just broke a fostex ft-17, are there alternatives?

[DJNUBZ]

So I decided to wire my parker audio 98's in series to get an 8ohm load instead of the the normal 2ohm load. While doing this I somehow broke one of my ft-17 tweeters. Before I replace the tweeter, are there any alternatives I should be looking at?

Parker no longer makes the 98 kit but you can see some of their products here.

index
http://www.parkeraudio.net/98_&_98_kit.htm

[DJNUBZ]

Anyone?

[planet10]

FT17 is a good tweeter. I'd put the Fosters out of the Radio Shack pods on-par sonically, but with an edge aesthetically. The next stop is the FT96. There are likely some pro horns that would also fit in that range -- i have obtained some of the lessexpensive, but so far all need work

dave

[DJNUBZ]

Those FT96h's are not cheap are they. I would pick up the FT96 if I thought I might use it in another design after I am done with these but they seem like such a niche product.

Have you heard the FT-96h's? Are they worth the extra $250 investment?

I am afraid I may just have to buy another ft-17 and leave with the speakers I have until I can afford to build something new.

[planet10]

$250 now, ouch.

Only breifly, Have spent some time with T90A.

dave

[Dust]

Check out B&G Neo3. I have just gone to them from FT17. They are not too expensive. I have only had them running for less than a week, but crossed over lower than my 17s (2500hz) they sound rather good.

Dust

[DJNUBZ]

Yeah $250 for 2 of them since I would have to replace one on each speaker.

I would try the neo3's but their sensitivity is way to low for this application.

[sreten]

Originally Posted by DJNUBZ

I would try the neo3's but their sensitivity is way to low for this application.

Hi,

Might not be, and other tweeters might not be if the speakers are rewired
for 8 ohms. Don't know whats going on there, is there no bass/mid c/o ?
If so 96dB for two 4 ohm units in parallel is no great shakes, 90dB a unit
which is what you'll get for two in series also, plenty of 90dB tweeters,
including the Neo3.

2 ohms impedance for a SET amplifier ? yeah right, that makes sense .....

rgds, sreten.

[DJNUBZ]

Correct me if I am wrong as I am good with speakers but not great.

No matter if the drivers are arranged in series or paralel 2 drivers should have 3db more sensitivity then just one driver. Each driver is 93db/w/m efficient and using two of them in an mtm gives me 96/db/watt/meter. The drivers are not 90db units, if they were I would need 4 to reach 96db/watt/meters. As far as I know, and I could be wrong, the sensitivity of two drivers does not depend on if they are wired in series or parallel. Where I start getting confused is when you throw in a tweeter with a different ohm load in the mix. For example, if I used 2X93db/watt/meter drivers in series to make an 8 ohm load and I put in a 4 ohm tweeter, what sensitivity would the tweeter need to be to match the drivers? Is the answer a) a 96db/watt/meter tweeter b)you have to calculate the amount of power being put into the 4 ohm tweeter while the midbasses are receiving 1watt. Then calculate how much spl is being generated by the tweeter receiving that power level c)something else



My set plays just fine at 2 ohms and in fact can play down to one ohm. Just check it out here if you don't believe me.

Audiophile Tube Amps and Tube Gear from DECWARE

I do recognize that this is not the norm for SET amps though.

[sreten]

Originally Posted by DJNUBZ

Correct me if I am wrong as I am good with speakers but not great.

No matter if the drivers are arranged in series or paralel 2 drivers should have 3db more sensitivity then just one driver. Each driver is 93db/w/m efficient and using two of them in an mtm gives me 96/db/watt/meter. The drivers are not 90db units, if they were I would need 4 to reach 96db/watt/meters. As far as I know, and I could be wrong, the sensitivity of two drivers does not depend on if they are wired in series or parallel. Where I start getting confused is when you throw in a tweeter with a different ohm load in the mix. For example, if I used 2X93db/watt/meter drivers in series to make an 8 ohm load and I put in a 4 ohm tweeter, what sensitivity would the tweeter need to be to match the drivers? Is the answer a) a 96db/watt/meter tweeter b)you have to calculate the amount of power being put into the 4 ohm tweeter while the midbasses are receiving 1watt. Then calculate how much spl is being generated by the tweeter receiving that power level c)something else



My set plays just fine at 2 ohms and in fact can play down to one ohm. Just check it out here if you don't believe me.

Audiophile Tube Amps and Tube Gear from DECWARE

I do recognize that this is not the norm for SET amps though.

Hi,

I've been there before with the nonsense pedalled on the DECWARE site.

No SET amplifier can do 2 ohms without being severely limited
into 8 ohm, or do 8 ohms properly without 2 ohms being a no-no.

Your right two drivers are 3dB more efficient. Not sensitive, that only
depends on drive voltage. However a real 96dB/W at 2 ohms implies a
voltage sensitivity of 102dB/2.83v/1m, and whatever your efficiency is,
wiring two drivers in series as opposed to parallel will reduce sensitivity
by 6dB, and consequently the sensitivity needed of the matching tweeter.

That is assuming you don't have large issues with amplifier output
impedance, which to be fair you probably do, an unknown factor.

Its the very poor output impedance that means a near dead
short won't blow it up, but no SET ever likes low impedances.
All single ended amplifiers have to be optimised to a given
load, its that simple, but its something SD is quite happy
to mislead his customers about, sadly his site is full of
similarly misleading BS, overegging the pudding severely.

Given the drivel spouted on the DECWARE site about their own
products its impossible to work out whether you'd be better off
with 2 ohm or 8 ohm loading, to me that is quite insulting.

rgds, sreten.