[jrebman]

Hey Dan,

Very nice post (though I nevr intened this to be any kind of pile on of Randy -- just providing some information from real world experience.)  BTW, the subs too have no damping, minimal effective bracing, solid port and sound far more musical than anything resembling a sub I've ever encountered.  And of course the 100/150 hz crossover point is brilliant in so many ways.

Jim, near ffield and mid-field as well, not going to fill an auditorium, but again, people have been shocked at just how much space they can fill with musical goodness.

So, 2 Orcas, one Orca Sub, one good plate amp for the sub = $1600.  35 hz - 35 khz, flat response, musical and perfectly integrated across the spectrum, no beaming or TL phasing issues and all 3 speakers can fit on a bookshelf if needed.  No digital EQ or EnABLing needed either.  Oh yes, can work very well with a 3 watt SE amp.

-- Jim

[Letitroll98]

Yeah, Rclark is an all around a good guy who will be fun to watch as he goes along in his personal audio journey, and a big part of what we enjoy on these audio forums, (especially the C&C circle) discovering new and really kewl stuff.  So I'm pretty sure he'll understand the piling on comment and how we're all over it on this one. 
 

I haven't jumped in to single driver yet, but I'm hanging around the pool asking how the water is.  There's just a rightness when you hear a well designed example that cannot be conveyed fully in words alone.  Like Maggies, Grados, Tubes, Vinyl, etc., you just have to hear for yourself.  This is my wish for Rclark and others like him, experience.  There really is just so much beauty.   

[raysracing]

What is by far the smallest cabinet the Fostex FE83En 3" Full Range speakers be put in? Preferably sealed with no crossover run by a 8 wpc tri-amp?

I have a special application for them.

[planet10]

Fostex FF85k

A really amazing little driver. The new FF85wk is even better. Used by itself it will be dynamically & loudness limited.

In something like the uFonken or the even better uFonkenSET it makes a great near-field speaker, and in a big room, with bass limited material surprises people.

Chris & Clarke (along with Bud Purvine) got together in Seattle for a listening session. I know their was a uFonkeWK and Clarke brought his little FE83En speaker... i'll see if Chris cancommenton the differences.

Used as a mid-tweeter in an appropriate enclosure (not an OB, althou they faire well in something like the MJK passive baffle) you can create a really good speaker. Even for modest coin. An example:



http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/css/176790-el166-mtm-ml-tl.html

Goes low, is dynamic, sounds really good.

dave

[planet10]

bamboo plywood -- either natural or caramelized

Natural & carmelized are just 2 of many different colours that are available. There are 3 levels of quality for bamboo ply. Use of these 2 clours points to use of one of the 2 lower grade plys (both VERY good)... the killer stuff is stranded and is exceptional.

Plyboo is a brandname, and AFAIK, one f the 2 biggest vendors among many (Cali is the other).

This is an example of one of the more dramatic Plyboo stranded plys.



dave

[planet10]

35 hz - 35 khz, flat response

Fostex claims 30k for the FE83En (probably optimistic). Still, capable of well beyond 20k.

dave

[planet10]

What is by far the smallest cabinet the Fostex FE83En 3" Full Range speakers be put in? Preferably sealed

Here are the sims. Sealed it does a bit better than FF85wk, but with its high Q not really suited to a reflex enclosure.



For use with no helper woofers, the FF85wk's Q is more useful for a vented box, the 2 litre microFonken hits 100 or a bit less, the 2.5 litre uFonkenSET (Special Edition Trapezoid) gets you a bit lower.



Alpair 6.2 (both paper & metal) also do fine in a 2.5 litre vented box with greater bass extention.



http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/full-range/196061-3-driver-audition-fostex-mark-audio.html

dave

[medium jim]

Yeah, Rclark is an all around a good guy who will be fun to watch as he goes along in his personal audio journey, and a big part of what we enjoy on these audio forums, (especially the C&C circle) discovering new and really kewl stuff.  So I'm pretty sure he'll understand the piling on comment and how we're all over it on this one. 
 

I haven't jumped in to single driver yet, but I'm hanging around the pool asking how the water is.  There's just a rightness when you hear a well designed example that cannot be conveyed fully in words alone.  Like Maggies, Grados, Tubes, Vinyl, etc., you just have to hear for yourself.  This is my wish for Rclark and others like him, experience.  There really is just so much beauty.

Hi Letitroll:

I too remember when I was young and building my way up the ladder to a truly enjoyable system. It was fun along the way.  The good thing is that I still love music and a good system, more importantly, I'm still learning....although back in the day, I thought I knew all the answers.  Somehow, I did build a pretty fine system back then. 

Jim

[chrisby]

A really amazing little driver. The new FF85wk is even better. Used by itself it will be dynamically & loudness limited.

...

Chris & Clarke (along with Bud Purvine) got together in Seattle for a listening session. I know their was a uFonkenWK and Clarke brought his little FE83En speaker... i'll see if Chris can comment on the differences.

Can I wriggle out of this one diplomatically? It'd be hard to separate the contributions of enclosure architectures and the drivers themselves in what we heard.   

This occasion (last summer) was my first listening session to any of the new WK drivers, and as much as some of us lamented over the end of the FExx7 series, as well as the FF85K (mini-Sigma as we affectionately called it), it was immediately apparent that the WKs are a substantial step forward.  This has been confirmed subsequently with the 125 and 165 - both replacing models with which I'm quite familiar and fond of.     

Specifically to the question - the differences I heard between the FE83 and FF85WK were the latter exhibited greater dynamics and extension at both ends of its range, as well as deeper and wider soundstage, and more finely grained resolution of inner details - harmonics, texture etc.

[Clark B.]

Hi all, thanks for the interest in the Orca!

This probably isn't news to anybody searching this forum, or living in the modern world for that matter, but there are a million different speaker designs out there.  Without ever enough hours in the day, we've still managed to make hundreds of different original designs ourselves: gigantic, tiny, and everywhere in between.  None of them were un-educated guesses, but only a few of them have been worth selling for any price.  All that aside, there are many more reasons than those that we've stuck with the Orca.

While I think that Jim R. summed up the performance of the new Orca model really effectively, I feel that my only real place here is to mention that we make ourselves very accessible to communicate one on one with the people who reach out and send us an email or dial our phone number.  With openness and real world practicality in mind, we've helped countless people determine whether or not it is worth their time to take us up on our offer for a 30 day money back trial period.  Basically, put the Orcas in your audio system and see if they work for you.  We aren't offended in the slightest if you send them back.

I also reserve the right to say here that from the bottom of our hearts, my wife and I appreciate the time, space, conversations, life lessons, and support, both financial and moral that so many have graciously given to us and that we are able to proliferate this beauty.  That's all this stuff is about anyways, right?

-Clark