Fostex mini BLH

Discussion in 'Speakers' started by Cspirou, Aug 17, 2016.

  1. Cspirou

    Cspirou They call me Sparky

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    I was lurking around Madisound and noticed this new kit they are selling.

    https://www.madisoundspeakerstore.c...00-bh-4-full-range-back-loaded-horn-kit-pair/

    I have seen a lot of mini backloaded horns but nothing at this price. I am really curious to hear what these sound like. After a bit more lurking I found these that look really intriguing.

    https://www.madisoundspeakerstore.com/assembled-speakers/fostex-bk-40h-horn-pair/

    ~$100 for a BLH? hmmm. Might be gimmicky but this is also Fostex, a name I really trust.
     
    Last edited: Aug 17, 2016
  2. zerodeefex

    zerodeefex SBAF's Imelda Marcos

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    Reviews on Amazon japan are mixed. Curious to hear from anyone on SBAF who is willing to give them a chance.
     
  3. spwath

    spwath Hijinks master cum laudle

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    Hmm, I would really love to get thoes, either pair.
    And I might actually do that.
    ID give it a shot,
    but what do you think, the $100 pair of $200 pair?
     
  4. Cspirou

    Cspirou They call me Sparky

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    Dunno. The $200 pair have drivers with a pretty good reputation. They are already used in many DIY builds so if the cabinets are a total failure you can always re-purpose the drivers. But the $100 pair really intrigues me as a basic media setup for a desktop. If I had to choose I'd probably go with the $100 pair to see how they compare with the Micca MB42X.
     
  5. spwath

    spwath Hijinks master cum laudle

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    That would be a good comparison. Unfortunately, I dont have them to compare against, all I have is a pair of Polk R15's and a pair of full range Omega Mini Me's.

    That 100 pair does look intriguing, for 100$, their is some tough competition, with the MIccas, and powered monitors, and more....
     
  6. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Interesting, but there are already established ported designs out there using a ported box (FWIW, look up Fostex Fonken).. I'm not sure a BLH arrangement would be ideal at desktop size. We really need a long enough horn with big enough mouth to get some effectiveness out of it.
     
  7. aufmerksam

    aufmerksam Friend

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    Shit that is cheap. Madisound is in my backyard, and their return policy is great for pre-built stuff. Good thing I just sold my mjolnir 2... Let me see if I can scare up a cheap amp for these things. Anyone have suggestions?
     
  8. spwath

    spwath Hijinks master cum laudle

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    I suggest you report back with the sound, as I may try them out as well.
     
  9. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Mjolnir 2 would have been a great amp for those! I used my Mjolnir to power the Fostex's when I first got them with great results. ;)
     
  10. Cspirou

    Cspirou They call me Sparky

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    They don't need a lot of power that's for sure. Madison used to carry the Fostex AP05 amp that went with it but I don't see it anymore. I have a Topping 21 Class D which works quite well. I wish there was cheaper class AB recommendations I could make. As far as tube amps go I have read good things about the TubeCube but it looks like it's on backorder.

    https://tubedepot.com/products/tubecube-7-stereo-vacuum-tube-amplifier
     
  11. aufmerksam

    aufmerksam Friend

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    That was the general idea... :p

    I remember! When I typed that I was thinking precisely of a picture of your setup with the mjolnir driving your fostex kits. I think it was a dusty thread on CS about designing crossovers.

    Thanks for the amp rec @Cspirou. I might take a run at the topping; I'm sure it ain't glorious, but I just need general impressions and the ability to return without too much financial loss. I will call madisound and see if they have the AP05 in stock somewhere as well.
     
  12. SpaceLaser

    SpaceLaser Friend

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    I wonder how a pair of these would sound with my low watt tube amp....
     
  13. Cspirou

    Cspirou They call me Sparky

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    @aufmerksam - I found it on amazon.

    https://www.amazon.com/Fostex-AP05-FOSTEX-personal-amplifier/dp/B009V580U2

    I did some homework and it uses a TDA7266D chip which turns out to be a class AB circuit. It does 5W/ch but that's all you really need. I'm a little surprised that there aren't more cheap class AB options since there are chips amps like the lm1875 and the lm3886. Sure there's a bunch of DIY boards but nothing ready made.
     
  14. ultrabike

    ultrabike Measurbator - Admin

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  15. aufmerksam

    aufmerksam Friend

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    So I just got off the phone with Adam at Madisound. Plenty of both in stock. His quick and dirty opinion was: the fe103en backloaded pair are pretty good for what they are, mids and treble are classic fostex, low end suffers exactly as @Marvey describes since, come on, its a desktop speaker; the bk40 is more of a novelty since, come on, its a 1.5 inch driver. He did say the bass on the backloaded cabinet was noticeably better than from the kanspea 1000 kit, but came nowhere close to the 1200 kit.

    There is a 85% I will be picking these up in the next week. Will update as it comes. The only immediate comparo I can do is the lsr305, but I have friends (rich, old assholes) with too many speakers. I will check their availability...

    As for amps, if it doesn't have bluetooth, I won't consider it: http://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=13194
     
  16. ultrabike

    ultrabike Measurbator - Admin

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    Interested in it's off-axis performance as well. The 1.5" driver may have less of a narrow sweet spot and start beaming around 10 kHz instead of earlier.

    The decent box construction is definitively a plus.

    Efficiency and bass will likely not be awesome though. Sub may be needed which may not satisfy certain coherence requirements. Specially if things only go down to 100 Hz instead of 80 Hz and below.

    But again. Would definitively love to read impressions about these.
     
    Last edited: Aug 17, 2016
  17. Cspirou

    Cspirou They call me Sparky

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    I bet you could make transmission line or horn with a part of it hanging off the back of the desk. Sort of like this hidden subwoofer:

    http://www.coolcat.dk/bjoern/HideAway_SEAS.pdf

    I've already seen some builds folding the TABAQ speaker to make it more compact.
     
  18. ultrabike

    ultrabike Measurbator - Admin

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    It would be an interesting experiment. I think I read somewhere that the problem with extending things beyond Fs is that one loses control of the bass or something like that. But I honestly don't know.
     
  19. spwath

    spwath Hijinks master cum laudle

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    Have you been able to get them?
    I'm interested in trying something new from my current omega mini me's
     
  20. aufmerksam

    aufmerksam Friend

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    Actually not yet. I am needing an amp for these and was waiting until schiit show to see if they would have something that might work to drive the 4" blh. It looks like the Jotun might actually work, so I need to decide if I want to pony up or not. I will know within a day or two.
     

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