Small Corner Horns
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I'd expect them to be pretty marvy nearfield... :-)
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The speakers sound very good driven by a 25wpc A/B amp and an 8" subwoofer crossed about 160hz. They are very direct with excellent imaging (to be expected), have great depth, but sounded a little rolled off on the top. I did not expect this with the tweeter, but I also don't know the design of the crossover. My magnetic planar normal desktop speakers are more open on the top, but these are more fun to listen to with way more texture and life.
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it's all about "liveliness" :-)
(at least as far as I am concerned)
That Fostex horn is actually (I believe!) capable of pretty serious HF output -- well, its predecessor was, at any rate. I remember reading a post, years ago, from Paul Joppa who said he used those old Fostex horns (in the form of the Radio Shack 40-1310 "add-on supertweeter morph") to reproduce actual ultrasonic (in the vicinity of 25 to 40 kHz) signals in some kind of real-world application. Unfortunately I lost track of his comments in cyberspace, and haven't been able to find/verify my memory on this topic :-(
I like planar tweeters, too (very much) -- and they certainly tend to be delightfully "airy" (and, in all candor, my 58-ish year old auditory processing system doesn't have the HF response it used to!)... but there are reports/claims that some of that "planar sound" is artifactual and reflects the distortion spectrum of the drivers. To wit:
http://www.zaphaudio.com/nondomes/I often hear people babble on about the shimmer, sparkle and air of ribbon tweeters. These tests show where these "special effects" are coming from - distortion. Ribbons do have a unique distortion profile that many will find enjoyable with some music. That's OK, and it does not have to relfect badly on your "golden ear" status. However, if accuracy to the original signal is what you are after, one of these ribbons may not be the best solution. Ribbons are certainly not the best solution if you want to build a high-value system. Those building line arrays may want to take a good hard look at one of the longer B&G elements.
Not my opinions, just reproducin' those from Zapf :-P
Similar comments are expressed by some re: SE amplifiers, DHTs, horns, etc., etc. ;-)
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I think the benefit of the planar driver is the size; my "full range" desktop speakers are 8in x 5in with no cabinet required. However, when compared to a horn, it does sound a little flat.
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I set up the Fostex speakers in a mid field configuration this weekend and once again they sounded great with a subwoofer crossed at 180hz. The imaging, immediacy, and texture is amazing, but there was a bit of an mid/upper vocal band resonance when playing complex music, or multiple male/female voices. I don't know if that was a result of the 8" driver, the crossover, or the room with corners a could feet away from the rear of the speakers. I'll do more research on that, but they are very enjoyable speakers, and I think would be nicely mounted on a pair of customer woofer cabinets to provide a 3-way system.
A buddy was also listening with me and suggested dropping the analog crossovers and going digital, so maybe that's a good option if I want to add stereo woofers anyway. -
I would take measurements to see what's going on with the rolled off top end. As far as the FRD falling apart on complex passages, that's the biggest downside of FRDs."He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you." Friedrich Nietzsche
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I'm eyeing miniDSP to act as a crossover/DSP/volume control to feed a multichannel amp to power these speakers. Has anyone used one before?
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I'm eyeing miniDSP to act as a crossover/DSP/volume control to feed a multichannel amp to power these speakers. Has anyone used one before?
I have a 2x4 RCA version currently, so yes I've used one. Also @erniejade used it for a bit with his stuff."....not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." William Bruce Cameron, Informal Sociology: A Casual Introduction to Sociological Thinking (1963) -
What do you think of your miniDSP? I'm eyeing the 4x10 HD for system simplicity.
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What do you think of your miniDSP? I'm eyeing the 4x10 HD for system simplicity.
If you can run REW and understand what its saying you should be fine.
The hardest part for you would be the crossovers as it looks like your running a tweeter and woofer.
I've mainly used it for sub integration and that was fairly easy.
There is a fair chance I need to part with the 2x4 unbalanced unit I have as I may need the BALANCED version for my DIY sub in the HT room.
If that unit would work and interest you, let me know. IIRC its loaded with the 2x4 advanced plug in."....not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." William Bruce Cameron, Informal Sociology: A Casual Introduction to Sociological Thinking (1963) -
I've been told that active crossovers would be a big improvement for these drivers, especially since I want to add stereo subwoofers that roll in at 180hz. If I'm reading the spec sheets right, I could control all six drivers with one 4X10HD (including volume) feeding one six channel amp. I'm not sure where the passive crossovers transition the horn tweeters to the full range drivers, but that should be easier to find through trial and error than a true two way?
