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Fostex FE126 enclosures... BK-12M or Frugel Horn?

bushwood4568

bushwood4568

Member
Hello everyone. First off I'd like to thank everyone who got the site back up, I was missing
Audiokarma. Now for my question. I'm thinking about building my first real DIY speakers using Fostex FE126En drivers. I am trying to decide between the Madisound BK-12m folded horn kit or building my own Frugel Horn MK3's. I like the BK-12m because it has everything I need, but is probably more expensive than the Frugel Horn, although I could just cut my own pieces. I will have a parent who is fairly good with woodworking, and can help me cut and put together this, as I am young and inexperienced. Which enclosure would be better? I do listen to a lot of rock, however, I am planning on getting a different set of speakers for just Rock N' Roll. I will play all types of music on these though, as I am trying to expand my musical "horizon". These will be driven most likely by a 16wpc PP tube amp kit. It is the K-16 from S-5 electronics. But anyway, does anyone know of differences in sound between the two?
Cheers!
-Bushwood4568
 
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I think the FH3 will have a little more bass & be a bit more articulate than the BK-12. Note that the FH3 needs to be close to the front wall, or better yet, in a corner. Best to use high grade Baltic Birch plywood (which has many more layers than regular ply, and is void free or close to it)--not available at any Lowes or Home Depot I have ever visited.

My experience w/ Fostex drivers is that they need a lot of break-in time. Play them at modest volume for the first 100 hrs. (I just let them run 24/7 w/ FM radio.) Then play them normally & they will slowly continue to improve; my impression is that they sound better at 1000 hrs than they did at 400 hrs.

Cheers, Jim
 
Jim Shearer said:
I think the FH3 will have a little more bass & be a bit more articulate than the BK-12. Note that the FH3 needs to be close to the front wall, or better yet, in a corner. Best to use high grade Baltic Birch plywood (which has many more layers than regular ply, and is void free or close to it)--not available at any Lowes or Home Depot I have ever visited.

My experience w/ Fostex drivers is that they need a lot of break-in time. Play them at modest volume for the first 100 hrs. (I just let them run 24/7 w/ FM radio.) Then play them normally & they will slowly continue to improve; my impression is that they sound better at 1000 hrs than they did at 400 hrs.

Cheers, Jim
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Okay! Thanks for your response. Where could I get Baltic birch if it isn't available at Home Depot? Also in my listening area I have one true corner, it is a corner of the basement but on the other side the furnace and whatnot is there and I could probably but something there to make it a corner, but they would be far from my listening position, and I can't really move it forward very much. So corner placement may not work out easily, but we'll see. What do you mean by the fh3 being more "articulate"?
 
For good lumber I always look for a real lumberyard. I have been purchasing BB from Curtis Lumber; they don't keep it in-stock at the store, but are happy to special order it. There are other types of ply that are also pretty good, like apple ply. The stuff I have looked at at Lowes & HD seemed to have lots of nasty voids, and much of it was warped. Voids are very, very bad for speakers!

Try adjusting placement to find what works best in your space. My experience w/ designs like the FH3 is that they need to at least be close to the front wall for good bass.

By articulate I mean clear & well defined.

Cheers, Jim
 
I like the cleaner look of the Madisound kits. The swooped back of Frugalhorns don't do much for me. I'm considering getting a Madisound kit to toy with this summer. I was looking at the BK-16 with the 6.5" drivers or the BK-20 with the 8"ers.
 
cipriano said:
I like the cleaner look of the Madisound kits. The swooped back of Frugalhorns don't do much for me. I'm considering getting a Madisound kit to toy with this summer. I was looking at the BK-16 with the 6.5" drivers or the BK-20 with the 8"ers.
Click to expand...
I also like the look of the madisound kit better, but i don't care about looks as long as it sounds better. To a certain degree of course though.
 
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