Ok, perhaps time to start posting.
My first full range project was Konus Essence clone with Jordan JX92S. The sound was pretty good and with small filter planning I could do it even better.
After one year with those I decided to do little modifications because needed something for the bottom end. And so I made José speakers, Jordan JX92S with Seas L21RN4X http://koti.kontu.la/jsalonen/cgi/article_attach.pl?action=6254511127806222 Nice and quite well integrated sound. I was quite happy with these until I got a change to hear french PHY-HP full ranges.
So nowadays my primary system consists of large open baffles with PHY-HP H21 LB 15 SAG elements. The soung is really musical and real, nothing compared to boring hifi. But since my wife thinks the baffles are too big and also ugly I'm planning to do some changes for them. Perhaps have to also think about the possibility to start planning somekind of TL design for them http://koti.kontu.la/jsalonen/cgi/article_attach.pl?action=5724021143058612
My first full range project was Konus Essence clone with Jordan JX92S. The sound was pretty good and with small filter planning I could do it even better.
After one year with those I decided to do little modifications because needed something for the bottom end. And so I made José speakers, Jordan JX92S with Seas L21RN4X http://koti.kontu.la/jsalonen/cgi/article_attach.pl?action=6254511127806222 Nice and quite well integrated sound. I was quite happy with these until I got a change to hear french PHY-HP full ranges.
So nowadays my primary system consists of large open baffles with PHY-HP H21 LB 15 SAG elements. The soung is really musical and real, nothing compared to boring hifi. But since my wife thinks the baffles are too big and also ugly I'm planning to do some changes for them. Perhaps have to also think about the possibility to start planning somekind of TL design for them http://koti.kontu.la/jsalonen/cgi/article_attach.pl?action=5724021143058612
Here's new photo about my current PHY-HP's in hinged baffles:
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
JrM said:
It's rare to see PHY-HP drivers used by "not french" people.
What do you think about them ?
Some say they are ultra-refined and let any detail breath, while some other find the sound couloured, "dark" and very dynamicless, slow and shallow.
Maybe it's stupid suggesting this here, but what about large sealed enclosures, with non-parallel walls, careful damping, ultra-thick walls (or even double-walls with sand in the gap !) ? I think the WAF would definetely be better, and bass extension too
FE127E Sealed Bi-pole
Attached is a picture of my most recent pair of speakers. They are a pair of sealed bi-poles (23L) using the Fostex FE127E and built from MDF. Many thanks go out to Mark of www.mach5audio.com who did most of the woodworking. The wife pleaser in the middle is an experiment of his. A 20" sub in an open baffle. See the Mach 5 Audio Testbed for more details.
Initial impressions were very positive. The FE127E goes much higher than we both expected. Good imaging with a very strong mid-range. With the sealed enclosure, you get excellent cone control, great mid-range and the ability to develop moderate to high SPL. The mid-range is much better than that of my BD-Pipes and the FE127E is more extended than the Radio Shack 40-1197.
The test setup was Luxman pre, Beringer DCX, Luxman power. Cross over points between 90 and 120Hz were tried. 90-100Hz worked well with the 20" sub. It was tough trying to place the speakers as we found the 20" sub was often in the way of the music. Very pleased thus far and we expect even better results with a tube amp.
Overall, I am very pleased with the results from this very simple project. I will get a webpage with enclosure plan posted soon.
Cheers,
Gio.
Attached is a picture of my most recent pair of speakers. They are a pair of sealed bi-poles (23L) using the Fostex FE127E and built from MDF. Many thanks go out to Mark of www.mach5audio.com who did most of the woodworking. The wife pleaser in the middle is an experiment of his. A 20" sub in an open baffle. See the Mach 5 Audio Testbed for more details.
Initial impressions were very positive. The FE127E goes much higher than we both expected. Good imaging with a very strong mid-range. With the sealed enclosure, you get excellent cone control, great mid-range and the ability to develop moderate to high SPL. The mid-range is much better than that of my BD-Pipes and the FE127E is more extended than the Radio Shack 40-1197.
The test setup was Luxman pre, Beringer DCX, Luxman power. Cross over points between 90 and 120Hz were tried. 90-100Hz worked well with the 20" sub. It was tough trying to place the speakers as we found the 20" sub was often in the way of the music. Very pleased thus far and we expect even better results with a tube amp.
Overall, I am very pleased with the results from this very simple project. I will get a webpage with enclosure plan posted soon.
Cheers,
Gio.
Attachments
Geek said:Hi GG,
Very well done aesthetically
What finish you have planned?
Thanks, I like the long sleek look. I was thinking of painting them a cream/banana color similar to the cone. However, I am open to suggestions. I don't think I am ready to try something like a veneer at this point.
Regards,
Gio.
Actually here in Finland I know 3 persons who have PHY-HP system and I think there are several on top of that.
They really are coloured but in a good way so they really give space to music even if the lowest and highest freqs are not there. The sound is a bit dark but very dynamic, fast and gives really some push to the smallest details.
They are different that's for sure and very sensitive for the amp you're trying to drive them. Also with harder music punk/rock they may sound a bit harsh and thin, with aqoustic, jazz, blues etc the sound is really excellent. Worth of checking out if you are fond of fullrange systems..
I bought some massive wood with thickness of 3cm, from those I'm going to do little front baffles between the current ones and the units. This should increase stiffness under units. We'll see what happens.
youyoung21147 said:
Some say they are ultra-refined and let any detail breath, while some other find the sound couloured, "dark" and very dynamicless, slow and shallow.
They really are coloured but in a good way so they really give space to music even if the lowest and highest freqs are not there. The sound is a bit dark but very dynamic, fast and gives really some push to the smallest details.
They are different that's for sure and very sensitive for the amp you're trying to drive them. Also with harder music punk/rock they may sound a bit harsh and thin, with aqoustic, jazz, blues etc the sound is really excellent. Worth of checking out if you are fond of fullrange systems..
I bought some massive wood with thickness of 3cm, from those I'm going to do little front baffles between the current ones and the units. This should increase stiffness under units. We'll see what happens.
OK thanks for the information !
I like the fullrange concept very much though some recent experimenting showed me how better a fullrange driver could work if not used "fullrange" but "extended range", i.E between 150Hz and 6kHz. I think it's the way to go to get big, coherent and refined sound.
I like the fullrange concept very much though some recent experimenting showed me how better a fullrange driver could work if not used "fullrange" but "extended range", i.E between 150Hz and 6kHz. I think it's the way to go to get big, coherent and refined sound.
youyoung21147 said:
I am coming to the same conclusion. The smallish full-range drivers seem to sound best when they are not subjected to the lower frequency range. With their tiny Xmax, they often run out gas as low as 80Hz even at relatively low SPL!
Keeping the bass away from these little full-rangers results in a much improved mid-range and you can get moderate SPL from them.
Cheers,
Gio.
Re: FE127E Sealed Bi-pole
Good morning!
I started a webpage for this project.
FE127E Sealed Bipole
I still have some work to do. Speaker spikes, prime and paint cabinets ... I will update the page as I make more progress. Also, the plan is to make a matching subwoofer, but that will go in a different forum!
Now I've got the bug for a full-range horn! On the bright side, this is a better addiction than smoking!
Good morning!
I started a webpage for this project.
FE127E Sealed Bipole
I still have some work to do. Speaker spikes, prime and paint cabinets ... I will update the page as I make more progress. Also, the plan is to make a matching subwoofer, but that will go in a different forum!
Now I've got the bug for a full-range horn! On the bright side, this is a better addiction than smoking!
my contribution to gallery fostex fe87 recomended enclosure
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
FE127 Sealed Bipole - Finished
I got a finish on my FE127E sealed bipole project. Two coats of a sealing primer and two coats of a cream paint. They turned out pretty good. Did a fair bit of patching and sanding and there are still a few blemishes. Getting a near perfect finish would require a lot more skill and patience. However, I am very pleased with the results.
The FE127E is very revealing and you most definately want to match it with a good amp.
I got a finish on my FE127E sealed bipole project. Two coats of a sealing primer and two coats of a cream paint. They turned out pretty good. Did a fair bit of patching and sanding and there are still a few blemishes. Getting a near perfect finish would require a lot more skill and patience. However, I am very pleased with the results.
The FE127E is very revealing and you most definately want to match it with a good amp.
Attachments
FE107 BR for Tatami-room.
Hello,
This is a project I recently finished. My design intent was to create a speaker that would fit into my Japanese-style tatami-room, and offer a decent soundstage when the listener is seated on the floor. The focus was on clarity at low volume levels, rahter than bass output, as the walls here in Tokyo are wafer-thin.
I used the Fostex FE107 and created a slim box out of plywood. Internally, I created a volume by using a PVC-pipe, and filled the remaining void between box and pipe with fine-grain sand. The results are very pleasing, altough this driver offers a rather narrow soundstage, perhaps something an upgrade to the FE108sigma would rectify?
Hello,
This is a project I recently finished. My design intent was to create a speaker that would fit into my Japanese-style tatami-room, and offer a decent soundstage when the listener is seated on the floor. The focus was on clarity at low volume levels, rahter than bass output, as the walls here in Tokyo are wafer-thin.
I used the Fostex FE107 and created a slim box out of plywood. Internally, I created a volume by using a PVC-pipe, and filled the remaining void between box and pipe with fine-grain sand. The results are very pleasing, altough this driver offers a rather narrow soundstage, perhaps something an upgrade to the FE108sigma would rectify?
Attachments
A cheap and cheerful test is to toe them in so they cross at a point about 25% the distance from the listener to the speakers. The technique's popped up in some of the British mags. I recall Jordan also recommends it. An FR driver's narrow dispersion at high frequencies will work to your advantage in reducing the side wall reflection. Those drapes will also be your friends.
Yes, I have been playing around with toe-in, but there is more tweaking needed...I have less than 8 hours of listening to them at this point, so I guess there will be improvements. Initially I was going for the FE108 sigmas due to their stunning looks and performance, but I decided to keep this project relatively low-cost, and settled for the FE107...maybe that is what haunting me. Oh well, there is always the next project.
I checked out the Frugel Horn last night, that one looks very good considering the circumstances I live under now (a mold problem in my last place forced a move to less...representative quarters), and from what I understand it mates real well with the sigmas.
However, the first priority will be a SACD-player, I'll head over to Akihabara on Friday and rummage through some back-alley audio-shops, maybe I can find something some reasonably priced used gear.
I checked out the Frugel Horn last night, that one looks very good considering the circumstances I live under now (a mold problem in my last place forced a move to less...representative quarters), and from what I understand it mates real well with the sigmas.
However, the first priority will be a SACD-player, I'll head over to Akihabara on Friday and rummage through some back-alley audio-shops, maybe I can find something some reasonably priced used gear.