[JohnR]

The title of the thread (and a number of posts in it) seem to indicate that it's all about size, rather than the specific driver. Given the accolades given to e.g. the B200 8" driver, what useful information can a DIYer take from this thread on which driver to choose?

[Ed Schilling]

John,
None! There is no correct answer! It's the one you like. That's the thing about DIY....you MUST experiment to learn and unless you build a known design, that you have heard,  all bets are off. The enclosure can not be separated from the driver if the system is to be "successful".

Just my opinion.
Ed
OOPS....to actually give some sort of answer...... look at efficiency and MMS for a start....flame invite?* edit* Take a look at what Ted Jordan thinks about mms.

[chrisby]

so, "y'all can put lipstick on a 12in driver, but it's still a pig in the upper midrange?"

or

"so, I said, 'thanks, but no thanks to the ........."  (fill in the blanks)


sorry, couldn't resist - there's just too much fodder in the media right now for bemusement

[ghpicard]

If I can add a little more noise to the discussion, I have built a pair of Fostex recommended side firing spiral horns (the ones that go flat against the wall, like the late T.Cain's WWWS) with FE108ESigmas and can vouch for the huge ability of the drivers to produce consistently high SPLs. They are not corner horns, but with one in a corner the bass is really good for Metal too... no BOC, mostly Deep Purple here .

The only reason for me to build a BIB with the FE166E was that I have a '45 SET amp, and the FE108ES failed to give me the SPL levels I wanted to hear, not with metal but with music other than "little girl with a guitar".
With the 108s the "other amp", a 15+15W run out of gas in the moments I needed it more. The finesse (as Dave put it) I get from the 108s is not reached with the 166s. And my wife keeps reminding me that "those speakers are too big and ugly". But also the higher sensitivity and lower registry reach of the 166s can be missed at times.

I'm currently building a slightly more powerful amp (OTL) to see if I can have my cake and eat it too
Perhaps a little inverted 108 BIB in the corner could help too...

[JimJ]

IMO, the 6'ers are a great compromise between the 4's and 8's

Although if I had the money, I'd like to try 208 Sigs with supertweets. Just couldn't afford it when I built the BIB's last year.

[srayle]

yeah, size matters

[johnnycopy]

I was recently bitten by the single-driver bug, to the point where I purchased a pair of Fritz 6" and a pair of his 4.5" Fostex speakers.  I guess it's a matter of how each work in the room, but I think I prefer the 4.5" drivers.  The sound seems more balanced and sweeter, although I haven't done extensive A/Bs.  I'm amazed at the balanced sound these little speakers put out.

In general, does the single-driver crowd prefer 4.5" or 6" speakers?  What are the pros and cons?  Thanks.

Haven't had the opportunity to compare 2 drivers in the same design much, but..

I've been in audio 40 years and had alot of speakers that spanned most conventional designs including  Magnepan, Dayton Wright, Accoustat, Martin Logan, Kef, Ruark, Tannoy, Newform Research, B&W, DECWARE, Meridians, Paradigm, Energy, Richard Allens, Hawthorne Audio, and a ton of others that I wouldn't want to name.

Listening to a pair of Ed's horns on a small tube amp was one of the 2 most magical musical event I've had. The only match I've experienced to the ability that Ed's horns had for immediacy and presence was not in my home, but with the U.S. distributor for Avantgarde when he invited me to his house in St. Louis to listen to the newest DUO's with CARDAS wiring, upgraded subs, and a zanden front-end and amplification that cost half of my house.

Ed's finished product is outstanding, and at his price, a gem.

Listen to his finished product, then write about, even in a negative way.  If you haven't heard it tho, you can guess, and you will have pre-conceived notions about it, but you won't know. Listen to his 4 inch drivers in room corners and they astound you. Metallica in my house with a flea amp energizes the room to the point you can physically feel it. (I don't understand it really).  For me with my low powered amp it can start to get a tad hard up there, but this is at severe volume. Ed sells his CUBE, which works well to fill in even more of the bottom end, but to me it removes just a hint of that transparancy when engaged.

Better yet, look to his new design, the M3 (with 4 126's per side), which if it is doing what I think it might be able to, a more effortless presentation, with the same immediacy, more bass & without the need for corner loading and even higher volume levels with lower power.

Ed has proven to me that conventional thinking about driver size can sometimes be turned on its head.