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Eminent Technology LFT-8c Robert Greene review

A friend of mine forwarded this review to me a couple days ago.  I hadn't seen it as it's just a week old at this point. 

Why would I be interested? I have a pair of LFT-8b speakers that I picked up about 7 months ago.  Wonderful speakers. I always wanted to try a set of panels and, as luck would have it, last summer I found a used pair of 8b's just a short drive from my home..I made the jump.  As it turns out, this was one of the best moves I've made in my 50+ year audio hobby. 

In the last few months, I was considering picking up the 8b to 8c upgrade components, but put it off as I had a number of other projects going on.  Well..the projects got completed and I started a few more projects, though this time around the 8c upgrade is one of them.  I ordered the 8c upgrade yesterday and I'm really looking forward to the adventure once it arrives. 

One thing I've noticed when reading discussions of the LFT-8(no a, b, c)  here on A-gon, is the discussion wanders over the now 36 year history of the LFT-8.  Issues identified in this or that review from 10-20-25 years ago are brought up as if they reflect what the LFT-8 is today.  LFT-8's had a great sound 30 years ago, with a few flaws, as any 30 year old speaker would, and it sounds better today. Nothing surprising there. Most companies cut ties with models as they age and come out with something new, whether they are really new or repackaged parts..that varies.. 

What's my point?  I just find it interesting that Bruce Thigpen (Eminent Technology) came out with the LFT-8 in about 1990 and has been continually improving the model 8 year after year, decade in and decade out, staying in business with no advertising, though with a few shows here and there. There are very few current speakers(let alone businesses) alive today that have a 30+ year history under largely the same name. (Though the Vandy 2 series comes to mind)  Pretty unique in this industry.  It's also pretty unique that a decades old pair of LFT-8 speakers can be upgraded to the current model at a very modest cost. And the upgrade is easily done by any owner. 

So..the latest review:

https://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/eminent-technology-lft-8c-planar-loudspeaker/

Robert Greene goes into considerable depth in his review, which is specific to the 8c version, though he's done an 8b review in the past. I'm glad it came out as it pushed me over the edge in ordering the 8c upgrade.  I'm not getting any younger..time to give the 8c a spin. 

One last note, I've read in a number of older and current reviews that the LFT-8 speaker placement is..finicky.  I haven't found that to be the case at all.  In the last 7 months I've experimented extensively with placement and they respond well to various setups. My current setup is about 115 inches between the panels (on center) and maybe 30 degrees toe-ed  in from facing directly forward.  Each speaker is 45 inches off the front wall(on center) and 38 inches from the side walls.  I have a great soundstage and and equally great imaging.  My tweeter panels are on the inside. 

 

(...and no..I have no affiliation with ET..just a customer owning a used pair of the 2017 model 8b)

nogaps
ledoux1238
423 posts
 

@ozzy62 Please let us know if you do manage to sell the bass modules of the 8bs’. 

wlamt22
8 posts
 

The 8c is an excellent speaker if you like panels - easier to place than Maggie 3.7i w/ much better low bass, and better bass integration and treble then the ML 9 and 11 - and its well cheaper than all 3.

The amount of adjustment with the bass cubes assures that you'll get a very good match with your room/tastes.

I thought the treble element was a ribbon at first it was so pure and clear.

I owned or had on long term loan/purchase option over 10 panel or panel/hybrids and only the Apogee Duetta was in the same class - and the ML CLS IIz w/ Gradient 63 subs.  

 

nogaps OP
171 posts
 

Pretty extensive review. Thanks for posting. 

I still haven't had time to install the 8c upgrade. I have everything I need sitting here, but I'm booked into completing another project before doing this one.  Looking forward to it though!

slaw's avatar
slaw
26,633 posts
 

Thinking about the 8c as a final speaker. My room is small but well treated. 

There is a dealer in Richmond, VA. Closest to me for a demo according to ET's website 

nogaps OP
171 posts
 

Well.. I finally did the upgrade to the 8c. I had another project that I needed to complete and it put me back 4-6 weeks, but I’ve been listening to the now 8c’s for a couple days..about 7-8 hrs so far. Listening to Red Garland "Groovy" right now.  Great album. 

The upgrade itself took a little longer than I expected as the mounting holes in the Sound Anchor stands that were mounted on the 8b bases didn’t line up/fit the 8c bass units. Width-wise were fine, but the 8b bass-units are deeper than the 8c’s by 2-3 inches.  I later found out that Bruce has adapter brackets available, but rather than wait for shipping, I made my own out of 1/4 x 1 inch aluminum bar stock, 13 9/16ths inch long.  I painted them black and lined up/drilled the holes and things mounted up fine.  I also installed a newer (than the 2017 models I had in the 8b’s) tweeter in each speaker. This is a very easy swap.

Once all that was done I fired them up...and..hmm..that doesn’t sound quite right??  After some bass unit volume adjustments and checks on wiring from beginning to end, I discovered I still had an external sub (ACI Titan II) turned on..and it was(apparently) 180 degrees out of phase with the 8c’s. Oops. I turned the sub off..and I had BASS..yikes..I turned the bass volume back to the OEM starting point of -14.8dB and things sounded..wonderful.  I’ve made a couple bass-volume adjustments and I’m now at -13dB..it seems about right.   Once that was settled I turned my external sub back on, why not use it..?, and adjusted the phase. The xover is turned all the way down to 35Hz(lowest setting) and it’s integrated well.  I'm also using the OEM time delay of 0.6ms and it seems good.

At this point I’d say things sound..glorious, with or without the external sub. I have in the neighborhood of 800-1000 hrs of 8b listening time since I picked up the 8b’s last August. The 8c’s do sound..tighter..which is what the 8c DSP was designed to address. Having the adjustable bass volume, and dipole bass, is a big & welcome plus.  I’m very happy with the upgrade.  Awesome set of speakers..  (certainly a good bit better than most of the 100+ set of speakers I’ve heard at the Florida & Axpona shows this year).

I’m currently running them with a Dons Sachs DS2 preamp into a Sachs Kootenay KT88 amp (64 watts UL mode)..with no issues. Seems to be a great match, even though Bruce suggests a minimum of 70 (to 150) watts of power. Now that I think of it, I’ll need to try our the 35w triode mode that amp offers and see how it works. 

With many the hours of listening time with the 8b’s and the same front end (Aurender N10 into Mojo Evo Pro DAC), I can’t say I hear any impact of the final 8c DSP D-A-D conversion. 

Eventually, when I get my DNA-1 back from McCormack, I’ll be running the speakers with a SS amp, and tube pre. 

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