Wide-banders, Fostex, and Back Loaded Horn Enclosure Designs

Discussion in 'Speakers' started by purr1n, Jan 26, 2022.

  1. EagleWings

    EagleWings Friend

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    Some of my friends and I own, either the F15 or the Silver 10, running these in either OB or large ported cabinets. Except for the buddy who made the mistake of stuffing his box completely with fill, the rest of us are quite happy with the performance of these drivers. F15 is no giant slayer, but given its price point, it’s hard to fault with it and has a very interesting character and is more of a specialist than an all rounder. The buddies who own the Silver10 tell me those are very resolving and refined. Let me know if you’d like to know anything specific about these drivers.
     
    Last edited: Feb 9, 2022
  2. Josh Schor

    Josh Schor Friend

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    Just arrived today for Dave at Planet 10, Bamboo speakers.jpg
     
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  3. Josh Schor

    Josh Schor Friend

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    Finally got them hooked up, Im really happy with the sound, they are good. Voices a little pinched with slight sibilance, which will improve with break-in. Using the Rel T-5 sub very nice. small space and they really work.
     

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  4. Josh Schor

    Josh Schor Friend

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    The Fonken are pretty amazing with the Studio B. I play a lot of Eletronic, dub, House and it sound amazing. Im using a Rel T5 and I barely have it on, tuned to 55hz and only two notches up on the volume. On pop music where the sound is compressed and the top end boosted the top end can be hard, brittle and shrill. On opera with a soprano they sound pure and clean, not shrillness or brittlleness
    Tonally they remind me of the Utopias, clean with good attack. the bass is tight with good detail and decay, not boomy or soft.
    Vocal have good tone again pop music that is not recorder well. Just got my Gungnir MB with Unison USB, cold its much smoother maybe this will help with the top end on the speakers.
     
  5. Josh Schor

    Josh Schor Friend

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    Clarifying saying they remind me of the Utopias, they are not the Utopias of speakers or in the same class. They have an openness, clarity and attack which is very lively. The Utopias are in a world by themselves in my limited experience the only speakers that compare from what I have heard are the Avantgarde horn speakers, the only speakers to bring me to tears.
     
  6. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    So did I.

    These are the "latest" Fostex FE168NS (not the EZ / Sigma) in Frugalhorn XL. They seem like a crossbreed of sorts between the el cheapo FE166 and FE168EZ. The NS are not totally broken in, but they seem almost as resolving and extended up high as 168EZ, but smoother than both. FE168EZ is shouty (peak around 2kHz) and peaky (tiny peak at 7kHz). The FE168NS by comparison is smoother, not perfect, but smooth enough to the point where I don't feel I need to slap in a passive EQ network to fix the frequency response.

    PXL_20220516_224153799.jpg

    PXL_20220515_024321904.PORTRAIT.jpg

    The Frugelhorn XL looks like a cross between a back-loaded horn and transmission line. Excuse the small weights on top of the cabs, I'm still tweaking stuff so not glueing the top piece in yet. The Frugeljorn cab doesn't seem have the snappy transients as the Madisound BK-16 cab. On the other hand, the bass seems to extend more effortlessly, and there appears to be a lot more latitude for adjustment via stuffing and placement. The Frugelhorns are actually meant to be placed against the walls. I could never place the BK-16 cabs against the wall. With the FE166 and especially the FE168EZ in the BK-16 cab, I had to pull them off from the walls quite a bit to avoid overemphasized midbass and muddiness.

    I will try the FE168EZ too to see what happens. The 168NS were an accident. I ordered the wrong part, but it turned out to be a good accident. Both drivers are reported to work well with the Frugelhorn XL. Will be back with a separate thread and measurements.
     
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  7. Boops

    Boops Friend

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    Are you running these from the custom 45 or the Fisher?
     
  8. Cspirou

    Cspirou They call me Sparky

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    If I understood correctly from the forums, they also take into account floor bounce and work well in a room with hard floors
     
  9. dasman66

    dasman66 Self proclaimed lazy ass - friend

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    consider moving this to the speaker porn, pictures of your speakers, or sensitive speakers threads... not sure this is applicable to fostex/BLH.
     
  10. Josh Schor

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    thanks moved to sensitive speakers for flea watt amps
     

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