and more money . . .
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I feel like King for the Day. No, wait, Chris is working on the FR40? Nnoooo.
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Wonderful mini-review!
I received the latest TAS in my mailbox yesterday. Very nice cover photo and quite the long glowing review on the inside. I only wish they’d included a list of all the associated gear they used for the review. Congrats to Chris, Paul and the whole PS Audio team.
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I read a review in the German Fidelity mag. It was very good generally for the FR30 with just a mention of a rather wide than deep imaging, but that doesn’t tell much. The kind of review is one of the bad ones with just a quarter page of 6 mentioning sound quality aspects. Furthermore strange statements like „everything sounds equally good or bad“ and a listening room with a large window on the front wall. I guess we somehow deserve nothing better nowadays.
I also received my TAS and what a great review.
Checked 401k, checking, savings, stock brokage account balances… sad face
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FR30 is on my radar for sure; once my younger daughter is done with college, and once my wife’s Europe trip is done (okay, I am tagging along, but it is her idea), and once we are done with Asia trip (my wish this time).
Basically, I have no idea when I will get the pair. 
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What have the reviewers said about its imaging?
I have asked before, but do you have any further updates on what you like about the sound of the FR30 compared to the 1.7i? Now that you’ve had more time for them to settle in?
I cannot say that I miss anything about the 1.7’s now that I have FR30’s. They are easier to move around, however. Given the price differential, that should be the case and fortunately is. The Maggie’s are a gateway drug to better gear. They do require lots of clean power, and for most, subs. And, like any good speaker, get better through the upgrades. I thought that my pension for dipoles would be lost with the FR30’s but find the imaging better scaled with the FR30’s. A win all around.
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How do they stack up against top Wilson and Magico?
Paul noted in a video that they are superior in some respects, but not all, to the IRS-V.
I have listened to various Magico’s and Wilson’s over the years. I did not make a side-by-side comparison. I like both of their offerings. I was considering Sabrina’s and A5’s before the FR30 purchase.
The large custom planar diaphragm mid and tweeter appealed to me and, to my ear, is the thing that shines verses cone and dome designs. Speakers are very personal…try before you buy.
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Since this thread started with the HFN review of FR30, and you asked about Wilson, I’ll note that the Alexia V just got a 94% score from HFN latest issue. This is about the highest score you’ll ever see in that mag. Different price points tho.
Fwiw “top” Wilson and Magico go for close to half mil or 3/4 mil, so of course they’d destroy FR30 just as FR 30 would destroy Maggie 1.7. Not a fair fight. Alexia far from “top” Wilson but still extremely good
The better question would be how do they compare to lower end Wilson or Magico, which would be fair fight, likely turning on personal preference
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Really? I spent quite a bit of time listening to the Magico M6 and thought it wasn’t really all that good. 
IMO cost can be an arbiter of things in audio, but it isn’t always a guarantee.
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Yeah, not always, I’ll grant you that. I’m talking about when the msrp is 10x or 20x higher though, then it pretty much is a guarantee for 99% of prefs.
But for sure possible for something half the cost or maybe 1/3 cost to sound better. Like I bet many would prefer the FR30 to some $50k or $60k speakers, and there’d be lots of folks who could find a $15k speaker that they thought was better than FR 30.
But I don’t think anyone would find a $3k speaker that was better than FR30
Totally agree.
But to make a speaker sound good, you have to deal with many factors.
That’s why I am less quick to judge about a certain speaker.
I would love to have the Magico M6.
The problem with saying that one speaker is better than another is that the terminology is wrong. Most of us have reached a certain level with our systems, some a higher level than others, that many of us lean toward a certain type of sound versus what others may prefer. The value that each of us brings to the table is to describe what we are hearing so that it can help others decide if that product, whether a speaker, amp, preamp, dac, cable, power chord, fuse, or green pen might fit with their system and musical tastes. So the boldness of one saying that one product is “better” than another, without describing WHAT makes something stand out from another, simply sounds combative. As @straightwire said, speakers are very personal. My personal preference is more toward the sound of something like a musical Magnepan sound versus a more clinical sound. While I do not own any Magnepan speakers, my speakers have a similar musical tonality. This does not mean that other speakers are bad or not as good by any means, but it is a PERSONAL preference. My preference favors musical tonality over ultimate imaging. Others may prefer ultimate imaging. Others may prefer ultimate neutrality. Others may prefer a HUGE, larger than life soundstage.
I look forward to hearing the FR20 & FR30 in person, as others have commented that they sound clean, open and musical, which is VERY appealing to me.
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I’m a dyed-in-the-wool planar lover, and have had Maggies and more recently Martin-Logan stats/hybrids since the mid 80’s. The sound of a dipolar design with a large (up to a point) radiating surface appeals to me for whatever reason (despite the obvious room-tuning challenges). For the past 15 years the transparency and enveloping soundstage of electrostats has been tough to beat. I’ve heard great multi-way speakers, but on a performance per dollar basis, to get something that significantly outperforms Maggies or Logans starts to get really spendy. Depending on individual preference “Different” is easy. “Better overall” - not so much.
I listened to the FR30s at PS Audio awhile ago. The room they were in wasn’t ideally optimized for the lower octaves, so I didn’t draw any conclusions on bass response except that there was an abundance of it. But from the mids on up I thought they were more transparent and articulate than electrostats, with a wide soundstage and very nice imaging that was a very good compromise between the razor pinpoint image placement I hear with, say, Magico and the more relaxed (and closer to reality) presentation of planars. The dynamics were obviously better, as well.
Were it not for the size, bulk and weight of them, I would seriously consider them as a replacement for my 'stats.
Enter the FR-20’s which feature the same mid and high drivers in a more manageable form factor. I’m really looking forward to hearing a pair of these. One concern is the lack of a rear-firing tweeter on the FR-20’s, which may truncate the soundstage depth relative to a dipolar design.
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