Since it’s shown on a shelf, I guess it’s considered a bookshelf speaker, right? 
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Isn’t that Chris’ test stand for his “warehouse testing” ?
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An FR5 would be my dream speaker, assuming it mates well with my sub.
I currently have a pair of Quad Z2 bookshelf speakers (two-way with ribbon tweeters). I found that the sound quality was significantly enhanced by bi-wiring. I supposed this makes sense since each driver gets it’s own feed. This would be something to experiment with when the FR5 prototypes are ready.
Thanks! Much appreciated.
Looks like more visual hints in today’s video:
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Wondering if the base will be black for both colors?
Yes, this is our polar measurement rig. It’s has a very sturdy turntable bearing so that we can rotate ad big speaker on it’s side for vertical polars, since the center of rotation (the tweeter) isn’t the center of mass.
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No, this was just a prototype issue. We will have the same base colors for the FR10 - clear anodized for the white and black anodized for the sable black
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Paul’s FR10 Intro (2:40 to 4:22)!!! 
Chris, can you share their low end extension and their 1w/1m sensitivity rating??
Ted
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Sure! They are turned to 31-32 Hz and this is about their -6 dB point so you’ll see in-room extention in the mid to high 20’s… There are two ultra-long throw 6.5" woofers (sharing the same design concepts as the 8" woofers from the larger models) and 3 6x9" passive radiators . Both use the same carbon fiber/rohacell sandwich diaphragm material that we use in the aspen FR20.
Because we prioritized good bass extension at a smaller size, the sensitivity is about the same or a hair lower than the aspen FR20 at 86.5-87 dB @2.83V/ 1M. Maximum output capability is less than the larger models but pretty darn good good even with our stellar strata integrated. I feel like this is the right size and performance range for a lot of people to be very happy.
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That’s some serious Bass extension.
Does having the passives in the back instead of the sides make them harder to place in the room?
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No. Acoustically, placing them on the back has no impact to room placement. The wavelgnth of sound that these are reproducing is about 36 ft long and so things are very omnidirectional there.
The main reason that we didn’t put them on the side was cosmetic. Our other passives have a lacquer finish on them to match the paint of the enclosure but we were able to stay with the ray look of the non-woven carbon fiber on these by placing them on the back.
There is a force cancelling effect by horizontally opposing them and rigidly coupling them together than we can’t take advantage of when rear mounting them, but this is what we came up with to scale down the size and price of the larger aspen towers.
For our next model (a bookshelf), we are also using the same rear mounted passive but a single unit (rather than the 3 passives on the aspen FR10 tower).
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Creatively optimizing design with aesthetics, invigorating
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…and I imagine everybody has seen Paul’s preview already, which also shows the back, very interesting. It’s like a 70% size version of the FR20. I expect this might become the mass-seller of the range. He mentioned an expected price about $10k.
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Sorry if I missed it, but it the FR5 looking to be 3 way or 2 way?
Including a list price of $9,999. It’ll literally fly off the shelves at the price.
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Indeed. Down to 32 Hz. Impressive.
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