Fluance XL7F Floorstanding Loudspeaker Review

A

admin

Audioholics Robot
Staff member
The XL7F's are a three-way, four driver, floorstanding loudspeaker system from a relatively unknown Canadian manufacturer. At around $1k/pair, they'd seem to be a pretty good deal from their specs on paper. But imagine our surprise when we realized they actually cost under $500/pair delivered to your door with a lifetime warranty! In tough economic times, it's always refreshing to find bargains to help fellow budget-minded Audioholics reach their goals of sonic nirvana. While the Fluance XL7F's don't represent the pinnacle of loudspeaker technology compared to some price-no-object systems, they get about as close to that goal as any floorstanding speaker in this price class and arguably even a good amount more. If you're looking for an attractive, well put together floorstanding speaker that will give you plenty of bass and good sound on the cheap, give these babies a try. Highly Recommended!


Discuss "Fluance XL7F Floorstanding Loudspeaker Review" here. Read the article.
 
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gene

gene

Audioholics Master Chief
Administrator
I pair of nicely crafted, good sounding tower speakers for under $500 and no comments? :confused: OK I will stick to reviewing $50k/pair speakers from now on :D
 
Adam

Adam

Audioholic Jedi
Okay, I'll comment - because I want to keep seeing reviews of things that us mere mortals can afford. :) They look like a nice choice, but I'm just not in the market for "budget" floor standers right now. I'm happy with my NHTs and would likely only upgrade to something that I thought would be a big step up.

Plus, after reading the reviews on their site, it looks like they were on sale for $300 a couple of weeks ago...and I normally can't talk myself into buying a "bargain" that costs significantly more than it did a short time ago.
 
zieglj01

zieglj01

Audioholic Spartan
I pair of nicely crafted, good sounding tower speakers for under $500 and no comments? :confused: OK I will stick to reviewing $50k/pair speakers from now on :D
Maybe, you should have reviewed a Polk speaker - they are still
going strong with the online poll.:rolleyes:

RBH only 10 votes behind:D
Audioholics Home Theater Forums - View Poll Results

Something like Boston A series, KEF, Monitor Audio,
Focal entry level, and Definitive's new Studio Monitors
would draw my attention.
 
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U

Uncle_Big_Green

Audioholic Intern
I enjoyed the review, even though my budget is higher. I suspect that these would be a great choice for someone with a $600 or less budget. Thanks.
 
D

DS-21

Full Audioholic
I pair of nicely crafted, good sounding tower speakers for under $500 and no comments? :confused: OK I will stick to reviewing $50k/pair speakers from now on :D
Perhaps it's because they just don't look that special, though they do give a lot of drive-units for the money.

The on-axis response is fine for the price, but even from the limited polar data you took one can see that they'll throw a mushroom cloud of midrange energy into the room at the bottom of the tweeter's passband (note that the 30deg off-axis response is all practically the same level as the on-axis response in the 2.5kHz-3.5kHz range). Of course, that's not a budget thing. Any speaker with that dome-on-a-180deg-waveguide configuration will have the same midrange flaws. That's why better speakers control the directivity of the tweeter with a waveguide, or by using a coincident/Dual Concentric drive-unit for the lower mids up.

Also, the notch in the vertical pattern you note is fairly intuitive based on the center-to-center spacing of the MTM. It's the same reason why than MTM toppled onto its side would be so horrid....
 
theJman

theJman

Audioholic Chief
I enjoyed the review, even though my budget is higher. I suspect that these would be a great choice for someone with a $600 or less budget. Thanks.
+1

Nice to see there are solid choices for the budget minded.
 
Marshall_Guthrie

Marshall_Guthrie

Audioholics Videographer Extraordinaire
Would love to see these against the Pioneer Model: SP-FS51-LR ($360/pair) which have been the budget darlings for a while thanks to some high profile reviews of the bookshelf speakers.
 
ratso

ratso

Full Audioholic
actually i am racking my brain right now to figure out who i can convince to buy these...
 
L

lcq

Audiophyte
Hi Gene

How would you rate these next to an old pair of Infinity QJr? I know technology advances can sometimes make a big difference.

Thanks

Brian
 
gene

gene

Audioholics Master Chief
Administrator
Hi Gene

How would you rate these next to an old pair of Infinity QJr? I know technology advances can sometimes make a big difference.

Thanks

Brian
I'm not familiar with those speakers. However, I am aiming to get a pair of Infinity Primus P363's in for review and hope to directly compare them.
 
Marshall_Guthrie

Marshall_Guthrie

Audioholics Videographer Extraordinaire
Would love to see an Infinity Primus series review. Please try to get a system with some bookshelves (p153 would be great) as well for those of us who want to go with identical speakers in a 5.1 system.
 
A

aarond

Full Audioholic
Its hard to get excited about anything from a company thats known for $200 5.0 systems.
At the $500 per pair price point I have yet to hear a loudspeaker that sounds better than an Axiom M22
 
gene

gene

Audioholics Master Chief
Administrator
Its hard to get excited about anything from a company thats known for $200 5.0 systems.
At the $500 per pair price point I have yet to hear a loudspeaker that sounds better than an Axiom M22
price doesn't always determine quality. I think it's great when companies offer respectable products at budget prices to get new folks excited about home theater. You have to give a lot of credit to Fluance. Their products are very low margin as indicated by the good caliber of parts they are using at such low asking prices to the consumer.
 
L

lcq

Audiophyte
I'm not familiar with those speakers. However, I am aiming to get a pair of Infinity Primus P363's in for review and hope to directly compare them.
I look forward to the review. The Q-Jr went out in 1983 (dating myself). Sealed 25"X14.4"X12" with a 12" woofer 1 1/2" dome mid and the famous emit tweeter. Claimed response 40-32Khz

Brian
 
D

Doc.

Enthusiast
It's nice to see this company finally getting some much deserved recognition and not having the forum people calling them Nuance and white van speakers. For people who have bought fluance speakers have long known the the excellent value on them.
 
3db

3db

Audioholic Slumlord
Nice to see a decent entry at that price range enter the market.I've heard of teh Fluance name but did not they were Canadian.
 
its phillip

its phillip

Audioholic Ninja
It is nice to see a review of some decent budget speakers - maybe take a look at HTD as well :)
 
gtpsuper24

gtpsuper24

Full Audioholic
Its hard to get excited about anything from a company thats known for $200 5.0 systems.
At the $500 per pair price point I have yet to hear a loudspeaker that sounds better than an Axiom M22
I did some direct comparisons with the Axiom M22 V2 $498 against the Arx A2 LCRs $420 pair including shipping and the Arx A1 bookshelfs $289. The A1 had better bass response and extension, more natural highs, but gave up some in over all output compared to the A1.

The A2 used in pairs was light years ahead of the M22 IMO. 30-35hrz lower extension, great midbass with drum kicks where as the M22s have almost zero midbass punch below 100hrz. The planar tweeters have are more of a lightening quick on off, where as the Axioms tweeter seems to ring afterwards. Guitar plucks have more micro dynamics and sound as if its right in the room. The Axiom tweeter doesn't have the separation and seems to have a ringing/overhang.

I haven't heard the Fluance but they don't seem to be a overhype marketing machine like Axiom is. I don't see them saying in huge print ads that their $400 speakers are equal to $2-3K speakers.

I've tore apart Axiom speakers VP150, M22, and M2s and compared with a few other brands and they are bottom of the barrel quality even to some cheaper speakers like Arx.

The Axiom woofer is on the left the Arx cast alloy XBL2 woofer is on the right. Both are 5.25" but the Arx is measures closer to 6"-6.25" and the Axiom is around 4.25"-4.5"
 

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