Fountek Ribbons - poor man's Raal?

[Non-Smoking Man]

Anyone know anything about these chinese (afaik) ribbons? inexpensive entry into ribbonsville?

 

[HoopsOnToast]

I hope so, got some coming in the post today after enjoying Andys RAALs :^

 

[khapahk]

IPL Acoustics use them in their loudspeaker kits :-

http://www.iplacoustics.co.uk/INDEX.htm

There's a bit of info on their website about the units

k

 

[paulf-2007]

look forward to your thoughts Rob on these compared to Raal's. I would be surprised if they anywhere near as good, there is something very special about Raal's and not just the price.

I hope so, got some coming in the post today after enjoying Andys RAALs :^

 

[HoopsOnToast]

look forward to your thoughts Rob on these compared to Raal's. I would be surprised if they anywhere near as good, there is something very special about Raal's and not just the price.

Well, they were only ~£50/ea rather than £500 odd for the RAALs.

http://www.toutlehautparleur.com/haut-parleurs-c-331/fountek/fountek-jp2-0-7ohm.html

 

[THOMO]

They are best used as a semi-super tweeter in conjunction with a dome.Try them with a 1uF capacitor wired in series

They sound a bit wimpy by themselves.

 

[Alvolake]

Peter Comeau advocated their possible use with the WD20 boxes which, because of their concentric tweeters, might need a bit of help in the highs for some people. He explained how to build them and their circuit into a little wooden cube in the World Audio articles. I think I may have a copy on file. If you´re interested send me your email by pm and I´ll get it to you..

 

[HoopsOnToast]

Fountek JP 2.0 Ribbon Tweeter by RSdesignUK, on Flickr

Should be fun! (Ignore the marks round the Frames, they had a sticker over the front)

 

[Non-Smoking Man]

How are you going to impliment them Hoops? Im active so its easy for me.

 

[vacdac]

They are best used as a semi-super tweeter in conjunction with a dome.Try them with a 1uF capacitor wired in seriesThey sound a bit wimpy by themselves.

Dunno that this is the case Thomo, is this based on personal experience?.......Implemented well they should measure pretty flat to below the level they're likely to be crossed over at, or at least the 'Neo/CD" range are.....I'm less familiar with this newer slightly cheaper model. My own speaks use the Neo CD3, as also used by M.A. in their GX/Platinum ranges & Marten have used them too, both also without supplementary dome tweeters. Certainly my own experience is that they have better presence, resolution & airiness in the upper range than any other tweeters I have run including many textile/metal domed tweeters.

Our own Moggy58 (John) used to run a self built hybrid speaker array. IIRC transmission line for lower bass duties + open baffle for above this with the same Fountek Neo CD3 that I have. Mebbe worth dropping him a line as he has good experience on crossover points for this driver I'd have thought. :^ John now has J. Wallis horns quoted in his kit, so not sure he is still using Fountek tweeters, but we exchanged some PM's last year & I know he rated them as a v capable design.

I installed the Mk.2 crossover boards to my speakers last year & they made a great improvement.....I know the crossover point for the tweeter is now higher & the designer says that the overall frequency plot is now flatter & phase linearity is improved. I've had a good squiz around today but not found the page I wuz looking for which did mention what these different points were for old vs. new boards.....I think the new point is about 1k higher than the old & that it may now be @ 3.5khz vs. 2.5khz for the old IIRC.....dunno, I could be well wide of the mark here as this is from memory. :roll:

 

[moggy58]

My system is always in a state of flux Chris.

The Wallis speakers are field coil horns, mid and bass.

I still have a pair of fountek s/t , actually Neo 2’s, and they do sound excellent.

I used them as a full s/t,up to 40khz, with the Wallis horns, though the field coils sound terrific without s/t,

the Neo’s just added that extra sparkle.

I now use a pair of 1960’s Coles (Alnico magnet ½ inch paper cone) horns for a ST, they blend slightly better with the horns than the Neo’s.

Last week I was just thinking about trying the Neo’s again for a change.

My only tiny criticism is that they can sound a ‘little hard’, although taken into consideration with the rest of my system (CD/amps/speakers)

which are very revealing. It also depends on what mood I‘m in at the time of listening..

 

[vacdac]

Cheers for fillin' in t' gaps John. :^ Really interesting' stuff although your lubberly TT seems ter be a constant & I think you've been using J Wood amps for a fair while.

ATB

Chris.

 

[moggy58]

Chris, The TT is out action for the mo’ I need to get a decent phono amp, still I can sit and look at it.

I’ve added two more John Wood mono power amps and another JW pre to my setup.

My original stereo amp drives the mid and S/T, and the mono’s power the bass,

The pre amps I use to balance the volume between mid/ bass.

Mike Wallis has just completed his latest full range horn design.

A single Lowther drive unite with top/mid front horn and rear bass horn.

I don’t think this as ever been done before because of the difference in efficiency

between front horn and rear horn. I’m looking forward to having a listen to them soon.

Jack sorry for hijacking your thread, Will give more info regarding Fountek if needed.

http://www.fountek.net/products.asp?id=45

 

[Non-Smoking Man]

Feel free John - I'm fascinated.

 

[HoopsOnToast]

How are you going to impliment them Hoops? Im active so its easy for me.

Passive crossover around 6-8kHz, should be able to get away with first order at 8kHz I think.

 

[Non-Smoking Man]

Let us know first impressions Hoops..I would think quite a few people I know would be interested in your findings. Really need to find a way of making a direct comparison with a pair of Raals in an active system. Uhm, which Faringdon is that, btw..?

 

[HoopsOnToast]

Faringdon near swindon rather than Farringdon (two 'r's) in London

 

[Non-Smoking Man]

XTZ use a Fountek in their 99.26 mk2 standmount (and in the floorstanding version). Just read a review of them in HFW. Designer - "we picked the ribbon because I like the soundand the directivity which means less influential room interference". (Its on a round plate so its not the 2.0 which Hoops has.)

Also there is an identical looking and virtually identical measuring range of ribbons marketed as Audaphon. Im guessing they are the same. In the U.S. the planar tweeter market is big on the Dayton PT2B - 8 and I read a consumer review which favours the Fountek rival as having better detail and 'tone'.

There is a 'pro' model of the Fountek called the Neopro5i which has a snsitivity of 100db per w and 60w power handling. The Neo CD 2.0 is 97 db and 20w.

 

[HoopsOnToast]

Yes, Fountek, Audaphon (sometimes Dynavox) are the same. I think Fountek is the parent company and the other names distribution names I think.

With Fountek, the JP was the original series, CD revised models and now the new 'X' series.

#1.0 are 1.5", #2.0 are 5" and #3.0 are 3" models, naturally.