Hi Gerry!
Sorry it took me a few days to get back to you here. We were super busy this weekend with record store day and then getting orders out 24/7 immediately after that so it took me until this morning to find the time to hop back on the forum.
The Mola's are our big "spring release" model for this year.
Mola's are all about having some fun and in the same stroke as getting a seriously resolved sound at higher volumes than the Orcas can dish out. They don't, and could never "replace" the Orcas in our line up, as they have a slightly different set of talents, and a higher price point.
The Mola, like the Orca, is actually a full product lineup. So we will have a couple of different cabinet configurations we'll be coming out with as well as two different driver options: Fostex FX120 and Fostex F120A.
I actually built various cabinets (BLH/OB/BR) for three pairs of FX120's almost 7 years ago. They were some of the first drivers that I worked on independently from Cain and Cain. The bass reflex design I made held the most promise at the time, but I hadn't yet figured out how to make such high performance/cutting edge fullrange bass reflex FR cabinets. It turned out that the "beefy building" we do these days to the Classic as well as Deluxe and Uni constructions was the key to getting the kind of midrange we wanted in larger single driver fullrange bass reflex cabinets like the Mola.
Still, back then I heard gobs of potential. But the drivers seemed expensive to me. So I took detailed notes on those FX120 drivers and over the years I have compared them to the many, many fullrangers I've owned and heard since. Eventually, the FX120's came back out on top when I purchased the F120A's and FX120's again this year and the first cabs I built for them were of a sound quality that was almost immediately release-worthy. They are so good and well balanced and addictive to listen to. They are also SO MUCH BETTER than the other FR drivers I played with last year. A lot of this is the sort of performance that I can't show you on a chart or articulately tell you "why." Just like the Orca design, the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. So you'd just have to hear these drivers in our boxes to understand the kind of sound we are experiencing here.
This past month that I've been refining the cabinets, in the back of my mind I realized that I was almost embarrassed by the performance - I mean...I could have been building with the FX120 and F120A for our bigger model all along! I can't believe I ever bother to fart around with so many other big, shouty, unrefined FR's aside the small and well behaved Orca design... but I suppose I had to make that journey in order to fully appreciate the FX120's/F120A's again.
The overarching design intent of the Mola is to get an "Orca-like" sound with significantly greater power handling and frequency extension on both ends. They are phenomenally detailed, musical, and powerful. We've tried them with 45s, 2A3's, and even higher-powered amps like 100WPC Class A Hafler, Push-Pull EL34, and PP EL84 and they work well. The paramount 300b's are my current faves. Sonically, they are chameleon-like, just like the Orcas are in the way that they basically just sound like your amp/music. They work great with many amps/musical styles -- a design requirement for us.
The bass (my policy is to be conservative in listed specifications) is spec'ed at ~55-65hz depending upon the room placement. This makes listening without subwoofers a much greater possibility for many people. However, a pair of Dungeness also does a damn fine job of filling in from 35-55Hz very subtly and accurately.
The upper volume limit, just like the Orcas, is simply excursion limited, meaning that you can gently bottom them out without damage to the driver cone. Just like the Orcas, if your amp is up to the task of cone control, then there is almost zero compression or distortion leading up to that cone excursion limit. Like the Orcas, these have several millimeters of excursion...but on a 5 inch cone... this means that they are bass monsters!
Followers of our design philosophy will also take note that I simply don't put anything out there that can't play equally well at low, medium and high volumes and the Mola's fit the bill here as well. They are well rounded performers for "real world" meaning every day music listening, most of which takes place well below that upper limit.
The highs and mids are just awesome as well. The sound leaps way outside of the speaker cabinet and portrays a tremendous soundstage that you just wouldn't guess is coming from such a driver.
Normally, I stay away from metal dust caps, but in this case it is well executed and the highs sound natural, neutral, detailed. When you tube roll/tune your system around to these drivers/cabinets then the results are particularly satisfying. They are slightly brighter in presentation than the Orcas which is a trait that lends itself well to even larger rooms, higher volumes. But the brightness is not of the same quality as so many other FR's that practically chase you out of the room. I'd call them simply "awake" rather than "bright."
The two different driver models (FX120 vs. F120A) are to be chosen from in the following way:
-F120A, is "sultry." It has slightly greater micro-dynamic resolution, slightly more relaxed high frequencies, ever so slightly
less bass extension, but still very nice, plump, and warm "Blumenstein bass." The "Alnico sound" of this driver shows up a little differently than most alnico vs. ferrite driver comparisons. I am actually chocking this up to Fostex's perfect execution of both the ferrite and Alnico magnets behind these drivers. Both these models are clearly geared towards accurate, studio monitor type sound rather than the typical budget FR's, the vast majority of which, to me, frankly, usually just sound like a gussied up pair of guitar amp speakers. On the other hand, these "laboratory series" fostex have a very different, and depending upon how long back you look, at it, a very old pedigree behind them (like the FE83En Orca driver) and the legacy is apparent upon the first few seconds of hearing them. In other words, either the ferrite or alnico is a winner, but choose the Alnico for a more relaxed, night time sound.
-The FX120 is "sexy." Neutral, awake, alive, totally engaging, and thunderous. It is also very deeply nuanced and subtle. It is the balanced choice for most people. It's what works the best in our particular listening room and electronics, for instance, which tend to slightly soften the sound. So these corresponding traits compliment each other.
We are expecting a high demand for the Mola at first, so we already purchased several pairs of Mola parts (wood and drivers) to have on hand for the release. But even still, the first batch will likely go pretty quick. If you are interested, then get in touch with us sooner than later to either register your interest for updates or just go ahead and secure a spot in line with a pre-order. The pricing isnt finalized yet but like the Orcas we are going to be reasonable about it. We want to sell alot of these so that there are more awesome speakers in the world!
Feel free to email me at
[email protected]. And if you're not already on our newsletter list, you can sign up on our website for up-to-date announcements. Also, our company facebook page is a good bet too.
Cheers!
-Clark
