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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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brucefrederick
7 posts
 
Has anyone bothered upgrading the caps in the crossover.......Well I have.  
Tweeter cap : Rike S cap 2.2uf
Mid cap: Audyn  true copper 2.2uf
470uf replaced with Clarity cap TC 220ufx2 bypassed with Rike PIO Qcap 3.3uf x2

All I can say it was well worth it.  Everything across the board improved significantly.  I was never quite satisfied with the tone these SOTA drivers gave, but now I am quite sastified. 

Class D SDS470C  modded extensively (previously owned the 350a)
Ming Da MD-6 passive  transformer preamp
Doge 6 CD player


bdp24's avatar
bdp24 OP
4,908 posts
 
Thanks for the info, Bruce. I got the LFT-8b's intending to bi-amp them, thinking that would bypass the stock x/o altogether. Turns out the x/o stays in circuit even when bi-amping, so upgrading the passive parts needs to be addressed anyway. Thigpen doesn't mind, and will even provide advice on parts---Eric.
brucefrederick
7 posts
 
Eric,

The only reason I went with Clarity TC's in exchange for the 470uf electrolytic is they were deeply discounted  at PCX a few years back.  Think I'd go for the Audionote Kaisei bipolar as I have the 63V 10Kuf x6 in my power supply of class D amp and am impressed.

  BTW i just bypassed the mid panel (on the outside) with the Duelund .01uf  silver foil in wax.  Surprisingly, the sound turned more organic and natural. 

My advice would be to use PIO/paper in wax where you can.    The only thing I might change is the tweeter cap to a Jupiter copper foil.  Certain CD's are strident in the lower trebiles......Let your wallet be your guide 
bdp24's avatar
bdp24 OP
4,908 posts
 
Thanks again Bruce. The Jupiter caps come highly recommended, preferred by Danny Richie of GR Research (as well as you ;-). They aren't cheap, but the LFT-8b x/o is relatively simple, with not that many parts.
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