Your favorite smaller full range driver.

capace · « **on:** 8 Feb 2009, 06:10 pm »

I'm looking to build a nice small set of speakers, for a smallish room. What are your favorite fr drivers? I've heard the tb 3" inch sound really good.

What others?

Sonny · « **Reply #1 on:** 8 Feb 2009, 06:12 pm »

My Favorite of all time is the 6.5 (7) inch Scanspeak 18W8545 driver...I have two pairs of speakers using 3 pairs of these drivers all together!

doorman · « **Reply #2 on:** 8 Feb 2009, 06:28 pm »

Not exactly "single-driver"!
Don

BillB · « **Reply #3 on:** 8 Feb 2009, 06:38 pm »

Jordan JX92S.

The Tang Band 3" are pretty nice but don't expect anything under 100hz from them.

The Dayton full range have gotten pretty good reviews too.

mcgsxr · « **Reply #4 on:** 8 Feb 2009, 07:18 pm »

FR125S's from DIY Cable in the US, or CSS in Canada.

floobydust · « **Reply #5 on:** 8 Feb 2009, 08:11 pm »

Well, for a more affordable FR driver.... hands down is the Fostex F120A... but (a distant) second to the Feastrex D5nf.

Regards, KM

Wind Chaser · « **Reply #6 on:** 9 Feb 2009, 04:32 am »

Quote from: BillB on 8 Feb 2009, 06:38 pm

Jordan JX92S.

The Jordan positively crushes all the Fostex drivers I've heard, but it also costs a fair bit more too.

doorman · « **Reply #7 on:** 9 Feb 2009, 04:49 am »

Quote from: Wind Chaser on 9 Feb 2009, 04:32 am

Quote from: BillB on 8 Feb 2009, 06:38 pm
Jordan JX92S.

The Jordan positively crushes all the Fostex drivers I've heard, but it also costs a fair bit more too.

Does the above include the P-10 ENabled 126/127's?
Don

rajacat · « **Reply #8 on:** 9 Feb 2009, 05:10 am »

In my Omega Hemp Bipoles these are definitely full range.

-Roy

TerryO · « **Reply #9 on:** 9 Feb 2009, 05:49 am »

I like the Radio Shack 40-1197 4inch driver as it was a great all around driver that can sound very good indeed. I use a pair in my "Hi-Tweek Black Box Speakers" and I've never had anyone say that they don't sound great.

A runner up would have to be the late, lamented Radio Shack 40-1354 which was one of the best drivers for a single driver fullrange speaker at a dirt cheap price. They still shame many costlier drivers.

Best Regards,
TerryO

Christopher Witmer · « **Reply #10 on:** 9 Feb 2009, 10:21 pm »

Before I became enamored of the exotic Feastrex & Exact drivers, I was a big fan of these 4" Technics 10F20 drivers:

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=31148.0

http://audio-heritage.jp/TECHNICS/unit/eas-10f20.html

Their only drawback was that their surrounds eventually wore out (after more than a decade of use) and needed to be replaced, which was no big deal if you cared to do it. I tossed eight of these in the trash a few years back because I couldn't be bothered. (If you think that's a sin, wait until you find out I also heaved eight 16-OHM Fostex FE103 drivers.)

I think the closest well-known Japanese FR to them was the Fostex FE125K.

The 10F20 are no longer made, but they and their larger brothers 16F10 and 20F10, along with a lot of other good fullrange drivers that Technics made for the DIY market, can be purchased used or NOS on Yahoo auctions.

I sure got a lot of pleasure from those Technics drivers! There are too many kinds of nice fullrange drivers out there . . . I'm glad I now have Feastrex to keep me focused in one direction, otherwise I'd be having a string of love affairs with all sorts of fullrange drivers. Just pick up a pair that have a good reputation and make some sawdust; you'll be glad you did!

Chris Witmer
Tokyo

richidoo · « **Reply #11 on:** 9 Feb 2009, 10:26 pm »

Another smiling Feastrex owner here

planet10 · « **Reply #12 on:** 10 Feb 2009, 02:15 am »

If you want a 3" driver, the Fostex FF85K is very good (i admit i've only listened to the ones i've modded). Without heroic efforts and with limited vol levels, getting below 100 Hz with any of the 3" is a challenge... yje one exception is the Aura NS3 (the one without the phase plug), it can go lower, but at the expense of being seriously inefficient.

Because of their low entry the TBs are quite popular, i never found them more than just OK... i did just score a number of them and will be seeing what i can get out of them.

For larger FR drivers i really like FE127eN (call me biased if you like

-- my room doesn't really support any of the 126e horns), i sent the Jordan JX92 packing as they do something in the HF i find REALLY annoying. The Jordan J6T has a similar issue )i'm still playing with those -- and the Alpair 5). Of note is that Alpair has introduced a pretty inexpensive 4"... in the same price range as the Fostex FE103 (i've not yet listened to either). The FR125SR (again modded) is also quite excellent. Whether one woud choose this over the Fostex is often down to your amp.

Of note is that if you are looking for a small box, some of the 4" drivers will fit into smaller boxes with better bass response than the smaller drivers stretched to go low (ie FE127/FR125 will go into 4.5 litre, the same size needed by FE83/FE87 to get best bass in a smallish box)

dave

Wind Chaser · « **Reply #13 on:** 10 Feb 2009, 02:49 am »

Quote from: planet10 on 10 Feb 2009, 02:15 am

i sent the Jordan JX92 packing as they do something in the HF i find REALLY annoying.

Better get your hearing checked out.

The JX92 doesn't shout. If you like the tipped up, RED HOT top end of Fostex, you're not going to like anything that sounds reasonably flat. The Jordan is much easier on the ear. It is smoother, plays deeper, and is far more coherent than the 108, 126 and 167. Those Fostex drivers are entry level at best.

floobydust · « **Reply #14 on:** 10 Feb 2009, 11:51 am »

Quote from: Wind Chaser on 10 Feb 2009, 02:49 am

Quote from: planet10 on 10 Feb 2009, 02:15 am
i sent the Jordan JX92 packing as they do something in the HF i find REALLY annoying.

Better get your hearing checked out. The JX92 doesn't shout. If you like the tipped up, RED HOT top end of Fostex, you're not going to like anything that sounds reasonably flat. The Jordan is much easier on the ear. It is smoother, plays deeper, and is far more coherent than the 108, 126 and 167. Those Fostex drivers are entry level at best.

Points well taken on some of the Fostex drivers... and the JX92 generally gets favorable feedback but there had also been some rumors that their quality had slipped due to changing manufacturing (which prevented me from buying a pair). The F120A is unlike their FE- or FF- series... costs a lot more too (Alnico is just expensive stuff) and will certainly outperform many drivers by a fair margin. I wouldn't say they're smooth.... but they are very flat in response, accurate and reveal a lot of low-level detail many drivers don't. I prefer a more neutral driver... not smoothed over.

Still, Feastrex is my first choice here (like Richidoo). Chris, glad to see a post from you again... hope all is well.

Regards, KM

Wind Chaser · « **Reply #15 on:** 10 Feb 2009, 12:14 pm »

KM,

I bought the JX92s prior to the switch in manufacturers, so perhaps things have changed. By smoother, I meant the FR curve. I haven't heard the Feastrex drivers, but after being a of full range driver fan for a number of years, I've sling shotted back to multi driver systems with crossovers in an open baffle.

inrank · « **Reply #16 on:** 10 Feb 2009, 01:24 pm »

I have had both the CSS FR125S and the Veravox 5S and IMO the Veravox's are brilliant (although are 3 times the price of the CSS's).
Not heard any of the fostex's im afraid, or the jordans.

chrisby · « **Reply #17 on:** 10 Feb 2009, 07:18 pm »

In descending order of drivers I've heard (and could conceivably afford) - Fostex F120A, FE127E Hemp Acoustics FR4.5 (at least the particular pair I have - current availability & consistency /QC issue is not guaranteed ), CSS FR125.

WindChaser:

Yes I have heard at least 2 pairs of Jordan JX92s in different enclosures, as well as the new J6T and Mark Audio/Alpair variant (although the latter as mid-tweets in 2 ways), and none quite floated my boat.

I do get my hearing checked at work annually for WCB, and it's definitely not that of a 25yr old; but with all due respect, I think the question was framed as "what do you like", not why, etc.

FWIW, all of the drivers listed in the first paragraph received the full zoot Bud Purvine/Planet10 EnABL treatment, and my ear/brain mechanism is still capable of discerning the improvement it makes.

p.s. if you want to paint with broad strokes and classify (all?) Fostex drivers as having "tipped up RED HOT top end", perhaps you'd like to discuss that with the hundreds of owners of HornShoppe Horns, or Bob Brines' MLTL's to name just a couple of successful commercial builders.

planet10 · « **Reply #18 on:** 10 Feb 2009, 08:34 pm »

Quote from: Wind Chaser on 10 Feb 2009, 02:49 am

Better get your hearing checked out. The JX92 doesn't shout. If you like the tipped up, RED HOT top end of Fostex, you're not going to like anything that sounds reasonably flat. The Jordan is much easier on the ear. It is smoother, plays deeper, and is far more coherent than the 108, 126 and 167. Those Fostex drivers are entry level at best.

The problem with the Jordan isn't a shout. I is less obvious than that. The J6T has the same sort of thing. It is something that makes them really hard for me to live with.

In thw last 5 or so years i have spent a whole lot of time working to help people get the shout out of their Fostex (that have shout -- you can't paint the entire range with a single brush). When i talk about Fostex, i always talk about ones that have gotten the full treatment (no secrets as to how to do that*). At this level the Fostex are decidely not entry level, they -- IMHO, biased as it might be -- take on some much more expensive drivers. The whizzer cone drivers have more issues with shout than the non-whizzer cone ones, the FExx6 drivers more than the FExx7 drivers. Things like the FF85, FX120, F120A don't have the same characteristics at all.

*(it will cost a diyer $25-40 for the materials (+ phase plugs if you can't make them yourself -- for the Whizzer cone drivers) to fully treat well over a dozen drivers )

This is measured response of the FE127eN that i noted as my favorite (little if no evidence of the annoying 7k peak the stock ones have -- it is still there, but you have to hear it gainst the smoother FX120 (for instance) to hear it):

dave

planet10 · « **Reply #19 on:** 10 Feb 2009, 08:39 pm »

Another potential driver for the short-list is the new budget Alpair the CHR70

These are freah to the market and little is known about them. They are relatively cheap thou. I sent an inquiry to get a pair today.

dave