Lowther in bass reflex or Cain Abby

In my experience these types of speakers are very cold sounding.If you like speakers that emote you probably need to look elsewhere.
The Goodmans Axiom 80 is the exception to this however.
Many of us have been down the single driver path.You can enjoy these immensely for a while but after a while you also come to realise their weaknesses as well as their strengths.
Some don't though,so they are probably still worth a try.

Interesting comments.I have always prefered warmer sounding speakers like Spendor and electrostats.So by comparison the Lowthers are cold.The Fostex are colder still.I have also used a Coral 10 inch which I rate ahead of the Fostex.
Maybe we have different understandings of cold.What I am referring to is the ability to convey the emotional aspects or feeling of the music.For many types of music this not really missed.I listen to a lot of acoustic roots music in which much of the substance is based on expression and timbre.Artists that typify this are Guy Clark,Francis Black,Mary Black,Kasey Chambers,Eva Cassidy,Shawn Colvin etc.On this type of music the relative coldness of the wizzer cone type speakers is revealed.I also have Edgar Mid horns that are superb on this type of music,as well as Crown electrostats and Toshiba SS30s[stunning sounding speakers].Other speakers I own like ESS Heil ribbons are not so good.
I use a 300b preamp [Supratek Cabernet]and EL34 monoblocks so I don't think there is any other cold sounding components in my system.
Anyway this is just one persons opinion.If you don't listen for the same things in music as me the Lowthers may suit perfectly.I do think however the back loaded horns have major phasing issues caused by the negative phase coming from the back of the cone and interfering with the sound coming from the front.This is not so much an issue for bass but it is for midrange performance and I think any such speaker needs carefully applied damping within the horn to minimise this.

JT

Darkmoebius,Thanks for such a comprehensive reply.Nice to respond to somebody with such great taste in music.
I have not heard the non wizzer Fostex.I should give them a try.Also I have not tried the FE 166 because of its very limited bass but always suspected that it might sound better than the bigger Fostex speakers because it has a much flatter response.
It is always a bonus when you live close to a maker of great products like Edgar and get a chance to hear them.I am lucky enough to live near Supratek.The Supratek preamps really are something special and very much designed to get the best out of the sort of music and speakers you are into.
Mick Maloney uses Goodmans Axiom 80 based speakers[amongst several others].