What do you mean 'inline' with it? So it's basically a treble boost knob for the tweeters?
Fulton FMI speakers. Model and parts reference thread.
- Thread starter JoshHendi
- Start date
Hi, maybe someone can help me identify and price these Fulton speakers. They belonged to my stepfather who passed away recently and my mom is attempting to liquidate. He was a high end audiofile for many years as well as being a Crown rep in the midwest. These speakers are appox 5' tall and 30"w and deep. Thanks in advance... please reach me at dweber0@outlook.com
Attachments
Wow!!! Those are crazy! I thought my 100s were nuts with the four tweeters. Fulton really liked a LOT of speakers.
They don't have a badge anywhere?
they dont.. just the front Fulton badge on the cover... given that they are connected via Oracle V4s and powered by a pair of AR DS450s they may be custom.. I can find nothing anywhere to describe them. He had a pair of J models he gave away when they moved south as rear channels to put things in perspective.
He was very protective of these speakers so for all I know they were a custom fab..
Brian Beck
Active Member
Based upon your dimensions this looks like a variant of the “Symphony” speakers, among his very last. I have a one-page flyer on that speaker somewhere, buried deep. His “oval window” is only seen in his final speakers before he died. Very, very rare. Although, please note that “rare” does not necessarily mean valuable. There is no market for these to refer to for pricing. Throw something out there and see what happens.
Thanks Brian.. After some deep web searches I found the following in the "what's best" forum but still cant find any physical reference to this speaker. I wouldnt know where to start.. could you suggest a value? Obviously they would need to be picked up or shipped, which would likely be no small task as these are LARGE speakers From a 2014 post speaking about Fulton https://www.whatsbestforum.com/threads/audiophile-fundamentalism.15356/page-3 ""Of his full-range speakers, I liked the one he made just before he died suddenly the best. This one used the 'Oval Window' concept, which could play an octave below the cutoff of the woofer drivers, allowing him to use an array of smaller (faster) woofers. I have a recording, Canto General, which I had made in the 1980s; that last speaker played exceptional bass relative to the prior speakers, rendering the bass drum in the recording with great ease. It was also easier to drive. The Oval Window was apparently a modified Helmholtz resonator""
I had a pair of Modular J's and they took a long time to move. I think I got a grand, which is very surprising. I had recapped them.
Ralph Karston gave me the following:
I forgot what these are called but Fulton had developed them a year or two before his death. They use a Helmholtz resonator to push bandwidth to 16Hz.
As I recall they were easy to drive. A local customer of ours drive a set of these with our MA-1 amplifiers. That was about 1991. They were expensive back then- I think over $20,000.00/pair
Brian Beck
Active Member
I found the one-page flyer for the Fulton Symphony speaker. See attached. That's what you've got. I'll see if I can find a price sheet somewhere, although the original price would bear little on current "market" value.
Were they mine, I'd try selling them at $1500 for a while, but then be ready to drop back to $1000 and let them sit at that price for a while. At 275 pounds each, shipping will be exorbitant. Probably a local pickup, if you live in or near a big city where there might be buyers.
Were they mine, I'd try selling them at $1500 for a while, but then be ready to drop back to $1000 and let them sit at that price for a while. At 275 pounds each, shipping will be exorbitant. Probably a local pickup, if you live in or near a big city where there might be buyers.
Brian Beck
Active Member
PS:
I did find an undated price list that includes the Symphony. I would guess 1985 or so. See attached.
$5,900 for a pair was a lot of money in the eighties. But, like I said, these are so obscure that there cannot be any real demand for them.
Ya never know until you try though...
I did find an undated price list that includes the Symphony. I would guess 1985 or so. See attached.
$5,900 for a pair was a lot of money in the eighties. But, like I said, these are so obscure that there cannot be any real demand for them.
Ya never know until you try though...
Wow never seen these before... Very cool! If you ever open them up or get more info on them please shoot me the info and/or reply here! Ill get the OP updated with this info
setup1
Super Member
Thanks to this thread, I was able to ascertain that in spite of the added L-Pads, my pair of FMI 80s retain their original crossover wiring configuration including the original 6uf Callins caps.
The solid musical background of Robert W. Fulton is clearly evident in these speakers!
More of my FMI 80 adventures at my blog!
Brian Beck
Active Member
Congratulations on acquiring a pair of 80s. Were they mine, I might consider stripping out the L-pads and the added wiring, and returning the speakers to their native state.
krazywaffle
New Member
Thanks for sharing this price list. Would love to get my hands on some Fulton head shell leads! Those must be rare as hens teeth!
Great to see so much wonderful information on here about these legendary yet elusive (i.e., under- appreciated) FMI speakers.
Happy to “join the club” in that I, just today, obtained a pair of FMI-80 here in Far North Queensland. Found them on a community site known as Gumtree (similar to Craigslist in the States). They were being sold by an elderly gentleman who had acquired all the speakers that needed somewhere to go when his mate’s HiFi shop closed down ~15 years ago. He’s been slowing selling the inherited collection since. He didn’t have much information about their lineage but guessed that these were floor/demo speakers that were used in his mate’s HiFi shop. Wonder how many pairs of FMI speakers this guy ever sold here in AUS? Attached are some pictures. Appear to be in very good condition for their age and I’m guessing have only seen minimal use in their life thus far. Planning to hook them up today to a pair of Audile (made in Melbourne ca. 1990) parallel single ended 300b monoblocks to audition them. All signs point towards likely being impressed and, if so, then these will move out of office system (that uses a vintage dbx subwoofer) into main HiFi system (that also uses a vintage dbx subwoofer albeit a much bigger [15”] version) to compliment a pair of DCM Timeframe 400 speakers. Will report back following initial test.
I think the FMI-80 was the speaker that taught me how to really listen to speakers. Foolishly at the time, I thought I was supposed to like Dyna A-25's better and got rid of the FMI-80. I still miss it today, over 50 years later.
krazywaffle
New Member
This is a great way of putting it. Completely agree!
Brian Beck
Active Member
Yes, that was true
That was true for me as well. Before the FMIs I had Wharfedales and then Advents, even double Advents. I didn’t know what midrange naturalness and articulation could be like from a speaker. Add in tube amp’s for the FMIs (Dynaco and later Audio Research) and you had something like a soundstage, a good amount of natural detail and balanced frequency response. Suddenly room placement was more critical because the speakers disclosed more. And then cables mattered, and on and on…