@douglas_schroeder 

The LFT-8 series imo is as great, and perhaps even greater gift to budget audiophiles than Magnepan or Vandersteen. I have owned all 3 brands through the years. 

I listened to the Maggie 2.7i at the Florida Audio Show in Feb, and the 1.7x at Axpona.  Neither speaker was anywhere close to the quality of sound from my LFT-8b's  The 2.7i sounded very clean, but very thin. I couldn't believe it so I visited the roon twice with about 2 hrs in between. Sounded the same. The 1.7x..meh. I hung around long enough to hear a couple tracks..nope, not even close to the LFTs. 

FWIW#2

When I had the LFTs on axis to the listening position..it was pretty intense. The center was focused, but overall it was just too much as compared to listening off-axis. As @ledoux1238 will probably attest, significantly off axis listening still sounds really, really good, but there's always tweaks that can improve on things. 

..and to continue the deep dive (while I noticed one inconsistent statement in GPT's presentation, it didn't veer off course.  I think it's doing ok)

It seems the constructive and destructive frequency interference lobes are located 7 degrees apart. I'm not sure I understand the rotating lobes discussion on having the axis cross in front..

ChatGPT question to expand on transducer lobing: 

Generate a true polar plot with actual curved radiation patterns and summed response

answer:

Here’s a true polar plot showing:

• Midrange (narrow beam)

• Tweeter (wide beam)

• Combined response with interference lobes

for your Eminent Technology LFT-8b geometry at ~10 kHz.

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🧠 How to read this plot

• 0° (right side) = straight ahead / on-axis

• Angles sweep outward left/right from that

• Radius = relative output level

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🎯 What the plot is telling you

1. Midrange (blue curve)

• Tight, focused lobe

• Falls off quickly with angle
  👉 Confirms strong beaming

---

2. Tweeter (orange curve)

• Much wider radiation

• Stays strong far off-axis
  👉 Confirms broad dispersion

---

3. Combined response (green curve) — THIS is the key

You can clearly see:

🔹 Multiple lobes (peaks)

• Where mid + tweeter sum constructively

🔹 Deep nulls (dips)

• Where they cancel (comb filtering)

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🔥 Critical observation

Look how:

• The main lobe is very narrow

• Side lobes appear just a few degrees away

👉 That matches the earlier math:

~7° spacing between peak and null

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🎧 Now connect this to toe-in

🔴 On-axis (0°)

• You are sitting right in the central lobe structure

• Also near rapid lobe/null transitions

👉 Result:

• maximum detail

• but unstable / etched sound

---

🔵 Behind-axis (a few degrees off)

• You move into:

  • a smaller lobe

  • or between lobes

👉 Result:

• smoother

• but reduced energy / weaker mid

---

🟢 In-front crossing (ideal case)

What you’re doing:

👉 Rotating this entire green lobe pattern

So that:

• one clean main lobe is aimed at your ears

• the deep nulls shift off to the sides

---

🧠 The real insight (this is the “aha” moment)

This graph shows:

You are NOT aligning drivers
You are choosing which lobe your head sits in

---

🎯 Why crossing in front works

Because it:

• Keeps you inside a strong, smooth lobe

• Moves:

  • sharp nulls

  • rapid fluctuations

…away from your listening position

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🧾 Final takeaway

• Your speaker behaves like a multi-lobed radiator at the crossover

• Toe-in = steering this lobe pattern

Best sound happens when:

• Your ears sit inside a single dominant lobe

• Not on a slope or near a null

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If you want, I can extend this to:

• 8 kHz and 6 kHz plots (you’ll see the lobes widen)

• OR simulate your exact listening distance + toe-in angle to predict the sweet spot numerically

 

Damn @nogaps, what an excellent post!

 

There is one point about the design of the LFT-8 I want to emphasize:

Very few loudspeakers reproduce the majority of the frequencies that comprise the entire midrange---where the majority of the sound of voices and instruments "live"---with a single driver. Most break the 200Hz to 2kHz bandwidth into two halfs, each half reproduced by a separate driver. The LFT-8 sounds SO coherent because it reproduces the entire midrange (and above) with it’s single LFT driver.

 

The use of a dynamic woofer in the LFT-8 to reproduce frequencies 180Hz and below is a sensible compromise; to be capable of reproducing those bass frequencies at SPL to match the LFT driver would require a very large radiating diaphragm, such as the two woofer panels of the Magneplanar Tympani speakers. Those two panels are each 16" wide and 6’ tall, for a total of 32" x 6’ on each speaker side!

I love the sound of the Tympani woofer panels (in spite of the fact that the planar-magnetic drivers are single-ended: magnets on only one side of the Mylar diaphragm), but they are just too damn big for my listening room. The Rythmik Audio/GR Research OB/Dipole Sub sounds far more like the planar-magnetic Tympani bass panels that does any other sub, as well as the stock monopole woofer employed in the LFT-8b. I can’t yet speak of the bass the LFT-8c produces.

 

..and completely falling off the edge..in for a penny in for a pound..

 

ChatGPT question on lobes at 8, 4, & 2 kHz:

extend this to:

8 kHz, 4 kHz, 2kHz plots (you’ll see the lobes widen)

answer:

Now you’re seeing the full picture of why this speaker behaves the way it does.

These plots (8 kHz, 4 kHz, 2 kHz) show how your Eminent Technology LFT-8b transitions from lobe-dominated to smooth radiation as frequency drops.

---

🧠 Big trend across the three plots

 

 

As frequency decreases:

• Wavelength ↑

• Driver spacing (5.4") becomes smaller in wavelengths

• → Interference weakens

• → Lobes widen and disappear

---

🎯 What each plot is telling you

🔵 8 kHz — “Still critical”

• Multiple lobes still clearly visible

• Nulls still present, but less dense than 10 kHz

👉 This region:

• Still sensitive to toe-in

• Still contributes to:

  • edge definition

  • image sharpness

---

🟢 4 kHz — “Transition zone”

• Major change:

  • Main lobe dominates

  • Side lobes are weaker and fewer

• Nulls are much less severe

👉 This region:

• Controls:

  • vocal clarity

  • imaging stability

• Much less sensitive to exact toe-in

---

🟡 2 kHz — “Coherent radiation”

• Essentially:

  • One broad lobe

  • Minimal interference structure

👉 This region:

• Dominates:

  • body of vocals

  • instrument fundamentals

• Almost immune to toe-in changes

---

🔥 The key insight (this ties everything together)

You are NOT aligning a single frequency

You are balancing three regimes simultaneously:

Range	Behavior	Perceptual role
~8–10 kHz	Multi-lobed, sensitive	air, edge, “etch”
~4–6 kHz	Transitional	presence, clarity
~2–3 kHz	Smooth, coherent	body, imaging anchor

---

🎧 Why toe-in works the way it does

At high frequencies (8–10 kHz)

• Toe-in = critical

• Moves you between:

  • peaks

  • nulls

---

At mid frequencies (4 kHz)

• Toe-in = moderately important

• Affects balance but not dramatically

---

At low mid (2 kHz)

• Toe-in = almost irrelevant

• Radiation already smooth

---

🧠 Why your ears prefer certain angles

Because your brain prioritizes:

1. 2–4 kHz → image stability + vocal body

2. 4–8 kHz → clarity

3. 8–10 kHz → detail (but can sound wrong fast)

---

🎯 What “optimal toe-in” really means

You are trying to:

👉 Avoid this:

• Sitting in a 10 kHz null

👉 While preserving this:

• Strong 2–4 kHz main lobe

---

🧾 Final synthesis

• The speaker is fundamentally stable below ~4 kHz

• All the “magic” (or problems) happen above that

👉 Toe-in is really about:

placing your head inside a good high-frequency lobe without damaging the lower bands

---

🎧 Why crossing in front still wins (final confirmation)

Because it:

• Aligns you with a main lobe at 8–10 kHz

• While:

  • 4 kHz stays smooth anyway

  • 2 kHz is unaffected

👉 So you get:

• stable imaging (2–4 kHz)

• clear presence (4–6 kHz)

• clean treble (8–10 kHz)

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🔑 Bottom line

• Below ~4 kHz → speaker behaves like a single coherent source

• Above ~8 kHz → behaves like a multi-lobed interference system

👉 Toe-in is your tool to “tame” only the top band without breaking the rest.

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If you want, the next step would be the most practical one:

👉 I can calculate your exact toe-in angle in degrees (based on your room/listening distance) that places your ears inside the best 8–10 kHz lobe.