Oh yes, cymbals. The first sounds that struck me when I put my new speakers into service were cymbals—how long they rang----how slowly they trailed off—like never before.
This was so convincing that my late, dear friend and drummer extraordinaire was “sounding his A”.
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The editor of HiFi News is a little sceptical of PS Audio’s claim that the FR-30 (renamed “PLANAR PS”) are “elegantly slim” and “suited to a range of room environments”. That’s because the average size of a home in London is 705 sq.ft., compared to 2,126 sq.ft. in Colorado.
That said, if you can afford a home in London large enough to accommodate these speakers, the £28,000 asking price, that’s US$38,000, should be loose change. Don’t tell me that’s silly expensive.
For reference: Magico A5 are £30,000, Wilson Yvette are £29,000, Harbeth 40.3 XD are £17,000 and Focal Scala Utopia Evo are £32,000 (all of which are on demo at my dealer).
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I’m a little skeptical of someone who’s commenting on something they have no experience with.
That doesn’t mean he’s wrong. It means he has no idea.
Also, is he skeptical of them acoustically working in that (smaller) space? Or is he skeptical that their size (optically) will be ok?
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Well then, average Londoners should not buy AR30s. They should leave then to their better heeled compatriots 
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These magazines are sent this stuff to publish. It’s free advertising. All they print is what they are told.
They are very tall by UK standards, and few speakers here have more than 3 or 4 drivers, let alone the 11 or so these have. Let’s see who reviews them and what they say, and what people say if and when dealers do demos and they can hear them.
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Hasn’t this always been the case with speaker selection? I would have loved to put a pair of Focal Grand Utopia EM Evo’s in my listening room, but they simply won’t fit. It would be interesting to learn how many of us have no limit on their speaker selection. I may be wrong, but I imagine most of us have a space limitation.
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They were told to be a little bit skeptical? Lol
Again, I’m not saying the guy is wrong. I’m saying he doesn’t know if he’s right or wrong.
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Whenever a product is launched, just about everyone just prints the press release verbatim. When was the last time you saw anything that weighed 104kg and was “elegantly slim”?
Focal have mastered the art of several ranges at different price-points and within each range different size speakers to fit different room sizes. PMC have also done the same in recent years, although their top end speaker Fenestria only comes in one size, but it is “elegantly slim”. To do this successfully you need to make a lot of different speaker models and it’s a big commitment.
The Grand Utopia EM Evo’s are rather imposing. My wife liked Wilson Sabrina because they taper to the top, so look smaller. The whole point of the speaker was to be acceptable in smaller rooms, so it worked. It does cost a lot more than making a rectangular box. The FR-30 are top heavy, and to make smaller models shorter the tweeter and midrange would have to be reversed, like in most speakers having the tweeter on top. We will see in due course.
I don’t think space is effectively a limitation. I get more enjoyable sound in a smaller room, but you need a speaker appropriate for the room.
Exactly what I think too.
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Submarines weigh a smidge more and I would say they’re elegantly slim 
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I just looked in the mirror. I’m gonna lie and say I do. 
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I’m a few kg less than that, and my doc described me in my last annual physical as “well nourished”.
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Well, I typically prefer the midrange on top when the tweeter is at ear height because then the lobe faces the floor and so the response is smoother from seated to standing positions. Not that people are doing critical listening standing up, but having the tonal balance more natural standing (versus laying on the floor), is probably a good thing.
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Me too. One of the reasons I like the Sopra 2.
My Buchardt S400 bookshelves have the tweeter below the midrange/woofer.
Phenomenal off axis response. First I thought it was a bit weird, but I love it. Buchardt did a smart thing, the tweeters wave guide has the same size as the midrange/woofer.
Talking about space limitations. Christmas tree is gone, so the the speakers could move forward a foot off the wall again. It’s all we can do. We count our blessings, love it.
There are plenty that don’t, for example KEF Reference and Raidho, and some put it in the middle, like the PMC Fenestria, but the majority of floorstanders have the tweeter at the top for obvious reasons.
Isn’t it just a question of speaker size and tweeter always on typical ear level?
I don’t remember a speaker having the tweeter above ear level (sitting).
Yes. It reminded me that the point of line array speakers is primarily vertical dispersion of the treble. Otherwise, with floorstanders it has to be at ear level. If it is not at the top, the enclosure is going to be unusually tall (less marketable, more expensive to make?). A great advantage of BBC-type boxes is that you measure your ear height and the stands are made to measure (or at least they are with Harbeth and some other brands over here).
The MTM designs do add a lot to the presentation.
Something about the tweet being nested between two mids adds some magic if done right.