Review: ZHORN FOSTEX Speaker

I have listened to 3 pair of zhorns and recently aditioned a pair in my home .I listen to most types of music .The Zhorn was aditioned with various telarc recordings ,Some mis. Tecno music .Dick Dale 60s surf gitar,Others .In speakers I tend to go with large full range speakers with great frequincy responce and very deep detailed bass my current systen cost me arround $12000 DIY .In speakers systems If they are grainy and harsh I can not stand it. Also Iam not a fan of ported or back loaded horn designs .Usually they have phase problems with the bass.The Zhorn has a less phase distorted bass responce then most I have heard .Allows you to hear more detail . The Zhorn uses a Fostex fe-z 6in driver.And birch plywood cabnet ,This speaker has a musical fun sound, not grainy or harsh in anyway. Has a moderatly large sound stage with good side expansion ,The speakers just seem to disapear [this is important to me].When they where playing the telarc discs they handled the volume swings quite well .And though limited in the frequincy extremes never left you wanting more


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OK 
~~~~~~~~~~~~FOSTEX SIGMA SERIES~~~~~~~~~~~~
I just as of last night came to reailze the Fostex FR Experience via research, based on a  comment I made over at DIY FR forum,,**nahhh I think my DL's will beat Foxtex ,,I;'m not interested in Foxtex,,nahhh..**
WEll I  had already cked out Fostex extensively on their site and on YT vids,, so i dismissed what I heard,,,then last nght decided to take a  2md hearing.


Ohh yeah.
Tang band Good
Davidlouis better
Fostex Sigma Series da Best

I have no doubt in my mind as good as the DL's are, the FE Sigmas are simply magical.

https://www.madisoundspeakerstore.com/approx-8-fullrange/fostex-fe208ez-8-full-range-sigma-series/?g...



http://www.blackdahlia.com/html/tip_43.html

WE live and we learn.
Never ever become too dogamatic, There are always new truths to discover.

Going to make a  Duo
Sigma 8 + Sigma 6.
**Why a  duo??**
Don't ask. 
When I finish mid 2022, you'll know as to the why of **double trouble**
Not buildinga  horn, Just going to swap out the DLVX8 and cut another hole below to add the SE6.
50L cabinet, small/tight, but all you have to do is cut another port, dos ports.
Yes  1 cabinet is 28.5 inches the other 30 inches H.
Measure once, cut 3 times,,,arghhhh. OK so I'm not much a cabinet builder. 
Read Basszilla
**Speakers DISAPPEAR***

A new Frankenstein goes by the name Basszilla.
19 year old speakers???
Where have you guys been all these deacdes, 
6 posts on the best sounding speaker????
Wow
Now you can go back to sleep walking. 
Will list the DLVX8's/Free Ship

Am I going for the C&C Studio Ben? I wish, but it may be more expensive than I can afford. The HERUKA, on the other hand, is priced very attractively.

Hi Paul sorry didnt try that .Are going for the mini cain & cain studio ben?

JK, have you tried to listen to two pairs connected together (two ZHorns/Horns on each side)? Connected in parallel = 4 ohms, series = 16 ohms.

TWL I used lowther pm4a new cone .Didnt like them too much they where very peaky .Used them in a dual oris 150 horn set up so ran 2 pair .They might be better in a back loaded horn .Thxs for your reply .Happy listening .JK

Cool review. I love single drivers. I use Lowthers in Voigt Pipes. Have you tried the newest Lowthers?

Hi Paul ,the Zhorn uses the new fostex fe168ez driver ,Thats one of the reasons I perfered the sound .I have heard the horn shop and zhorn on other gear .And if you look at what I demo them on you will see that its quite capable of reproducing what is up stream.Thats about$12000 gear running a $799 speaker .On my personal System I use fostex 16in woofers in dual towers .Thxs for your reply and happy listening .JK

This is a general statement applied to my personal experience with a Fostex HornShoppe for the last two years. I thought the single drivers naturally lack the ultimate highs; how wrong I have been. A recent upgrade of my digital source and preamp, from EVS DAC II/Vecteur D-2 and EVS Stepped Attenuator to ModWright 9000ES and Decware ZSLA-1 tube buffer line stage, respectively, has turned my head around. No longer I feel wanting more treble, as I can hear now a lot more musical details into the recordings, not the strident nor brittle digital artifacts I used to put up with. Needless to say, bass and midrange all became ever so "live" and "organic", not as separate entities but as a whole "there".

My point in short is, don't judge the speakers until you have taken a good care to make sure your source or whatever upstream is up to the task of HONESTLY REPRODUCING the recordings. As of now, I feel the only sonic barrier in my room is, well, THE ROOM itself.

Also, a good powered subwoofer (a pair ideally) would be a great help to such a single driver speaker system.

Hi Lak ,both speakers have usefull highs up to arround 15khz, I would give the edge to the Zhorn .Tery cains abby is a nice speaker .But for the money I would go with the Zhorn .If you want more Hi,s you could use fostex t90a tweeters ,They even include a stand .Thxs for your thoughts .JK

Interesting review and comparisons. How dramatic is the Zhorn with the high end of treble (cymbals and other type detail) compared to the Abby?