My second build of this design and the best finish I have ever had. Fostex FE206En in dual chambered bass reflex box. Finish is rollered on with semi-dry roller and multiple coats including undercoat. Top chamber only lined with a dampening and heavy bitumen and Al foil on the magnet. Two strands of wire wrap wire (silver plated fine wire) for hookup wire to gold plated binding post. Silver soldered. Fine metal Grills held on with four rare earth magnets and pop on and off real easy. Sounds natural and clear.
These are to compliment my 2 channel system with Oppo BDP-93, 3.5W 6EM7 dual mono tube amp (Paris), 46" LED TV and 125W 12" sub woofer in 80L ported enclosure.
These are to compliment my 2 channel system with Oppo BDP-93, 3.5W 6EM7 dual mono tube amp (Paris), 46" LED TV and 125W 12" sub woofer in 80L ported enclosure.
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mhouston,
Smart build and nice stippled finish. Read up the write up on your blog site. How is the bottom end of the speakers?
Smart build and nice stippled finish. Read up the write up on your blog site. How is the bottom end of the speakers?
tuxedocivic and zman01: The Al foil is quite thick and has very sticky bituman (tar) on the back. This is to stop reflection from the back of the top chamber bouncing off the big magnet. The top chamber is lined with sound deadening fine synthetic wool type. The Al is very dead. I use it it amps under lids for enclosures in fact every where I can stick the stuff to control enclosure resonance.
The drivers are but a few hours old and as stiff as heck. You can hear this if you try to wind up the sound, it just gets compressed. But on rock/pop tracks the bass is OK but not fully developed. Hoping it will improve. If you listen down at the port its just nice rich bass but volume is down a bit. I can't read or type while I'm playing the system, I just keep looking up and focusing on the sound. Very pleased at this point. I think the tube amp tames some of the shoutiness these drivers can have because the sound is very natural.
The drivers are but a few hours old and as stiff as heck. You can hear this if you try to wind up the sound, it just gets compressed. But on rock/pop tracks the bass is OK but not fully developed. Hoping it will improve. If you listen down at the port its just nice rich bass but volume is down a bit. I can't read or type while I'm playing the system, I just keep looking up and focusing on the sound. Very pleased at this point. I think the tube amp tames some of the shoutiness these drivers can have because the sound is very natural.
I ran the Stereophile test CD across the speakers to checkout the bottom end with the new drivers. From 100hz and down the volume level drops very slowly. But here was the big surprise, at 50hz there is a definite lift in bass volume and at 40Hz a bigger lift. At 40hz it could be room/speaker resonance but whatever it's nice. With a big lift at 40hz, 31hz, 25hz, and ever 20hz are quite audible with only 20hz being well down. I'll assume the port is tuned to about the 40hz mark with such a big jump in bass volume.
These boxes go lower than my $4.5K three-way Osborn towers which die at 31hz. As the Fostex will be used mainly for watching moves the low bass extension should add drama but I will have to re-balance the sub woofer.
These boxes go lower than my $4.5K three-way Osborn towers which die at 31hz. As the Fostex will be used mainly for watching moves the low bass extension should add drama but I will have to re-balance the sub woofer.
My just completed uFonken Fostex FF85WK build. These drivers punch way beyond their weight, sound great from start with no time on the drivers. Not happy with my veneering job but they will live on my desk ultimately so not too concerned about it. Thanks Dave and Chris for singing the praises of these drivers, definitely warranted!
Best,
Ed
Best,
Ed
Nice job, Ed!
Having heard these drivers, I can well imagine you're happy with their performance!
Don
Having heard these drivers, I can well imagine you're happy with their performance!
Don
Ed, it appears we like the same things. If you like the ufonken 85 you will love the fonken 125 trap. See my other posts.
ATM i am listening to our protos with drivers in Chocolate with Spice livery
dave
Dave,
Would you tell Chris I'll tade a raffle ticket for some of that credit? 😀
Terry
thanks for the kind words, but yikes to the sunburn on the cherry boxes - clearly the manufacturer's sales rep was mistaken on the UV protection of the lacquer - shouldn't be as noticeable on any of the stained veneers
Mar-Kel Floorstander Mk3 (Trapezoid)
dave
Inspiring design!
if you make the baseplate better and a some logo it would be perfect🙂