Klipschguy Posted July 27, 2005 Share Posted July 27, 2005 Hi Tony, Your opinion is ALWAYS quite welcome and appreciated here. I saw your reply to Tom's post only after I had already posted (you gotta appreciate ole TBrennan's "no holds barred" honesty). I've heard several people say they like the sound of an open baffle. How big was the baffle? Can you recommend a couple drivers for me. I must say I like the idea of one driver that can reproduce the entire spectrum and makes for fun experimentation. But, my personal experience tells me that multi-way speakers are the way to go for your main speakers. The others are for fun. Best regards, Andy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunnysal Posted July 27, 2005 Share Posted July 27, 2005 I think a great way to start is with one of the fostex 4.5" drivers I mentioned. check it out at madisound: http://www.madisound.com/pdf/fostexdrivers/fx120.pdf and http://www.madisound.com/fostex.html while this is not as cheap as the drivers being tested in this thread, and some would equate starter with minimum investment, you will get the best view of what a single driver can and cannot do with this driver. with this driver I would recommend a bass reflex enclosure, the specs are provided by fostex and you can build the enclosure yourself. open baffles seem to be the weapon of choice for the 8" and over models where deep bass is to be handled by a seperate woofer enclosure. basszilla details can be found at dick olsher´s site: http://www.blackdahlia.com/tipindex/BassZilla/basszilla.htm http://store.hifiauthority.com/olsherkits.html best regards, tony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TBrennan Posted July 27, 2005 Share Posted July 27, 2005 "Have you ever heard a backloaded horn that you thought sounded decent?" Yes Andy. The JBL 4520 and 4530 "scoops" sound pretty good. But note they're very large and use 15" drivers. As long as you're having fun what you're doing is certainly worthwhile, I don't mean to bumrap you. But I have come to the conclusion, like Tony, that the best way to use the virtues of widerange drivers is with subs and using open baffles. The next time I see Kurt and Mats I'll get photos of their open baffle rigs and post them. Both guys mount the drivers on large sheets of clear acrylic, it looks real cool. I must say that Kurt's HT setup using three FX-200s in front driven by a JVC chip-amp receiver is the second best direct-radiating rig I ever heard, it's really that good. It's amazing how good a sound one can get today for so little work and money. (The best direct-radiators I've heard are Kurt's DIY 72" B&G planars with an EQed open baffle sub using 8 18" Eminence woofers. All driven by a Panasonic chip-amp receiver.) Another guy in our club mounted 12" EV Wolverine co-axes on acrylic open baffles and I was taken back by the excellent bass the buggers made without a sub. I bought a pair of Fostex FX-120s for open baffle use but haven't done anything with them yet other than mounting them in shoeboxes just to get an idea of their sound. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunnysal Posted July 27, 2005 Share Posted July 27, 2005 tom, you bought the fx-120s? how do they sound so far? I have not yet bought them but DID like how they sounded (in a BR cab) at a friends house. tony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-MAN Posted July 27, 2005 Share Posted July 27, 2005 What you guys need is this: DM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DizRotus Posted July 27, 2005 Author Share Posted July 27, 2005 D-Man, What is it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TBrennan Posted July 27, 2005 Share Posted July 27, 2005 JBL Hartsfield building block approach with an 8" driver. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-MAN Posted July 27, 2005 Share Posted July 27, 2005 It's a convertable corner horn, front or back-loaded. The Hartsfield did not have a vertical throat. But yes, it is a "modular" approach, the interesting exception being that in 1960, the full-range driver was the cheaper approach, and nowdays, a good full-range driver is the expensive approach. This is the Hartsfield below: DM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TBrennan Posted July 27, 2005 Share Posted July 27, 2005 Tony---The mids and highs sound good, tonal balance was really bad in shoeboxes though, no bass. Kurt says he prefers them to FX-200s when used right, he's heard them on OBs with subs but I haven't. I have so many speakers around again I can't even accept a pair of Quad 57s a fella offered to give me. So I don't know when I'll get to the Fostexes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klipschguy Posted July 27, 2005 Share Posted July 27, 2005 Hey Tom, no offense taken at all. I know your style. Besides, your one of the people here on the forum who basically hears the same thing I do for a given system (maybe we're both equally deaf??). I might order me a pair of FX200's. Do you think a pair in open baffles with a good sub could approach the sound of the Cornwalls? I just bought a new house and I think the Cornwalls are going in the basement. The RF-7's look promising (my Heresys are just not balanced enough for my taste). I built some Peerless woofer, Bozak tweeter two ways that sound quite good...may use them. I've got a good spot for two open baffles as long as they are not too large. Best regards, Andy P.S. Good thread Neil. Forgive me for the little Hijack. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TBrennan Posted July 27, 2005 Share Posted July 27, 2005 Andy---It seems Fostex no longer makes the FX-200, that's why I bought the 120s. However if you can find them they're a very good way to go. They are the best Fostexes I've heard and the only wide-rangers I've heard that approach them (in my opinion ya understand) are the field-coil Supravoxes. I can't compare the FX-200s to Cornwalls, for one thing much would depend on the sonic quality of the sub used. However the virtues of the FX-200s are a supurb, "technicolor" Altec-like midrange and very nice highs. And the dynamics are pretty darned good for a direct-radiator. All is subjective of course but personally I really like the FX-200s. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klipschguy Posted July 28, 2005 Share Posted July 28, 2005 Thanks for the info. I looked, and indeed, the FX200 is no longer available - shame. The FX120 is a smaller version, I guess with good sub they may be the ticket. The Fostex F200a looks promising, but they are almost 4 bills each. I'm not opposed to spending the money, but spending $800 on drivers and then possibly being disappointed in the final product is a real risk. Too bad they they don't have a ferrite magnet version of the same driver (in lieu of the alnico) - I'm sure it would be cheaper and probably sound just as good. Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DizRotus Posted November 8, 2005 Author Share Posted November 8, 2005 Michael, Here's the thread I mentioned yesterday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klipschguy Posted November 8, 2005 Share Posted November 8, 2005 Greetings Neil, You still liking the FE103's? BTW, I noticed your passing the favor by giving Bob Crites that woofer.Best regards,Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DizRotus Posted November 9, 2005 Author Share Posted November 9, 2005 Yes, Im still enjoying the Radio Shack drivers. Your ears should have been burning yesterday as I told Michael Colter about how you donated the drivers to my project.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /> Bob has earned that woofer and then some. I've been peppering him with questions regarding the resurrection of the two "abused La Scalas" I'm delivering to the high school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Posted November 9, 2005 Share Posted November 9, 2005 When you have them all ligned up like a set of Macintosh let me know how it sounds[] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DizRotus Posted March 11, 2006 Author Share Posted March 11, 2006 (edited) Klipschguy, aka Andy, was kind enough to send another pair pf RS 40-1197/Fe 103s, a pair of Piezo horn tweeters and a pair of Radio Shack "full range" 5 1/4" speakers with wizzer cones. Andy said that he'd acquired the 5 1/4" speakers for an infinite baffle project that never happened. Now that he appears to have tamed the boom in his Cornwalls (see Cornwall Port mod ) he seems to have no use for these project speakers.I tried the 5 1/4" speakers in the rear horn enclosures. They're nowhere near as nice as the smaller 40-1197s. The imaging is not as good. Whereas the speakers with the 40-1197s seem to disappear as the sound source, with the larger speakers the sound source was always apparent.Due to Andy's generosity, I now have the luxury of trying some of the "improvements" for 40-1197s that are posted all over the Internet by its cult followers. Edited November 15, 2013 by DizRotus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klipschguy Posted March 11, 2006 Share Posted March 11, 2006 Neil, When I initially looked for that second pair of 1197's, I started rumaging through some boxes and found those 5.25's and thought those were it (and the second 1197's didn't exist). I was kind of bummed. Anyway, after a little more digging...success. I had forgotten about the 5.25's. Glad the 1197's turned up. Have you messed with those piezos? They were originally intended to augment the high frequencies of the full range drivers. Someone here (maybe DJK?) knows a lot about crossovers for piezos stating they can sound pretty sweet with the right set up. Keep us posted on your experiments. I'm glad you are getting some use out of the drivers. I feel like a bad steward of my stuff when I leave it unused in boxes for years. Now I still have some B209 Bozak mids. I have this idea of an open baffle midrange project... Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DizRotus Posted June 14, 2013 Author Share Posted June 14, 2013 Eight years later I'm finally getting around to trying a bass reflex enclosure for the Rat Shack 40-1197 "full range" drivers. Parts Express was having a sale on knocked-down mdf enclosures. At $29 each for CNC dado cut .56 cubic foot enclosures, I had to buy two pair. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DizRotus Posted June 14, 2013 Author Share Posted June 14, 2013 (edited) mdeneen, Mark, suggested the bass reflex design similar to the Tekton which used the Fostex FE103. It's rumored the RS 40-1197 was made for RS by Fostex. They have the same specs and are similar in appearance. Mark predicted I'd like the BR enclosures better than the rear horn. We shall see. Edited November 15, 2013 by DizRotus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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