Steve Guttenberg finally reviews the Eminent Technology LFT-8b loudspeaker.

@bdp24 Eric, thanks for the photos. I would like to keep the SA stands, so I may end up fabricating a set of struts with a local metal worker.

@chowkwan Very impressive set and twin LFT 8a's! What is a ' Super Lumi ' phono?

It is clear that LFT 8's suffer from a lack of brand identity and a lot of disinformation. Some of the un-truths have been floating around for ages, and despite continuous attempts to correct, still persist. Refuting  some of the un-truths : They are made in the US of A; they are tube amp friendly, 20 W min; they have a wide and deep enough sweet spot; .......etc

What I don't understand is this: The ET 2 linear tonearm from the same brand enjoys a very healthy reputation and respect. A thread here on Audiogon on the ET arm has over a million views. However, the speaker from Eminent Technology seemed consistently under-rated. Is the speaker world much more competitive with many more choices? Did the ET arm established itself  in an era of less good tonearms , and hence garnered good reviews and established a fan base  early?

That’s a great idea Albert. From the pics it appears the only difference between the Sound Anchors base and the Mye stand are the struts. I had thought of cutting some 3/4" Baltic Birch plywood into appropriate length strips (maybe 1/5" wide), screwing two of those homemade struts onto the top of the bass enclosure and back of the planar panel (at each top corner). Not elegant, but then I’m not an elegant guy. ;-)

I too am mystified by the low profile of the LFT-8b. Everybody knows about Maggies, very few about the Eminent Technology speaker. Of course ET having only five U.S.A. dealers and not advertising doesn’t help! I was lucking in having a great dealer who actually had a pair of LFT-8’s in his listening room.

Brooks Berdan was one of ET’s biggest dealers, installing a LOT of ET arms on Oracle, VPI, and SOTA tables. Brooks was also a Music Reference dealer, and the RM-9 Mk.2 and RM-200 Mk.2 amps work splendidly with the LFT-8. Both tube amps, 125w/ch and 100w/ch respectively. Unlike the 3-4 ohm Maggies, high current not needed.

Today I took delivery of a pair of Orchard Audio Starkrimson GaN mono amps. They are Class D analog switching amplifiers with outboard power supplies. 
I bought them from the owner of ArgentPur cables, a nice fellow named Ernie Meunier. They came with a short run of silver speaker cable wired to each amp manual. The Starkrimson monos were the TAS Budget product of the year in 2021. I can see why; more aptly, I can hear why. 
 

 I’ve generally been a tube guy over the past 25 years, but I’ve never owned a high power tube amp nor tried any with LFTs (I became a dealer aroun2004 or so).  I should have; my QS EL34 monos are underpowered at 35wpc into 8 ohms.  And so is my Pass Aleph 30 and it’s gain and input sensitivity are low and I use a Khozmo passive balanced pre. The Orchards are balanced only and my Sim Moon LP5.3 phono stage and Soekris DAC 1541 are also balanced with SE  option. I also have both original Quads and ESL 63s in lovely condition. To my ears, the 8B beats them in my room with these amps. They are utterly liquid, natural, dynamic, spacious and  resolving. So beautifully balanced and relaxed that I can listen all day.  I don’t want for anything else; they have the virtues of nice tube amplifiers and none of the problems plaguing so many solid-state devices I’ve heard over the years, such as dryness, brightness or any hardness or other artifacts.

All that remains is to get the 8C upgrade. I’ve already sent Bruce an email-:)

@harryz Just looked up the Starkrimson Amps, 500W class D, very interesting! I believe you will be happy with the 8C, unless you want to hold off until the LFT 18s' are released. 

There are folks here with tube amps from Music Ref. - 100w @bdp24 and @chowkwan with 400W Manleys.  I have a pair of Von Gaylord Nirvana 100 W with 8 Tung Sol 6550s'. However, I really like the LFT 8C with a 20W Mactone MH-300b, a little known Japanese amp with 300Bs' in Push-Pull configuration. It is harmonically richer, with better bass and slightly wider / deeper soundstage. A 20W tube amp would be quite comfortable driving the LFT 8Bs', and most definitely 8Cs'. I think Manley makes a pair of 300b monos' that can be switched into a 20W P-P or a 10W SE mode. in my estimation,  that would be a good fit with the ET. I guess I am the low power advocate for the ETs'.

Thanks Ledoux1238-

I imagine that the 8B is great with higher power tubes amps and I’ve experience some magic with my lower powered ones, but I prefer the Starkrimson amps. They just seem to work better with my associated gear in my room. As I noted, I’ve never had sound like this, even with wonderful horn speakers and original quads.

I bet that the 18s are magnificent and I’d love to hear them someday. I’m certain that they will be too big and too much speaker for my room.   Bruce has already responded and I’m going to order the upgraded woofers. 
 

Harry