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In the Forum: Audio Discussions
In the Thread: Macondo’s MiniMe or about Pilot Acoustic Systems

Post Subject: What to make of it?Posted by floobydust on: 3/29/2009

Hmmmm, not sure what to say in this case. From a higher view (and do correct me if I am wrong), you seem to have a general dislike for Fostex drivers. I can also sympathize that some of them are hard to listen to. In any case, you bought an expensive pair of Fostex (F120A) drivers, never listened to them, had them modified with, what could be considered a controversial technique. You then put them in a simple box without a back, drove them a (bad sounding) SS amp and spent a day with them. And you hate them. Well fair enough, your honest opinion.

However, I don't think your pair fully resembles my (F120A) pair. A bit of history on this driver. At one point (about 2 years ago) it was rumored that Fostex had discontinued the F120A due to it's high cost and lower sales volumes (compared to the lower cost FE series). My pair was an older set from more than 2 years ago. Since that time, Madisound stock has run out at least twice. In both cases, additional quantities were ordered and Fostex had components still available and built the drivers to fill the order. The point being, that there now exists some unknowns in the F120A. The original ones were only made in Japan (not in China like most of them) and were considered as "Laboratory Series" (whatever that means). In any case, the quality of materials, machining (they actually have machined and die-cast parts, not basic stamped steel), fit and finish were far above the other cheaper Fostex drivers. For all we know, the new manufactured drivers could have been assembled by inexperienced staff, had material problems, etc.

In any case, I can't agree with your assessment (compared to my drivers in 10 liter ported enclosures), but I can't really defend any of it as I've no idea what your pair sounds like. I would at least swap to better amplifier before binning them. I've only driven mine with SET amps.

Regards, KM

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