Thanks for the post Eric. Pretty sure my room is too small, would still like to hear them.
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)
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Going to listen them to the 3rd time at BAT in Temple NH. First time with vinyl (SOTA w/ SME 309 and Hana) and Classe DR-9 and Schiit Kara. 2nd time with Schiit Tyr and Yggy Singular. As a mostly panel guy from '78-'05 and sporadically since I've owned and heard many of them. The 8c's beat on the Maggies (1, 1.7i, 2, 3.3, 3.7i) in low bass, and mid clarity. The true ribbon Maggies, Duetta Sigs and Ralls are my favorite tweets and I assumed the ET was - its so bloody good. The woofer/mid transition is well better than the ML hybrids (SL-3, Vista, Vantage, 9, 11) being at a lower frequecy. The ET are not head bangers but handle volume better than most of them. The depth of image I heard on the Tyrs was staggering. Timbre, stage, placement in stage and lack of IM were also notable. Given the rising prices these days its astounding they are $5600. Found all these posts on placement to be very interesting and seem to agree as far as I delved with what I have heard experimenting with them so far. |
@wlamt22 Please post your thoughts on your next audition. I assume you’re planning on picking up a pair. I can’t disagree on your thoughts about Maggies. I went to the Florida and Axpona shows this year and specifically spent time, 2 visits to the Maggy rooms at each show, with the Maggy 1.7i, 1.7x, 2.7i speakers. I ended up visiting each room twice as I had a hard time believing they sounded..so..meh. I though maybe it was the recordings, but, they sound how they sound. Very thin and lifeless. Minimal bass. Really no comparison to the LFT 8b’s I was listening to at the time. I recently upgraded to the 8c and Maggies wouldn’t hold a candle to them. With respect to the Ai thing I posted on placement..I should have pared those posts down a bit, but it was pretty exciting at the time...and is still very useful. The key in all those posts boils down to the calibration curve at the end. Using the curve/plot, anyone can quickly get well down the road toward an optimal setup of their LFTs. I’m still using about 24 degrees of toe-in for my setup..it’s terrific, I ran across a large list of great Chesky recording titles yesterday and found them on Qobuz..WOW. Soo good.. |
@ledoux1238 Nice to hear your power upgrade went so well. Very cool. I'm running the 8c's with a Don Sachs 6Sn7 pre and KT88 power amp, rated at about 65 watts/ch. No complaints here. This setup can push the 8c's all day long..and sometimes they do. I continue to wonder how they'll respond to the McCormack amp when I get it back. I talked with Pat at McCormack yesterday and he tells me I'm about 30 days out. They're doing a full-boat rebuild of my DNA-1. |
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