Fostex fullrange drivers...?

[Haselsh1]

Does anyone out there have any useful information on the Fostex FE103En drivers as I am thinking about buying a pair of these and ready made and veneered matching cabinets from Wilmslow Audio...? I shall be driving them with an Icon Audio Stereo 20PP 15 Watt amplifier and a largely analogue source based around a Dynavector DV10X5 on a Project RPM4.

My main reason for asking is that I like the look of the cabinets and the possibility of a single point source driver but I am not sure whether there is going to be any noticeable treble or whether ther are going to sound as dull as ditch water. I am really hoping they could be the answer to my speaker quest for an easy to drive, valve friendly loudspeaker. I would opt for an oak veneer with the total cost being around £510.00 which for such a speaker, is very nice indeed.

[aquapiranha]

I had a pair of Fostex 103E's in small RLH cabinets. I really liked them, they had astonishing prescence and speed in the midrange, with a silky smooth top and while the bass was ultimatly limited by the driver and cabinet size, what was there was tight and tuneful. Here is a pic..

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb256/aquapiranha/Sachiko/CIMG2980.jpg

You can see the mouth of the horn below the driver. I used them with a couple of different valve amps and a Trends TA10.1 and was pleased with the results from all of them.

Forgot to mention, I have also used the bigger 206E in somewhat larger cabinets and they were essentially more of the same but more of it! Here they are..

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb256/aquapiranha/Sachiko/CIMG3006.jpg

In the pic above they were not fully complete but I can assure you they sounded awesome after they were finished. I currently have a pair of 127's in MLTL that I got from Ali, so I suppose you could call me a bit of a fan!

[moodybuilder]

those sasikos (think the spelling right) look really good thinking of those myself at some time but at the moment im using super pensil 12s with alpair speakers loads of base matbe the best single cone speaker ive ever heard so bare them in mind

[Ali Tait]

I have a pair of alpair 12's which I've yet to fit to my OB's. How do you find the drivers?

[Toppsy]

Haselsh1,
If they are the Fostex cabinets then forget it. The Fostex official cabinets for this driver are not very good at all. In fact most those Fostex horn loaded cabinets are quite Shite.

You'd do much better visiting Planet10 web site http://www.planet10-hifi.com/ and choosing one of their bespoke Fostex cabinets for this driver if that's the one you fancy. I am thinking here the Frugal Horns that will outperform those Fostex cabinets in every respect or one of the Fonken designs.

And another thing I would not recommend buying from Wilmslow. There prices are high and you can get any Fostex drivers cheaper importing them from any the German distributers/suppliers. However, if you do buy from Wilmslow get them to confirm they the drivers and such in stock. I bet they wont but will tell you they have. That's been my experience with them and after having paid in full upfront and then waiting 4-weeks for my drivers that still hadn't been delivered was told they had to order them from Japan and couldn't give me an actual delivery date. In the end I cancelled my order, got my money back (very begrudgingly I may say) and ordered them from Germany. My German order arrived 3-days later.

[moodybuilder]

I think there are some of the best all round full range drivers as i say if you have the room the super pensil 12 with these is full range heaven

[Stratmangler]

I'm not a Fostex wideband speaker fan myself (note that I do not refer to them as full range - they're not); personally I much prefer the Mark Audio wideband speaker drive units.

[Toppsy]

I think there are some of the best all round full range drivers as i say if you have the room the super pensil 12 with these is full range heaven

Erm, :scratch:
Excuse me BUT the SuperPencil12 speakers are designed specific for the Mark Audio Alpair12 drivers. They are definitely NOT FOSTEX units.

The original request is for the much smaller Fostex FE103En which is a 3" driver unlike the Alpair12 which is a 120mm dia cone driver and a far more sophisicated design driver than the little Fostex unit.

Like Stratmangler I also hate the smaller Fostex units that are NOT FULLRANGE. The new drivers, the grey coned versions, are much better than the older FE100 series units.

[hoopsontoast]

Fostex FF105WK may be worth a look! Although the FF125WK are said to be just as good in the mid-treble with more bass.

[Toppsy]

Although the FF125WK are said to be just as good in the mid-treble with more bass.

Well that's what you'd expect from a larger dia driver, hey:doh:
Go for the 6" version and it gets even better and the FF225WK in a pair of Metronome cabinets coupled with a pair of FT17H as supertweeters gets even better and will compete with many a commercial speaker up to £7K retail.

But we are talking titchy 3" FR (or more like Extended Range) drivers which just don't cut the mustard. However, if coupled with the right cabinet as a near field small bookshelf can give surprising results. Any the MA 70mm drivers (CHR70, CHP70, A7.3) will outperform those Fostex in every respect.

[hoopsontoast]

Yes, I agree, its a slippery slope!
I have used a few, Bandor 50mm, Veravox 3/Omnes Audio BB3.AL and now Fountek FE87. As well as the larger CSS FR125S and Veravox 5S, and Fostex FF225K.

The two pairs of FE87's are just sitting here doing nothing atm, I had planned to make some cabinets for them before Scalford, but that never happened!

[moodybuilder]

topsy i wasnt saying the mark audios are fostex was just saying if your going for single cone drivers you may as well aim as high as you can which in my opinion is the pensil series