rray786 said:Beautiful, aren't they?
Yes... I'm going to steal that pic (& your testimonial) if that is OK
dave
rray786 said:[Here's a photo of the back. I put ductseal on all of the spiders. Any comments will be appreciated!
The most important place for the ductseal is in the magnet/basket junction. As well as damping, you use it to shape the exit area from the back of the cone to be as smooth as possible -- then add a felt (real wool felt works best*) over the magnet to meet up with the ductseal.
* i have a lot of recycle, if you can't find any easily i'm happy to send some for postage costs.

dave
rray786 said:And in case anyone is interested, here's a photo of my finished Swans in their native habitat -- my family room.
If i ever figure out how to get across the border without getting arrested i'm coming to visit...
dave
What about a fe166E in the fe166ESR BLH ?
Hi pros,
I'm the proud buyer of the very last pair of fe166ESR sold, has been provided by Solen in Montreal, Canada.
I have a friend, maker of very fine wood furniture, who will help me build the customized BLH Fostex has designed for this driver. As he didn't have a chance to have his pair, we are planning to put a fe166E in his horn.
Question : what will be the impact on the sound, I mean taking the design made for the esr for the one made for the e version? Better ? Not recommended (why?) ? Or a not-so-bad one (cause we'll have less work doing the same cabinet after all)
Hi pros,
I'm the proud buyer of the very last pair of fe166ESR sold, has been provided by Solen in Montreal, Canada.
I have a friend, maker of very fine wood furniture, who will help me build the customized BLH Fostex has designed for this driver. As he didn't have a chance to have his pair, we are planning to put a fe166E in his horn.
Question : what will be the impact on the sound, I mean taking the design made for the esr for the one made for the e version? Better ? Not recommended (why?) ? Or a not-so-bad one (cause we'll have less work doing the same cabinet after all)
Re: What about a fe166E in the fe166ESR BLH ?
Best to make the specific cabs for the specific driver.
dave
Quadrant 5 said:Question : what will be the impact on the sound, I mean taking the design made for the esr for the one made for the e version? Better ? Not recommended (why?) ? Or a not-so-bad one (cause we'll have less work doing the same cabinet after all)
Best to make the specific cabs for the specific driver.
dave
Greets!
Except for the FE166E's need for a considerably larger filter chamber, it's probably OK. If it should sound 'boomy', then sandwiching some dense foam between the driver and baffle to create an aperiodic 'bleed' vent should solve the problem. You will have to find the right gap/foam density, but a 'ballpark' gap to start with is the thickness of a piece of cardboard.
GM
Except for the FE166E's need for a considerably larger filter chamber, it's probably OK. If it should sound 'boomy', then sandwiching some dense foam between the driver and baffle to create an aperiodic 'bleed' vent should solve the problem. You will have to find the right gap/foam density, but a 'ballpark' gap to start with is the thickness of a piece of cardboard.
GM
GM said:Greets!
Except for the FE166E's need for a considerably larger filter chamber, it's probably OK. If it should sound 'boomy', then sandwiching some dense foam between the driver and baffle to create an aperiodic 'bleed' vent should solve the problem. You will have to find the right gap/foam density, but a 'ballpark' gap to start with is the thickness of a piece of cardboard.
GM
Assuming that the "chamber filter" (Scuze my greenitude!) is the volume right behind the driver, I took a look at fostex' specs. And if dimensions differ a bit, volume is not so far from one to the other. Moreover, fostex recommand that you put some sand bags to reduce volume of this space for a tighter sound. From this point of view, it doesn't look so bad... ?
Re: 166ES-R v Thors
Taking a look at the photo you used for comparison, is it the BLH fostex has designed for the es-R ? looks wider than on my plan...
greenie512 said:
I was trying to avoid a direct A/B comparison between the BHL and TL’s as they are such different beasts. But you’ve forced my hand – so I’ve rolled out the Thors and done so.
...
Cheers - Phil
Taking a look at the photo you used for comparison, is it the BLH fostex has designed for the es-R ? looks wider than on my plan...
Re: Re: 166ES-R v Thors
Yes, it's the official fostex design and dimensions except I've added an additional layer to rear and top panels to form double skin all around except base (so would be 18mm taller/deeper).
Just checking original drawing I notice my width crept up 8mm some how because the overall width of mine is 320mm? Can not check excactly as I've now sold the speakers (ahhh) to a guy who thinks they are just wonderful.
Cheers - Phil
Quadrant 5 said:
Taking a look at the photo you used for comparison, is it the BLH fostex has designed for the es-R ? looks wider than on my plan...
Yes, it's the official fostex design and dimensions except I've added an additional layer to rear and top panels to form double skin all around except base (so would be 18mm taller/deeper).
Just checking original drawing I notice my width crept up 8mm some how because the overall width of mine is 320mm? Can not check excactly as I've now sold the speakers (ahhh) to a guy who thinks they are just wonderful.
Cheers - Phil
rray786 said:
Here's a photo of the back. I put ductseal on all of the spiders. Any comments will be appreciated!
you put ductseal on the basket...not the spider ....because if you put it on the spider.....i dont think the speaker would sound good at all 😉
Hi Phil!
Is this mean that you was dissatisfied with the speakers?
Did you like your Thor speakers more than the Fostex?
Tyimo
I've now sold the speakers (ahhh) to a guy who thinks they are just wonderful.
Is this mean that you was dissatisfied with the speakers?
Did you like your Thor speakers more than the Fostex?
Tyimo
Tyimo said:Hi Phil!
Is this mean that you was dissatisfied with the speakers?
Did you like your Thor speakers more than the Fostex?
Tyimo
Ha, wondered if you'd spot that?
No, it means I can not afford to just keep building speakers until the cows come home. Yes ultimately I prefer the Thors but would love to keep the BLH's but I'm now building Dennis Murphy's CAOW 3 ways and am planning a Line Array experiment - there just ain't enough room.
see - http://www.greenie512.net/greenie512/html/current_project.html
And if I can find a buyer for these I'll sell them to. And currently no, I'm not making a business of this, these go at material cost - so someone is getting a bargain.
Cheers - Phil
delurk - horns almost ready!
Thanks for all of the interesting discussions on these drivers and horns. My version is *almost* factory-standard except with doubled top and back panels, and a maple driver baffle doubling the front as well. Oh, and I also added 3 threaded rods across the center of the side panels to tune resonances a little (but mostly they helped with the clamping/gluing/alignment of the sides during final assembly). Material is birch veneer plywood with maple internal corner braces and ribbon maple trim and base.
Sorry for the shakey pictures. Side veneer actually looks better in person - swirled/burled with an oil finish.
Still need to install the wiring and glue on the baffles and top (OK, three laters on top with another solid maple panel there) panels, and glue/screw the back feet, and put a final coat of oil on the edge trim, then I can wax them and move 'em into the listening room.
Drivers have been 'burning in' face-to-face in the basement lab, playing loud inside a box for the past six weeks. Also need to apply ductseal and felt before soldering them in per the discussions here...
Will post again once I have some listening impressions. Thanks again for the ideas and other folks' progress reports, it really helps to know you guys are sweating through this too!
I had no idea how long it would take to build these...
/pRC

Thanks for all of the interesting discussions on these drivers and horns. My version is *almost* factory-standard except with doubled top and back panels, and a maple driver baffle doubling the front as well. Oh, and I also added 3 threaded rods across the center of the side panels to tune resonances a little (but mostly they helped with the clamping/gluing/alignment of the sides during final assembly). Material is birch veneer plywood with maple internal corner braces and ribbon maple trim and base.
Sorry for the shakey pictures. Side veneer actually looks better in person - swirled/burled with an oil finish.
Still need to install the wiring and glue on the baffles and top (OK, three laters on top with another solid maple panel there) panels, and glue/screw the back feet, and put a final coat of oil on the edge trim, then I can wax them and move 'em into the listening room.
Drivers have been 'burning in' face-to-face in the basement lab, playing loud inside a box for the past six weeks. Also need to apply ductseal and felt before soldering them in per the discussions here...
Will post again once I have some listening impressions. Thanks again for the ideas and other folks' progress reports, it really helps to know you guys are sweating through this too!
I had no idea how long it would take to build these...
/pRC
Re: delurk - horns almost ready!
Your build is nice... all those fiddly bits had to considerably increase the time required.
dave
Originally posted by pRC
I had no idea how long it would take to build these...
Your build is nice... all those fiddly bits had to considerably increase the time required.
dave
Fugliest 166ES-R project:
I was surprised with just how much bass they were making open baffle, treble was just awfull (running either both or just 1) but they have just barely started breaking in. It is admittadly a baffle that would stick out a tad in any civilized room. The woofer is 15" field coil low passed 1st order at 425 cycles, the Fostex are full range. Its stupid loud using barely any power.
Using two of them in series to break them in on this baffle, was planing to build a J-Low horn for them, but that was before I got the field coils. Not quite sure what Ill do now.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
I was surprised with just how much bass they were making open baffle, treble was just awfull (running either both or just 1) but they have just barely started breaking in. It is admittadly a baffle that would stick out a tad in any civilized room. The woofer is 15" field coil low passed 1st order at 425 cycles, the Fostex are full range. Its stupid loud using barely any power.
Using two of them in series to break them in on this baffle, was planing to build a J-Low horn for them, but that was before I got the field coils. Not quite sure what Ill do now.
Originally posted by Tweeker
The woofer is 15" field coil
picture of the back?
dave
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
They are from a Baldwin Model 10 organ via Magnetar. Have updated cones, spiders, and voice coils. Could probably stand to have better support than cardboard and kite string.
More pictures here. pRC's horns sure are purty.
I knew exactly how long this would take to build teehee.
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