Fluance Signature Series Speakers Preview

[gene]

I am really surprised by some of the negative comments I read about the SQ of these speakers, both in the CNET review and by some folks who auditioned them. I have some issues with the CNET review.

Also, I took some rough close-mic measurements of the drivers yesterday, and am anxious to see what you guys measure.

Agreed and I think more care is needed regarding placement to get them to sound more balanced. I have even been experimenting with port plugs too.

 

[KEW]

Why do you think the Phil 3's have two cabinets on each side?

Yeah, but don't the Phil3 TL cabinets weigh around 80 pounds?

In any case, I'm not sure how viable this would be if an extra leg of shipping had to be added to the final price. Maybe having the buyer swap out XO, but I guess that opens its own can of worms!

Again, they had a $70 introductory discount, then removed the discount and raised the price by $100. Not sure you'd even want to touch that kind of instability!

 

[M Midnight]

Hugo and I finally got a chance to check out the Signature towers Fluance sent to us for review. WE are both absolutely floored by the workmanship and materials of this product for such a modest asking price. These things are HUGE and constructed quite well too. Aesthetically they are quite nice and don’t look as imposing when looking straight on thanks to the tapered back.

On the installation side, there is NO mention of the outriggers and feet or how to install them. I kinda figured it out myself as you can see in the attached image but I’d highly recommend Fluance adding installation instructions in the owner’s manual. The magnetic grills are a nice touch but the magnetic force isn’t very strong and easy to knock off, especially when moving the speakers around the room as Hugo and I found. Be mindful of this if you have small curious children. I love that the grille isn’t made out of cheap plastic like you often see in products at this price point. I’m pleased with the extra thick front baffle of the speaker, flared ports and the binding posts. Impressive!

From a sound perspective I will tell you I’ve never heard a pair of speakers in this price range with such prodigious amounts of bass extension and output. Most impressively is how clean the lower registers are. The cones hardly move even when being hit with bass intense music at loud listening levels. I was unable to bottom the woofers which was a very nice surprise. I even threw a Japanese Drum track that absolutely tortures woofers and these things held up. They just love to play loud! Hugo and I both though these speakers threw off quite a large soundstage and sounded very real and lifelike thanks to the great bass response and incredible detailed top end.

The vocals were a bit unsettling at first. I felt that the midrange at times sounded a bit nasally which can be accentuated on female vocals. I think there are two reasons for this; 1. The tweeter level may be set just a tad too high, the midrange is crossed over too high which I will be investigating when I pull measurements next week. I was able to alleviate some of this by NOT toe-ing in the speakers. I found by facing them straight on with virtually no toe-in helped smooth out the mids and tame the top end. Putting the grilles on also helped this a bit. Note the highs are NOT fatiguing even though the tweeter may be a tad hot. This was welcome in jazz music as it portrayed a lot of detail but it was a bit strong on female vocal tracks.

All that being said, Hugo and I both believe this speaker is quite an achievement at its price point.
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I haven't read the CNET review as I didn't want it to taint my first impressions of this speaker so I am not sure if I am in agreement with it or not.

Stay tuned fore more to come....

Finally! Good to hear..................

 

[M Midnight]

I am really surprised by some of the negative comments I read about the SQ of these speakers, both in the CNET review and by some folks who auditioned them. I have some issues with the CNET review.

Also, I took some rough close-mic measurements of the drivers yesterday, and am anxious to see what you guys measure.

AGreed

 

[John Melnicoe]

Mark my words if the crossover point in the mid was lowered from 1200hz to around 500hz, I'd suspect a significant improvement in the mid frequencies. I'm looking forward to measuring to see what's really going on.

Interesting-I am curious as to why Fluance may have kept the cross point higher at 1200hz. Could it be that it allowed for more volume/power to be driven to that mid-driver? If it was lowered to 500hz, would that make it sound fuller, but perhaps lower the amount of overall power the speaker could take? What might be the reasoning, if you have any ideas on that? I do not know much about such details, I mainly like to listen to speakers, so here to learn. Thanks much if you care to share.

 

[gene]

Interesting-I am curious as to why Fluance may have kept the cross point higher at 1200hz. Could it be that it allowed for more volume/power to be driven to that mid-driver? If it was lowered to 500hz, would that make it sound fuller, but perhaps lower the amount of overall power the speaker could take? What might be the reasoning, if you have any ideas on that? I do not know much about such details, I mainly like to listen to speakers, so here to learn. Thanks much if you care to share.

Not sure but it's unusual to run a midrange only one octave like this. I sent Fluance an email to inquire as I don't want to assume anything. My measurements will also confirm if this is in fact the xover point they set.

 

[haraldo]

.... I even threw a Japanese Drum track that absolutely tortures woofers and these things held up. .....

Is that the Taiko drum track Gene?
This can be outright scary, if speakers are up to it

You really need extremely capable speakers to get those Taiko drums right....

 

[gene]

Is that the Taiko drum track Gene?
This can be outright scary, if speakers are up to it

You really need extremely capable speakers to get those Taiko drums right....

Yes it is! You're absolutely right. These speakers handle that track better than anything I've heard in this price range.

 

[bsf]

I might have to grab a pair of these for the price

 

[haraldo]

On the Fluance website the following is stated about crossover:
1200/2300 Hz Phase Coherent

To my knowledge the only really phase coherent x-over is an acoustic 1st order slope, but I reckon it's not the case here as I guess a 1st order x-over for a tweeter at 2.3KHz is really really tough...
Well, and acoustic centers are not aligned, so they cannot be phase coherent in the real meaning of the word...

So what does Fluance really mean by this?

 

[Steve81]

So what does Fluance really mean by this?

I would assume a LR4 circuit, which is 360 degrees out of phase, i.e. in phase, but 1 cycle apart.

 

[haraldo]

I would assume a LR4 circuit, which is 360 degrees out of phase, i.e. in phase, but 1 cycle apart.

Yep, well whatever you say... that's not phase coherent

 

[John Melnicoe]

AGreed

I agree with you totally, C-net missed the mark on some points, especially with regard to the song "Life" and claiming they could not hear anything but overwhelming bass, (I heard it all fine with the beautiful bass also-all clear on my system). They also were rather sarcastic in tone, making whale references, and stated they came with no grills. I was disappointed with the findings and tone, it seemed unreasonably critical. I also noticed on another forum that suddenly others were shifting their opinions and citing C-net as the authority on speakers. It was the first "professional" review I could find on the Signatures, so the timing of it was unfortunate for Fluance I suppose. In the past I have relied on C-net to be objective and I was surprised by this particular review. I hope others will not assume they are bad from that one C-net review and therefore miss out on a good value speaker. Hopefully some balance will come out with other posts/opinions, and of course Gene's review will be insightful and helpful with actual facts and a break down of these speakers. I am sure we all look forward to that. Good observations Midnight.

 

[gene]

I agree with you totally, C-net missed the mark on some points, especially with regard to the song "Life" and claiming they could not hear anything but overwhelming bass, (I heard it all fine with the beautiful bass also-all clear on my system). They also were rather sarcastic in tone, making whale references, and stated they came with no grills. I was disappointed with the findings and tone, it seemed unreasonably critical. I also noticed on another forum that suddenly others were shifting their opinions and citing C-net as the authority on speakers. It was the first "professional" review I could find on the Signatures, so the timing of it was unfortunate for Fluance I suppose. In the past I have relied on C-net to be objective and I was surprised by this particular review. I hope others will not assume they are bad from that one C-net review and therefore miss out on a good value speaker. Hopefully some balance will come out with other posts/opinions, and of course Gene's review will be insightful and helpful with actual facts and a break down of these speakers. I am sure we all look forward to that. Good observations Midnight.

CNET absolutely hated my 07 Acura TL Type S. Meanwhile, the car drove solid, had great gas mileage, looked great, and I sold it for $10k less than I bought it for despite puting 75k miles on it in the 5+ years I owned it. It is now a classic in the Acura line up that is sought after since the replacement model is more expensive and somewhat bloated in comparison. The Acura was one of my favorite cars I've ever owned and if I went by CNET alone would have never considered it. Food for thought.

 

[theboogeydown]

Mark my words if the crossover point in the mid was lowered from 1200hz to around 500hz, I'd suspect a significant improvement in the mid frequencies. I'm looking forward to measuring to see what's really going on.

Hi Gene,
So interested in your findings. I've recently returned the Signatures, HF way too hot for me, thin mids (especially female vocal stuff) and little soundstage for my tastes. I WAS however very impressed with the LF. Currently demoing the Tektons Enzo XL's and I'm now eager for some a hybrid of the two. Tektons are throwing sound all over the room in an impressive manor, but for the size (they are ENORMOUS) it leaves me missing the LF of the Signatures. My question is this, do you think the SVS Ultra Towers deliver a similar low end to the Fluances? Thank you.
(I'm a two channel guy with a tube pre playing lots of vinyl)

 

[John Melnicoe]

CNET absolutely hated my 07 Acura TL Type S. Meanwhile, the car drove solid, had great gas mileage, looked great, and I sold it for $10k less than I bought it for despite puting 75k miles on it in the 5+ years I owned it. It is now a classic in the Acura line up that is sought after since the replacement model is more expensive and somewhat bloated in comparison. The Acura was one of my favorite cars I've ever owned and if I went by CNET alone would have never considered it. Food for thought.

Great analogy. That says a lot as to common sense for sure. Thanks for sharing your views.

 

[gene]

Hi Gene,
So interested in your findings. I've recently returned the Signatures, HF way too hot for me, thin mids (especially female vocal stuff) and little soundstage for my tastes. I WAS however very impressed with the LF. Currently demoing the Tektons Enzo XL's and I'm now eager for some a hybrid of the two. Tektons are throwing sound all over the room in an impressive manor, but for the size (they are ENORMOUS) it leaves me missing the LF of the Signatures. My question is this, do you think the SVS Ultra Towers deliver a similar low end to the Fluances? Thank you.
(I'm a two channel guy with a tube pre playing lots of vinyl)

Given your tastes from what I am reading here, you need to pick a pair of speakers with a laid back sound signature. I don't get the Tekton design to be honest, so I won't comment other than saying its very unconventional. The SVS Ultra towers will certainly have good bass response but you may find the top end a little hot for your tastes.

You may want to consider the following speakers though some may be out of your budget:

• RBH SX-8300 or wait for the SV-6500 tower which will be cheaper: see: http://www.audioholics.com/tower-speaker-reviews/rbh-sound-sv-line-speakers
• Revel Performa3 or Concerta2 Towers - they should give you a good balance of bass and treble with good mids
• Ascends Sierra Towers - they sound smooth and detailed but won't have the bass impact of the RBH or Def Tech towers and possibly the Revels
• Definitive Technology Mythos ST-L Towers - IMO best speaker they've ever made and has lots of great bass and great, non-fatiguing highs

Hope this helps as a starting point.

 

[theboogeydown]

Given your tastes from what I am reading here, you need to pick a pair of speakers with a laid back sound signature. I don't get the Tekton design to be honest, so I won't comment other than saying its very unconventional. The SVS Ultra towers will certainly have good bass response but you may find the top end a little hot for your tastes.

You may want to consider the following speakers though some may be out of your budget:

• RBH SX-8300 or wait for the SV-6500 tower which will be cheaper: see: http://www.audioholics.com/tower-speaker-reviews/rbh-sound-sv-line-speakers
• Revel Performa3 or Concerta2 Towers - they should give you a good balance of bass and treble with good mids
• Ascends Sierra Towers - they sound smooth and detailed but won't have the bass impact of the RBH or Def Tech towers and possibly the Revels
• Definitive Technology Mythos ST-L Towers - IMO best speaker they've ever made and has lots of great bass and great, non-fatiguing highs

Hope this helps as a starting point.

That does help, a lot, thank you. So do you think SVS Ultras are brighter than the Fluances Sigs?
Also, forgot to mention how much I appreciate what you guys are going. Makes the whole thing that much more fun, kudos!

 

[gene]

That does help, a lot, thank you. So do you think SVS Ultras are brighter than the Fluances Sigs?
Also, forgot to mention how much I appreciate what you guys are going. Makes the whole thing that much more fun, kudos!

I haven't heard the Ultra Towers but I did review their Ultra Bookshelf. No I don' think it's brighter than the Fluance but if you want a more laid back sound, I think the alternatives I listed may better suite your needs.

 

[KEW]

The Ultra bookshelf was well balanced between bass-mid-treble. It seems like that is the main shortcoming of the Fluance.
Treble doesn't sound so bright if you have mids to go with it.
That said, I'd consider the Ultra to be a bit forward as opposed to laid back. However it was in the realm of very comfortable to my ear. I had a tough time finding fault with them. I assume the towers have the same sound character plus deep bass (and the Ultra towers really do have solid bass according to spec)
Talk to SVS about their free trial.