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Steve Guttenberg finally reviews the Eminent Technology LFT-8b loudspeaker.

 

Over the past few years I and a number of other owners of the Eminent Technology LFT-8b have on this site extolled the virtues of this under-acknowledged loudspeaker. I myself have encouraged those interested in Magnepans to try and hear the LFT-8 before buying. That is not easy, as ET has only five U.S.A. dealers.

I am a long-time fan of Maggies, having bought my first pair (Tympani T-I) in 1973, my last (Tympani T-IVa) a few years ago. But the Tympani’s need a LOT of room (each 3-panel speaker is slightly over 4’ wide!), which I currently don’t have. So I gave a listen to the MG 1.7i, and didn’t much care for it. As I recounted in a thread here awhile back, I found the 1.7 to sound rather "wispy", lacking in body and tonal density (thank you Art Dudley ;-).

Brooks Berdan was (RIP) a longtime ET dealer, installing a lot the company’s linear-tracking air-bearing arm on Oracle, VPI, and SOTA tables. After Brooks’ passing his wife Sheila took over management of the shop, continuing on as an ET dealer. I knew Brooks was a fan of the LFT-8, and he had very high standards in loudspeakers (his main lines were Vandersteen, Wilson, and Quad). The shop had a used pair of LFT-8’s, so I gave them a listen. They sounded good enough to me to warrant investigate further, so I had Sheila order me a pair, along with the optional (though nearly mandatory) Sound Anchor bases.

I wouldn’t waste your time if I didn’t consider the ET LFT-8b to be just as I have on numerous occasions (too many times for some here) described it: the current best value in all of hi-fi. Hyperbole? Well, you no longer have to take it from just me and the other owners here: Steve Guttenberg finally got around to getting in for review a pair (the LFT-8 has been in production for 33 years!), and here is what he has to say about it. After watching the video, you can read other reviews (in a number of UK mags, and in TAS by Robert E. Greene) on the ET website.

https://youtu.be/Uc5O5T1UHkE

 

 

128x128bdp24
bdp24's avatar
bdp24 OP
9,788 posts
 

Oh, and I recorded the sound of my two year-old son and then-wife’s voices, using those recordings to evaluate loudspeaker freedom from vowel coloration (thank you JGH ;-), and midrange transparency. A brutally-revealing test! That led me to---of course---the Quad ESL.

ieales's avatar
ieales
1,201 posts
 

@ledoux1238 

Bruce first mentioned the new panels in April 2022.

We bought a new motorhome in May 2022.

Our heating system died Dec 22nd.

Still on the radar... but since the system is so outstanding, there’s a bit of "Ain’t broke,,, Don’t fix" trepidation.

kot
133 posts
 

The Sound Anchor custom made heavy gauge steel speaker stands improve the sound of 8b substantially, especially in areas of imaging! Almost essential!

Better the amp & front end the 8bs wont be the limiting link in the system. You do need an amplifier with good power supply, high current if used in medium size room If used with REL reference subs arrays , the 8b will compete to any speakers at any price.

I was able to find and purchase long out of production custom edition big LFT 6s, and these go almost full range, but require nuclear plant level of power to really shine.... After these LFT 6s , most other speakers sound like carbon copy of music. 8bs come pretty close, having owned them both at the same time.

som
75 posts
 

I’m definitely interested in these speakers but I’ll have to wait for a bigger model with more output. My seating distance is around 4.5m.These have a max spl of 105db at 1m. That would mean a max spl in the low 90’s at my listening position.

Edit: I just realized that 105db may be per speaker , if so max spl would be in the mid 90’s

Edit: I just read that planars only drop 3db so that would mean around 100db max spl at my seat. 

bdp24's avatar
bdp24 OP
9,788 posts
 

@kot: I’m green with envy! I for awhile unsuccessfully attempted to get myself a pair of the LFT-6. I was however able to find a pair of the smaller LFT-4. Interestingly, the LFT-4 has sloped "side wings", a technique for tailoring the tonal balance of the speaker’s output (the wings prevent dipole cancellation, the frequencies of which are determined by the dimensions of the wings), which Danny Richie also employs in some of his GR Research open baffle loudspeakers. The LFT-3, -4, and -6 are rather rare, Bruce Thigpen having made only a few hundred pair of each.

By the way everyone, Grant Mye will make you stands for the LFT-8, with support arms that extent up to the top half of the planar panels. I have heard from one LFT-8 owner who got a pair, and he found the Mye stands to provide a worthwhile improvement over the Sound Anchor bases. I’m gonna get myself a pair, soon as I sell my ARC line stage.

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