As there seems to be limited information on setting up, tweaking and burn in time for the new FR30’s on the internet, I thought I’d start this thread for FR30 owner’s to share their experiences.
I just got my new FR30’s 4 days ago (along with new BHK pre, 300 mono’s and P15) and have been playing them 24 hours a day. They are decent out of the box but I am noticing some changes in the positive in clarity and detail each day but it seems to be changing slowly.
What are other FR30 owners experiencing in burn in time and changes as time goes on?
How much toe in are you using on your speakers?
Anyone tried after market footers? If yes, which brand and what are the effects?
agreed - good post. Sounds like you have a great group of new kit burning it, i am sure it will take a week at least.
I have question on footers also - my FR30’s are on uneven hardwood floor, so i removed the end cap spike on the included feet. I have moved around and messed with bottoms, but still a bit wobbly just on the plastic included puck (footer without spike). I was going to try Herbies, and put the cap spike back on- concern is the spike provided isnt a real spike as the end is flattened out. So - i am not sure how it will work with a footer made for a spike. Thoughts or other suggestions?
I have been using their supplied “carpet” mover pads (which may be your plastic puck) on the bottom of my speakers on a hardwood floor so they are easier to move around as I fine tune the speakers as they burn in. I had no issues in levelling the speakers and getting them quite stable with these pads. Once they burn in, I’ll try going directly on the plastic footers in which the carpet movers are currently screwed in and then maybe try aftermarket isolation footers which I’ve had great success with my past speakers.
It would be interesting to hear (including from Chris or Paul) if anyone has tried any of the isolation footers (such as Isoacoustic GAIA 1’s) and their affect on these speakers.
I replaced the supplied FR30 points with Isoacoustic Gaia Theis and it made a huge difference. The bass is much tighter and defined, and the soundstage became much more focused and deeper. I found similar improvements when the Isoacoustic isolators were used on my other speakers.
Glad the new feet worked for you. In my situation, the FR30’s are on thin carpet over concrete and the stock spikes contact the surface pretty well. In addition, the stock feet allow me to tilt the speaker down for better tonal balance. So, I don’t know if they would improve things but you’ve peeked my interest. Time to tweak!
I went from Gaia 2 to Townshend Podiums on my Kanta 2. Similar effects but the Podiums were quite a bit more effective. At the time I thought sort of 50% better. At the changeover I thought I had spent my dollars well.
Hi there, and glad the Isoacoustic feet worked. They sure worked on my Golden Ear Tritons.
Got the Aspens in September. 5 year wait for new speaks. Worth the wait, dang!
Now the question: Isoacoustics talks about the Gaias being directional and to set them up with the logo forward. Um, what if the woofers are side-firing? Have you tried rotating the feet 90º?
Also, carpet discs are available from Isoacoustics if not on a hard floor. Sounds like a lot, but the difference these things make is not small. Easily the most successful tweak in my system history. To me, better than spikes.
Found an answer on the Isoacoustics FAQ, specifically regarding side-firing woofers: logo forward recommended, same as the general installation instructions.
One other tweak I have tried that makes a pretty significant improvement is removing the jumper cables between the top and bottom and bi-wiring the FR30’s with different speaker wires for the top and bottom of the speaker directly from the amp.
Initially, I tried using bi-wire Nordost Valhalla speaker cable and then Crystal Cable Reference (with silver/gold) to the connections at the bottom while using the supplied jumper cables to connect the top of the woofer box to the top mid-tweeter section box. I found the Valhalla had much better bass while the Crystal was more detailed and sweeter in the high’s and mids but missing a lot of the bass (which isn’t too surprising given how thin the Crystal Cable is).
I then tried running the the Valhalla only to the bottom woofer section and running the Crystal Cable Reference directly to the top mid-tweeter box (removing the jumper cables) both directly from the amps. This resulted in giving me the best of both worlds as I was using different speaker cables that matched/enhanced the bass and mid-highs respectively (however at cost of another set of speaker cables). This set up is much more direct for the mid-high signal as it by-passes the jumpers (1 or 2 sets) and the internal wiring from the bottom connectors to the jumper connectors to get to the mid-tweeter box. Something worthwhile trying if you have extra speaker cables lying around.
I like the white FR 30’s. Yes, bi-wiring them is a good move. I do the same with Iconoclast SPTPC Series l on the bottom and Series ll on the top. Each design is optimal for that frequency range. No jumpers and better wire has to be better, right? It is for me. Hope you are enjoying the new speaker. My wife likes the white. Damit.
That is temporary spacer plate to help toe down the speaker until I have time to replace the studs in the GAIA’s isolators with longer ones. Chris Brunhaver suggested that I toe down the speaker to address the for the added height of the GAIA isolators so the tweeter-mids are aimed the same height listening area.
