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

@ricevs: Yeah Ric, in one of his YouTube videos Danny Richie speaks about New Record Day Ron having found the Sapphire to produce "faster" bass than the Rythmik/GRR OB Sub (just for the record, Ron's opinion carries little weight with me). Danny contacted Ron to find out what the heck was going on, as in Danny's opinion that was most unlikely.

Turns out Ron was running the Rythmik/GRR OB Sub with its' Extension Filter Damping control set to "Low". With the 3-position Damping control knob set to "Hi" (Q= 0.7 Bessel filter), or even "Mid" (Q= 1.07 Chebyshev filter),  the OB Sub produces considerably tighter bass, at the expense of reduced output. 

When I used the servo subs I found the bass much better with the fuse bypassed in the amp and the binding posts all bypassed on the drivers.

You might want to call the guy at GT Audioworks and ask him why he changed from the servo woofs to the AE drivers.......certainly wasn't to save money.

What I would like is for Bruce to sell the new 90db neo drivers mounted in the new panel by themselves with just wire hanging down (the mid/tweeter thang shown in the 18LS proto).  Then make an external super passive xover for the panels and then run two AE drivers on an open baffle next to it running with full digital electronic crossover and eq and solid state bass......I bet that would be killer......and a lot less expensive than the 18LS thing.

Another cheap alternative would be to get a minidsp crossover and 4 channels of amps.......make an open baffle speaker and bi-amp it with two AE 12 inchers on the bottom and 4 series parallel GRS 8 inch planar drivers ($60 each from Parts Express) mounted above the woofs.....all on the same baffle.  The crossover would be used to equalize and time align.....Crossover, wires, woofer amp, drivers (AE woofers are over $500 each delivered!) and wood would be less than $4500. ......you just add a source.  This would be killer.  You would use your existing amp on the panels and buy a cheap class D amp for the woofs.  I am pretty sure the ET drivers (especially the new neo ones) would be better......but, this would be way cool.  You could use the GRS drivers passively but they might need some eqing.....so some crossover design knowledge might be needed.  If you use the inexpensive digital xover....then anyone can get great sound in an hour.  The series parallel GRS drivers would be around 96db sensitive.....so even low powered tubes could drive them.....cross over set at around 400 hz.  Of course, you could use just one AE driver, two cheaper 12 inchers, one $60 planar.....etc. to infinity.

https://www.parts-express.com/GRS-PT6825-8-8-Planar-Mid-Tweeter-8-Ohm-272-126?quantity=1

SO MANY POSSIBILITIES!!!!!  Life is grand!  Love is in the air.....spring has sprung.....wishing you all joy and beauty.

For those using an external processor with their LFTs 8bs, could someone explain how you went  about bypassing the passive crossovers.

Do you need to remove the woofer driver to access the passive crossovers?

How did you directly wire the tweeter, mid and woofer drivers to your amps?

I just purchased a processor and tri-amping my LFTs is the next step.

Appreciate any suggestion.

Steve, I'm not sure but I think we might have met at one of the shows.  I'm Lee Landesberg, current advertising director at Eminent Technology and one of the 5 dealers you mentioned.  I owned Landes Audio and sell Eminent in the S.E.,predominantly in SC.  I was one of the more active dealers for Bruce when I had my shop in NJ.  I also imported the Ars Aures speakers and teamed up with Joe Fratus to do the audio show circuit.  I am currently working with Bruce on the new Model Twenty musical instrument speaker line.  The 8c is a vast improvement as ledoux 1238 intimates.  Proper time alignment and an active bass has added the dimension in the bottom octaves that the LFT8 longed for.  Well worth the $ difference. I am awaiting delivery of my LFT18LS.  Stunning, and so cheap!

A day or two ago Guttenberg posted a video entitled Top 10 Audiophile Speakers And Amplifiers Of The Year (meaning of those he has reviewed this year). One of them is of course the ET LFT-8b, and he again says he found the LFT to outperform every Magnepan he has had in his room, which includes not just the LRS and LRS+, the .7 and 1.7, but also the 3.6 and 3.7i.

That’s right, Steve considers the $3200/pr LFT-8b superior to the $8000/pr 3.7i. Having not heard the 3.7i I can neither agree nor disagree with that opinion. For me that opinion is of value not necessarily just in and of itself, but also for bringing the LFT-8 to the attention of anyone considering the purchase of any Magnepan. Just know that there is another contender in the planar-magnetic loudspeaker field, one very worthy of consideration.

The LFT-8b is around the same price as the 1.7i (I compared the two, and like Steve was very surprised at how different the two sound), and less than half the price of the 3.7i. As I stated in my OP, I consider the LFT-8b the greatest bargain in hi-fi today!