The grass is always greener...

JLM · « **Reply #40 on:** 24 Jul 2005, 11:20 am »

GHM,

The Fostex cut sheet does not mention shielding of the F200A, but I've been using them about 2 feet either side of my CRT TV without issues.

Once we move into the new house my listening room setup will allow for proper nearfield listening and lots more experimentation. So far 6 feet apart and 8 feet away with speakers aimed at my knees provides great imaging without treble loss.

GHM · « **Reply #41 on:** 24 Jul 2005, 01:37 pm »

If your speakers are only 2 feet from the television . The F200A must be shielded. This is good to know. I should have maybe 24 inches or so of play behind the speakers. Hopefully this will be enough to get them out from the wall. I haven't lived with transmission line bass in a while.
But I do remeber how good it sounded compared to my multi driver bass reflex speakers. It had heft when needed but never bloated. Similar to sealed bass IMHO.

I have an audiophile friend who owns the FT-1600s. I just haven't had a chance to listen too them yet. I have heard the Cain & Cain Abbys,modded single Bens . I can't wait to do some mental comparisons. The modded Ben retails for $5900.00. Just from specs alone looks like the FTA 2000 is going to kick the shit out of this speaker!

A friend and I actually prefered the Abby over the Bens. The only problem I found with it was lack of bass. The Bens really didn't have much bass either..a surprise for such a large cabinet. The bass the Bens did have.. sounded some what bloated. I think the specs are a bit over the top on this model. The Abbys sounded more balanced too me.

Wednesday is the day. I should have them in my great room Wednesday night!

Dmason · « **Reply #42 on:** 24 Jul 2005, 03:08 pm »

The F200A is not shielded. TV proximity isnt much of a concern with drivers of this calibre.

Looking forward to your bundles Gymane. I'm pretty much resolved to building a pair meself, now that I know they are "smaller" than I thought.

Occam · « **Reply #43 on:** 24 Jul 2005, 10:34 pm »

Quote from: Dmason

The F200A is not shielded. TV proximity isnt much of a concern with drivers of this calibre.

That is a non-sequitur. What in heaven's name does calibre (45, 38?) have to do with stray magnetic fields? Those fields may be contained by [mu metal, crs, etc...] shielding, bucking magnets, the inherent architecture of the motor assembly, or ameliorated simply by distance.
Or do you mean that anyone would who would dain to put such a driver in close to proximity to a crt simply deserves what they get?

Confused in Brooklyn (as we are wont to be),
Occam

Dmason · « **Reply #44 on:** 24 Jul 2005, 11:01 pm »

Just chit chat Occam. Sheath thy razor.

The F200A is not shielded, in the -you know, -- speaker driver sense of the word.

" A little knowledge can be a dangerous thing." --Albert Einstein

but one tidbit you COULD add is the fact that the word "calibre," -at least as related to proper English is not relegated only to bore you trigger happy shithead.

maxwalrath · « **Reply #45 on:** 24 Jul 2005, 11:18 pm »

I had a pair of used Vandersteen 2-somethings that I got 2nd hand. I bought them home and set them up around my housemates TV and played them for a while. There was a busted woofer, so I turned them off after a while and returned them the next day. An hour later the TV got turned on...I was pretty sure I ruined his TV.

After a few hours the picture went back to normal.

GHM · « **Reply #46 on:** 25 Jul 2005, 12:57 am »

No problemo I will just put them far enough away not to interfere with my TV.
As much as these drivers cost..you would think they would come shielded. Hey as long as they give me good sound ...who cares!

Dmason · « **Reply #47 on:** 25 Jul 2005, 01:05 am »

Gymane

Once you get going, you aren't going to care in the least whether they are shielded or not. They seem happiest about eight feet apart.

They are a very high CALIBRE of speaker driver; I am sure you are going to be slack-jawed when it all comes together. Gizmo was right, AlNiCo does things to the sound. A very organic presentation.

GHM · « **Reply #48 on:** 25 Jul 2005, 01:11 am »

D you got me salivating already. I've been waiting for these speakers for several weeks. Man.. it's been tough to have some patience. 8 feet is good for me, that should be just about right. I can go atleast 9 if need be. 4:00 a.m going to come real fast Thursday morning. I'm sure these bad boys will keep me up till I have to go to work.

Bemopti123 · « **Reply #49 on:** 25 Jul 2005, 01:47 am »

GHM, if you are not the muscle type, do be careful with these speakers. They are heavy and large! Both of them came on what looked like refrigerator size boxes and luckily, my wife was not there to see what they contained! I got rid of all the boxes before she got home.

What will impress you most about these speakers is their sheer cohesiveness, when it comes to producing sound between the 30-20KHz. I do horn another speaker, which has Fostex drivers and what I realize about fullrange speakers is present midrange magic, but they do leave me wanting for more in the lower ranges. With the FTA-2000s, they leave me awestruck with their inherent ability of swinging up and down, fast with a very "robust" sound that goes very low. You will not even consider using subwoofers with these puppies.

These speakers solve what has been the biggest problems with a single fullrange driver, their inability to produce decent lows. In my room, they do this in spades. Although JLM seems to be facing a problem with dark bass spots in his listening room.

What you heard me other owners and at this point myself, is nothing until you get to listen to them. I am sure you will agree with most people's enthusiastic assessment of these speakers.

I have a 19" CRT TV around 15" away from one of the FTAs, no picture distortion. Call that lucky. You should not have many problems with them. Now, the problem you might face can be two fold, 1-WFA. 2-naggy neighbors, who will complain when you get down with the Alnicos.

JLM or someone who ask about the resale value of these puppies, they do not have too much of it. They are crafted by someone in Arkansas who knows his stuff and do provide world class sound at the price of a pair of monitors made in the Far East. The only resale value I see is of the drivers, but what I experienced for the past 1-2 weeks with these speakers is the following, no one has heard the F200As properly until they get the cabinet work right. Sorry to sound like an addict, but guess what? I am of these puppies.

System:

source:

Scheu Cello with Morch DP-6 blue dot and Denon DL-103.
McIntosh MR-78 tuner

amplification:
Forte Model 2 preamp as phonostage.
First Sound Paramount Deluxe HotRod MKII
Pair of Op Chip Scott Nixon Monoblocks mods by Parts Connexion, Canada.
40 watts per channel.

Room treatment:

1 season old dog hair.
Large 4 year old mutt
run down wooden floors stripped of their vanish for their continuous use.

sound:

No sound, just "there"

or

more like the sound of 1950-1980s stereos via some hyper speakers.

audience:

One honestly happy jaddedphile.

PS: Had the opportunity of listening to some Tannoy Concentric horns in a pseudo onken like cabinets, I forgot the model, but felt that the FTA-2000s has an edge in clarity and bass, not bad for 1.5K vs ~6K retail.

GHM · « **Reply #50 on:** 25 Jul 2005, 03:27 am »

Paul ...I really appreciate you taking the time to give me your assessment of these speakers. All you fellas have much experience with different varieties of speakers. So I have no doubts in what any of you speak.

My wife has become accustomed to my love of this hobby. So she doesn't bother me about my speakers or other gear. Every time I bring something in the house. She ask me "when are you going to sell those".

The longest I've kept a pair of speakers was 8 or 9 months. That was only one pair . Some stayed only for a week. Pretty sad I must say!
But it has given me the opportunity to hear quite a few different types of speakers and other gear. I'm hoping these speakers bring my speaker swapping to a screeching halt. It took me several years to figure out that the single drivers are where it's at for me. Now it's finding the ones that will be here for years to come.

I should be ok with the weight. I've wrestled with speakers that out weigh these puppies. Plus going to the gym 4 to 5 times a week doesn't hurt either.

As far as the neighbors , they are all cool. Our houses are far enough apart I would go deaf trying to get on their nerves with loud music.

Resale value doesn't seem too bad on these. Once you factor in , they retail for $1595.00. The drivers themselves make up more than half their cost. I bought them used for $1000 being 2 months old. These speakers aren't broken in yet. I figure after driver cost, the cabinets/upgraded circuit(extra $100)and internal wiring . I paid roughly $120 for each unit. Not bad for a speaker that is said to compete with other commercial single driver speakers above 5K.

That's the bad thing about speakers above say 3K. Normally none of them sell used unless they are half retail. I have a friend who decided to sell off some speakers that retailed for $6500.00. By the time I sold them for him he might have cleared $2500 on the deal. On top of that I had to get them shipped to Germany. My buddy said he would never own a speaker that cost that kind of dough again!

maxwalrath · « **Reply #51 on:** 25 Jul 2005, 03:42 am »

give me just a little more money and I would have bought those Brines speakers in a second. if you ever need to sell them I don't think you'll have too much trouble. I'm glad they went to someone here on AC who can post about them.....

Dmason · « **Reply #52 on:** 25 Jul 2005, 04:15 am »

FWIW, Last night I printed out the plans for the FTA. Bob has stated to me he thinks that for the $, the 167 + the 2ft^3 sub is the better performer, but I dunno. I have to see what the FTA is all about. They are less huge than originally thought. They CAN come upstairs.

Color me "IN!" Let us have a shoot out with the B200. These two drivers are The Ones.

Bemopti123 · « **Reply #53 on:** 25 Jul 2005, 04:28 am »

Word from the Guru himself, Vinni Rossi. When I spoke to him at the last NYC Rave in CT, and inquired about the B200As, he had given them to Louis at Omega to be tweaked and have a cabinet done. With the cabs, the bass is supposedly excellent, something, that Vinni stated could not really be achieved with OB and the B200s alone. I guess we all want some bass.

If people think Omegas with Fostex' have a sound that they could live with....hum, I ask them to listen to the Alnico Fostex' with some decent cabs. Will shake a mummy from its sleep! No BS on this statement.

Let us know what you find out from the shootout, Doc.

JLM · « **Reply #54 on:** 25 Jul 2005, 08:11 pm »

No "dark spots" of bass, dunno what that means or where it came from?

IMO the FTA-2000s aren't that big, because nearly every speaker takes up the same amount of floor space plus the needed clear space around any freestanding design is always much bigger. They are quite heavy, but like Bob Brines, I believe cabinet should not resonate. So heavy is good.

Resale isn't bad really. A loss of $600 is peanuts compared to how much could have been lost on a comparable (say $4000) speaker. This points to the value of audiofests, and (gasp) retail.

And like Vinnie's stuff, it's hand made in the USA by someone you can talk to. That's worth alot in my book. As I placed the commission with Bob for the first pair of FTA-2000s Bob broke the drivers in, measured to insure they matched and to confirm the T/S parameters, tweaked the cabinet design, got my OK, built a test cabinet, then the final cabinets, then allowed me to pick the veneer. Where else can you get all that? I even carry Bob's business card with a photo of my speaker. How many audiophiles can say that?

Bemopti123 · « **Reply #55 on:** 25 Jul 2005, 10:16 pm »

Hi JLM, I interpreted this as saying that there seems to be a suck in on the bass regions of the FTA-2000s in your room.

Quote

ven though I measured response down 8 dB from 30 - 50 Hz.

Perhaps my ears are fooling with my senses, but the bass that I seem to get is more in the 50-40 Hz range. Quite impactful, but with a resonance that is pronounced against the rear wall.

Paul K

JLM · « **Reply #56 on:** 26 Jul 2005, 10:17 am »

I've not been using the supplied circuit for several months due to bloaty bass from a tube amp I was trying, placement that was forced way too close to the rear wall, change in cabling that precluded connection to the circuit's bare wires, and now our pending move.

BTW results based on Stereophile test CDs and RS spl meter (adjusted readings) in my 8ft x 11ft x 19ft living room with speakers pulled away from walls.

GHM · « **Reply #57 on:** 26 Jul 2005, 10:37 am »

Well since the shippers let me down on Monday

. With a piss poor excuse for not picking up my speakers. I took matters into my own hands. I went and got my speakers! It was only 1100 miles worth of riding and driving!

But I'm glad to get them home. Maybe today after I get some sleep I will get them atleast playing. For right now that bed is looking pretty good. 16 hours on the road is rough!

maxwalrath · « **Reply #58 on:** 26 Jul 2005, 11:48 am »

wow.....that's dedication! Solid effort GHM, it sounds like this pair of speakers is worth it...

GHM · « **Reply #59 on:** 26 Jul 2005, 05:34 pm »

Alright I finally got these behemoths set up!! Initial impressions..you guys were right on the money!! I can't believe the bass this speaker produces!!! AMAZING!!!

The speakers are very coherent I don't hear the beaming or shouting typical of single drivers.
From memory these speakers really kick the shit out of the Modified Cain & Cain Single Ben speakers(retail $5900.00). Sorry Cain fans ..I'm calling it like I hear it! If these speakers were dealer networked .Some of these overpriced companies would be in serious trouble.

So far this is the best I've heard in the single driver world ! Honestly it's the best sounding speaker I have owned so far. I've owned plenty!!

I've had multi driver speakers that did 25Hz. These bad boys aren't far off at all. I don't need no stinking sub!

As Paul has already mentioned these speakers will rattle the windows!!!
Things just got more interesting!

The 1100 mile drive was worth ever bit of it!