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Eminent Technology LFT-8b in Harry's system

I recently signed up for the V.P.I. Industries newsletter, and today received my first such. In it, Harry Weisfeld reviews a Grado phono cartridge, but this post concerns one of the speakers he listed as being those he uses to listen to music and evaluate recordings through. All but one are traditional dynamic cones/domes in a box designs, only one being a planar/dipole. That planar is the Eminent Technology LFT-8b. I'm pretty sure Harry could, if he so chose, have instead as his sole planar a pair of $6000 Magneplanar MG 3.7i's, or even $14,000 20.7's. But nope, he instead chose the $2500 ET LFT-8b, imo the greatest value in a loudspeaker on the market. I compared it to the 1.7i, and the difference was dramatic.
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bdp24 OP
9,821 posts
 

kot, I tried for quite a while to find a pair of the LFT-6’s, but never did. I had to settle for the LFT-4, which it's sort of a half-size version of the 6. It’s great for smaller rooms, as long as one has the usual distance from the wall behind the speaker than dipoles require---3’ minimum, 5’ better.

The LFT-8b is a great candidate for bi-amping (or at least bi-wiring), and ET makes it easy. There are two pair of binding posts on the top of the woofer box, one for the woofer and one for the magnetic-planar midrange & ribbon tweeter drivers. The x/o is 1st order (6dB/octave), so one can bi-amp passively---it’s cheap! Vertical bi-amping with identical amps helps with that, as their input sensitivities are matched. Or, a moderately powered tube amp can drive the panels, and a ss the woofer. The LFT has a nominal impedance of 8 ohms, but the panel itself is 11-12 ohms, great for tubes.

I second kot's recommendation of the Electron Kinetics Eagle 2A, one of which I own. A great, great amp for bass in particular. I haven't heard the updated/modified version kot cites, but even the original is fantastic, a real classic.

kot
133 posts
 
I was told by my ET dealer that LFT 8bs while a relatively easy load can dip as low as 3 ohms at certain frequencies, that is why Electron Kinetics and Symphonic Line are such a good match with them.... Having said that I ve driven mine 8bs with AudioPrism (red Rose model 1) Debut 1 (35-40 of kt-77 watts per channel), quite nicely but in a relatively small room. Also have been using Rega Mira 3 integrated in the summer in the very same room as well with great results.. A year ago a fellow audiophile here in NY was offering Cello Duet 350 for sale, and we brought that amp over and moved the 8bs into my much larger living room to see how the combo would match.... Those 350 watts of Cello, man oh man, just grabbed the 8b with iron fist and refinement I seldom heard .... Too bad I could not physically accommodate the Cello in my room for permanent placement (domestic issues and all), but the result was musical neutrally redefined, and as neutral to the source (I used DAC straight into into Cello with adapters, using digital volume control on my MAC) as I had ever heard.... And that Cello can be gotten for about 4 grand these days.... Just make sure to use a true bi wire or shotgun Cardas Golden Cross speaker cables as the new Clear Beyond series we also tried did impart too much of an analytical signature .... In any event, it was an amazing combo for a larger listening space!!!!!
kot
133 posts
 
@BDP24 If you REALLY want a fresh LFT 6, give Bruce Thigpen a call. If you ask him nicely (as I’m sure you would) ;) , he will produce you a one off custom pair of the LFT 6s, with all the improvements of the modern ET line and all... at a cost of about $9 grand... Bruce likes and enjoys interaction with audiophiles & music lovers  that appreciate and enjoy his work.... EVEN at the 9 grand price tag the LFT 6s are phenomenal, of course proper set up and larger room is a must to enjoy them in all their glory, but you know that better than I :)

Wish he would produce LFT 6 again on a commercial scale thou at a reduced price.... At 6 grand I would pull the trigger without blinking, even thou I lack the ideal conditions for them....Actually may be a bunch of us would band and pool orders so he might give us a lower price if lets say we order 10 pairs of the LFT 6... But, whom I am kidding....I know, I know it would be easier to have HIllary and the Donald to agree on something, than to have 10 obsessive compulsive audiophiles to agree to buy the same speakers at the same time , hahahaha ;)
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bdp24 OP
9,821 posts
 

Wow, a new pair of LFT-6’s! I’m gonna look into that.

Bruce includes a chart of the LFT-8’s impedance curve in both the owners manual and on the ET site, and the inductance of the dynamic woofer does cause an impedance dip. But the panels themselves have a very even, and for magnetic-planar and ribbon drivers, very high impedance characteristic, making them a good candidate for bi-amping and tube amplification, if that’s what one desires. Maggies, in contrast, present a 4 ohm and lower load to the amp, a real challenge for a tube design. The lifespan of tubes is greatly shortened when asked to drive low impedance loads, inefficient ones even more so.

Another point worth mentioning is that some consider the LFT-8’s dynamic woofer, though optimized for and blending well with the panels, to be the speaker’s weak point. If one desires more (or "better") bass output capability, the rather low 180Hz x/o frequency between panel and woofer allows one to use a sub of one’s choosing in it’s place. I am about to try just that with the bass panels of a pair of Magneplanar Tympani-IVa’s, an idea I became aware of recently on the Planar Speaker Asylum Forum.. Should be interesting

tommytom
16 posts
 
I first had the LFT8 and the woofer would distort with heavier bass passages so I was going to upgrade ($200) with Bruce's LFT8b woofers but I ended up getting a pair of 8b's (2011 vintage) off Audiogon for $1200. My favorite speakers by far because of all the reasons described here. I had previously; MGIIIA's, MG1.6, Legacy Focus, Dahlquist DQ-20.
The Focus obviously had the greatest dynamics with the 3 12" woofers and at around 98db sensitivity but overall the 8b had greater transparency and naturalness to the sound. The key thing here I believe that led to their great sound for me was running them with a Moscode 600 hybrid amp. At 300wpc and a Mosfet output stage, it gave those panels what they needed.
Fast forward to 2015 I wanted to try something different so I sold the Moscode and bought the Quicksilver V4 monoblock tube amps at 120wpc. As good as they sounded with the 8b's I don't think they had quite the same bass control and overall tighness that the Moscode had.
So then I see a pair of Alon IV for sale and still having the Dahlquist DQ-20, and knowing how good those speakers are, I purchase the Alon IV's.
As good as the bass was with the 8b's/Moscode combo, and even with the 8b/V4 combo, the bass from the Alon's was way deeper and more dynamic, and the mids and high frequencies were very good as well, although not as tall and wide of a soundstage as the 8b's. So now I end up selling the 8b's and am currently using the Alon IV/ Quicksilver V4 combo.
I say all this because as a crazy adiophile, I am thinking about getting another pair of LFT-8b's, selling off the V4 amps and Alon speakers, and buying a high current either hybrid tube/ss or maybe even a class D amplifier like the Rogue Pharaoh or Audio Alchemy amps. My goal is to bring back the overall cohesiveness and transparency that the LFT8b's have, but this time pairing it with and amplifier that can bring out those qualities.
Any suggestions?
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