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Sorry I didn't see this earlier... From the perspective of larger ET speakers, I guess I'm living the dream... A pair of LFT-IV's in my smaller, downstairs setup. 14'x16'x9'. Currently a pair of LFT-VIII's in my larger upstairs setup. 14'x30'x8'. 2 pair of LFT-VI. 1 pair I got back in the middle 90s and they were my main speakers until I moved to Mississippi in 2006. I have replacement diaphrams for them as 1 or 2 of the midrange segments are out. The other pair was a 2010 or so purchase. This was a well-abused pair that had a number of dead segments... I haven't tested them. I got the 2nd pair to convert to woofer only panels and make up a pair of LFT-VII per here: http://www.eminent-tech.com/company/history.html I initially planned to use the panels removed from my 1st pair of LFT-VI as all the woofer panels are good. But discussing this with Bruce Thigpen, he suggested getting LFT-III woofer-only panels, which I did. I'll be retiring this year and one of my 1st big audio projects will be the LFT-VI rebuilds and setup as LFT-VIIs. Back to your question... I don't know if the earlier LFT-IV/VI are better or worse overall than the LFT-VIII. I was happy with my LFT-VI when I was running them. I am VERY HAPPY with both of my setups today. While both setups are very similar, my upstairs setup with the LFT-VIII is better overall. BUT I attribute this to the larger room and some care in handling room acoustics while the downstairs setup is in a smaller and not-treated room. I suspect there are tradeoffs... Possibly the LFT-VIII separate mid panels may resolve better than the combined woofer/mid panels of the LFT-IV/VI. AND the LFT-VI/VIII separate tweeter(s) is/are likely better than the LFT-IV combined woofer/tweeter panel. LFT-VI/VIII will play louder than the LFT-IV. I notice sonics deteriorate slightly on the LFT-IV after a certain volume... louder than I typically listen in that room, so not an issue for me. It would be in a larger room. Bass is surprisingly good on the LFT-VIII with the cone woofer, as is blend between the different driver types. ET did a GREAT job on this, IMHO. Bass quality as I remember was good on the LFT-VI, but more dependant on placement. I am hoping the additional planar woofer panels will help a lot. AND actually bass extension and quality both surprise me with the LFT-IV. A lot of that is the small-ish room, plus the associated gear... PS Audio P15 AC Regenerators & BHK-250 amps, older MIT Shotgun cables, Well-Tempered Reference tables with ET-2.5 arms and various cartridges, DIY'd digital sources based on Ian Canada's RPi-based line of gear. The gear is basically the same in both setups with the speaker models, room size, and room treatments being the main difference. I'll be able to say more hopefully in about a year after I retire & can spend some quality time on the 2xLFT-VI refurbishment and conversion to a pair of LFT-VII! AND if I decide the LFT-VIII mids ARE better than the LFT-VI/VII, I can make a frankenspeaker using the LFT-VIII tweeters/mids and LFT-VI woofers. While I've not watched the standard audio markets much recently, I have seen LFT-VIs, LFT-VIIIs, and a pair of LFT-IVs come up in the past 2 years on Ebay. I almost bought the LFT-IV's, I had the thought that turning the ones I have into IV+IV's could be an interesting experiment, ala Acoustat 1+1s/2+2s etc. I waited too long and they sold. DANG! Greg in Mississippi
Everything matters!
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