This so was not supposed to sound good.

[ssssly]

So basically out out of sheer spite to the Fostex horns I built, that I am not impressed with at all, I hooked my SEX amp up to my Kenwood KVS-300 speakers.

Bought these about 10 years ago when I was working a second job at Circuit City in MD. It is a 3 way system with what looks like a 8" woofer, 5" mid, and a 1" tweeter with a front firing port. Think I paid about $50 for them and they have been the mains in my home theater for as long as I can remember. And they did well enough there that I have never bothered to buy anything else. And while they were always in the living room I never even thought of listening to music through the things.

Well, to my surprise, they actually sound quite good. They have respectable bass, coherent mids, and actually image pretty well. Could definitely use a better tweeter and it sounds like the crossover caps may be lytic, but these things actually sound good. Not good for $50, down right good. Good enough for me to want to take them apart, rebuild the crossover with good quality parts, put a good tweeter in them, and move them upstairs into my listening room. Oh and they will play at respectable sound levels driven by a SEX being fed directly by a, iPod.

So if you are in Good Will or Salvation Army and see a pair of these sitting around you might want to think about buying them.

Will probably be a few months before I get around to tinkering with them, gonna be on the road for a few months. But when I get back I will tinker with them and report back.

[Maxwell_E]

Which Fostex did you use, and how do they disappoint. I was thinking of building a set around the 8" fullrange FE206E

[2wo]

If your thinking about the FE 206, Try one of  the mass loaded TL

[Maxwell_E]

I've heard the term MLTL, but I've never been sure what it means. And I found this site that sells the FE206 (one of the only people I could find), and they have free plans for speaker enclosures when you buy from them.

http://www.commonsenseaudio.com/fostex.html

[ssssly]

I am using the FE108 Sigma. It just wants more power. Theoretically it should work but it doesn't. I have heard several very good sounding Fostex systems. The FE127E and and FE167 are probably my favorite Fostex drivers. Alas they are no longer in production. And it doesn't look like they have anything slated to replace them. And I haven't heard the new Fostex drivers yet (FE126EN or FE166EN).

My issue isn't so much with the speaker as it is that I don't have anything to drive it with. Might spray paint them black and swap them into the HT setup to replace the Kenwoods while I mess around with them.

That or get some FE126ENs and try them out in those cabs.

Or who knows, maybe by the time I get back I'll decide I want to listen to compression horns again and built a model19. Would be a pain to drag into the attic though.

[Paul Joppa]

The FE108E Sigma is rated 90dB, indicating it would ideally like to see 16 watts by my rule of thumb. The FE208E and -En are rated 96dB, indicating 4 watts is plenty. I would not hesitate to use half the estimated power with these - all the Fostex fullrange drivers have limited excursion so running them full out will give you some trouble in the bass anyhow.

According to Madisound, the 206En differs from the 206E in that it has a new cloth surround; the cone, voice coil, magnet, and whizzer are the same so they probably sound very similar.

[2wo]

Hi Max,
I   remember that seller, Look for a box about 4

[chrisby]

Hi Max,
I   remember that seller, Look for a box about 4

[chrisby]

The FE108E Sigma is rated 90dB, indicating it would ideally like to see 16 watts by my rule of thumb. The FE208E and -En are rated 96dB, indicating 4 watts is plenty. I would not hesitate to use half the estimated power with these - all the Fostex fullrange drivers have limited excursion so running them full out will give you some trouble in the bass anyhow.

According to Madisound, the 206En differs from the 206E in that it has a new cloth surround; the cone, voice coil, magnet, and whizzer are the same so they probably sound very similar.

Paul - "at least" similar would probably be a good guess;  based on anecdotal experience to date with smallest member of the "new" FE series ( i.e. the FE126En) by owners of Ed Schilling's Horns ( and other users as well)  subjective improvements of dynamics and bass energy could be anticipated. In my own recent listening session to the FE126En in a DIY BLH, 3watts (approx same as Stereomour or the my legacy ParamourII)  was plenty to fill a 400 ft^2 room for my listening needs  ( i.e max SPL approx 90dB at 3 meters)

The larger diameter drivers of the new series would certainly have advantage of increased efficiencies, but might need some high frequency assistance for  some listeners. I've yet to hear a 206 (or variant) that was "fully there" without some tweeter help (and the better ones can have a price tag several times that of  the main driver, but I digress)     

[ssssly]

One of the best resources that I have found for Fostex enclosure design is frugel-horn.com

Tons of plans of several different flavors.

I always thought Madisound was the only authorized Fostex dealer in the states. Could be wrong though.

And if you are building with Fostex drivers you might also want to check out the info on the EnAble process.

Enjoy

[jtkarma]

Bought these about 10 years ago when I was working a second job at Circuit City in MD. It is a 3 way system with what looks like a 8" woofer, 5" mid, and a 1" tweeter with a front firing port. Think I paid about $50 for them and they have been the mains in my home theater for as long as I can remember. And they did well enough there that I have never bothered to buy anything else. And while they were always in the living room I never even thought of listening to music through the things.

Well, to my surprise, they actually sound quite good. They have respectable bass, coherent mids, and actually image pretty well. Could definitely use a better tweeter and it sounds like the crossover caps may be lytic, but these things actually sound good. Not good for $50, down right good. Good enough for me to want to take them apart, rebuild the crossover with good quality parts, put a good tweeter in them, and move them upstairs into my listening room. Oh and they will play at respectable sound levels driven by a SEX being fed directly by a, iPod.

This is one of my favorite pastimes, throwing whatever speakers I find on the SEX amp and see what happens. I'd swear the SEX amp can turn what would be considered some pretty weak speakers into real gems.

I've had fun with old RSL speakers that you can pick up for $10 to $20.

Enjoy.