FE166E-SR rec horns

[slappomatt]

Ok I know these drivers are quite old now, but I just got around to finishing the recomended horn cabinets. and i must say im not very impressed. there is alot of bass for such a small speaker but the box is huge and the highs just arent there.

I'm thinking of adding a tweeter. maybe one of the fostex horn tweeters. does anyone else feel this way about these speakers in these horns?

I had them open baffle with a sub for almost the last year and while they wherent perfect they where more effeicent and they had much better highs. any ideas?

[usa_satriani]

I got a horn with FE168EZ and I am thinking of adding a tweeter.

I have also FE208EZ + FT96H in a horn and the tweeter is doing a good job. Better than the FE168EZ alone.

Maybe you should also try the stuffing in the compression chamber.

[slappomatt]

i did stuff the chamber per the plans for the box with some parts express triple layer acoustic foam. the speakers are well broken in and i tried them with a se el84 zen amp and a gainclone chip amp. they sound ok with both but the upper highs just seem muted.

[coredump]

slappomatt wrote
i did stuff the chamber per the plans for the box with some parts express triple layer acoustic foam.

Just out of curiosity... did you try it without stuffing as well? My FE108EZ react quite allergic to any disturbance in the acoustic impedance. One of the results is a lack of treble. If it's not too great a hassle, it might be worth trying out.

Have you experimented with the positioning of the horns? (Small sweet spot, and all that..)

Best of luck,

Oliver

[slappomatt]

well they are in my bedroom and its far from idea. dont have alot of area to work with. so positioning will be tough. i can move away from the wall a little and i can adjust toe in and out. which is critical with these beamy speakers. but dont have alot of options there. i could probably take the foam out but it would ruin the adhesive on the back and id have to use glue if i wished to put back. if all else fails i will try it but its to spec on the plans and from what i remember other users saying it was pretty important to have it.

[zobsky]

Originally posted by slappomatt
they sound ok with both but the upper highs just seem muted.

i agree about the upper highs sounding muted, .. just look at the response curve compared to ,say, the fostex FE-166E (i own both drivers).

better midrange tonality though

IMHO, it calls for a tweeter

[slappomatt]

Zobsky do you have a tweeter on yours? it would be a super tweeter correct? i was thinking of the fostex FT17H horn tweeter. as i have previous experiance with it and it seemed ok. with a 2um cap iirc i dont really want to spend mega bux for a tweeter for these. its amazing how differant they sound in horns compaired to the OB's i had them in before.

[zobsky]

Originally posted by slappomatt
Zobsky do you have a tweeter on yours? it would be a super tweeter correct? i was thinking of the fostex FT17H horn tweeter. as i have previous experiance with it and it seemed ok. with a 2um cap iirc i dont really want to spend mega bux for a tweeter for these. its amazing how differant they sound in horns compaired to the OB's i had them in before.

No, not yet, .. have a couple of piezos tweeters in parallel (x over = a 20 ohm resistor in parallel + a cap in series, forget which value) , but i still feel the piezo's either couldn't keep up in efficiency or maybe they roll off too early,

i still need to play with them / x-over points a lot more, so i haven't given up.

OTOH, i once borrowed from a friend,an Aurum Cantus G2 ribbon, to use as a super tweeter, and it was very nice and sweet sounding (crossed over in the low teens with whatever cap i had lying closest)


many months ago, i heard the FT17H once running as a super tweeter to a DIY FE-168EZ / voigt pipe and it seemed to do quite well, though I didn't listen critically

hope that helps

[slappomatt]

yeah i didnt even think of a ribbon tweeter that would be ultra sexy! so ill have to look into that. need to find one with high efficency and not too steep a price. thanks for the help!

[ScottG]

Originally posted by zobsky


i agree about the upper highs sounding muted, .. just look at the response curve compared to ,say, the fostex FE-166E (i own both drivers).

better midrange tonality though

IMHO, it calls for a tweeter

Nelson Pass said it measured almost on spec.., but my measurements show a clear downward "tilt" from 1.5 kHz. Who knows, maybe some of us received inferior units, or maybe its because I measured the driver's after 300 Hours of continuous music "break-in" (or like I thought b4 perhaps its my measurement setup)? In fact the depression I measured, (while gradual and relativly linear), is at a low enough freq. to require a fairly broad band tweeter for a respectable freq. response. My best guess it that the new Fountek Neo 2 with a good cap in the right place would work out quite well (..no inductor on the ESR) - but I haven't the funds or the time to try it right now.

I do agree though about the tonality, and in fact the driver is pretty "clear" (or "transparent") as well, though not even close to the Audax PR170ZO in this respect (which incidentally is the best driver I've ever heard from about 400 Hz to 3 kHz).