virajsingh
Member
Hi Guys,
A year ago I bought a pair of Fostex FE203En-S Special edition full range drivers (I understand that only 500 pairs were produced) from Germany (Germany has been good to me; also got my Technics 1210 MKII TT from there). Their spec are as follows:
ES Banana pulp cone with lightweight corrugated cloth surround. The paper cone and damper has a three-point bonding adhesive in conjunction with the voice coil. The three-point bonding method increases the strength of the cone neck. Nickel plated copper magnet circuit treatments on top and bottom plates, with copper ring used to reduce current distortion. Large 180mm diameter low distortion ferrite magnet circuit. Rigid aluminum die cast chassis.
Format: 20cm Full Range (8")
Impedance: 8 ohm
Resonance Frequency (Fs): 43Hz
Frequency Range: F0 to 20kHz
Sensitivity: 99dB @ 1W/1M
Music Power Handling: 100W
Moving Mass (Ms): 12g
Qts: 0.14
Effective Vibration Radius: 8.1cm
Magnet Weight: 1,836g (4.04 pounds)
I had them for 3-4 months sitting in boxes as I was too lazy to attempt getting the recommended back loaded horn made for them. Subsequently I was able to buy very solidly built cabinets for Fostex FE208EZ sigma from fellow Delhi based HFV member (Cybervinay; btw he too has a pair of these full range drivers).
Ever since then I have had my drivers in these cabinets and I am really liking the full and rich sound I get from the speakers with the speakers playing very high into the upper frequencies. And I also find the bass more than adequate. They are fast and dynamic and I don't think the horn is muddying the bass. With my 8 Watt SET amp I just have to play them at 8/9 o'clock to fill in the room with all the music and I have never gone beyond 12 o'clock (at that level i could have my entire complex listening to my rock albums). Each speaker I guess must be weighing over 50 kgs.
I however have a couple of question and would be grateful for more knowledgeable forum members to enlighten me.
(a) Do you think it would have made considerable difference if i had actually mounted my drivers in cabinets suggested by Fostex? I believe that the cabinet really works on the bass end of the music. The FE203En-s cabinet details maybe see here (http://www.madisound.com/pdf/FE203En-S_CabPlan.pdf) and the details of Fostex recommended cabinets for FE208EZ sigma maybe seen here (http://www.madisound.com/pdf/fostexcabs/208ez_enclrev.pdf)
(b) You would notice in spec sheet of FE203En-S that there are 3 graphs of freq. response vs. spl at 0, 30 and 60 degrees. I guess degree here refers to temperature (correct me if I am wrong). Does this mean that the the high frequency response of the driver/speaker would improve in winters?
Please do share your insights on my queries. I shall take some pictures and post them soon (I need to do some make over and replace the black grill cloth covering the open end of the horn and also get them polished).
Cheers
Viraj Singh
A year ago I bought a pair of Fostex FE203En-S Special edition full range drivers (I understand that only 500 pairs were produced) from Germany (Germany has been good to me; also got my Technics 1210 MKII TT from there). Their spec are as follows:
ES Banana pulp cone with lightweight corrugated cloth surround. The paper cone and damper has a three-point bonding adhesive in conjunction with the voice coil. The three-point bonding method increases the strength of the cone neck. Nickel plated copper magnet circuit treatments on top and bottom plates, with copper ring used to reduce current distortion. Large 180mm diameter low distortion ferrite magnet circuit. Rigid aluminum die cast chassis.
Format: 20cm Full Range (8")
Impedance: 8 ohm
Resonance Frequency (Fs): 43Hz
Frequency Range: F0 to 20kHz
Sensitivity: 99dB @ 1W/1M
Music Power Handling: 100W
Moving Mass (Ms): 12g
Qts: 0.14
Effective Vibration Radius: 8.1cm
Magnet Weight: 1,836g (4.04 pounds)
I had them for 3-4 months sitting in boxes as I was too lazy to attempt getting the recommended back loaded horn made for them. Subsequently I was able to buy very solidly built cabinets for Fostex FE208EZ sigma from fellow Delhi based HFV member (Cybervinay; btw he too has a pair of these full range drivers).
Ever since then I have had my drivers in these cabinets and I am really liking the full and rich sound I get from the speakers with the speakers playing very high into the upper frequencies. And I also find the bass more than adequate. They are fast and dynamic and I don't think the horn is muddying the bass. With my 8 Watt SET amp I just have to play them at 8/9 o'clock to fill in the room with all the music and I have never gone beyond 12 o'clock (at that level i could have my entire complex listening to my rock albums). Each speaker I guess must be weighing over 50 kgs.
I however have a couple of question and would be grateful for more knowledgeable forum members to enlighten me.
(a) Do you think it would have made considerable difference if i had actually mounted my drivers in cabinets suggested by Fostex? I believe that the cabinet really works on the bass end of the music. The FE203En-s cabinet details maybe see here (http://www.madisound.com/pdf/FE203En-S_CabPlan.pdf) and the details of Fostex recommended cabinets for FE208EZ sigma maybe seen here (http://www.madisound.com/pdf/fostexcabs/208ez_enclrev.pdf)
(b) You would notice in spec sheet of FE203En-S that there are 3 graphs of freq. response vs. spl at 0, 30 and 60 degrees. I guess degree here refers to temperature (correct me if I am wrong). Does this mean that the the high frequency response of the driver/speaker would improve in winters?
Please do share your insights on my queries. I shall take some pictures and post them soon (I need to do some make over and replace the black grill cloth covering the open end of the horn and also get them polished).
Cheers
Viraj Singh