Fyne or not so fine Audio - where does the science start or end

[fpitas]

I suppose if they appeal to you, you can EQ them somewhere near flat on-axis.

 

[Pausi]

Well, I got me a pair of the F502S yesterday. I can return them within 14 days. We'll see how it goes. They are pretty heavy, almost 30 kg each. What's pretty startling for me is that there still exist loudspeaker companies in the 21st century that build speakers without using anechoic chamber or Klippel Near-Field Scanner 40 years after Dr. Floyd Toole showed the definite scientific importance of this.

My first listening impression:
Not particularly neutral/transparent, the mid frequencies are lifted. Bass extends down to 30-32 Hz at -6dB. The bass is not very coherent or clean deep down there. Ended up with HPF at 60 Hz to subwoofer. This relieved the pressure on the bass woofer and made the F502S sound more relaxed and accurate. I guess this goes to show that, if your not buying real full-range speakers like the KEF Blade Two Meta, you can stick with bookshelf/standmounts as you'll most likely need a subwoofer anyway, in most cases. The response linearity (how much SPL is lost (compression) or gained (enhancement; usually due to distortion) when the speaker is played at higher output volumes) seems much better than my Wharfedale Lintons. That's a good thing.

 

[Flaesh]

«You can get much farther with Dr. Toole book and a mic than you can with Dr. Toole book alone»

The response linearity (how much SPL is lost (compression) or gained (enhancement; usually due to distortion) when the speaker is played at higher output volumes) seems much better than my Wharfedale Lintons. That's a good thing.

If you hear noticeable compression in your home audio system, at what SPL and frequencies does it occur? Some listeners don't go above, say, 70 dB, while others sometimes turn the volume up to over 100. Deep bass requires sufficient volume displacement. Mass-market subwoofers usually have a built-in compressor\limiter.
We use this as a musical test for moderately low bass with noticeable amplitude:

 

[kemmler3D]

Well, I got me a pair of the F502S yesterday. I can return them within 14 days. We'll see how it goes. They are pretty heavy, almost 30 kg each. What's pretty startling for me is that there still exist loudspeaker companies in the 21st century that build speakers without using anechoic chamber or Klippel Near-Field Scanner 40 years after Dr. Floyd Toole showed the definite scientific importance of this.

My first listening impression:
Not particularly neutral/transparent, the mid frequencies are lifted. Bass extends down to 30-32 Hz at -6dB. The bass is not very coherent or clean deep down there. Ended up with HPF at 60 Hz to subwoofer. This relieved the pressure on the bass woofer and made the F502S sound more relaxed and accurate. I guess this goes to show that, if your not buying real full-range speakers like the KEF Blade Two Meta, you can stick with bookshelf/standmounts as you'll most likely need a subwoofer anyway, in most cases. The response linearity (how much SPL is lost (compression) or gained (enhancement; usually due to distortion) when the speaker is played at higher output volumes) seems much better than my Wharfedale Lintons. That's a good thing.

I've got to ask, after seeing the Czech review, why did you still go ahead and buy these? For me the uneven frequency response would have been a deal breaker regardless of other interesting factors. (Well, really the snake oil stuff you mentioned in your first post would have been... But the review too.) There are a lot of options at this price point so they must have some particular appeal for you.

I'm 100% not asking this as a rhetorical question to imply you made a bad purchase, just curious what made these appealing enough to take the plunge.

That said your review is not exactly super glowing, do you plan on keeping these?

 

[Michou]

View attachment 553010
Ahh, they've borrowed from Stewart Hegeman's bag of tricks.

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source: https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Radio-Electronics/50s/1958/Radio-Electronics-1958-09.pdf

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EDIT: Or Zenith's

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Duevel speakers from Germany look a lot like that
https://www.duevel.com/en-gb/Bella_Luna

 

[mhardy6647]

"There is nothing new under the sun..."

 

[Svend P]

For me the uneven frequency response would have been a deal breaker

Jesus, it's bad!

Taken from this review

Fyne Audio F502S

Označení „500“ se stalo v čerstvě přepracovaném katalogu skotských Fyne Audio velmi populární – máme tu řadu F500E, nad ní F500S, poté F500 SP a to vůbec nepočítáme starší provedení. Každopádně série s přídomkem „S“ tvoří zlatý střed s kompletním vývojem ve Spojeném království a výrobou v...

www.hifi-voice.com

 

[fpitas]

Jesus, it's bad!

View attachment 557709

Taken from this review

Fyne Audio F502S

Označení „500“ se stalo v čerstvě přepracovaném katalogu skotských Fyne Audio velmi populární – máme tu řadu F500E, nad ní F500S, poté F500 SP a to vůbec nepočítáme starší provedení. Každopádně série s přídomkem „S“ tvoří zlatý střed s kompletním vývojem ve Spojeném království a výrobou v...

www.hifi-voice.com

I guess if you really like pounding bass, you can just EQ down the ear-killer at 1.2kHz.

 

[101geo]

I recently had a pair of Fyne speakers screech at me for a while, they did sound quite angry.

 

[geol]

At a low price (heavily discounted), why not—but listen to them first. However, the entry-level bookshelf model (F5) handles only 45 W and has a sensitivity of barely 87 dB; you won't get very far with that. A 5-inch woofer...

 

[Flaesh]

Duevel speakers from Germany look a lot like that

Nicht!)) Duevel are real omni.

Spoiler

(without discussing who needs omni-speakers, why, or whether they are needed at all—there are threads about that, such as this one https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...t-design-available.19024/page-47#post-2678308)

And the omni super tweeter doesn't do much.

 

[Pausi]

I've got to ask, after seeing the Czech review, why did you still go ahead and buy these? For me the uneven frequency response would have been a deal breaker regardless of other interesting factors. (Well, really the snake oil stuff you mentioned in your first post would have been... But the review too.) There are a lot of options at this price point so they must have some particular appeal for you.

I'm 100% not asking this as a rhetorical question to imply you made a bad purchase, just curious what made these appealing enough to take the plunge.

That said your review is not exactly super glowing, do you plan on keeping these?

I was very curious and wanted to see how far of the reality could be from What Hi-Fi and my retailers glowing recommendation they could be. Demo-room listening, including their measurements, can't be trusted. I want some full-range point source speakers at approximately 3-5k $. Will be returned after a week and I will try me some KEFs instead.

 

[thewas]

Danny recently uploaded a video of his try to improve the Fyne Audio 500 and his stock measurements show quite a mess.

 

[Flaesh]

The larger ones. Not KEF. Almost fullrange. Point source above ~700. Uncompressed under normal household use.
https://audiophilestyle.com/ca/revi...ker-comparison-with-binaural-recordings-r768/ and so on.

 

[mhardy6647]

Danny recently uploaded a video of his try to improve the Fyne Audio 500 and his stock measurements show quite a mess.

Perhaps a design even he could actually improve.

 

[Flaesh]

Without ASR, I might never have found out about Danny. Or I could have forgotten about him long ago.

 

[kemmler3D]

I was very curious and wanted to see how far of the reality could be from What Hi-Fi and my retailers glowing recommendation they could be. Demo-room listening, including their measurements, can't be trusted. I want some full-range point source speakers at approximately 3-5k $. Will be returned after a week and I will try me some KEFs instead.

Totally makes sense. Well, it's a good investigation as long as returns are possible. If you don't need high SPL the LS60 will almost do full range and you can sometimes get them in that price range, but KEF has a pretty good lineup in that range besides that. Mofi Sourcepoint another good option.

 

[WillBrink]

Fostex still makes (or, at least, made until fairly recently) a version of these, which offer (relatively) smooth ultrasonic response.
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RE: A Simple Question About Compression Drivers - Paul Joppa - High Efficiency Speaker Asylum

RE: A Simple Question About Compression Drivers - Paul Joppa - High Efficiency Speaker Asylum

db.audioasylum.com

source of all of the above (including original references) https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/super-tweeters.20239/#post-666798

So funny to see those. Brings back many memories. Gad those things sounded awful.

 

[Flaesh]

I don’t want to be pushy, so I won’t suggest a compact point-source compromise—even though the budget fits. It would require a bit of work and suitable subwoofers. https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...iful-speakers-in-the-world.17178/post-2674714

 

[geol]

So funny to see those. Brings back many memories. Gad those things sounded awful.

With proper filtering, Fostex tweeters (plus a few rare full-range ones) can work wonders. But they're expensive, even used, compared to JBLs like the 2402 or 2405; a good alternative is the Ciare CT 440 (a little over $100) which, in my opinion, happily replaces the Beyma CP 21 F (slightly less level in measurements between 12 and 20 kHz for the Italian).