"Eeyore" wrote in message
...


Godfrey Wilkes wrote:

"Eeyore" wrote
Godfrey Wilkes wrote
"Eeyore" wrote
Godfrey Wilkes wrote:

Anyone familiar with Fostex full range drive units? Wilmslow Audio
do
them along with cabinet kits starting from about £200 a pair but I
can't find much in the way of reviews as to how they actually
perform
compared to other speakers of a similar price.

From basic priciples of physics it is easy to show that ANY 'full
range' loudspeaker is a terrible compromise. This involves analysis
of
motor theory, suspension, resonances, cone break-up and plenty more
besides.

The 'average' speaker tends to perform best over about 3 octaves
which
is why most decent speakers are 3 way.

The frequency coverage can be extended a little at the cost of
sensitivity, making some decent 2 way designs possible

p.s please don't post in HTML in future

Sorry about the HTML. In over 12 years of newsgroup posting I've
always
tried to stick to the 'rules' but something went wrong this time! Must
have had a senior moment.

No prob.

I think you've confirmed my own thoughts on the disadvantages although
I'm led to believe that Lowthers are something special. The only
advantage
I
can see is high efficiency, in the right enclosure, but with today's
high
powered amplifiers efficiency is not a problem.

Something special compared to what ?

Fostex

Bose ? They have to be EQ'd to hell to
sound even half acceptable. You see, any cone speaker is simply a
bandpass
device and the laws of physics can't change to do any better. Some
people
do like the 'point source' concept but you really can't cover the audio
band

adequately.

You obviously know a lot about speaker design.

Well, I did study it at Uni but I wouldn't claim to be a total expert.
There's 2
sides to speaker design, the driver itself and the enclosure. The clever
bit is
definiteltly the driver. Depending on your approach, a potential third and
equally vital one is crossover design. I prefer active (electronic)
crossovers
myself, since they are vastly more accurate and result in an easier load
being
presented to the amplifier (except you have to have at least twice as
many) !


Could you recommend me something costing no more than £350 for a pair?

You might hit something acceptable from the likes of Richer Sounds but
£350
isn't quality territory. I'm more a 'pro' guy you see where systems can
costs
tens of thousands but someone else may be able to help better.

What kind of size speaker are you looking for and the listening SPL ?

Graham


Unfortunately my funds don't run to 'pro' gear and in any case I'm rather
restricted on space for equipment. I'm looking for a pair of floor standing
speakers for a room of about 160 sq. ft. SPL isn't important as I can only
listen at modest levels otherwise I'll have the neighbours complaining!
Amplification is via a 30W/ch Denon.

I've shortlisted these available from Superfi:
Mordaunt Short Avant 914i
Q Acoustics 1050i
Acoustic Energy Aegis Neo 3

I'm leaning towards the Neo 3's and would welcome comments.

Regards,
Godfrey

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote:

Eeyore wrote:
Godfrey Wilkes wrote:
Sorry about the HTML. In over 12 years of newsgroup posting I've
always tried to stick to the 'rules' but something went wrong this
time! Must have had a senior moment.

It arrived here as plain text - so I'm not quite sure what Graham is on
about.

That.

?

My newsreader won't repeat it. OE will though.


But maybe your newsreader ignores html tags.

There weren't any. Could be my news feed converts HTML to text and removes
any attachments.

Quite possible.

Graham

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

There weren't any. Could be my news feed converts HTML to text and removes
any attachments.

Pluto doesn't support HTML in messages (as far as I know - and why would
it, it's pointless!) so it's probably just showing you the
multipart/alternative MIME segment text/plain.

(Former Acorn/RISC OS person)

--
Squirrel Solutions Ltd Tel: (01453) 845735
http://www.squirrelsolutions.co.uk/ Fax: (01453) 843773

Registered in England: 05877408

In article ,
Glenn Richards wrote:
Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

There weren't any. Could be my news feed converts HTML to text and
removes any attachments.

Pluto doesn't support HTML in messages (as far as I know - and why would
it, it's pointless!) so it's probably just showing you the
multipart/alternative MIME segment text/plain.

I get plenty of emails which are HTML only - these arrive in the form of
an attachment. It has the facility to convert these to plain text - but
doesn't do it automatically. Or I could click on the attachment and open
it in a browser. The odd one where the HTML is in the body of the post
show the HTML tags, etc. But never get this on news stuff. Always just
plain text.

(Former Acorn/RISC OS person)

Pluto and Draw are why I still use the Acorn for those things. I've yet to
find a PC prog the equal of them - and of course you don't have to bother
with all the firewalls and anti-virus etc stuff.

--
*When everything's coming your way, you're in the wrong lane *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Dave Plowman (News) schreef:
I think you've confirmed my own thoughts on the disadvantages although
I'm led to believe that Lowthers are something special.

They're one of those classic designs which were good in their day - but
have been well and truly bettered. A bit like a Morris Minor. That's not
to say they wouldn't make a good driver as part of a multi driver unit -
but cheaper alternatives are available.

The only advantage I can see is high efficiency, in the right enclosure,
but with today's high powered amplifiers efficiency is not a problem.

High efficiency usually means horn loading - and horns tend to have a
sound all of their own. Fine if you like that - but not an accurate one.


Fostex is my speaker of choice because I need their efficiency for my
home made 2 watt power amps. Fostex publishes plans for recommended
enclosures, indeed rather large back loaded horns. These make big fun
but building might be a pain. Sound quality is neither poor nor excellent.
It's my personal believe there is no such thing as 'perfect
reproduction' as all enclosures, filters and drivers have inherent
faults, one more obvious than others. Find your compromise and live with it.

In article ,
jaap wrote:
High efficiency usually means horn loading - and horns tend to have a
sound all of their own. Fine if you like that - but not an accurate
one.


Fostex is my speaker of choice because I need their efficiency for my
home made 2 watt power amps. Fostex publishes plans for recommended
enclosures, indeed rather large back loaded horns. These make big fun
but building might be a pain. Sound quality is neither poor nor
excellent. It's my personal believe there is no such thing as 'perfect
reproduction' as all enclosures, filters and drivers have inherent
faults, one more obvious than others. Find your compromise and live with
it.

I take it you're running off batteries etc if you are restricted to a 2
watt amp?

--
*I'm out of my mind, but feel free to leave a message.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Dave Plowman (News) schreef:
In article ,
jaap wrote:
High efficiency usually means horn loading - and horns tend to have a
sound all of their own. Fine if you like that - but not an accurate
one.


Fostex is my speaker of choice because I need their efficiency for my
home made 2 watt power amps. Fostex publishes plans for recommended
enclosures, indeed rather large back loaded horns. These make big fun
but building might be a pain. Sound quality is neither poor nor
excellent. It's my personal believe there is no such thing as 'perfect
reproduction' as all enclosures, filters and drivers have inherent
faults, one more obvious than others. Find your compromise and live with
it.

I take it you're running off batteries etc if you are restricted to a 2
watt amp?

No. Two watts output on 97dB speakers is very loud
Most of the music output has 0.01 to 0.1 watt power levels.
That's why the first audiowatt is the most important.

In article ,
jaap wrote:
Fostex is my speaker of choice because I need their efficiency for my
home made 2 watt power amps. Fostex publishes plans for recommended
enclosures, indeed rather large back loaded horns. These make big fun
but building might be a pain. Sound quality is neither poor nor
excellent. It's my personal believe there is no such thing as
'perfect reproduction' as all enclosures, filters and drivers have
inherent faults, one more obvious than others. Find your compromise
and live with it.

I take it you're running off batteries etc if you are restricted to a 2
watt amp?

No. Two watts output on 97dB speakers is very loud

With very sensitive speakers mounted in an efficient 'enclosure'.
Unfortunately, both those create more drawbacks than they eliminate.

Most of the music output has 0.01 to 0.1 watt power levels.

That's a very sweeping statement

That's why the first audiowatt is the most important.

Just as well as the second is likely to be poor.

--
*Give me ambiguity or give me something else.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
jaap wrote:
Fostex is my speaker of choice because I need their efficiency for my
home made 2 watt power amps. Fostex publishes plans for recommended
enclosures, indeed rather large back loaded horns. These make big fun
but building might be a pain. Sound quality is neither poor nor
excellent. It's my personal believe there is no such thing as
'perfect reproduction' as all enclosures, filters and drivers have
inherent faults, one more obvious than others. Find your compromise
and live with it.
I take it you're running off batteries etc if you are restricted to a 2
watt amp?

No. Two watts output on 97dB speakers is very loud

With very sensitive speakers mounted in an efficient 'enclosure'.
Unfortunately, both those create more drawbacks than they eliminate.

Most of the music output has 0.01 to 0.1 watt power levels.

That's a very sweeping statement


Over to me then. I've been using a NAD 3020, the one with the power
LEDs, for a month or so.

A flickering 1W LED is surprisingly (to me) loud - louder than I'd
normally play music, and you'd need to shout to make yourself heard. 86
dB/w/m speakers. FWIW.

Rob

Dave Plowman (News) schreef:
In article ,
jaap wrote:
Fostex is my speaker of choice because I need their efficiency for my
home made 2 watt power amps. Fostex publishes plans for recommended
enclosures, indeed rather large back loaded horns. These make big fun
but building might be a pain. Sound quality is neither poor nor
excellent. It's my personal believe there is no such thing as
'perfect reproduction' as all enclosures, filters and drivers have
inherent faults, one more obvious than others. Find your compromise
and live with it.
I take it you're running off batteries etc if you are restricted to a 2
watt amp?

No. Two watts output on 97dB speakers is very loud

With very sensitive speakers mounted in an efficient 'enclosure'.
Unfortunately, both those create more drawbacks than they eliminate.

Most of the music output has 0.01 to 0.1 watt power levels.

That's a very sweeping statement

That's why the first audiowatt is the most important.

Just as well as the second is likely to be poor.

Come over and have a listen.
I'll hook up the scope