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The F8 is from the same family as the F5 in that they all sport the distinctive yellow Kevlar/paper composite cone. This F series uses cast frames and are magnetically shielded. Having worked on the HiVi C8 and the F5 in the Swan-M1 reworked, my faith has been restored with their woofers. My HiVi M8a woofers that I bought many years ago were a huge disappointment, hence my apprehensiveness. I’m looking forward to testing out this F8. Though her Qts is at 0.39, which is higher than my preference of 0.32, what is more worrying is her Mms. Her moving mass is at 35.3g. I usually avoid heavy cones because a greater force is needed to move it. This normally translate to a slower attack but if the other factors are balanced right, the woofer can still sound good.
I loaded the F8 into the same bass reflex box that I used for the HiVi C8 in the Flycatcher-X. With the box tuning unchanged, the simulated bass alignment is above. There is a 1dB peak at 50Hz which is inconsequential. What is more important is the System Q of 0.559. I am encourage by this as it indicates good damping, which means a tighter and clearer bass. the Inductor As with the HiVi C8, I retained the 10.0mH iron core inductor for the Low Pass. I do not expect to have any issues integrating the F8 with the C3N-III with this inductor.
Surprise…. Surprise. The HiVi F8 sounds excellent right out of the box. Her bass is very close to the HiVi C8. The main difference is there’s slightly more “meat” in the bass. She is as articulate as the C8 and the Seas U22 but very slightly slower in “attack”. Without an AB comparison, one cannot tell. Her bass is punchy and there’s texture.
I think I have unearthed a gem with this HiVi F8. At only $60, she blows the Dayton DS215-8 away in sound quality. In fact, compared to the HiVi C8 that cost $85, she is a fantastic buy. I have no issues recommending the F8. Unless otherwise stated, all measurements were made in Full Space (4pi). Mic at 36 ins, tweeter axis. Impulse Window=5ms. No smoothing applied. |
February 7, 2024HIFI DRIVERS, Projects
