New Fritz Carbon 7 bookshelf speakers review!

@mattldm 

I was very excited to try them. Based on the reviews that described them in glowing terms and the price, I figured I couldn’t go wrong. None of the reviews I’d read or watched mentioned anything about them being fussy about placement or the need for room treatment, as mentioned here. At least I live relatively close to Fritz, which minimized shipping costs. 

@larsman 

It’s entirely possible that fact was mentioned in reviews and I somehow overlooked it.  Having said that, what I’ve generally found is the gear that I’ve kept has required break in BUT has not radically changed in the process. In other words, it’s sounded pretty good to start with and only improved with break in. The Carbons were, for me, painful to listen to, which disinclined me from going through the break in  process. I can't say it wouldn't have paid off in the end but I'm extremely sensitive to fatiguing highs so I wasn't willing to run the experiment to find out.

@stuartk - painful to listen to indeed; for me, it sounded like the mid-range and the tweeter had never been introduced to each other before, and they needed to date for a few weeks before they were a proper couple instead of an odd one. Same thing with my Marten speakers, which cost about 3x what the Fritz's do; they were awful for a few weeks, but when it all settled in..... 

I may have done Fritz a disservice here and need to correct something.

First, I’ve not heard every Fritz model, but what I’ve heard were exceptional 2-ways with excellent tweeter and mid-woofer integration.   The Fritz Rev 7E in particular was a stunner and excellent value. 

Let’s now talk about what I meant.  The 7" mid-woofers in the Rev 7E are capable of really impressive bass for the speaker size, but the room is a tone control.  If you hear OK bass, but not "wow" that’s when a little room treatment, to tame the mid-high frequencies really lets the bass bloom.  At shows I’ve seen Fritz take 4 or 6 panels and put them around a modest hotel room and that is all that was needed to be among the top 2-3 rooms in a show IMHO but also in the opinion of recording artists I got a chance to talk to.   That’s actually very impressive.  For a speaker in a hotel room to actually sound very good with just a few panels is something very very few speakers can do.  It’s not an indicator these speakers MUST have room treatment. 

I’ve not heard the OP’s speakers or room, but I respect Fritz judgement enough to say  "that’s not at all the product I’d expect him to build." 

I don’t think Fritz speakers MUST have room treatment, but that a lot of ambitious 2-way speakers a little room treatment can make them sound much larger than otherwise. 

Seriously, like the opening notes of many Universal movies have a really impressive drum introduction.  Th e Rev 7E is amazing. 

@larsman 

Good to know about Marten, as they are a brand I'll be considering when it's time for a speaker upgrade.