Where to find Fostex FT17H in or near the UK?

[bigwill]

Wilmslow audio is an utter ripoff. They sell them but I refuse to pay their stupid prices. Does anyone know where to get these tweeters for a fair price (ie around 25GBP including VAT which is what everyone else seems to get them for) without ridiculous shipping charges? The amount of potential speaker projects I've ended up not even attempting due to the difficulty of finding drivers in the UK is depressing. Madisound have great prices on their drivers but the shipping is too much for me. I just want to build something with semi decent drivers. The alternative tweeter I'm considering to the FT17H is the Eminence APT-80 but the Fostex looks superior for little more money. The eminence is probably perfectly good but I'd rather go with the Fostex if I can, which I probably can't because somehow due to being in the UK even if they rained from the sky I'd end up paying some kind of tax on them, then driving my car with £10/litre fuel to the post office to post the forms and the stamp would cost £20

[Grumpy_Git]

http://www.bmm-electronics.com/Produ...roduct_ID=4691

Nick.

[badman]

Originally posted by bigwill
Wilmslow audio is an utter ripoff. They sell them but I refuse to pay their stupid prices. Does anyone know where to get these tweeters for a fair price (ie around 25GBP including VAT which is what everyone else seems to get them for) without ridiculous shipping charges? The amount of potential speaker projects I've ended up not even attempting due to the difficulty of finding drivers in the UK is depressing. Madisound have great prices on their drivers but the shipping is too much for me. I just want to build something with semi decent drivers. The alternative tweeter I'm considering to the FT17H is the Eminence APT-80 but the Fostex looks superior for little more money. The eminence is probably perfectly good but I'd rather go with the Fostex if I can, which I probably can't because somehow due to being in the UK even if they rained from the sky I'd end up paying some kind of tax on them, then driving my car with £10/litre fuel to the post office to post the forms and the stamp would cost £20

No advice on the sourcing, but the fostex and eminence are fairly different, despite both being horn 'supertweeters'. The eminence, being a pro driver, is designed for maximum output and power handling, and hence, is high efficiency.

The FT17H is a home style driver, with a much lower power handling, but IMO, a much cleaner, more refined sound. An AlNiCo magnet (AFAIK) doesn't hurt any, either.

So if you don't have a >100dB midrange efficiency, the fostex is the obvious choice.

I've used both. They're both quite capable when used within their bandwidth. Below the hornloading cutoff, they're pretty useless, so take some care in your filter design, to get a good blend.

[bigwill]

Originally posted by badman


The FT17H is a home style driver, with a much lower power handling, but IMO, a much cleaner, more refined sound. An AlNiCo magnet (AFAIK) doesn't hurt any, either.

So if you don't have a >100dB midrange efficiency, the fostex is the obvious choice.

I've used both. They're both quite capable when used within their bandwidth. Below the hornloading cutoff, they're pretty useless, so take some care in your filter design, to get a good blend.

These will indeed be home speakers. I'm sure the Eminence sounds decent too but I suspect, just like you have experienced that the Fostex does sound "nicer"

The midrange will be somewhere between 95-97 dB so it should be able to keep up.

[bigwill]

Okay, I've ordered some tweeters from BMM electronics. Thanks very much Nick for pointing these out! Had to pay quite a bit of tax and shipping but it was still cheaper than Wilmslow audio before even adding any VAT and shipping!

[mazdapowered]

I had the same issue with WA, so I bought mine from a German seller on ebay. That was quite a while back though.

Not sure it helps but IMHO the Fostex sounds quite stark when crossed low. On the other hand it sounds very good when crossed very high (10K+), i.e. used as a super tweeter or helper on a full range driver.

[bigwill]

I will probably use them with a 2nd order slope around 7-8khz as a "helper tweeter and a bit extra"

Hopefully they can handle this.

[mazdapowered]

Hopefully WA will understand that with the internet it is very easy to buy outside the country and just shop around for a better deal.

Good luck with the project!

[dublin78]

Please, don't be too harsh on Wilmslow Audio, they are a great team.

Yes, their prices are far higher than those in the US, but this is by necessity. They are probably paying higher rents, higher rates, and more for electricity. There is a higher cost of living over here in the UK, so they will need to pay their staff more, and take more out of the business themselves. This can only be done by having higher margins. They also have fewer customers to make a living out of.

All this adds up to "Rip off Britain" it is very frustrating, but not always the retailers fault.

[bigwill]

They've arrived!