GHM
I have to take exception to the notion that I am selling either Bob Brines, or Martin King short. I have stunning respect for both of them, and their work, and have relied on Martin's worksheets about five times now. I think Bob knows the MLTL better than ANYONE, and his designs are fabulous. I, however, was referring to SOUND. Further, I consider both these gentlemen also, cyber friends in audio... Why does the music so often get lost in all of this, with so many people so apparently interested in music? My own thinking is that they are more interested in the equipment. They are "stereophiles." I am first a humble music lover/trained, published musician, cursed with perfect pitch and the ability to play several instruments, as my only reference to that which I choose to like or dislike. My only point was that IN MY OPINION, the Fostex F200A, (which I consider to be a stunning industrial achievement in the Japanese tradition of improving existing ideas, -in this case the now outdated 1960's JBL LE-8,) to be a musical flop. In conversation with a well known speaker designer, also a friend of mine, I could not find the words to describe the sound, he offered, "dead?" "Yes, I said, that about sums it up." I really wanted to like it, but alas, did not. I offered these expensive drivers for sale on these august circles in order to recoup some of the near $800 expense, a reasonable action in my view, and, while I think of it, some time later had it pointed out to me that JLM had referred to me as a "wheeler dealer type," a "horsetrader," on the Brines Forum. Horsetrader? Hardly a compliment, hardly realistic, hardly deserved, and hardly referencial to the fact that I was spending alot of hard earned money testing many many wideband drivers, and gladly sharing these results which apparently benefitted many, many people who otherwise would not have had access to this level of comparative information, judging by the sheer amount of email correspondence I received in the form of questions seeking advice, this being a matter of record, and for the further record, there have been ALOT of queries. I should add I was only too happy to take the time to help these people, with anything I happened to have learned from first hand experience, and the committment of time and treasure.
So, you see Gymane, sometimes there is more to things than meets the eye. The important thing here is that YOU enjoy your speakers. This makes me genuinely happy, because you are one of the good ones. As far as auditioning and testing speaker drivers, it is my ears that decide. Theirs are the only opinions I care about.
