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The Evolution of Form and Thought – A Review of the FLC8n

::Disclaimer::
MusicTeck provided the 8n free of charge for the purpose of my honest review, for good or ill.

The FLC 8n sells for $355 MSRP
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FLC8n on Amazon


Not much has changed in the last few years for FLC’s flagship. From what I can tell, it is mostly just a refinement of the old design.

Which is probably a good thing. The FLC8s landed fat and hard on the Audiophile scene, garnering considerable praise for its versatility, form, and sound. It isn’t talked about much today—the community moves on—but that’s all the more reason why an update is not only timely, but needed.

The new FLC8n!

1x 8.6mm DD for Lows
2X BA for Mids and Highs
Frequency Response: 20hz-20Khz
Sensitivity: 107dB/mW @1Khz
Impedance: 11Ω

The housing is a good sturdy metal, and should withstand moderate abuse. A small 2-pin connector is used, sporting robust strain relief. Unfortunately, I was unable to plug in a standard 2-pin cable like my Effect Audio Ares II. The holes are just not wide enough on the FLC.

While this is sad, it’s not a complete disaster. The stock cable is alright, with a high purity 7n copper. It’s a bit too springy for my liking, but it’s light and doesn’t get in the way too terribly.

Between the 3 filter positions you can adjust mid-bass, low-bass, mids, and highs, with a total of 36 unique configurations. If you’re anything like me, that might sound daunting. It’s not. In practice, you don’t need to play around with every single setup. FLC provides a booklet which describes what every filter does. All you must do is have a semblance of a notion for what sound signature you enjoy, and install the filters FLC claims will achieve this ambition. If this is your first experience with audio, you’re screwed, and will need to cycle through all 36 options to find your absolute favorite. For the rest of us who’ve been around the block a few times, it’s much easier. Just put in the filters you think will get you the sound you want, and if it’s not quite right, consult the booklet, and make educated adjustments. In other words, if the bass is too much, switch to a filter the book says is less bassy. If you want more highs, use that filter, etc…

I’m using the same filters I did on the 8s: Black, Red, Gold. Ultimate lows, ultimate mids, medium highs. This pleases my ears as well as can be hoped.

Speaking of which, let’s talk about that next.

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ABOUT AUTHOR

Pinky Powers

Pinky Powers

Pinky is an artsy twat. Illustration, graphic design, writing. Yet music escapes him, and always has. He builds his own cables, and likes to explore the craftsmanship of others. He's a stabby one, also. At the first hint of annoyance, out comes the blade. I say he's compensating for something... in a big bad way. If we all try really hard as a collective, maybe we can have him put down.

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4 Responses

  1. I’d also love to hear a little more detail on how the FLC8n compares to the E5000. I’m currently listening to the FLC8s (gray/red/black) on an NAD 1050, which I generally like. Trying to decide which one to try next.

  2. No. I listen to them both with the same filter setup. Since the 8n sounds clearer, I would imagine you will get an improvement if you do all that to this model as well.

  3. hi,great review.
    i have a quastion i hope u know the answer.in order u say the flc8n has a better res and seperation and clearity.do u ever try none nozzle filter and clear,clear in others in flc 8s?,i did it and its like another iem i cant put the nozzle filter back because the resulotion and clearity changed by a big margin. i,m curios what will happen if u do that to flc 8n .

  4. Great review!
    I know you you prefer the Final E5000 for its organic sound, but could you go a bit more in-depth regarding how it competes with the FLC8n? Is the FLC8n technically superior by a significant margin or are they pretty close? Also, my source would be an iPhone SE — is this still viable for the power-hungry E5000? WiIl the sound quality be sub-par? Thanks!

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