Why the special offer? Two reasons. Firstly, in order to encourage filling the minimum order, so the drivers can be ordered from Fane as soon as possible. I will also be looking to move to France during the summer holidays and with the stress that this will inevitably entail, I would be grateful if this was all concluded well before then.

 From emails I have received, it is clear that even in cases where people have lingering doubts as to whether the new Fane 8M will be exactly the same (the criterion that I think will be satisfied), still it is thought that this is the closest one can get to have new Fane 8M Studio drivers performing very closely to the old production units. 

This is a remarkable opportunity, even if your plan to build an upperbass horn is in the future. Given how rare these drivers have become, how unlikely that those sourced on the second hand market will actually even be in good condition after 20 years since they were manufactured in some cases and having lived a hard life in a studio environment. To add insult to injury, some of these old Fane 8Ms will have been reconed with compatible parts and not original Fane reconing kits of course. I recently contacted a very famous loudspeaker repair specialist in Wembley, and as it turned out, the reconing kits they use for servcing Fane 8M are not original, just compatible parts, presumably made in China I would say given the price. I think that many Fane 8M out there will have been reconed at some point and it may well be they were not with the Fane reconing kits. So much for the guarantee of performance from old vintage Fane 8Ms bought on ebay or elsewhere (as mine are)!
 

Best regards
Rakesh

Romy the Cat wrote:

Rakesh, the people who read this site have bought Studio 8M many years back. I do not think you will find a lot of investors in this ides here. Also, the people who read this site are accustom to my very idiosyncratically-individualistic style and they usually, do not fish for any mass-buy from here. I think if you would like to form an army of happy buyers then you might try to make announcement at DIYadio.com, AA and alike sites where people are more accustomed to such events. Do not discard your local UK sites – there are plenty DIYers in your country. The Cat

Romy the Cat wrote:

...you might try to make announcement at DIYadio.com... The Cat

oxric wrote:

http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/group-buys/186539-group-buy-fane-8m-studio-50-units-production-run.html

Romy the Cat wrote:

I would load one pair with dynamite and send to the very deserving person...I will be celebrating if I learn that this asshole got run over by a very slowly moving asphalt roller machine.

oxric wrote:

You have been watching too many movies and I would say you are a big fan of Tony Soprano.

Jorge wrote:

Do you have the specs for the new run from Fane?

oxric wrote:

Romy's comments, not coming from someone who has insider knowledge as to the manufacturing of these drivers, must be taken with a healthy pinch of salt. Why he seems so opposed to these drivers which are not even that expensive in the grand scheme of things (my 115Hz horns will cost me many many times the price of these drivers), when they are the best chance of obtaining the performance of the drivers that he currently enjoys in his upperbass horns (which he is the first to admit is quite remarkable) is slightly puzzling to say the least.

I do not see myself being “opposed to these drivers”. I just rise some points that I think are overlooked in here. The specifications of the old or new Fane drivers are irrelevant. It is my strong and many time expressed opinion that a driver being load into a horn, particularly in a random horn, begin to exhibit absolutely unpredictable behavior.  There is absolutely nothing in Fane 8M specifications that is responsible for the diver sound. So, what is the purpose to ask about the new specifications?

One might think that someone can use “specifications” as an assurance that the new drivers will be up to the standards of the old one.  It might be the case but are you truly feel that somebody in Fane would care, measure or to confirm the specification of the new drivers? I do not know if the old Fane is the same Fane as we have today or just somebody bought out their name and product line. As I understand since 2007 Eminence own Fane, how do you know what changes was made with Fane. If you call today to Tannoy or JBL  that any of their “production manager” will assure you that whatever they do today is the very same as what they did 30 or 40 years back – they juts will not know the difference.

I do not question the Fane new production however, I have no business to do it but I do want to point out that Fane do take advantage of you and your personal enthusiasm to have the drivers, furthermore they made you to run around the word like wounded in ass antelope to sell drivers for them. This is ridicules. For the company like Fane to make a production run of 50 drivers is as much efforts as for you to eat a hot dog. Still, they do not produce the Studio drivers and if someone asks them to do a few drivers for them than they set price that equitable to sending a person to hell.  12 years back what I asked Fane to make my own customized drivers for me (16R version) then they did one single pair for me, with any objection, and they did not even charge extra. Agreeing to pay 260£ for new production of Fane is embracing the extortion from Fane. Yes, we pay much more for other drivers and Fane Studio 8M is very much worth those 260£ (in my view). However, we shall not apply the marker price of unique vintage or specially selected drivers to the mass produced Fane drivers. For the contemporary corporate Fane it is absolutely irrelevant what to produce – Studio 8M , or Studio 5, or Colossus, or Sovereign. Still, look at the current pricese:

Fane Sovereign 8” - £25.89
Fane Studio 5”FRK - £28.89
Fane Sovereign Pro 12” - £67.39

Even the huge and very expensive 18” Colossus driver they sell for £235.55 but they for some reasons they charge even more money for the Studio 8M then for18” Colossus .  Does it strike you as no justifiable particular considering that for Fane it is absolutely irrelevant what to produce and that they will be producing pre-sold order? They must not set retail price if you sell drivers for them and they must not change for Studio 8M 5 times more just because you want to have the drivers. This behavior never was in the picture before, at the time when I dealt with Fane. Because of this I feel that Fane is changed and therefore I ask “what else changes”? Let agree that my questions are not unreasonable.

Fane, if it is the same Fane as use to be shall not behave like  this and someday bring in their house a party of 50 pre-sold divers then they need to sell them as their regular price an do not take advantage of the fact that hey themselves create a stupid deficit of the drivers.

Romy the Cat wrote:

There is absolutely nothing in Fane 8M specifications that is responsible for the diver sound. So, what is the purpose to ask about the new specifications? One might think that someone can use “specifications” as an assurance that the new drivers will be up to the standards of the old one.  It might be the case but are you truly feel that somebody in Fane would care, measure or to confirm the specification of the new drivers? I do not know if the old Fane is the same Fane as we have today or just somebody bought out their name and product line. As I understand since 2007 Eminence own Fane, how do you know what changes was made with Fane. If you call today to Tannoy or JBL  that any of their “production manager” will assure you that whatever they do today is the very same as what they did 30 or 40 years back – they juts will not know the difference.

Yes, I did not realize that the price of £225 is for a PAIR; usually price is given per driver. I guess the £225 per pair is not and of the world but I still insist to pay 65 cents per 1 Euro as it use to do… In past I never dealt with Fane directly. There was a pro audio dealer in UK:  “Nightfire Acoustic Technologies”. His site was www.pa-direct.co.uk but he is out of business foe a few years. The owner name was Ian and each time I needed any amount of the drivers Ian send me as many I needed. All of my drivers were custom and over the years I think I bought 16 of them for a number of people. There was never regular service denial from Fane, never any request for bulk production, what has happened now?

In the end, you do not see me express any dead wish to Jean-Michel Lecleach, Dr Geddes or to Jonathan Hasquin. But you would also never see Lecleach, Geddes or Hasquin to build dirty publicity campaigns around the products that they secretly sell on like. A few years ago your new friend  “anubisgrau”, the silent designer of the SWING loudspeakers ( www.bd-design.nl), in response of my very specific criticism of many Swing ideas and use of BMS  started very stinky  and very low class character demonization campaign on line. The dirt was able to engage the subject of my criticism but he, along with a few dirt backs from his neighborhood, was effective (considering for taste his audiences) to convince them that they need to run a buy Swings because Romy was “fegg”, “Osama sympathizer”, “16-year old teenager” and the rest this that so nicely worked for his constituents.  In my book, this behavior is not accidental and a clear justification that the asshole need to be run with asphalt roller. The most disgusting was that in a few years, when he moved to different projects, he was debunking the Swings ideas copping the text from my site and rephrasing my words.  Do you want to talk more with me about this “anubisgrau” piece of garbage?  Did you even see Lecleach, Geddes or Hasquin to behave in this way? BTW, John Hasquin was a person to whom I gave a pair of Studio 8M as taking of my respect and appreciation. The only thing that I would give to “anubisgrau” would be an incredibly strong kick if his fucking face.

Romy the Cat wrote:

Yes, I did not realize that the price of £225 is for a PAIR; usually price is given per driver. I guess the £225 per pair is not and of the world but I still insist to pay 65 cents per 1 Euro as it use to do… In past I never dealt with Fane directly. There was a pro audio dealer in UK:  “Nightfire Acoustic Technologies”. His site was www.pa-direct.co.uk but he is out of business foe a few years. The owner name was Ian and each time I needed any amount of the drivers Ian send me as many I needed. All of my drivers were custom and over the years I think I bought 16 of them for a number of people. There was never regular service denial from Fane, never any request for bulk production, what has happened now? The Cat

Romy the Cat wrote:

A few years ago your new friend  “anubisgrau”, the silent designer of the SWING loudspeakers ( www.bd-design.nl), in response of my very specific criticism of many Swing ideas and use of BMS  started very stinky  and very low class character demonization campaign on line. The dirt was able to engage the subject of my criticism but he, along with a few dirt backs from his neighborhood, was effective (considering for taste his audiences) to convince them that they need to run a buy Swings because Romy was “fegg”, “Osama sympathizer”, “16-year old teenager” and the rest this that so nicely worked for his constituents.  In my book, this behavior is not accidental and a clear justification that the asshole need to be run with asphalt roller. The most disgusting was that in a few years, when he moved to different projects, he was debunking the Swings ideas copping the text from my site and rephrasing my words.  Do you want to talk more with me about this “anubisgrau” piece of garbage?  Did you even see Lecleach, Geddes or Hasquin to behave in this way? BTW, John Hasquin was a person to whom I gave a pair of Studio 8M as taking of my respect and appreciation. The only thing that I would give to “anubisgrau” would be an incredibly strong kick if his tucking face. The Cat

Jorge, if you have 120hz horn with a 4" throat and 10" driver then Fane 8M would be a good candidate in my view. If I were you then I would try. The SG146LG is you had would be very interesting to try as well. Not to try it stupidly as most of Goto owners do but to make both Fane 8M and Goto to work identically-optimal for their respected topology. Then to see the difference. Honestly I do not know what result would be. Goto is a compression driver it has to be way more superior then Fane in all dimensions. Fane in the way how I use it is a compression driver as well but it has paper cone. My vote goes for Goto’s metal diaphragm – it got to have more transient response then paper with fabric suspension. However, Goto has very light cone for those frequencies and very limited power handling.  So there are some issuers from Goto side. If I had something like SG146LG then I would try it but not right the way. In fact, considering the efforts it will take I wouls rather do not try the SG146LG but to have some kind of person who has a lot of Goto experience come to my house, listen my upperbass horn with my Fane 8M driver, pint out the specific sonic problems that he recognize and then inform me how Goto would address them. I do it with others, why no one does it with me?

Partially why I dive difficult time to those Fane buyers is because I do not want people buy Fane 8M for upperbass horns. I know Fane 8M, I has been using it for 11 years and if somebody us my bitten path then I have no opportunely to discovers something new. I would like somebody to discover another driver, better then Fane 8M and informed me another driver did better than Fane in the similar application. In fact I had one person who did reported it but he was an idiot and what I call that type “Sperm Vampire”…

Anyhow, If I were you I would get one pair of Fane 8M. If you are in horn world then a driver with 103dB sensitivity with 115Hz capacity is right in your alley.  In the end here is the picture of the perfect horn with Fane driver in it:

Jorge wrote:

I have seen Beyma rewrite their specs when they redo a driver and even add a letter to the driver for that change,  even if it is the same driver. Now I have seen variable FS responses form different drivers of the same model also.  ... If I get the Studio 8M drivers they will most probaly go in my unused drivers closet,  trust me I will have a hard time finding room in it for them... I was just curious to see if they already have the specs for the new run.