The Frugals are coming

Poultrygeist · « **on:** 19 Mar 2011, 05:01 pm »

I'm getting there and hopeful the juice is worth the squeezing.

jeffh · « **Reply #1 on:** 19 Mar 2011, 10:10 pm »

They look great. I am planning to build a pair of those FH Mk3's.

Which driver are you planning to use?

Can you post a closer picture of the side? I would like to see how you installed the stuffing, etc...

Poultrygeist · « **Reply #2 on:** 19 Mar 2011, 11:56 pm »

The picture shows the cotton felt glued to the sides with 3M spray adhesive. The cotton felt is the carpet padding from an old Ford truck.

I will be using the Fostex FE126eN drivers.

AudioSoul · « **Reply #3 on:** 20 Mar 2011, 06:41 pm »

Carpet padding from an old Ford truck. How that's re-cycling at it's finest...........

Poultrygeist · « **Reply #4 on:** 21 Mar 2011, 11:37 pm »

Well hear's the finished product and judging from it's sound the juice is worth the squeezing.

SET Man · « **Reply #5 on:** 21 Mar 2011, 11:41 pm »

Hey!

Man! Those look nice

I like the curved back. Would love to hear them myself.

Let's us know how they sound.

Take care,
Buddy

Poultrygeist · « **Reply #6 on:** 21 Mar 2011, 11:42 pm »

The Mk3's best side ( audio porn )

Poultrygeist · « **Reply #7 on:** 21 Mar 2011, 11:51 pm »

They've only been playing for a couple of hours and with no break-in the Fostex FE126eN's sound better than I expected and the bass is pretty good even without corner loading.

Poultrygeist · « **Reply #8 on:** 21 Mar 2011, 11:55 pm »

Sam-fi · « **Reply #9 on:** 22 Mar 2011, 02:26 am »

COOL!

Tell us how they sound compaired to the zu's. I have always wondered how they would compair to fostex fullranges.
I have previously avoided them because I hear they are sorta cold and get phat with tubes. Let us know what you think.

Sam

jeffh · « **Reply #10 on:** 22 Mar 2011, 02:55 am »

Very nice. A couple more questions: What amp are you using and how did you decide on the Fostex over the other drivers?

Poultrygeist · « **Reply #11 on:** 22 Mar 2011, 12:18 pm »

The Fostex drivers require a long break-in period to open up. My Tekton 126E's took a few weeks. I hooked the Mk3's to an FM receiver and am leaving them to play in my garage non stop. The detail is already better than the Omens but I expected that. It's not fair yet to do a comparison but stay tuned.

I chose the Fostex over the CHR as they are more efficient and when you only have 2.5 Miniwatts on tap that's important. In the Mk3 build the Fostexs don't require acoustistuff below the drivers while the other driver options do. I didn't want to rig netting to keep the acoustistuff in place. In the V the acoustistuff stays put but the throat area would be different.

My modest amp collection consist of a MiniWatt with diode mod and a DIY TK2050 power amp with a Aric tube preamp and a Rotel single ended tube receiver. I'm looking hard at some Chinese 300B and 2A3c amps and would welcome any recommendations.

chrisby · « **Reply #12 on:** 22 Mar 2011, 06:46 pm »

Quote from: Poultrygeist on 22 Mar 2011, 12:18 pm

My modest amp collection consist of a MiniWatt with diode mod and a DIY TK2050 power amp with a Aric tube preamp and a Rotel single ended tube receiver. I'm looking hard at some Chinese 300B and 2A3c amps and would welcome any recommendations.

Nice job on the Frugals

2A3 could be very tasty with this driver - would the Bottlehead Stereomour be out of your budget? One of my favorite combinations was prior Paramour Monoblocks and FE127E in small room. With the 126's extra several dB of sensitivity 3.5 watts would certainly be enough for my needs, but of course YMMV.

There are also some interesting new amps from Shuguang - marketed by Ian Grant (and perhaps others) that could be worth a look - EL84 & EL34 P/P at $575 & $785 respectively to 300B SE at $2100 (with Treasure series tubes, or $1475 with standard Shuguangs)

Never overlook the Decware Zen amps - several flavors of factory built or kit EL84/SV83 in either triode or pentode, 6V6 and finally EL34s.

Then of course there are too many circuits to mention for DIY scratch builds or part kits, including such as the Tubelab SimpleSE (a wide range of ouptput options) or Simple PP. I built one of the latter with EL84 in pentode, and got gifted with the budget to spring for a complete set of Psvane output and drivers - not a waste! This one is driving a dual driver Mark Audio EL70 system, which is probably about 5dB less sensitivity than your Frugals, and the largest room in my house, so the extra grunt over any of the lower powered triode amps is very helpful.

Poultrygeist · « **Reply #13 on:** 23 Mar 2011, 09:53 pm »

I can buy this for $750 and 6moons loves it.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Dared-MP-2A3C-2a3-SET-tube-amp-new-US-limit-Ed-/260755916948?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cb6438894

chrisby · « **Reply #14 on:** 23 Mar 2011, 10:29 pm »

Quote from: Poultrygeist on 23 Mar 2011, 09:53 pm

I can buy this for $750 and 6moons loves it.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Dared-MP-2A3C-2a3-SET-tube-amp-new-US-limit-Ed-/260755916948?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cb6438894

IINM, 6Moons didn't conduct a full blown review including upskirt photos and exhaustive tube and accessory rolling, but for that price you almost couldn't lose?

enjoy it whatever you decide

Poultrygeist · « **Reply #15 on:** 27 Mar 2011, 12:21 am »

The 6moons reviewer liked the Dared 2a3c enough to keep it in his personal system and it's used as the house amp in several reviews.

I have to think it would work well with the FH Mk3 or my Omens.

chrisby · « **Reply #16 on:** 28 Mar 2011, 04:06 pm »

Quote from: Poultrygeist on 27 Mar 2011, 12:21 am

The 6moons reviewer liked the Dared 2a3c enough to keep it in his personal system and it's used as the house amp in several reviews.

I have to think it would work well with the FH Mk3 or my Omens.

Don't get me wrong - what I was trying to get at was that I've yet to hear a 2A3 amp that I didn't like, and while I haven't listened to my Paramours with the latest FE126 in FH3, I'd imagine it would be great.

Poultrygeist · « **Reply #17 on:** 13 Apr 2011, 02:03 pm »

I've just added a 2a3 amp to the mix which puts a lot more "meat on the bones" for the full rangers compared to what the sweet little Miniwatt can deliver. After three weeks of constant break-in the Mk3's are showing some very nice transparency and great detail. Bass is decent and tight with corner placement but not as plentiful as the Omens but a tad more refined. The new Fostex 126En has a smoother top end vs the 126E and it's quite obvious in the Mk3 application.

As expected from a tricked out 10 incher, the Omens win hands down on bass and sound stage but the Frugals offer more detail and work better in a smaller room and in near field. The Omens are much more sensitive to placement ( still fiddling with this ) and get boomy near corners and walls but they will fill your whole house with sound. Love listening to them from adjoining rooms as it's like standing outside a live dance hall.

The Omens are a better choice for a wide variety of music while the Mk3 excell with small group jazz and vocals. I plan to live with both for many years to come.

doorman · « **Reply #18 on:** 13 Apr 2011, 02:56 pm »

You may find the 126's improve in soundstaging with playing time. They will surprise you!
Happy listening.
Don

Poultrygeist · « **Reply #19 on:** 16 Apr 2011, 01:49 pm »

I replaced the Chinese 6N3 with Tung-sols and the Dared 2a3 is just stunning with the Frugals. I am more than pleased with this combination.

Anyone comtemplating a Frugal build should do so as they are truly amazing. I'm constantly back and forth between these and the Omens, not knowing which flavor I prefer - let's see, will it be Chunky Monkey or Cherry Garcia today?