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

@iansr There are plenty of used LFT-8b's for sale now, no need to wait!

Also, there are a few threads over at Audiokarma on the ET LFT-8c's with actual user experiences which are very informative:

https://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/eminent-technology-lft-8c-latest-version-impressions.1021996/, and 

https://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/anyone-else-upgrading-to-eminent-technology-lft-8c.999286/

I bought the LFT 8B many years ago and was horribly disappointed.  They were nice if all I listened to was piano trios.  The woofer was way underdamped and the highs were dull.  The panels rattled at moderate volume with bass heavy music.  Unconventional yes, but that's about it.  Hope he improved the design in the last 15 years and just left the 8b designation.  They needed a lot of work.

I’ve found the LFT-8b’s to be very critical on setup.  I have mine just slightly toed in.  There is a point where as you listen and adjust the speakers in/out and tilted up/down that all of a sudden it comes into perfect alignment and the sound almost doubles in impact and fullness and the soundstage comes in.  I mean very, very slight movements make all the difference in the world. 
I’ve never had any issue with not enough highs from the tweeters.  In fact I’ve had the opposite issue and have had to upgrade the tweeter caps and resistor (Mundorf) to smooth and tone it down.   The panels or woofer do not rattle, resonate or make any noise.  Most likely yours had an issue in that area and the panels had loose material or something.  And I many times blast my system a lot with prog rock to very loud db’s.  I have added a pair of Rythmik F12’s which sound great with the LFT-8b’s.  Are the LFT-8b’s the perfect speaker?  No but I don’t know of any other speaker in the price range that will give you the magic that these speakers do.  I’ve worked in and out of the high end audio industry since the mid 80’s and have had Quad ESL-63’s, various dynamic speakers, have tried Magnaplaners (never liked), also tried Aqoustats, Sound Labs, old Quad 63’s, Martin Logan and many other electrostatics, etc. over the years.  None are perfect and the ones that come closer to what I’d like are way out of my price range.  The ET LFT-8b’s do sooo much right.  Especially when the crossover parts are upgraded, they can just be amazing!  They can bring you into that arena of forgetting any speakers are there and just being carried far away into the music.  That’s what it’s about anyway.  Of course they will not match ever system or room.  But no one speaker is for everybody.  Also everybody has different tastes!

@harpo75 I concur that placement is super important with the 8b's. I never got to your level of perfection in terms of placement. I had them out 76 in. from front wall with quite a lot of toe in. And I was never quite satisfied with the soundstage. But I believe if I had persisted, I'd get there as there are many of you who have achieved it. 

I now use the 8c's and with slight toe-in the speakers disappear. The recording venue is palpable. Mind you, I am still fiddling with it, but I  can now appreciate what you mean. 

@rotarius If the panels were visibly rattling, then you would hear dullness. The panels handle the mid-range and the ribbon tweeters the high frequencies only. They do not receive low frequency signals.  If they rattle with bass heavy music, then it must be the physical connection with the woofer enclosure that is the problem. If you read earlier posts by @harpo75 , he has installed stiffeners to reinforce the swaying of the panels not to correct a mistake but to enhance the stability of the sound field, a project that is on my bucket list.

Here is my latest thinking on a diy super duper speaker using planars and woofs

http://tweakaudio.com/EVS-2/DIY_Bi-amped_super_speaker.html

Bi-amped, eqed, flat to 30hz...Super transparent and inexpensive.

Great plans Ric. Let me add the suggestion of using ASC WallDamp in place of Green Glue when making the 3-layer open baffles. WallDamp is very effective at killing panel resonances, and is not expensive: $43.75 for a bundle of twenty-five 4" x 4" squares, enough for the treatment of twenty-five square feet.

Interesting thread...having had most of the speakers mentioned here...but currently running a set of Quad ESL-2805 with HYPEX amps.....

Anyway, considering selling my ET LFT-6 (yes, the IV)....anyone in the Chicago area interested let me know.

@john65b: Eminent Technology made both a model LFT-4 (also sometimes referred to as LFT-IV) and a model LFT-6 (or -VI). The LFT-4 stands 56" tall, the LFT-6 78", and both are 18" wide. Which do you have? Less than 1,000 pair of each were made.

I have the LFT-6. They are tall -- taller than my Magnepans...trying to see if I can attach a pic

They were purchased many years ago and currently in my storage area.

When I recived them, the two woofer panels (one each side) sounded odd - I was in contact with Bruce about replacing the mylar in the two lower woofer panels...other than that they are actually in great condition considering their age...

I am considering selling them as they are, or fixing the woofer panels and then selling. Bruce quoted the mylar replacements are around $300 each and not too complicated to replace - just as long as you know how to open the magnet units without smashing and injuring your fingers...and, of course, how to solder the leads (no issues for me)

Just realized my typo in previous post...

ET LFT-6 (yes, the IV)

I have the VI, not the IV

Ah, okay @john65b, the confusion is cleared up.

I have a pair of the LFT-4, each of which contains two of the three LFT drivers the LFT-6 contains, with an integrated tweeter segment (the LFT-6 has two separate tweeters). If I wasn’t so far away from Chicago I’d snap up your 6’s!

Ha! Thanks bdp24...

I will put them up once I replace the woofer mylar.

What do you think is a current good price for the fully operational? I see one in Italy selling for $2300 EURO just this past August, and one in 2019 for $2100...not much data out there...

Based on Hi fi Shark, used prices for LFT 8b seem to be all over the place.  What would be a reasonable price for a pair in reasonably good condition and say a few years old, including the Sound Anchor stands ?