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F.M.I. - Nuance I (any information?)

Sorry guys, no update yesterday. I do quality assurance for my work and my schedule varies day to day. I had a big bug come in yesterday that may prevent me from opening these up for a while. I will try for early next week, if I can't find time this weekend.

I did upload the images I took with my phone to imgur per @swechsler erlier suggestion. The link below is to the imgur gallery.
https://imgur.com/gallery/JY60vId
At some point I will redo the past images in the older comments and imbed then instead.
 
swechsler said:
Instead of posting the pics directly here, post them on imgur and then use the image icon to embed the pics in the post. That will let you post them in high resolution. Images posted directly on AK get extremely downsized.

Also, better to make new responses rather than editing the older ones, otherwise thread subscribers will not see the updates.
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One pair is FMI 80’s and the center pair is the FMI 100’s
 
Nicolelynn52 said:
One pair is FMI 80’s and the center pair is the FMI 100’s
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I don't think that's correct. Both pairs are clearly marked Nuance and have the same size woofers. The image I posted previously from Audio's equipment directory clearly shows that both of the speakers you mention have different size woofers than the Nuance.
 
swechsler said:
I don't think that's correct. Both pairs are clearly marked Nuance and have the same size woofers. The image I posted previously from Audio's equipment directory clearly shows that both of the speakers you mention have different size woofers than the Nuance.
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The first picture is the FMI 100’s that I have and the second one is the Nuances that I also own. I have heard that he had different versions of the Nuances but I never saw or heard them. I also own J-Modular and Premieres (P-12’s).
 

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Nicolelynn52 said:
The first picture is the FMI 100’s that I have and the second one is the Nuances that I also own. I have heard that he had different versions of the Nuances but I never saw or heard them. I also own J-Modular and Premieres (P-12’s).
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Those are clearly different from the OP's speakers. Yours have smaller woofers and the tweeters are diagonally mounted.
 
Fasturd said:
There is a supposed set of FMI Nuance modified by Mr. Fulton himself for sale near me.
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Those look a lot more different than the ones I have. Not sure how much they are worth but $600 for the pair is four times more than I paid for the two pairs. That being said I like the Fultons I posted about more than the new ELAC 6.2 floor standing speakers I paid $400 for.

P.S. I saw that craigslist post today before I got your message. I am also a Minnesota native. Part of the reason I took a gamble on the one I bought is because I read online that Fulton was Minnesota made.
 
Nicolelynn52 said:
The first picture is the FMI 100’s that I have and the second one is the Nuances that I also own. I have heard that he had different versions of the Nuances but I never saw or heard them. I also own J-Modular and Premieres (P-12’s).
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Nicole Lynn, What are your thoughts about your Nuances? Thank you! Rick
 
I have a set of the 3 way Nuance I's. The mid looks like it has mickey mouse ears where the old 4 way tweeter setup had the cutouts filled.

I have also been inside of mine, and the lower screw is indeed a potentiometer, although I cant remember which one does what driver. I am in the process (for the last couple of years) of replacing the speaker terminals on these, and got one side done which was broken when I got them.


IMG_0660.JPG IMG_0662.JPG
 
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the bottom screw is for the woofer... the J bass cabinets have the same knob/screw thing... the pot on the top would be for the tweeter levels
 
Fulton was well known for modifying his speakers multiple times. Stereophile, which rated Fultons very highly, was beside itself with all the queries from people who read the reviews, but found that by the time they actually had gotten the magazine and gone to hear the speakers, the speakers were different from what had been reviewed. So I wouldn't be surprised if names, model numbers, drivers, and especially crossovers, don't match neatly with descriptions or with other pairs of supposedly the same speaker.
 
toxcrusadr said:
I'm guessing that the earlier version with the 4 tweeters either had some of them functioning as midranges and some as tweeters, or they had to use some contouring in the crossover circuit to flatten the response. Eventually they decided to put in a midrange driver to take over that part of the job and at that point they didn't need all those tweeters. As a result the crossovers are probably going to be different regardless of how they utilized the 4 tweeters.

I think the bottom shaft on the one pair is not a ground screw, no need for that on a speaker, but it looks to me like another potentiometer of a type adjusted with a screwdriver instead of a knob. Note where it is set and try to turn it left and right. If it turns all the way in both directions easily like a volume control, it's probably a volume pot for the newly added midrange on that model.

Here's a basic primer on crossovers that I like, covering simple 1st order and then 2d order:

http://www.colomar.com/Shavano/crossover6db.html
http://www.colomar.com/Shavano/crossover12db.html

So what you'll see in there is a little board with capacitors, inductors (that look like coils of wire), possibly resistors, and potentiometers to adjust volumes.



Hint when removing woofers: Keep one hand around the tip of the screwdriver! One slip will poke a hole right through that cone and you'll hate yourself. :biggrin:
Also note which wire goes to which terminal - one terminal on the driver is usually marked with a dot. Don't rely on memory.
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Not in one of Bob Fulton's speakers!
 
Here's what another version looks like and seems to match the specs posted. Looks like they were trying to time align them? Probably the newest incantation? Remind me of the Technics models from the early 80s.
Screenshot_20250921-220622.png
These are posted locally right now and aren't perfect, cabinets are kinda weird.
They have a promising look and I really liked the ones with the RTR panels, I used 8 of those panels ripped out from the old pair of Infinitys that sounded awful as they were made but really came to life after properly utilizing them.
 
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