Help with making a decision - Fried Studio V mars

I was very fortunate to answer the ad here and purchase these speakers. After looking them over closely, I'm amazed at the condition and stunned by the performance. Makes me wonder why more designers haven't gone the transmission line route used by Fried.

Congratulations on your first ad! Everything looks great.

Some lucky buyer will end up with a pair of speakers that surprise and delight them as the discover they compete with most anything currently produced.

I wish you the best of luck with the sale!

They are posted FOR SALE in the classified area. I appreciate everyone's advice, and thoroughly agree that I will have to spend 3-4 times as much to replace these speakers but I am leaving the country and don't want them to rot in a storage unit somewhere. Special thanks to Trelja, I still have your number as well.

Yes, Bill can fix most anything that wrong with a driver. Voice coils, magnets, cones, spiders, etc. He replaces spiders when he installs new surrounds because both work together and form the driver's suspension. Though the driver will work again after a simple refoam, in Bill's eyes, the job's only half done (actually less), and the driver is still broken.

Regarding voice coils, Bud Fried left me his very own loudspeakers prior to his passing. After using them a bit, I discovered an issue with one, and took them to Bill. Bud's speakers obviously had some "hot rod" in them; in this case, a 1" dual voice coil in the 6.5" Gefco. Bill hunted around through his incredible supply, and actually found a pair, which he claimed was only the second time (though, obviously common in larger drivers) he'd seen this in more than 40 years. In no time, he had installed new ones in both drivers. I figured he wasn't going to find these unusual voice coils, and wondered if my next move would be to shop for new drivers. But he assured me he could have them made up for him by his supplier within a week or two.

Can Bill do more than refoaming and reconing? The reason that I ask is that I think it may be a problem with the voice coil because the woofer looks fine but sounds bad (distortion and other extraneous noise).

Thank you. I was originally going to make a suggestion, but after thinking about it overnight, I recommend sending both of your 8" Focal drivers to Bill Legall of Millersound http://www.millersound.net/service.htm for repair. Bill's a very close friend of mine, and THE best loudspeaker driver repair person in the world. The price will be most reasonable.

Here's a couple of stories about him
http://www.6moons.com/industryfeatures/forbidden/forbidden_9.html

http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/roadtour13/roadtour13.html

The Studio Vs with the Gefco drivers all work perfectly.

One of the Studio Vs with the Focal drivers has a bad woofer. It is a Focal 8V412db, which is a 4 ohm 8-inch woofer with a dual voice coil. I have considered trying to get it repaired, but I don't know who to trust with it. It has a bit of an oddly shaped basket (frame) and the speaker baffle has been set up accordingly. I don't think Focal currently makes an 8-inch DVC woofer and I haven't been able to find any other suitable replacement.

By the way, the 6-inch midranges are Focal 6V011dbl (also DVC). They still work perfectly.

Bobana0, thank you for the background. Understood.

If I may ask, which woofers need replacing on your Studio V?

Real good info Trelia. Thanks.

A couple of years ago I actually purchased a pair of the CS2.2 woofers from Thiel because their Thiele-Small numbers were very close to the Focal woofer. Unfortunately, the baffle would need significant modification to get them to fit.

The other problem is that I would need a dual voice coil woofer if I want the MARS to work. That isn't a big priority, but it would be nice.

Right now I use the functioning Focal Studio V as the center channel in a 5.1 setup with two Gefco Studio Vs up front and a pair of Studio IVs in back. I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Bobana0, Bud Fried DID use Focal drivers during the time when the Studio V were produced. I know they were also used in the Valhalla System. Beyond those two, I'd have to do a bit of research.

Not that you'll be happy to read this, but here's how sourcing moved from Focal to Gefco according to what Bud told me...

Focal drivers garnered a lot of hype, praise, and came at a premium pricing level. Always wanting to produce the best loudspeakers possible within sane technological and cost constraints, Bud decided to go with them. However, he noticed something didn't seem right. The drivers didn't match their specs; not even close. They went back and forth over the course of a few orders, with each side adamant in regard to their position. To make a long story short, Bud, who spent 1/3 of the year in Europe and the UK, dropped in on Focal for a visit. He demanded they measure the model of drivers with him present. Things came out exactly as Bud experienced. Subsequently, he went in a different direction.

Thankfully, the series crossover masks a lot of wrongs, and I'd think those Studio V still sound wonderful.

If you are happen to be looking for a replacement, Fried Products was selling Shanghai Silver Flute (Yindi) drivers, but you can purchase them from Madisound. These (quite) modestly priced drivers do much better than one would otherwise expect. Obviously, you want to confirm the dimensions first before moving on them. You could also go with something from Tympany (Vifa, Peerless, ScanSpeak). The third, and most overlooked, element of what I refer to as Bud's holy trinity is low Qts drivers (series crossover and TL representing the other two), so aim for that in your replacement.

Agreed. I wouldn't give up my Studio Vs for twice what I paid for them. With or without the MARS system, I really enjoy them.

By the way, has anyone else heard of Studio Vs with all Focal drivers? I believe they're real Frieds because their name is on the inductors in the crossover. One woofer (an 8v412db) is shot and I can't find a replacement.

Trelja, I can only give a hearty AMEN to all you say.

I think you're preaching to the choir to any acoustic music lover who ever owned a pair !

You will have no trouble selling them. I'll say right here and now I am willing to buy them from you myself.

Though most do not know or have forgotten the legendary Bud Fried and his loudspeakers, there still exists a small, but fanatical following. There is no finer loudspeaker, period, for the AtmaSphere OTL amplifiers.

I listen to a lot of audio components, and in my opinion, my Fried A/6 compete with anything made today up to $5K. My Studio V, with their true TL bass and midrange loading are even better, and will run with most loudspeakers, irrespective of price. The Valhallas move another step forward. The only criticism I can level against these three is that despite their excellent low-frequency tunefulness (the TL truly without equal), their 8" woofer will obviously not go all the way down, and their crossover parts quality (though not bad for their day) warrants an upgrade. The Valhalla could be special ordered with the 10" O subwoofers, which do produce the lowest of lows.

One other thing about Bud, he brought both the Lowther and Quad ESL57 to the USA, and even after five to six decades, you'd be hard pressed to find better loudspeakers than either of those.

I would not sell any Frieds,probaly have to spend 4k to get as good today.

They are black and in almost flawless condition, have looked them over and do not see any scratches or nicks. In am in coastal north carolina

I own two pairs of Studio Vs (three... if you count a pair of weird ones that use Focal drivers instead of the usual Hiquphon tweeter and Gefco woofer and mid-range). I paid $500.00 (plus shipping) for the latest (2012) pair, but they needed new tweeters. I paid about $1,000.00 (plus shipping) for my first pair in 2006. In all cases, the cabinets were in good, but not great, shape.

If they are as you describe them, I can't imagine them being worth less than $750.00 - $800.0.

Hifiko,

Where are you located? How about a brief description of the speakers such as color, condition etc.

I owned a pair over a decade ago, and sold them for ~$1200. Not well known, so it is hard to get a fix on the price now, but I would guess $900-1000 now. Thye are quite good; it would cost 3x that to do better today.
I recommend you run an ad at the price you want to get out of them. If they don't sell for your price, store them.