There are probably a number of horns that would work out fine... you just need to find one that will keep up with the 166e. Fostex has a budget horn that likely will work fine. The Foster horn that comes in the Radio Shack tweeter pod is also very nice if you can find some. Even the plastic horned Fosters that RS sold would probably do the trick (i know that the less efficient alnico ones are quite sweet)
dave
dave
Attachments
I use the fostex FT17H crossed over with a .68u PP cap and it gives the fe166 just the right amount of boost at the very top.
http://www.madisound.com/pdf/fostexdrivers/ft17h.pdf
http://www.madisound.com/pdf/fostexdrivers/ft17h.pdf
What about the FT-100HT. Looks like a trade-off between size and sensitivity. Would I just be padding off that extra 3.5db anyway? The 166E is 94db and I haven't seen predictions for what, if any, boost is received from the BLH.
http://www.madisound.com/pdf/fostexdrivers/100ht.pdf
http://www.madisound.com/pdf/fostexdrivers/100ht.pdf
cantskienuf said:
Looks like a "manta-ray" style horn. Perhaps more aimed at the low end of the pro market (that is a guess)... it is an interesting horn i hadn't previously paid any attenion too. It goes at least an octave & a half lower -- which also likely means its top-end extension is also likely an octave & a half less. Since the intended application is super-tweeter for a couple bucks more personally i'd putthe FT17 ahead in the short list.
dave
Impressions
I went with the FT17 and it does add some sparkle; however, I'm not sure just yet if they're able to keep up with the drivers. I used a 0.47 uF Auricap (Fostex recommends 0.33 - 0.68) and although they are slightly used caps, they may require some additional break in. The tweets seem to need to be pointed at the listening position with the horn pointed straight ahead. At some point in the future, I think it would be worthwhile to try a more sensitive tweeter. Not to imply that this horn is anything short of the best speaker I have ever owned, and of course there may be some additional changes with additional hours. Other caps may also result in more high frequency response. Just thought I'd report my initial impression in case somebody searches FE-166E projects.
I went with the FT17 and it does add some sparkle; however, I'm not sure just yet if they're able to keep up with the drivers. I used a 0.47 uF Auricap (Fostex recommends 0.33 - 0.68) and although they are slightly used caps, they may require some additional break in. The tweets seem to need to be pointed at the listening position with the horn pointed straight ahead. At some point in the future, I think it would be worthwhile to try a more sensitive tweeter. Not to imply that this horn is anything short of the best speaker I have ever owned, and of course there may be some additional changes with additional hours. Other caps may also result in more high frequency response. Just thought I'd report my initial impression in case somebody searches FE-166E projects.
Don´t draw any conclusions too fast.
You might wanna try a whole bunch of different caps first and also with additional resistance.
Example:
If you like a 0.68uF-cap with your FT-17H (like me) you could try with a bigger cap but some resistance in series.
Gives a different signature than just with a cap.
More Capacitance
Dave & Jens,
I was surprised to find just how much difference a bit more capacitance made in this case. I was digging through some of my excess stuff and bumped into a 1.0uF Bennic, so I thought I'd drop it into the circuit on one speaker and see what happened. It ended up making a pretty amazing difference. Since the other Bennic was temporarily soldered into a crossover on an array I'm also playing with, I paralleled the two 0.47uF Auricaps on the other horn. That sounded pretty good too. Now I'm convinced that the FT17 can work really well combo'd up with this horn. Thinking I'll probably play with some additional caps to find out what I like best. I've got some 1.0uF Auricaps inbound for yet another project that I may just have to install on the horns instead. Thanks for the recommendations and encouragement.
Dave & Jens,
I was surprised to find just how much difference a bit more capacitance made in this case. I was digging through some of my excess stuff and bumped into a 1.0uF Bennic, so I thought I'd drop it into the circuit on one speaker and see what happened. It ended up making a pretty amazing difference. Since the other Bennic was temporarily soldered into a crossover on an array I'm also playing with, I paralleled the two 0.47uF Auricaps on the other horn. That sounded pretty good too. Now I'm convinced that the FT17 can work really well combo'd up with this horn. Thinking I'll probably play with some additional caps to find out what I like best. I've got some 1.0uF Auricaps inbound for yet another project that I may just have to install on the horns instead. Thanks for the recommendations and encouragement.
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