There’s zero chance that Steven will not reply.
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Thanks for sharing your insights on design decisions regarding the FR-30 as well as hints of what’s to come.
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I know that there is a bit of “fatigue” in the comments here from all of the comments without demos, reviews etc., so I’m not trying to stir things up at all, just comment on some of the design decisions and product direction for future models.
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We couldn’t be more grateful. There’s plenty of planners in the forum. Many of us are looking at horizon upgrades. It’s great to get glimpses of the future.
Thanks!
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Thank you, Chris. Great background and information.
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Late reply here but found this interesting with maybe a bit to offer for an off-axis tweeter speaker out there. For just about 2 years I’ve had the Goldenear Reference speakers reviewed in this article…
https://www.stereophile.com/content/goldenear-technology-triton-reference-loudspeaker
I found just what JA refers to in the last paragraph on page 1 of the review, i.e, the tweeter axis a bit taller than what is “normal” seated ear level. I found I enjoy the speakers more by spiking the rear a bit taller than the fronts so they tilt the tweeter axis at least closer to ear level.
Love these Goldenear speakers, but very excited to hear these badboy FR30’s when that day comes that PSA allows the in-house tours again.
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Is it settled yet on how many different speaker models there will be eventually? Or still TBD?
Thanks Chris. Paul said he went to designers in Canada recommended by a friend with a speaker business (Golden something?). I appreciate it is a collaborative effort. He did not go into the details of who specified what.
I take great interest in product design. My son is a designer in a business whose two principals are a speaker engineer and a product designer, responsible for many iconic speaker designs over the last 30 years. It is self-evident from the leading products in most consumer markets that function and design go hand-in-glove. There is no better example than apple, the world’s largest consumer product company, whose designs flow from Dieter Rams, for many the king of product design. My and my wife’s offices are both fitted with his Vitsoe system, first sold over 60 years ago, which is as good an example of form and function as I can think of. It brings a smile to my face every day.
I have said many times that I think many people will like FR-30. Whether I like it or not is irrelevant. Anyway, I was obliged to change speakers last year and no further change is foreseen.
What is far more interesting to me at least is why different people like different products, and often for different reasons. I’ve previously recommended a book by a very well-known author on this subject.
Looking at USA and UK/European audio publications, it is striking how different many speaker designs are. In the USA in general they appear to be much larger, many more drivers, and more expensive, fully understandable in the socio-economic context.
It is certainly large for the UK market, much of Europe as well I suspect, where the population is predominantly urban with relatively small housing units. I’ve mentioned larger, such as PMC, Wilson, Focal and others, these are mostly more expensive.
Another leading brand that often puts the midrange above the tweeter is Spendor, going back 50 years. I went to listen to, and almost bought, the Spendor SP100R2. A great speaker, just too big. The UK press took the same view.
The point you make about coaxial is as I expected. I remember you discussing the housing and that the drivers were offset, but assumed the cost would be prohibitive. The smallest Piega bookshelf unit with a coax planar driver, the Coax 311, is now about £7,000, about $9,000. But then they are Swiss and the Swiss don’t do cheap anything, not even cheap tomato soup.
What is undeniable is that as we have read about this project over the years it has changed unrecognisably, not least because the target price has at least doubled. I went to the UK launch of the Dynaudio Contour range 5 or 6 years ago and one of the directors told me that a key feature of the design brief was to make three speakers to a fixed retail price. This can be seen as a restriction that excludes features based on cost, but can also be seen as a challenge to develop new technology, better production and supply that can deliver more to the customer at lower cost.
So it is good to hear you are addressing scaleability, because I just can’t get my head around any product that is developed with such disregard for economics. What attracted me to buying Devialet was as much the economics - a modular product in a fixed format using micro-electronics that are cheap to mass produce and will only get cheaper and are 100% reliable. The 250 Pro unit I have is in the same case as the original D-200 released in 2010, is a dramatically better product and after inflation is over 20% cheaper than in 2010. Even in absolute terms, the price has only gone up 12% in 12 years, after 3 major upgrades, which must be unique. Unsurprisingly, the business was created by three people - an engineer, a product designer and a businessman.
There is nothing new about this. The marriage of design and mass production goes back over 100 years to Bauhaus and beyond.
The thing about line array vertical dispersion of treble - read about that several times, for example Line sources – PS Audio
Steven’s specialty!
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Feel free to repeat that more than a few times🤠
Not to mention the irrelevance of the size of London flats to…anything.
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I’m working on five models in this series. The price scaling (on the manufacturing side) isn’t as linear as you’d think and so we have to make sure everything makes sense from a market/positioning standpoint but this is our intention at least.
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@stevensegal reading your last post I’m inclined to think you’re in the wrong forum. Your dream speaker is here:
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Every now and then I read something that “LOL” just doesn’t do justice to the hearty out loud laugh a posting can cause.
Well done @Jedi !!
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I have one of these:
The sound quality is good enough for telling the time or the weather.
I find most audio ugly. Speakers you can’t avoid. Good design might be considered something you wouldn’t mind having in your house even if it didn’t do what it was designed to do, and on speakers I’m struggling to think of one. Cabasse? KEF Muon?
I have ceiling speakers that are so good, I would possibly get rid of the hifi if I didn’t like spinning records. I listen to the ceiling speakers the majority of the time and they are invisible.
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You are unflappable, Steven. I grant you that.
Best regards.
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It’s my autistic side shining through.
People can sit in their high-end ivory towers, but those things are taking over the world! I know more people with those little balls than proper audio systems.
They do sound terrible, but they play music and you can’t order a pizza by talking to your stereo system.
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Not yet. 
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I just tried. The stereo replied with playing AC/DC’s Highway to Hell. I know there’s a hidden meaning there, but I haven’t figured it out yet. 
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I use the Alexa for the ceiling speakers. It’s OK with Sting, but Keb’ Mo’ presents real annunciation issues. Sunday mornings with the wife and the newspapers I just say “play Mozart” and we get all our favourite tunes.
I can pause the dishwasher using Alexa. I’ve never done it, but it’s reassuring to know I can if the need arises. Roll on technology …