They all have helper woofers based on push-push Peerless 830870.
And we ar eworking on dedicated FAST with twin SF W14 ML-TL.
The plans have been in the FF85wk planset for a bit.
email me.
dave
Does anyone have an assessment of the FF85WK in a FHLITE? I read the Fe83 has too much bass. I find this hard to believe. Anyone with measurements ( not that they mean much in terms of enjoyment)?
Funny how folks into good sound for the most part have crappy video and microphones. No videos? Anyone built thd FHL (not associated with the design or prototyping) that can praise it?
Yes I know Youtube sound is crap....but good sound still makes itself known....
Funny how folks into good sound for the most part have crappy video and microphones. No videos? Anyone built thd FHL (not associated with the design or prototyping) that can praise it?
Yes I know Youtube sound is crap....but good sound still makes itself known....
Well, there maybe not as many yet extant as with the FH3 and FHXL, and perhaps my proximity to the design / prototyping is not at far enough arm's length for your comfort, or to avoid claims of bias*, but the 85WK and FHL are a great combo - almost like it was intentional 
* I've built more than a few pairs of many of Scott and Dave's designs - and others - several of which I'd opine will outperform the FH family in all regards except bang for the buck with relatively inexpensive drivers. Sure, they're not as simple a build as a little BR or even larger MLTL / monkey coffin - pick your terminology, but the FH design does a lot of things really well.
Oh, and even if I had the time and coin to expend on adequate test gear, I'm just one of those crackpots who if I like the sound, couldn't give a flying something about the measures, so be advised that all my assessments are entirely subjective.
* I've built more than a few pairs of many of Scott and Dave's designs - and others - several of which I'd opine will outperform the FH family in all regards except bang for the buck with relatively inexpensive drivers. Sure, they're not as simple a build as a little BR or even larger MLTL / monkey coffin - pick your terminology, but the FH design does a lot of things really well.
Oh, and even if I had the time and coin to expend on adequate test gear, I'm just one of those crackpots who if I like the sound, couldn't give a flying something about the measures, so be advised that all my assessments are entirely subjective.
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@Faithintruth:
Go for the FF85WK. It's one of the best 3" Fullrange drivers I came across.
It's balanced, dynamic, 3-dimensional and doesn't have any quirks that require a filter to tame.
If I were you, i'd skip FE83. It has a nasal tendency and overexposes some parts of the frequency spectrum.
At first you think how nice, then you think you can bear it, then you think about filtering, in the end you think about selling them.
I happened to me , I sold my two pairs of FE83 and never looked back.
I've build two other speaker-enclosures for the FF85WK (amongst them the uFonken) and the FHLite beats them in every aspect. Moreover the FHlite is an easy build. The speaker and enclosure do match very well.
If you think you'd need more bass, scale up and build the FH3 where you've lots of drivers to chose from.
Highlights there are the Alpair 7.3 and FF125WK. The Alpair 7.3 is more balanced, but my personal taste prefers the FF125WK together with a Pentode tube amp.
The Alpair 7.3 prefers solid-state amps.
The FF85WK works better for me with small triode amps (à la 2A3).
I can't speak for the FHXL as I didn't build/listen to them.
PS: If you're serious about the FF85WK, consider the 'Enabl' technique.
It advances the chassis from 90% to 110% on the hifi-scale.
For me it seems to eliminate some of the micro-distortions that are present
in every speaker-membrane during operation.
The net result is a more holographic sound-stage.
PPS: I'm not affiliated in any way with the FH-designers (but I'm very grateful they release such great designs to the community).
Regards,
Yves
Go for the FF85WK. It's one of the best 3" Fullrange drivers I came across.
It's balanced, dynamic, 3-dimensional and doesn't have any quirks that require a filter to tame.
If I were you, i'd skip FE83. It has a nasal tendency and overexposes some parts of the frequency spectrum.
At first you think how nice, then you think you can bear it, then you think about filtering, in the end you think about selling them.
I happened to me , I sold my two pairs of FE83 and never looked back.
I've build two other speaker-enclosures for the FF85WK (amongst them the uFonken) and the FHLite beats them in every aspect. Moreover the FHlite is an easy build. The speaker and enclosure do match very well.
If you think you'd need more bass, scale up and build the FH3 where you've lots of drivers to chose from.
Highlights there are the Alpair 7.3 and FF125WK. The Alpair 7.3 is more balanced, but my personal taste prefers the FF125WK together with a Pentode tube amp.
The Alpair 7.3 prefers solid-state amps.
The FF85WK works better for me with small triode amps (à la 2A3).
I can't speak for the FHXL as I didn't build/listen to them.
PS: If you're serious about the FF85WK, consider the 'Enabl' technique.
It advances the chassis from 90% to 110% on the hifi-scale.
For me it seems to eliminate some of the micro-distortions that are present
in every speaker-membrane during operation.
The net result is a more holographic sound-stage.
PPS: I'm not affiliated in any way with the FH-designers (but I'm very grateful they release such great designs to the community).
Regards,
Yves
Thanks Chris, Yves and Dave.
I am serious about the 85's and have just found a Japanese dealer that can deliver to South Korea. Good bang for the buck sounds good to me Chris. I agree measurements are not very important I was jyst wondering what was possible from this 3"er in the FHL. I liked the FE126en in the Metronome.....enough talk, I'll build the darn things and maybe I'll link a crappy video.
I am serious about the 85's and have just found a Japanese dealer that can deliver to South Korea. Good bang for the buck sounds good to me Chris. I agree measurements are not very important I was jyst wondering what was possible from this 3"er in the FHL. I liked the FE126en in the Metronome.....enough talk, I'll build the darn things and maybe I'll link a crappy video.
I finally switched to the Fostex FFs in the FHLs some days back.
My impressions? Wow! So that’s what going upscale is all about! And I like everything that I’ve listened to thus far on the FHLs.
A definite improvement in bass extension over the drivers that I tried previously, controlled mids with clear highs, nuch better soundstage. I fully agree with the gent who posted earlier that one can make out the difference between a good musical recording and a poor one. I’ve listened to some Country, Jazz, a bit of classic Rock Solo (and group) singers, Indian Classical and semi-classical so far, all of which have excelled in the FHLs.
I’m glad I didn’t start out with the Fostex drivers. I couldn’t have brought myself to try out the other drivers after that.
Now to decide which drivers to try out next……
My impressions? Wow! So that’s what going upscale is all about! And I like everything that I’ve listened to thus far on the FHLs.
A definite improvement in bass extension over the drivers that I tried previously, controlled mids with clear highs, nuch better soundstage. I fully agree with the gent who posted earlier that one can make out the difference between a good musical recording and a poor one. I’ve listened to some Country, Jazz, a bit of classic Rock Solo (and group) singers, Indian Classical and semi-classical so far, all of which have excelled in the FHLs.
I’m glad I didn’t start out with the Fostex drivers. I couldn’t have brought myself to try out the other drivers after that.
Now to decide which drivers to try out next……