Everything is relative (Drive Units)

by chaos, Tuesday, March 31, 2009, 13:45 (5504 days ago) @ Bert

That is not a small room and even considered as HUGE for many people...

Okay, everything is relative...

I know very well this design wasn't made for huge bass frequencies. But I have a rather small room and play music on rather low levels.

It will be even less than you'd expect. What about no bass at all?

So a Bicor 200 for example will be better a better choice, even with a trace of bass, or with enough and detailed bass?

I like the FE83 better too, very nice little bastard(!) but the FE103E's do not sound dull though and if the bass was not tight then blame it on the used horn design as horns usually dictate what the driver will be doing...

The horn-design for the FE103E was quite an impulsive choice, I didn't know too much about what I was doing. Now I know for example that it takes a while before fullrange speakers sound good. But I was so disappointed about the sound and about the fact that the little son of friends pushed with his fingers on both of the drivers so that there was a dent in the paper cone (two days after I finished the loudspeakers!), that I gave the speakers to someone who did like the sound and still enjoys them. I chose to build the speakers after a enthousiast review in a German Hifi-magazine, I don't remember the name of the design and the magazine.

A Lowther is a complete new world compared to Fostex drivers and it does not mean these are necessarily better for you though, not on all fronts at least and besides that, the drivers are rather critical to what you (can) feed them.

What do you mean by a complete new world? A higher quality level? Or 'just' with different soundharacteristics?
My amplifier is a simple 15 watt Audio & Techniek class-A DIY machine (for a newer version, see: http://www.audio.nl/a18.htm), designed by John van der Sluis, used without pre-amplifier and just one CD-player (a Marantz SA CD 7001) connected to it, with VandenHull interlinks.

The smaller Lowthers do have some advantages over the traditional ones where some love it but others hate it...

My interest for the Bicor 20 was partly given in by my experience (with two-way speakers) that smaller units are faster, have less coloration (boom) and give more detail in the lower frequencies. And on the internet I read about more clear higher frequencies. Hatred is by the way not an emotion which I experience in contact with machines.

Did you ever heard a Lowther play?

No, unfortunately I haven't. That's exactly why I'm asking a few questions on this forum. I've seen on your website Bert that you mention the possibility of a visit in Nunspeet, so before buying or desiding anything, I will try to make an appointment for a visit if you don't mind. I live in the Netherlands, so there is no problem here.

chaos