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Eminent Technology LFT-8b in Harry's system

I recently signed up for the V.P.I. Industries newsletter, and today received my first such. In it, Harry Weisfeld reviews a Grado phono cartridge, but this post concerns one of the speakers he listed as being those he uses to listen to music and evaluate recordings through. All but one are traditional dynamic cones/domes in a box designs, only one being a planar/dipole. That planar is the Eminent Technology LFT-8b. I'm pretty sure Harry could, if he so chose, have instead as his sole planar a pair of $6000 Magneplanar MG 3.7i's, or even $14,000 20.7's. But nope, he instead chose the $2500 ET LFT-8b, imo the greatest value in a loudspeaker on the market. I compared it to the 1.7i, and the difference was dramatic.
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bdp24 OP
4,908 posts
 
As does ET’s Bruce Thigpen! His TRW-17 Rotary Woofer is the product of a very creative and talented designer, unlike anything else in the field of audio engineering. Brilliant, I tells ya! There’s a guy over on the Planar Speaker Asylum who augments his Martin-Logan ELS speakers with Magneplanar Tympani-IV bass panels as woofers, with the TRW-17 as a sub. Now THAT’s a full-range system---flat to 0 Hz, at 120dB!
tubular1
3 posts
 
I bought a pair of Eminent Technology LFT-8B speakers last December.  Fantastic sound and a great price.  I actually chose them over Sonus Farber after a demo.  I was prepared to drop $16K or so and was happy to realize it was not required to get great sound.

My preamp is a McIntosh C2300, amp is McIntosh MC402.  ALso have a REL sub.  Great sound.  
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grannyring
4,637 posts
 
Nice system tubular1! Well done. 
jollytinker
147 posts
 
I seem to recall a comment from HW somewhere on the intertubes in which he expressed amazement at the fact that Eminent could offer the LFT-8b for 2500$. A lot of value there - I'd like to try a pair some day.
bdp24's avatar
bdp24 OP
4,908 posts
 
They were recommended to me by the late Brooks Berdan. He included an evaluation of the design and theory behind Hi-Fi products when deciding what to sell in his shop, and was a long-time Eminent Technology Air-Bearing Arm dealer. He installed that unique arm on first the Oracle table, and later the VPI HW-19. Brooks found the push-pull design of the Eminent Technology Linear Field Transducer---the LFT (magnets on both sides of the LFT’s Mylar driver) inherently superior to the single-ended Magnepan magnetic-planar driver, and it’s vapor-deposited conductor superior to the Maggie wire conductors, being of far lower mass. They have superior low-level resolution and transparency (Maggies need to be cranked up pretty good to overcome the "Maggie mist"), as well as dynamics, and play better at low volume than do Maggies. They play louder with less power, too (regardless of the relative sensitivity specs), and have a more extended low end (except for the huge 20.7). But that Maggie ribbon tweeter is sure nice! I have both LFT's and Maggies (as well as Quads), but for $2500 it's no contest imo. Maybe if ET had more dealers, and/or got more reviews, the LFT-8b would have a higher profile. People don't know what they're missing!
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