Look for Fyne F501 or F501SP. They are absolute marvels, especially considering price. There is no problem to drive them but, as they have mostly 4 Ohm impedance at low frequency range, you can't achieve best performance driving them with F3 or other high output impedance amplifiers.
Their reproduction is simply stunning in details and sound stage Sound comes only from wide and deep soundstage 3-5 m behind them. Never from the loudspeakers. Instruments and artists are usually very precisely positioned at that virtual stage. It is usual to have some sounds positioned far behind (even 10-20 m). When several voices are singing together, they are separated very well. In example, listening to Natalie Merchant's The Peppery Man, I can pinpoint position of any of 5 additional male vocals.
Listening to Leonard Cohen or Diana Krall, which are examples of close mic. recordings with every nuance of vocal performance extracted, you will experience ‘bigger than life’ performance with artist being right in front of you. Arrange a demo with shop, and ask them to play Leonard Cohen’s By the Rivers Dark. You will swear he is still alive and right there.
After discovering how good are F501, I contemplated to purchase bigger ones. Instead, I paired F501 with KEF KC62 subwoofer and this is a really good match, better performing than F502 ever would.
so, I'm glad to hear that Fyne are behaving according to published data, so Andy just had weakling amplification and (maybe) unrealistic expectations
I was extremely glad to see them ( existing) counting on fact that they're standing on substantial Tannoy shoulders, supposedly being improvement in general meaning
Anyhow, me cheapskate as I am, not overly interesting in thinking about obtaining them, from few reasons - already amassed far more speakers than I'll ever use, and second hand Tanns can be bought for far lesser money, with some patience ....
didn't look for long time - are they making 15" now?
I was extremely glad to see them ( existing) counting on fact that they're standing on substantial Tannoy shoulders, supposedly being improvement in general meaning
Anyhow, me cheapskate as I am, not overly interesting in thinking about obtaining them, from few reasons - already amassed far more speakers than I'll ever use, and second hand Tanns can be bought for far lesser money, with some patience ....
didn't look for long time - are they making 15" now?
My recommendation was for Berny. I know you have more than enough of loudspeakers.
I don't know or care if Fyne has 15“now. Above my budget and outside my preferences. 😛
I don't know or care if Fyne has 15“now. Above my budget and outside my preferences. 😛
Fyne F502 with bass tactrix gave me the best bass and most dynamic sound so far in my system.
But they were really current hungry, with challenging impedance dips. Overall iy was difficult obtaining both dynamics and smoothness at the same time, and I attributed part of that to the speakers draining the amp (40 watts class A, PP).
So, in order yo explore a wider variety og amp topologies, I sold them.
Those Vestlyds at first glance look like Tannoy ripoffs. No matter, as long as they play well.
Fyne’s have the advantage of the company being lead by Tannoy’s former chief engineer. Whilst Tannoy now is a fancypants China sellout company who according to UK sources don’t know what the hell they are doing.
So I just went back to the original.
Btw, Fyne have now made some kickass 12” and 15” speakers, easy to drive, iaw the old Tannoy spirit, but the thing is, they are expensive as hell.
So my 3134’s are a better suited ticket, for me.
To MZM/tombo: Not unrealistic, just didn’t fit the bill with my wish to explore other simpler topologies than PP.
And the 502’s (not SP) dip well below 4R in the bass range.
But they were really current hungry, with challenging impedance dips. Overall iy was difficult obtaining both dynamics and smoothness at the same time, and I attributed part of that to the speakers draining the amp (40 watts class A, PP).
So, in order yo explore a wider variety og amp topologies, I sold them.
Those Vestlyds at first glance look like Tannoy ripoffs. No matter, as long as they play well.
Fyne’s have the advantage of the company being lead by Tannoy’s former chief engineer. Whilst Tannoy now is a fancypants China sellout company who according to UK sources don’t know what the hell they are doing.
So I just went back to the original.
Btw, Fyne have now made some kickass 12” and 15” speakers, easy to drive, iaw the old Tannoy spirit, but the thing is, they are expensive as hell.
So my 3134’s are a better suited ticket, for me.
To MZM/tombo: Not unrealistic, just didn’t fit the bill with my wish to explore other simpler topologies than PP.
And the 502’s (not SP) dip well below 4R in the bass range.
Yes, 15” is at last possible again. Paul Mills was reluctant for a while, but here it is:
https://www.fyneaudio.com/product/vintage-fifteen/
Cost about 30.000E.
12’s cost about 28.000E. So if my 3134’s in a good box can make 50% of the sound, they are still a bargain at 500E.
The 704 is also an alternative in the 12 inch range. But way above my paygrade.
https://www.fyneaudio.com/product/vintage-fifteen/
Cost about 30.000E.
12’s cost about 28.000E. So if my 3134’s in a good box can make 50% of the sound, they are still a bargain at 500E.
The 704 is also an alternative in the 12 inch range. But way above my paygrade.
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“fed from Fyne’s highest specification and Deep Cryogenically Treated crossover”
LOL…I’d be to afraid of getting freeze brain in the middle of a listening session!
LOL…I’d be to afraid of getting freeze brain in the middle of a listening session!
Not sure if Carbon freezing counts.
Either way…If I can survive the listening session it can go one of two ways.
Either it sends a shiver down my spine because they sound realer than real…or they come across as being cold and analytical 🙄
Either way…If I can survive the listening session it can go one of two ways.
Either it sends a shiver down my spine because they sound realer than real…or they come across as being cold and analytical 🙄
Continuing showing the plethora of drek involved in the service of these drivers. Driver B, had a scratching sound when pressing the cone. As it turned out, magnet was completely cracked. Checked in with MZM, and started a lenghty repair process.
Previous owner had used depicted copper crap to keep the magnet assembly together. Not a good idea, a cracked magnet means risk of displacement of upper and lower part of the assembly, and even a mm displacement means the voice coil risks scratching and de facto shorting against the magnet assembly.
At this point, woofer impedance showed 5R1 vs 5R on driver A. But, getting a stable reading was difficult, and impossible when tapping the cone. In fact an indication of a voice coil making contact with the mag assembly.
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So, lot’s of stuff needed to be done, including a few pics. First loosening the spider without damaging it. Done with huge amounts of acetone, a brush and time…
To reveal huge amounts of magnet residue in the gap (difficult to depict), also a decentering of about 1mm with magnet residue hindering clamping it together. Also, tell tell signs of suspected VC-magnet contact: a scratched voice coil.
After dismounting: stable 5R1 reading. Later I did more work on the VC, and for some reason it then suddenly showed 5R, exactly like on woofer A, and completely stable - meaning theory of contact with mag assembly was correct.
To reveal huge amounts of magnet residue in the gap (difficult to depict), also a decentering of about 1mm with magnet residue hindering clamping it together. Also, tell tell signs of suspected VC-magnet contact: a scratched voice coil.
After dismounting: stable 5R1 reading. Later I did more work on the VC, and for some reason it then suddenly showed 5R, exactly like on woofer A, and completely stable - meaning theory of contact with mag assembly was correct.
Attachments
Perhaps. My source in the UK sez he has never attempted getting hold of a replacement mag. He did manage to get me one of two leftover tweeters from Tannoys stock.
Split the mag assembly, revealing suspected drek between upper and lower halves. Also, the copper ring on the top half was scratched and damaged. So I sanded it with very fine wet dry paper, and bent it back were uneven.
Then, a few hours of cleaning with stocky tape, magnetized screwdrivers, compressed air - heck, whatever worked, and the halves looked like this:
Very few pics from this next process. But it involved making a centerint piece for the gap, using parts of an old gingerbread box and sticky tape. Then using spacers (rubber bit in several layers, then removing one by one slowly), in order to get msgnets back without them crushing each other from the mag force. Then, clamping them, then applying the heaviest glue EVER: loctite super glue. This glue is so super it according to MZM is sucked into the cracks due to a capillary effect. And voila: mag was one piece again. Tests then showed it was possible to move the cone and VC without scratching, so I could proceed 🙂
Used a knife and sanding paper to remove excess glue, then superglued the metal top and bottom to the magnet for extra strength, and then applied dammar, starting to look the part again 🙂