Modern single-driver speakers - thoughts ?

It makes one wonder though if the orca could be replicated for less.

If you had the plans, I don't see any reason why not. I think you could say the same thing about pretty much any commercially produced speaker out there that doesn't use proprietary drivers or other parts.
 
The Eric Alexander designed wide baffle Tekton on the left uses the FE126En. It's one of the best imaging speakers I've heard. Great mids as you would expect but limited bass without the OB H-frames. The FE126En is normally used in BL horns as that's one of the few implementations in which the 4" Fostex driver can produce acceptable bass.

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I have a pair of bass reflex tektons which use the fe103en I would say the hardest part of making them DIY would be figuring out which inductor and resister he used which I could do now having owning them were these used to tame the mids ? IMO the 103en is a really nice sounding driver even better with help on the bass.......
 
The Orca's dimensions are similar to the Fostex plans.

Which Fostex plans are you comparing them to? According to the Fostex spec sheet, the dimensions are very different. Not only are the actual w/d/h dimensions completely different, but the internal volume, bracing requirements and port diameters are different as well.
 
Fostex plans 11.8 ( H ) vs Orca 11.25 ( H )
Fostex plans 7.4 ( W ) vs Orca 5.5 ( W )
Fostex plans 7.4 ( D ) vs Orca 7 ( D )
 
Fostex plans 11.8 ( H ) vs Orca 11.25 ( H )
Fostex plans 7.4 ( W ) vs Orca 5.5 ( W )
Fostex plans 7.4 ( D ) vs Orca 7 ( D )

Thanks Poultrygeist,

Those are the ones I saw. Significant differences in internal volume, which obviously is a big factor in driver behavior. The Orca's are much smaller inside, especially when you consider the bracing. I also noticed large differences in port volumes. Orca port is 3/4 x 2 inches while the Fostex port is 1.57*2 inches.

As I've mentioned, every parameter changes the sound. Unless everything is absolutely identical, those two designs could sound pretty different. That said I bet both sound good and preferences would probably vary from listener to listener.
 
Speaker building is no black art.

No doubt some believe it to be as they ascribe almost magical characteristics to commercial designs and companies spread the hype to justify high prices for very simple single driver designs that most here could build.

I have no problem with companies earning a profit and in order to do so they generally charge ten times their cost. Some companies use exotic hardwoods for enclosures to help justify their lofty price but seasoned DIY'ers can explain why BB plywood is the better choice.

While enclosure dimensions affect sound, the parameters are less critical than you might think. Volume is easily changed with stuffing/damping and in the case of the small Fostex drivers they sound very good mounted in the cardboard box they came in. :yes:
 
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I'm no expert in anything.

Though I did dick around with WinISD once. This was almost four years ago now. The results with a pair of 3-inch wide range Aurasound drivers is something I still listen to to this day as a little bedside system.

Once I generated dimensions I just had to stick to them while building. It wasn't that hard.


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Speaker building is no black art.

No doubt some believe it to be as they ascribe almost magical characteristics to commercial designs and companies spread the hype to justify high prices for very simple single driver designs that most here could build.

I have no problem with companies earning a profit and in order to do so they generally charge ten times their cost. Some companies use exotic hardwoods for enclosures to help justify their lofty price but seasoned DIY'ers can explain why BB plywood is the better choice.

While enclosure dimensions affect sound, the parameters are less critical than you might think. Volume is easy charged with stuffing/damping and in the case of the small Fostex drivers they sound very good mounted in the cardboard box they came in. :yes:

I agree with you. I do like the Blumenstein Orca's because of the craftsmanship of their enclosures along with the Fostex driver, which is something I could never hope to replicate. For me, that makes them worth the price of admission.
 
In the very center of this picture near the floor in a Fostex center speaker I build to match the FE126en BL horns in a 5.1 HT.

I used the Fostex plans for the 126en in a bass reflex cabinet and the results were very satisfying.

I keep reading that the Fostex designs aren't the best but I'm wondering how many folks have actually built them vs parroting someone else opinion? It reminds me of reading a Chevy shop manual and saying GM doesn't know much about their cars.

Another example of "parroting" is what some call "Lowther shout" which hasn't existed in Lowther's made this century. Although the rolled whizzer fixed that years ago, I suspect it's perpetuated by many who have never seen a Lowther much less heard one.


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I'm no expert in anything.

Though I did dick around with WinISD once. This was almost four years ago now. The results with a pair of 3-inch wide range Aurasound drivers is something I still listen to to this day as a little bedside system.

Once I generated dimensions I just had to stick to them while building. It wasn't that hard.


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I am a layman was well. I agree that once you get volumes and port size/length the dimensions don't seem to matter all that much. Placement on the baffle for minimized diffraction does matter as does multiway acoustic centers. Again this coming from a layman and the reading I've done along with the design of one two way.
 
The Fostex FF85K is a fine sounding 3 inch driver that gets lots of praise in the Micro Fonken cabinet.


http://p10hifi.net/tlinespeakers/FAL/box-plans/microFonken-0v9-map.pdf

Yeah, the Planet10 Hifi guys really like that little driver. They praise it a lot. Next week I'll have the opportunity to spend some time with one of their Mini Fonken designs in my listening room using a Mark Audio driver that I've never heard. I'm looking forward to it as I'm always interested in hearing how different designer's products sound.
 
Yeah, the Planet10 Hifi guys really like that little driver. They praise it a lot. Next week I'll have the opportunity to spend some time with one of their Mini Fonken designs in my listening room using a Mark Audio driver that I've never heard. I'm looking forward to it as I'm always interested in hearing how different designer's products sound.

Gosh, i guess i need to hear a 3" to believe it...:smoke:
 
The Fostex FF85K is a fine sounding 3 inch driver that gets lots of praise in the Micro Fonken cabinet.


http://p10hifi.net/tlinespeakers/FAL/box-plans/microFonken-0v9-map.pdf


I have the 85WK driver and I have build that cabinet...I can honestly say that the Lance cabinet is much better and I have been running it for almost a year now :)

http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/full-range/247904-woden-design-3-box-designs.html

http://wodendesign.com/downloads/Woden-FF85-Lance-Laby-1v01-180214.pdf
 
Some new Mark Audio Alpair 7.3s I recently built to add to the mix. Loving em so far after about 95 hours.

I'm going to me moving them into the living room to pair with a sub and some bass management. On their own they are good but lack bass even though the box is tuned to 55 Hz. It's a 7L cab from Parts Express.
 
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Some new Mark Audio Alpair 7.3s I recently built to add to the mix. Loving em so far after about 95 hours.

I'm going to me moving them into the living room to pair with a sub and some bass management. On their own they are good but lack bass even though the box is tuned to 55 Hz. It's a 7L cab from Parts Express.

Those look great! I haven't met the small single full range driver yet that I felt wouldn't benefit from a sub...or two....or three :yes:
 
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