come, but who the F am I kidding, this is DIY audio - as soon as you stop hearing improvements in any given piece, it's time to move on.
But seriously folks, any thoughts on BLH enclosure for the 168? I built a pair of "Fostex recommend" BLH horn enclosures for the FE103's recently and didn't like them at all. For my money the B-horn MKII sounded much better when running a pair of FE103alnicos from the Planet10 driver stash.
I've also heard the Ed Shilling Horn, and in both cases, quite like the effect that the rear mouth gives. However, I have no delusions that even a highly compromised enclosure for the 168's will ever be as "cute and cuddly" as Ed's diminutive little boxes.
What improvements are you hoping for by going from a 108 to a 168? Certainly you will get a higher effeciency and more bass, but everything comes with trade-offs. I'm not trying to talk you out of the 168, just saying that I wouldn't expect the 168 to best the 108 in all categories even though it is more expensive.
my 2 cents
Joe
my 2 cents
Joe
just what am I looking for?
Joseph:
You pretty much nailed it on the head; mostly just curious about the increased sensitivity and lower end weight, and whether the "trade-off" of high-end extension will be too much in my personal sytem.
Since embarking on the whole DIY/SET/FR journey, I've had many experiences where the theoretical or even measured specs don't relate to what I hear; only time will tell.
Thanks for reminding me of Tom's horn designs - I sure there are numerous larger and more elaborate enclosures for the 168 - it' just a matter of how much compromise I can afford to make in mitigating the WAF.
Joseph:
You pretty much nailed it on the head; mostly just curious about the increased sensitivity and lower end weight, and whether the "trade-off" of high-end extension will be too much in my personal sytem.
Since embarking on the whole DIY/SET/FR journey, I've had many experiences where the theoretical or even measured specs don't relate to what I hear; only time will tell.
Thanks for reminding me of Tom's horn designs - I sure there are numerous larger and more elaborate enclosures for the 168 - it' just a matter of how much compromise I can afford to make in mitigating the WAF.
Chris
I have these drivers and am happy to contribute my thoughts. The drivers are really substantial and very well built. Made to be around for a while. Here are some ideas that I have come across...
First, the Supravox folded pipe. Yes, it's true. I heard a pair of these and they sounded excellent. These were built and recommended by TC. Many say they won't work, but they work very well.
Second, TCs own Bigger is Better box. It's a large folded pipe that is open at the top. I have mine in them right now, even though the ones I built are too small for the driver, they still sound pretty good. The bass travels across the ceiling instead of the floor. This kind of makes sense if you think about it...how much furniture do you have on your ceiling?
Third, Nagoaka has a plan for these, though I don't remember the plan number, I'm afraid. If you check at Fullrangedriverforum.com, this was covered not too long ago, as I asked the same question. I'm going to guess that it was the D-158, but don't quote me on that.
Lastly, the direction I've decided to take, (well, at this point) is to use the driver for all of it's range but the lower frequencies, 150 - 200hz and below. I'm going to add a larger low frequency driver at that level. Again, some recent discussion about this on the Fullrangedriver.com forum. Check out a link by JC, also another discussing the older 168 Sigma.
Good luck!
I have these drivers and am happy to contribute my thoughts. The drivers are really substantial and very well built. Made to be around for a while. Here are some ideas that I have come across...
First, the Supravox folded pipe. Yes, it's true. I heard a pair of these and they sounded excellent. These were built and recommended by TC. Many say they won't work, but they work very well.
Second, TCs own Bigger is Better box. It's a large folded pipe that is open at the top. I have mine in them right now, even though the ones I built are too small for the driver, they still sound pretty good. The bass travels across the ceiling instead of the floor. This kind of makes sense if you think about it...how much furniture do you have on your ceiling?
Third, Nagoaka has a plan for these, though I don't remember the plan number, I'm afraid. If you check at Fullrangedriverforum.com, this was covered not too long ago, as I asked the same question. I'm going to guess that it was the D-158, but don't quote me on that.
Lastly, the direction I've decided to take, (well, at this point) is to use the driver for all of it's range but the lower frequencies, 150 - 200hz and below. I'm going to add a larger low frequency driver at that level. Again, some recent discussion about this on the Fullrangedriver.com forum. Check out a link by JC, also another discussing the older 168 Sigma.
Good luck!
Yeah, never heard the 168's, though I'm sure they're nice. I've often wanted a pair to compare to my 108's never had the money though.
Another option if your happy witht the midrange/treble of your 108's is something like this which I just built. Certainly takes care of the low-end "weight" as it were. Lots of options
Joe
Another option if your happy witht the midrange/treble of your 108's is something like this which I just built. Certainly takes care of the low-end "weight" as it were. Lots of options
Joe
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Josephjcole said:Yeah, never heard the 168's, though I'm sure they're nice. I've often wanted a pair to compare to my 108's never had the money though.
Another option if your happy witht the midrange/treble of your 108's is something like this which I just built. Certainly takes care of the low-end "weight" as it were. Lots of options
Joe
Hi Joe!
Is that the project you were telling me about? Are you going to document your progress?
Timn8ter said:
Tim-
Yeah they're the speakers I was telling you about. I probably won't document them, as in make a web page, or anything like that. I've posted a little bit about them on the fullrangedriver forum. I think I probably told you all about them at my brother's house, but I'll tell it again so as to share with everyone else
. The fostex 108's are in a 2.5 liter sealed enclosure placed inside a MLTL with an Ememinence Delta 12lf. The fostex is crossed over at 600Hz first order, and the ememinence is crossed over at 300Hz first order to take care of baffle step losses. I'm still messing a little bit with the cross over. So far I've got that, plus a zobel on the ememinence, and about 1.5-2dB of dampening on the ememinence via an adjustable l-pad. I'm quite pleased with them. They still image great, and I don't feel as though I've lost anything in the midrange by crossing the fostex over so high. They also go quite a bit louder, and carry more bottom end than the fostex ever had on it's own. Hope I'm not doing any thread hijacking, but everybody likes to talk about their babies
.Joe
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