New Fountek full-range drivers

JohnR · « **on:** 25 Oct 2010, 09:34 am »

New to me anyway... noticed these on the Madisound site recently, a 3" available in both 4 and 8 ohm versions

https://www.madisound.com/store/product_info.php?cPath=45_241_282&products_id=8816

and a 5 inch

https://www.madisound.com/store/product_info.php?cPath=45_241_307&products_id=8817

I'll be trying the 3".

Wind Chaser · « **Reply #1 on:** 25 Oct 2010, 09:46 am »

Can't see the FR on the 3" but the 5" looks very good / balanced. The price is right so it should be fun.

JohnR · « **Reply #2 on:** 25 Oct 2010, 09:59 am »

Hi - it's in the PDF linked near the bottom. https://www.madisound.com/store/manuals/Fountek%20FR89EX-4.pdf

Guy 13 · « **Reply #3 on:** 25 Oct 2010, 10:13 am »

Quote from: JohnR on 25 Oct 2010, 09:59 am

Hi - it's in the PDF linked near the bottom. https://www.madisound.com/store/manuals/Fountek%20FR89EX-4.pdf

Hi all.
I usualy try to stay away from any drivers having less than 90DB efficiency.
The 5" only has 85DB/1w/1m you need a good number of watts to drive it.
Guy 13

JohnR · « **Reply #4 on:** 25 Oct 2010, 10:36 am »

Hi Guy

You assume that the goals of a project using these drivers would be the same as your goals - but they are not

Guy 13 · « **Reply #5 on:** 25 Oct 2010, 11:10 am »

Quote from: JohnR on 25 Oct 2010, 10:36 am

Hi Guy You assume that the goals of a project using these drivers would be the same as your goals - but they are not

Yes you are right John,
I was assuming that those drivers would not fit any of my audio projects and that not the right way to post my ideas...
Sorry about that.
Now, that being said : What is the goal of the owner of this little full range driver ?
By the way, I am looking for some good and affordable 8'' full range drivers.
I have now a pair of Audio Nirvana 8'' but I want to up grade. I am more or less allergic to passive and active crossovers.
Any advice ?
Guy 13

JLM · « **Reply #6 on:** 25 Oct 2010, 06:57 pm »

I really like my Fostex F200A drivers, especially since they've been ""EnABLed". Not cheap, but no where near the prices some go for.

Like most here I'm "allergic" to crossovers too, but am willing to live with 1st order or beaming as I'm also "allergic" to whizzers.

JohnR · « **Reply #7 on:** 25 Oct 2010, 11:16 pm »

Quote from: Guy 13 on 25 Oct 2010, 11:10 am

Yes you are right John,
I was assuming that those drivers would not fit any of my audio projects and that not the right way to post my ideas...
Sorry about that.
Now, that being said : What is the goal of the owner of this little full range driver ?
By the way, I am looking for some good and affordable 8'' full range drivers.
I have now a pair of Audio Nirvana 8'' but I want to up grade. I am more or less allergic to passive and active crossovers.
Any advice ?
Guy 13

Hey Guy, no problem. To me the 3" seems well suited (based on modeling in Unibox) to a small satellite speaker - that's how I'll be trying it anyway. The 5" for something like a small ported bookshelf. I agree with you in principle about high efficiency but there's that trade-off between sensitivity, low end extension, and box size

I haven't used an 8" fullrange but the B200 is popular. The newish drivers from Tangband, lessee... W8-1808 or W8-1772 depending on application, have good reports. Parts Express have those but given where you live I wonder if you can get them more directly.

JohnR · « **Reply #8 on:** 25 Oct 2010, 11:21 pm »

BTW I did find a high-efficiency 5" after you made your comment, it's the one from Supravox. I can't make any sense of it in the models though, perhaps it is designed for use in a back-loaded horn.

sts9fan · « **Reply #9 on:** 25 Oct 2010, 11:55 pm »

I look forward to your comments on the 3"

Guy 13 · « **Reply #10 on:** 26 Oct 2010, 01:16 pm »

Quote from: Guy 13 on 25 Oct 2010, 11:10 am

Yes you are right John,
I was assuming that those drivers would not fit any of my audio projects and that not the right way to post my ideas...
Sorry about that.
Now, that being said : What is the goal of the owner of this little full range driver ?
By the way, I am looking for some good and affordable 8'' full range drivers.
I have now a pair of Audio Nirvana 8'' but I want to up grade. I am more or less allergic to passive and active crossovers.
Any advice ?
Guy 13

Hi all.
Those are the pictures of my first attempt in the wonderful world of full range cross over less drivers.
Nothing extraordinary, but it taught me a lot about full range drivers and despite the fact that the sound coming out of those 115 USD/pair (Price I paid a few years back) is a little or a lot agressive, they have something going for them and that's the details especially with voices and strings instruments.
That first expereince did not cost me much and made me want to go further into more experimentations and that's what I will do soon.
Any suggestion of driver's makes are welcome, but I want to stick to 8" full range drivers.
Guy 13

JohnR · « **Reply #11 on:** 5 Nov 2010, 02:54 am »

Drivers arrived today. They're... ah, cute

They don't look the same as the Madisound pictures, but like this: http://www.europe-audio.com/Product.asp?Product_ID=7930 (not that it matters). Better get some box planning done.

PDR · « **Reply #12 on:** 5 Nov 2010, 03:01 am »

Those look a lot like the Mark Audio CHR70.......

Have fun!......keep us updated

JohnR · « **Reply #13 on:** 5 Nov 2010, 03:08 am »

They do a bit... a fair bit smaller though

Also, conventional surround (not inverted).

JohnR · « **Reply #14 on:** 20 Nov 2010, 04:19 pm »

Oh, well I finally got them into a pair of old boxes (took out some TBs). Not bad so far, will get them set up better and let them play for a while.

Teflon · « **Reply #15 on:** 20 Nov 2010, 10:24 pm »

I don't know about the FR89EX but I just made a pair of 2litre flare-slot ported desktops using the FR88EX which looks a remarkably similar driver - also 3" so perhaps this is of interest.

It sounds excellent, balanced frequency response, good bass for the size of enclosure and driver, no harshness in the high's. They arrived boxed and labelled as 'matched pair' but there were no mounting gaskets included. These speakers are currently being driven from a 1W 6AS7 tube amp and it's proven loud enough so far.

eclein · « **Reply #16 on:** 20 Nov 2010, 11:16 pm »

Can someone explain to me how these single driver systems work? Is it: 1) The driver reproduces lows to highs with no crossover and somehow manages to push all the air by itself. Or: 2)Are there actually some type of passive second cone or whatever that gets the high end?? I'm very curious about these and there is no electronics at all?? Is that right, its just amp to speaker to ear??
Thanks in advance, and I think Teflon's Little Red Riding Hood speakers are very cool looking

Teflon · « **Reply #17 on:** 20 Nov 2010, 11:23 pm »

You got it exactly - single cone, amp connected to cone with no cross-over, cone plays to ear. Nothing else going on . The cone is designed to produce the full range of frequencies (hence the name).

eclein · « **Reply #18 on:** 20 Nov 2010, 11:26 pm »

How does the speaker stay out of its on way to produce highs and lows at the same time?

Teflon · « **Reply #19 on:** 21 Nov 2010, 12:59 am »

For low frequencies the cone moves slowly and for high frequencies it moves quickly -what's to get out of the way ?

Generally, big cones suffer break up modes at high freq, they stop moving as a solid piston and small cones struggle to move enough air for good bass. Extreme excursions could, I suppose, lead to some other problems (doppler?) but I don't drive my speakers too hard. However you look at it, it's still a compromise and not necessarily better than a multi-driver speaker. Nevertheless, many people like full range speakers because of both the simplicity of design and the lack of a cross-over's impacting the sound.