Fountek FR88-EX

[augerpro]

Hi all. Just wanted to share some results from John krutke of the new Fountek woofer that I sent him. He'll be publishing them soon, but thought I'd give a heads up since the results were pretty good for this little guy.







Compared to the RS100 I would say the only drawback is somewhat limited xmax. Response is pretty smooth and extended. If you cross higher where excursion is not much of an issue the midrange distortion in the sensitive 1-3khz is VERY good. Especially high order, which bodes well. If you really need a little driver and need to reach a high tweeter XO, this little fellow can do the job. Sensitivity for a small driver is good and impedance is reasonable too. This thing is pretty little though. 3" or not, cone diameter is about the same as teh TB W3-1364, and both are noticeably smaller than an RS100. The basket and magnet are even smaller than the TB though. Probably make a great little computer speaker.

I've been toying of an omni idea similar to RAAL's speaker from RMAF last year and was looking for little mid than has a clean upper mid and this looks promising for that.

[JonMarsh]

Interesting results, Brandon. At this level, it looks pretty solid from 400 Hz to 5 or 6 kHz. The acid test is how comfortable it would be at 96 to 98 dB at 300 or 400 Hz.

~Jon

[augerpro]

Yeah Jon, once the cone starts really moving-whether because of low XO or very high SPL-it's not quite at the level of the RS100. Still head and shoulders above the rest of the competition though. 1.5mm xmax ain't bad for 2-3" woofer after all. I was just really impressed with upper mid performance. I weight 5th order harmonics (and taller if measured) pretty high and it really excels there. Nothing really comes close in that sensitive frequency range. Definitely a driver that demands some accomodation in the design, but probably is well worth it if you do.

When I first started looking for a mid for this RAAL "clone" if you will, I already knew I'd be using 8 per speaker, and not crossed real low. I just wanted something that was CLEAN in the midrange, especially upper midrange/lower treble where it would be crossing to the tweeter. The TB W3-1364 and Dayton RS100 were purchased for listening demo's, but I'm glad I threw this in the mix too.

[ThomasW]

I've been toying of an omni idea similar to RAAL's speaker from RMAF last year and was looking for little mid than has a clean upper mid and this looks promising for that.

Ok we're waiting......

[---k---]

Thomas,
Care to explain? The top photo I'm guessing is the RAAL. The bottom speaker??? Yours?

[ThomasW]

Their both the RAAL. The top one is a close-up so it doesn't show all 18 drivers used.

Image not available

[JonMarsh]

Well, now THAT's becoming clearer.... so how much will the omni ribbon array set one back? :W

And would that be phenolic sheet used for the midrange driver array?

[augerpro]

Heh, well Tom I didn't think I'd have time to do any speakers this summer. Now I think I will and have two projects that I MUST do. This omni ain't one. Maybe this winter :W

You kind of bummed me out posting that pic. I liked the dynamics of this speaker but that's like what, 18 mids per speaker? I didn't think it was that many...

[ThomasW]

I liked the dynamics of this speaker but that's like what, 18 mids per speaker? I didn't think it was that many...

Those will be cheap compared to the 15 RAAL ribbons per side..... 8O

[Irwin AR]

Thanks for posting this up early while john is finishing up with the rest of them.

The only problem in using them as a great pc setup is how to provide
adequate shielding. No worries on RS100 and Tb w3 fullrange tho..

From the specs i'd say the magnet use is very strong and construction
indicates that fields are emanating heavily from the sides?

[augerpro]

I don't know many people who still have CRT's for their computer. Everything moved to LCD pretty fast, so probably not an issue for most?

[JonMarsh]

You'd be surprised if you looked around our company- even in the labs- but then think of all the shielded center channel speakers being produced.

So, I'd say it's the trailing edge. Note that the RS100-4, which has better voltage sensitivity and smoother frequency response, is not shielded. That's also a point in it's favor, as that reduces the rear masking.

At home I've been all LCD since about 2003, so one of the things I'm thinking about is a small MTM based on the RS-100-4 wired in series (8 ohm load), probably with an extra pair of D26CN55 I found a couple of weeks ago- NOS.