I’ve had the pleasure of having the FR 30 at home for a couple of weeks now. For those of you that do not like to wade through a lot of verbiage, I will cut to the chase and say that they sound REALLY good and they aren’t going anywhere. Paul and Chis gave me visit last week as well and they shot some video of the setup. Paul says he will share this in the near future.
I could claim all the go-to audiophile objectives…higher resolution, greater dynamics, precise imaging, etc.,etc., are nailed by this speaker, and to my ear they are. But this was the first system change in recent memory that I could not hear any shortcomings. As soon as I unpacked them I placed them where I thought they would sound best and sat mesmerized by the sound over several days. Everything was better. Chris further tuned the speaker placement, putting them about two feet from the front and side wall, toed-in and tilted down slightly. This tilt was easily done by removing the front threaded spikes from the feet. Very easy and solid as a rock. Chris also tells me the woofers are still a bit tight. I didn’t notice this as the bass was significantly faster and deeper than my current speakers.
As in life, and audio, everything is relative and claims of greatness must taken into context. I have Magnapan 1.7i’s driven by a full PSA stack ( PST, DACSR, BHK Pre/300’s, P20) along with Iconoclast speaker cable and interconnects and Shunyata power cables. Add upgraded fuses, vintage tubes, isolation footers, etc., that round out the system and shows the extent of my addiction. During the long stay with the Maggies I tried other hybrids (Martin Logan) and conventional driver types ( ATC, Golden Ear). The others were better in some ways, particularly the low end, but they were less than seamless and excited my room in an adverse way.
What is unique to the FR 30 is that I am hearing all the planar benefits (the midrange is gorgeous) seamlessly
integrated with an equally fast and deeper low end. Rather than re-arranging sound absorbers and diffusers I have actually taken out all them and kept only a little side wall diffusion. Years of fighting the room is essentially gone. The FR 30 plays nice in a not-so-good room, and you can dial in a tightly focused image. The speaker’s
rear firing tweeter and crossover adjustment also enhance the sense of air and depth. I am still playing around with that but suffice to say it’s nice to be able to do more fine tuning.
I am glad PSA waited to get this product “right”. I heard a couple iterations of the AN1, and liked the mids and the dynamics, but wasn’t crazy how the rest came together.
The proof of the sonic pudding is that I am now listening longer and happier than I have in a long time.
Thank you for the review. We’ve all been waiting with eager ears!!
Mike in Dayton
I hate you, I hate you, I hate you. NO, NO I don’t! 
Thanks for a great first insight, and congrats on the new arrivals. While I’m not in the market myself (just got LRS’ in June '21) I have an appreciation for good equipment and objective reviews! Room-taming speakers are certainly a blessing; my late, un-missed Warfedales 9.6’s were not!
Congrats again, and do report back when you get back down to earth!
You are kind (and funny). Maybe I could interest you in a Maggie upgrade to the 1.7’s. You know the .7 is just the gateway drug.
She who must be obeyed was gracious enough to all the LRS’ in the house; anything bigger will ruin 46 years of married bliss! But, yes a drug, like so much of what we lust after. Enjoy!
Okay, I’ll buy the LRS off you, you can buy .7s and the guy you get .7s from can buy 1.7s. Then everyone is happy.
Congratulations! I suspect just about everything you said could become popular opinion. Without any prior knowledge of or experience with, I had Paul and the company’s track record to go on. I’m eager to one day be able to hear them for myself and truly get a sense of what they can do.
But you messed up. You let the cat out of the bag. Now you’re the one who has to answer every last FR30 question until every 20 members of the forum gets a pair. Hahahaaa… Enjoy.
Congrats. So you went from Maggie 1.7 to FR30? What other speakers have you had, for comparison sake?
As mentioned, I had ATC, Golden Ear, and Martin Logan at home for evaluation. Theses models were in the $8 to $15k range. I have also been to trade shows to hear other offerings from Martin Logan, Magico, Paradigm and others under less than ideal conditions at the FR30 price level. I have not done speaker shoot outs with similarly priced units at home with FR30. An introductory product purchase is by its nature a leap of faith. I am as cautious with my money as any man ( except maybe Al,
kidding) and this speaker is good value to me. If somehow I would find faults I would ship them back. I don’t think that’s gonna happen.
Thanks for sharing your impression with your new FR30s.
Congratulations!!!
Best wishes
Very intriguing indeed!!! Keep us up to date with the improvements you hear over time. Probably a lot of us eyeing these very speakers. 
Your experience with the coherence difference between Maggie planars and Logan hybrids is comprehensible for everyone with similar background and if a Maggie owner is happy with the FR30 in this regard, that’s valid praise!
Forgetting my manners—thanks to Chris and Paul for going out to help set up his new speakers. Above and beyond!
Gotta love it when a plan comes together!
Wonderful!
Got it. Good to hear. I’ve not heard the ATC but not surprised at all they’d beat any Goldenear or ML at 8-15k (please no Goldenear or ML fans be offended - just my opinion ymmv). Enjoy and keep posting if they improve with break in.
I spent a couple decades in the Pro Audio business and many hours in recording studios. Then, and to this day, ATCs are the bomb for playback monitors, known for their accuracy. The cone midrange is really sweet and custom built by them. I bought a pair of SCM20’s back in the day after listening to them with Jack Renner from Telarc after an on site recording. It stuck in my head to this day that those speaker companies that have drivers made in house or to their spec is a must. As far as I can tell, Chris B. was relentless in getting drivers that would meet his criteria and was fully supported in the mission.
Years later and more than a few dollars more, I’m happy with it all.
And think about all the money you have saved in the markets!! I bet that is a 10k discount right there!!
This is amazing to read. I knew these were going to incredible. I had posted in A’gon about people considering these speakers among others, and seems quite a few didn’t consider them series contenders. Wish I was in the market for new speakers, but will have to make due with my TAD’s.
Unfortunately, the last 20 years I’ve been out of the audio biz and has me on the outside looking in, no inside track or samples to take home. In my 20’s I owned Mark Levinson MLl and ML2, Maggie Tympani IDs (the forum photo) with an Linn LP12/Itok/Koetsu. I owed my soul to the company store but loved it.