I have to admit that I have been a bit slow to warm up to the looks of the Aspen speakers. I went ahead and bought a pair of FR10s based mainly on the intelligent decisions made by Chris Brunhaver regarding the planar-magnetic tweeters/mids, combined with a complementary design of the woofers and passive radiators. I like simple, modern designs in art and architecture, and I talked myself into believing that it would be a good thing to replace my old wooden-box speakers that give off a “mid-century modern” vibe with some great-sounding Aspen speakers that have a more truly “modern” look to them.
Now that I’ve been living with the FR10s for nearly a month, I’m appreciating the look of the FR10s more and more each day. The narrow front panel and satin black color of the new speakers has helped them create a disappearing “stealth” effect in my living room that is very cool. My eyes now focus more on other furniture in the room, including a custom coffee table made of cherry and maple and a floor-to-ceiling wall of custom cherry cabinets. And it doesn’t hurt that the FR10s are sounding great as well.
Thanks for this thoughtful note. One of the more difficult aspects of building loudspeakers is the looks of them. Of course, that’s true for any piece of stereo kit, but it’s particularly difficult with speakers because they are furniture and because you can’t just hide them on a shelf like you can with electronics.
We went through four different cabinet designs before landing on what is now the Aspens. We are super blessed to have Chris Brunhaver on board at PS. I believe he is one of the top one or two speaker designers in the world. If you ever get a chance to “chew the fat” with Chris, take the opportunity. He’s a hoot to talk with and knows more about anything than anyone I have ever met.
I have had dinner with Chis and Paul, and afterwards they fine tuned my FR 30’s. Great conversation and best customer service ever.
Now may be limited due to availability and fame.
When someone talks about upgrading, they’re speakers, everyone suggests the usual names, and some exotic names also. How come no one ever suggests the B&W 800 series?
Long ago at my dealership, we carried B&W, Magnaplanar, Acoustat and other fine speakers.
We thought we had the best of conventional, planar magnetic and electrostatic.
Most clients did not favor the B&W. The strident top end was often the reason. It can be argued that their internally designed and manufactured driver is the lowest distortion that is available, and well could be.
Accuracy, however, does not always equate to musicality.
I love my B&W 800 Matrix speakers. I would love to hear the FR30s but could never go back to a speaker with less efficiency than 93 db per watt. They are amazing and throw a wide deep soundstage. The 800’s are not too bright like all of the models which followed after their production. I have heard the $65,000 Nautilus and prefer my 800 matrix to them. I forgot to mention that inspite of their 6 foot three inch height they disapear when playing music.
Or an exaggerated presence region for that matter, underwhelming is preferred to attention getting performance. As I have mentioned countless times an organic presentation that draws the listener in is preferred. A bit of a mid-hall perspective.
Here’s one for y’all. As you know I have a pair of 802D’s and am constantly trying to take away some of the brightness from these speakers. Had my wife listen to the 10th anniversary live performance of Les Miserable (her favorite). Now she tells me that the speakers sound dull, and that she liked the brighter sound when i was driving them with my old Bryston preamp…
Yes, one of the favorite speakers i’ve had were the N802’s, when I went to buy another pair of them, the 802D’s were the new flavor. Immediately, I thought they sound bright, and thin
