I recently purchased a demo set of LFT-8Bs, hoping they would finally satisy my taste for 2 channel listening in our dedicated audio room. Previously, I have used Klipsch Fortes, Innersound Electrostats, Magnepan 1.6s, Magnepan 3As, and most recently Emerald Physics 2.0s. Each of these speakers had strengths and weaknesses.

The Klipsch had great tonal balance, but didn't provide the detail or soundstage of the others. The Maggies gave a big soundstage but lacked significant bass. Using a sub with them was problematic. Always too much or too little bass that didn't blend well. The innersounds were way too bright for my liking. The Emerald Physics seemed like the ticket. However, depending on the material, they went from truly lifelike to utterly lifeless.

So, after researching Bruce Thigpen's LFT-8s I decided to give it yet another try. While they are not perfect, they perform perfectly for my application. They offer truly full-range sound, with all the detail and soundstaging of the other planars. The integration of the convential cone woofer with the one-of-a-kind planar drivers reveals the best of both worlds, in my opinion. Also, you don't have to be positioned precisely in the middle of the speakers to get good sounding results.

As I write this review, I am listening to Wings Grreatest Hits. It's pretty amazing to hear nuances, instruments, and voices coming from the songs I've heard so many times before. The bagpipes on Mull Of Kintyre really are jumping out, as are the vocal harmonies and the background passages.

For the money these blow away all the other speakers I mentioned. I'm delighted to have discovered them.

Quality of construction is a definite strength; fully spiked down with a set of Sound Anchor Stands underneath there is over 70 lbs of very solid solidly placed planar that is completely vibration free; very important considering how vibration can fatigue other planar speakers I have encountered.

The fully enclosed and sealed 8” bass drivers are a huge asset; while bass response will not exceed what a nice set of dynamic floor standers can put out; they can produce a very tight and solid punch that is often not present in most other planer designs on the market. The seamless integration is a huge asset and combine to form a very well rounded almost “dynamic” like sound thus nearly providing the best of both worlds between conventional planar’s and dynamic boxes. Typically one who purchases a set of planar’s in this price range will be forced to abandon low end frequency response and that is certainly not the case here.

The connectors are another asset. Nothing worse than having to alter or discard your $ 500 speaker cables because the posts on your new terminals are not compatible with your existing cabling. The LFT 8’s posts are incredibly flexible and take nearly everything. Some criticize the top mounted location for aesthetic reasons; personally I like to showcase my cabling and the LFT 8’s do precisely that.

Flexibility is another asset. At least twice now Eminent Technology has improved upon the design of this speaker. In both cases the new components could be economically purchased and retro-fit to the existing speakers (easily by owners) to make them current with the new product offerings. A very nice way to keep enjoying your sound; keep your gear current and helps to keep the resale strong as well. Two thumbs up to this practice.

Some of the strengths from a performance standpoint may be a weakness from an ownership perspective. At over 4’ tall and 70lbs in weight the LFT 8’s may not work for some rooms.

Also do not kid yourself; to make the LFT 8’s truly sing as designed requires some serious (read costly) amplification. I would strongly recommend a dedicated two channel amplifier to do these speakers justice. Placement is also a really critical factor, and more so given the di-polar aspect of the design; you might find it difficult to fully integrate into your room. That said placement issues are always a challenge with any Planar or ESL style speaker so that is not unique to the LFT 8.

The lack of a major dealer network may be a drawback for some as you might likely have to buy without auditioning first; thankfully the company does offer an in home trial program although be advised if you are for some reason unhappy with the sound and would like to return the speakers you will be responsible for some fairly expensive shipping fees.

My only other beef was over the grilles; the attachment is basically some tacky added on Velcro and I find that while they do work; a nice more secure system would be preferable. On a suggestive note, given how well the Sound Anchors mate to the LFT8’s I would strongly suggest that they should become a standard feature and the price increased to reflect that as a standard option. Worst case people could always delete the Sound Anchors and get a credit; however they really are an asset to the performance and placement of the LFT 8.

On the whole not really much negative about these speakers; and for the money they are an absolute steal.

For the purposes of this summary I will assume that you are already both familiar with, and are a fan of the unique Planar/ESL “sound” It is important when considering any Planar or ESL to ensure that your musical tastes are compatible with the sound characteristics of this exceptional speaker design; as some musical preferences are better served by conventional “dynamic” box style speakers.

Having said that; if you are into Planars/ESL types of speakers the LFT 8’s are easily a best kept secret and provide a very viable alternative to some of the better known product offerings from well known companies such as Magnapan and Martin Logan to name a few. There are many proprietary and patented innovative ideas at play in the LFT 8 that ultimately produce a very exclusive and special sound.

The biggest downside to most conventional Planar’s is a lack of low end; and while separate or built in subwoofers are often the solution; they typically do not mesh well and often detract from the overall sound quality. ET designer Bruce Thigpen has actually designed and produced a custom very limited frequency 8” driver that sit in fully sealed and laminated enclosures that produce some of the most seamless and transient bass response you will find in a speaker of this nature. At times the bass is nearly on par with a compact column dynamic floor stander and certainly is very tight. Critics may still push for more bottom end; however one must understand that Planar’s thrive in the mid to upper frequency spectrum so the respectable low end of the LFT 8 is definitely worthy of mention.

As for the mid’s and high’s; in a word they are silky smooth; incredibly detailed and in spite of the massive imaging and soundstage courtesy of the di-polar aspects of the design; very accurate and natural sounding. Given the larger overall surface area of the planars there is also a fairly forgiving sweet spot if you are looking to get into more nearfield style listening. In a word; they are very pleasant and non-fatiguing to listen too. One other nice feature is that the tweeter has three ranges of crossover adjustment so you can better tailor the highs to fit your particular room; more important is that it can be toned down -6db in order to avoid sounding too bright; an important consideration again given the di-polar design of the speaker.

The quality of construction is very good; and the top mounted connectors are first rate and very flexible making them ideal for a range of different connectors. Sound Anchor Speaker stands are a must have and combine for a very solidly setup system. Looks are arguable; some like the 2001 Space Odyssey style monolith appearance while others do not; still given how good they sound once can grow to like them fairly quickly.

In short; they are a very nice sounding speaker. They are fun; flexible and entertaining and are a real pleasure to own. They are more “dymanic” sounding than most Planar’s; largely because of the respectable low end and overall smoothness and seamless transition over the entire frequency spectrum; whereas most Planar’s end up really standing out more towards the middle and upper frequencies. I would suggest that these are a fairly conservative and safe choice for a set of planar’s. If you are into the planar sound it is hard to find anything on these speakers to dislike as they do most things very well; in fact more than many planar’s even at twice the price. You really cannot go wrong with the LFT 8 and I recommend them strongly as a result.

Customer Service

Have had no need for any customer service! The one and only email I ever fired off to Eminent Technology was answered by the owner (Bruce) within two hours on a weekend! That was amazing. These speakers are built to last and include a very detailed manual. They also have a good web site that provides information for adding upgraded components and even how to install features as well. These are a nice problem free product.

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Too much gear to list. Suffice to say I am an Audio addict.

Overal balance, uniform sound, lack of colorations... Excellent speed and attack.
Low level detail is very good, although not as good as high efficiency drivers, etc, much better that expected for low sensitivity speakers. Musicality is retained at low levels. Good timbre of acoustical instruments, quality of voices (voices are just gorgeous). Sound balance does not change over the dynamic range. Easy to listen over the period of time but not soft, boring or veiled. Do not need subwoofer unless you are bass freak. They let you enjoy the music.

You will still need some power but not as inefficient as you would expect due to being planar. If you need bass slam you need something good above 250WPC SS or biamp with above 100 WPC SS on bass+Tubes on panels.
Maximum output is limited in comparison to some FULL range dynamic speakers in large rooms and if over 100 db is not enough for you. Don't even think to use them with cheap electronics but super-expensive gear is not needed.
Low WAF factor, need to be pulled away from the front wall, as all planars.

I did not really plan to post my review here, but when I noticed Tucker's review below, could not resist. Not everyone will like certain speakers including VIIIA-s, but his "review" is full of so much nonsense that is simply laughable.

I listened number of other dynamic, electrostatics and planars up to about $3000 range. I had Magnepan MG 1.6 and Martin Logan Clarity in mind, but bought LFT-VIIIa and after close to 2 years am very happy that I did.

LFT-VIIIa were clearly one of the best speakers in this price range (and some).

If you are looking for speaker without colorations or boxiness, listen at the sane SPL levels, if you listen more jazz, classical, acoustic and vocal music as opposite to heavy metal-rock-pop, you should definitively put these on your list.
BTW, they do rock and even rap better than number of speakers in the price range, but you will need power.
Sound is effortless, open, without noticeable colorations, details were clearly heard but not thrown at you, without harshness, extended at bothe ends. Soundstage is fairly deep, tall and wide, but of course quite dependant of speaker placement and associated equipment.
Overall balance is remarkable, there is no part spectrum that sticks out.
It is punchy if provided with enough power, albeit you wont feel it like with most of the dynamic drivers (bass driver box alignment is toward perfect transient response versus midbas emphasis common to many box speakers).

Associated equipment:
Front end: VPI HW19MKIII-->RB250+Incognito+Technoweight-->Ortofon MC25FL-->Phonomena-->Harmonic Technology Truthlink
Pre/CD: MF CDPre24-->Harmonic Technology Truthlink
Amps: Rogue Stereo 90 (Mullard 12AX7, Stock 6SN7, SED 6550C) --> Cardas Quadlink 5C Biwire

BTW, I am not affiliated in any way with ET etc, etc, blah, blah.

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Other equipment tested used at home:
Plinius 8100, Monarchy 70Pro, Myriad MA240, Cary Rocket 88R, AES Sixpacs, MF A3.2CR, Dynaudio 70, Mission 750SE, Magnepan MG12 & SMGa, B&W 603S3; Nytech MA252, Acurus RL11, NAD C542, C372, Myriad MP100; Kimber, Audioquest, Analisis Plus, Nordost, Siltech cables...

Midrange detail and open soundstage

None for a speaker in this price range

For $1699.00 these speakers are impossible to beat. Often compared to speakers that cost 3 times as much. For a great review, go to the Home Entertainment Reviewer website: http://homeentertainmentreviewer.com/eminenttechnology.html

Amazing extension, coherrance, imaging, detail, punch, fun to look at.

ugly to lok at! not enough bass sometimes (can't have it all), could extend a bit higher - but still a marvelous sound!

First off I am also wondering what happened to the review I posted on these 3 years back???? It remained fo a couple of years and now it's gone. Makes me question the intergrety of this reiew site.

I picked these beauties up for$560 from a guy who had just moved to hawaii - I had to wire him the money. I think they are amazing for what they do. I gave up my acoustat model 3's paired with sunfire 13" signature for these based on the more pleasing sound. Yes, the woofer does bottom out on certain types of material at load volumes but I think the speaker pumps out enough volume for most people - actually helps keep me in check so I dont annoy the neighbors. At moderate to loud listening levels these speakers put out amazing tight conherent bass. On 1812 overture they are nothing short of astonding. BTW, I think the trade off of extension over loudness was a good one - better to receive some information at 20hz - 30 hz than none any day.

Haven't had any problems driving them with my 205w dynaco!

Anyway, I've come to realize that while many speakers just plain suck, among the good speakers there is not one that does it all. A single driver 4" fostex wins the race depending on room size, material, listing volume and personal taste. I guess that engineer guy (earlier posting) doesn't get this aspect of audio.

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Acoustat M3, Acoustat 3300, Martin Logan, KEF, Energy Di Pole APS 5+2s,

Strength, wide soundstage, 3 dimensionality, live sound, awesome midrange and voice quality as if the person is right there and the glass is shattering in front of you. Very detailed with right components and tweaks!

Too heavy and possibly they could have placed a larger woofer, like at least a 10 inch, but generally an unbeatable sound.

Like all the positive reviews and C.E.S. reviews of this loudspeaker, I agree with the majority. The high end person denouncing this speakers irregardless of his 30 yrs experience, and I have over 25 yrs including as a former high end audio/video installer, does not know where he speaks and lacks knowledge of acoustical engineering. For him to claim he knows more than audio engineers like bruce thigpen is appalling. These LFT 8A'S are a wonder to hear. You cannot beat the the live sound for it's price. when coupled with dakiom feedback stablizers and acoustic research tds enhancers or a carver preamp with sonic holography, these speakers not only sing, it is about as real as it can get. Crystal clear highs, excellent midrange, and nice tight bass, with subs it's even better. For those thinking of purchasing this awesome speaker, don't listen t any of the negative reports by the self proclaimed expert who have earwax and don't let their high end talk fool you either. This LFT 8A pound per pound is one of the best planars out there better than magnepan and what is so big about the overpriced quads? Who would you listen, a digruntled customer who is unknowledgeable or the far more qualified engineer who designed this marvel? and backed up by many legitimate owners and reviewers of this well made loudspeaker. This is the best loudspeaker I owned, only my ACOUSTAT SPECTRA 33 only surpasses it. It blows away my other planars away like magnepans. I'm not big fan of quads, so I like these better. Cannot match even with speakers costing thousands more.

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magnepan smg-c, .05, mglrs-1, srslabs klayman signature, OHM. haven't matched it with my acoustat flagship spectra 33

You wont need a treble control, the high frequency roll off is built in ? Imaging was decent, some transparency. Tames bright recordings. I thought they looked cool

Un Godly inefficient, and dynamically limited too. Just dont like to play loud. Woofer bottomed out way too often. Unable to move much air in bass. Needed close wall placement in my room to keep from sounding thin, and this ruined the imaging! Had a silvery, zingy coloration on some material. Very rolled off highs with no air up top. Very dull, uninvolving sound, totally devoid of PRAT. Never made me tap my toes, or get up and "conduct". Sounded very strained as volume increased, and I could hear them compress.

The LFT 8a is a planar magnetic/hybrid speaker speaker. It uses an 8 inch sealed woofer crossing over to a planar magnetic midrange tweeter array. The midrange ribbons are called upon to cover a very wide range. Presumably, this is to keep the crossover artifacts out of the midrange, albeit at the expense of increased distortion. Assembly was easily handled by a fellow audiophile, and I. We had em up and running within an hour. The first thing we noticed, compared to my Magnepan MG3A's, and B&W 801's, was the lack of efficiency. These suckers flat shut off a Moscode 600! After my friend left, I put on some more dynamic material with bass, and the little 8 inch woofers bottomed out frequently! I played with them for about two more weeks, then sold them. They were too inefficient and dynamically limited for my room. I dont think they are awful, but certainly not in the same league as the MG3A's. Yes, they have their moments, and they are a very forgiving speaker due to their rolled off voicing. The 8 inch woofer goes deep, but so what ? Why go down to 20 hz if you cant move much air? That is too bright in my opinion. Really, I dont understand what all the fuss is about with these speakers. The imaging was pretty good. The high end was really rolled off, even in the high setting. Male voice was a real problem in my room. The placement for best imaging left male voices sounding thin, and when i moved em closer to the rear wall to help out the puny 8 inch woofer, the soundstage collapsed. In desperation, I pulled out my big 500wpc monoblocks, since the wonderful Moscode 600 kept shutting down due to their unusual power demands. The monoblocks are over 500 watts rms into 8 ohms, and the Eminence activated their clipping indicators far too often. I have no place in my system for a power hungry, and dynamically limited speaker. If i wanted that, i would still own Quad 63's. The quads smoke these speakers. Female voice was pretty well done. These are not rock speakers, or big orchestral either. they are at their best on chamber music, soft Jazz, etc. Bruce Thigpen was a great guy, and we both agreed that they would work out for me. I have a large room, but several speakers have worked in this room. The Eminence were not one of them. I would caution anyone that has a medium to large room to not buy them, or you will be sorry. Perhaps, in a small room, you could live with their dynamic limitations, but why ? Quads will destroy them in a small room, and so will several other speakers. I just cannot believe all the good reviews on these speakers. I think Bruce Thigpen neds to re think this design, and i told him so. I think he needs to go to better magnets for more efficiency, and to not try and take a puny 8 inch woofer down to 20 hz. That, in my opinion, is an exercise in futility. He has sacrificed bass extension for efficiency, a stupid thing in my opinion. After all, why go down to 20 hz if you cant pressurize a decent sized room ? This design has much promise, and I consider Bruce one of our hobbies truly great inventive minds. But, as is, I cannot recommend this speaker to anyone except a person in a small room. And even then, they are up against Quads and other better speakers. I posted this review on Audio Asylum, and took much heat for it. It was suggested to me that perhaps I received a "bad" pair ? I sold them to Doug Schroeder, who used them as a second pair to "stack" with his original pair. Doug never said anything to me about them being a "bad" pair, but then turned around and sold them on AudioGon. It must be pointed out that stacking a pair of these isn't a good idea in my opinion. While they will play louder when stacked, the speaker then turns into a big comb filter! This is because the speaker frames make it impossible to place the drivers right next to one another to avoid horizontal comb filtering effects! The designer of these speakers makes a big deal about their presumed ability to "pass a square wave". If they really will "pass a square wave", and IF that is musically important, then why does he sell a second pair to customers to "stack", knowing full well what sounds arriving from separate sources, and the resultant interference patterns, will do to a square wave ? I must also point out, that in the issue of fairness, I emailed Bruce Thigpen several times to give him a "second chance" to send me out another pair. I even offered to purchase the second pair, if they sounded better then the first. He did NOT even return any of my several emails! My best friend owns VMPS RM 40 speakers, and they use an older version of the LFT8A driver. Both he, and I, really wanted to like these speakers. To say we were disappointed is putting it mildly. One would think that the designer, Bruce Thigpen, would jump at the chance for a re review ?

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Magnepan MG3A, B&W Matrix 801 series 3, Martin Logan Aerius, Von Schweikert VR4Jr, Quad 63's, Acoustat 1+1's, Celestion SL600, Infinity Prelude PFR's,etc, etc. 30 plus year Audiophile here, I have owned it all.

Everything

Sonically, nothing. Stands need to be replaced with Sound Anchors.

Don't know what happened to the other 15 perfect reviews for this speaker- one was mine. I'm now running twin pairs of LFT-8A's as mains. It's FABULOUS! Power, precision, great imaging, huge soundstage, etc. etc. Phenomenal speaker too good for the price.

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Vandersteen 2c, magnepan 1.6

Think Magnepan, but with much better dynamics, speed and sense of rhythm. These guys will play well softly and loudly in a small-moderate room.

They need a lot of juice, 200+ wpc makes them happy. I use a Parasound 2200 MKII, a Stereophile class B Solid State amp available cheaply on the used market, and it makes them sing!

Eminent Technologies upgraded the woofer and crossover in the LFT-VIII in 1997 and renamed the product LFT-VIIIa. The LFT-VIII was previously a Stereophile class C speaker, and imho, whould have been reclassified as a class B if Bruce Thigpen had resubmitted the upgraded version. The wonderfully dynamic, transparent, natural and open mids and highs now are better mated to a cone woofer capable of credible lows into the 30's. If you like the sound of Maggies, but long for better dynamics and faster transients, these are for you.

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Maggies, specifically MG-2, MG-2.7QR

image scale/tranparent mids/

none in this price range

one of the best. lets you see into the music. emotional envolment must be present for a loudspeaker to be outstanding. i am a dealer

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sound labs magnapan monsoon