fritz loudspeakers

cleaneduphippy,
like anything else, some people love em and some, well, don't. but that's the way it is with any speaker or anything. personally i love them (fostex 167e) for the money ($350 last year from tekton design, now $450). sure they aren't as extend and airy or dynamic as the apogee minigrands i owned. i'm no critic and mine are still breaking in, but in a room on the smallish side, with a subwoofer (i use a Trends digital amp but would love to hear them with tubed gear and real cd player/dac), they play as loud as i want, far louder than would be appropriate in your average apartment (sometimes with peaks well into the 90dbs), have lots of inner detail, fantastic stable imaging, plenty of high frequency though my hearing probably shuts down before the speaker does, soundstage is very large, especially with good recordings, i listen to much rock, instrumental post rock, heavy psychedelic, and much acoustic of all kinds, they excel in the latter, especially well recorded, also with stuff like steve earle and dianna carter (strawberry wine), really really nice with well recorded female (and male) voice they only get congested with lots of distorted guiter and bass or big orchestral passages, but still work well enough for me even on those. if i had a better front end i really feel they would sound that much better, especially in the bass which i guess would be the weakest part, but even without the sub it stays pretty taut and tuneful (plenty of bass transients help here) and with the sub, the bass remains well integrated though not as refined as a fine full range speaker. they don't match the speed of ribbons but i don't miss it that much at all, especially given their coherency and tunefullness. i guess the best way to sum it up is that the quality in sound you get compared to the amount you spend is unusually high, e.g., i believe the retial cost of the driver is a substanstial percentage of the retail price. i assume you can get better sound by spending 2 or three times more but only by finding the parallel deals at those price points. what you loose is probably the same you miss in most (not all) smaller speakers, some scale, significant dynamics, some detail and air, but they are very easy on the ears, a real music lover's speaker.

like i said in my prior post, i feel like this approach is good for both the hobby and the business and thus an important niche in the audio market.

hope you get a chance to hear them, i'd be curious about what your impressions, especially given your system.

Thomp9015,

Thank you for your thoughts and the "heads up" about Tekton. Definely going to have to do some more investigation on these speakers. As it could be a good, an affordable road for me to go down.

When I bought my first set amplifier (Viva Solista LT) I immediately thought of trying one of those "single-driver" speakers, just to see what it was all about. I happened to see Fritz's stuff on A'gon and I really liked the simplicity of the design and the relatively low cost. My main speakers were the Opera Callas Monitors, which really sounded beautiful with the Viva, but I figured I would fool around with the single-driver speakers for a bit and put the Operas back.

I ordered a pair of the FR-6s in mahogany and I was very pleased with the quick shipping and quality of the workmanship. I put them up and listened for a couple of weeks. They sounded pretty good right out of the box, but they loosened up over the weeks. I live in an apartment and I listen at fairly low volumes, so it's important that the stuff I buy sound good when played softly. That's what I like about the Viva and Operas. I also favor simple music - guitar/bass, piano/bass, Bill Evans Trio, James Taylor, etc.

So I'm enjoying the Fritzs and after a month I decide I've fooled around enough and I put the Operas back up. I put on a solo guitar record and I am very surprised at the loss of inner detail and note-to-note dynamics the Fritzs had. I think the high-efficiency speakers are much more revealing of the note dynamics, which, once you get used to hearing, you really miss when they're not there. In any case, I now understand what the single-driver thing is about. Yes, you are giving up some tonal weight, but the dynamic shifts really do a lot in capturing the essence of a live performance.

Anyway - enough is enough. I really think the Fritzs are very well-made and sound excellent when used within their limitations. With the right ancillary gear, they can really open your ears to the nuances less efficient speakers can miss. Definitely not for everyone, but if you want to get your feet wet with this stuff, I think they're an excellent choice.

PS - my experience with the FR6 has piqued my curiosity enough to order a pair of FR4.5, with the 4-1/2" Fostex driver. The fanatics say that the 4.5" driver have even more midrange purity and their own set of virtues.

I own a pair of Fritzspeakers Fostex6 Full Range loudspeakers and I would highly recommend Fritzspeakers. I found www.fritzspeakers.com when I was researching for a new pair of high-efficiency single-driver speakers for a 300B SET amp that I built. I knew exactly what I wanted and Fritz had them at a very fair price, so I placed an order. I was surprised when I heard back from Fritz after placing my order, to ask me questions about my music interests, my listening room, and what kind of amplifier I was planning to use the speakers with. Rather than just accepting my order, Fritz wanted to make sure I knew what I was doing and that I was going to be happy with my purchase. I was impressed! The speakers arrived in short order from Fritzspeakers, very well protected for shipment, and beautifully built. These are great little speakers at a very good price, exactly what I was looking for. I was surprised again when Fritz took the time to call me after the speakers arrived and made sure I was happy with them. If I’m ever in the market to purchase another set of speakers, I’ll definitely check out Fritzspeakers again. This was one of the best purchasing experiences I’ve ever had. It would be a wonderful thing if everyone took that care that Fritzspeakers does to ensure their customers are satisfied. Fantastic!

Hey Guzziguy,

Just got an email from Fritz today and I haven't even ordered speakers yet, asking some of the same questions that you mentioned. It does seem like Fritz wants to make sure that people who order, or even interested in his speakers, know what to expect of his speakers, and that they are happy their purchase. You got to admit, the man does seem to want to go the "extra mile" to make sure his customers are satisfied. And I think that's a good thing.