Fried speaker comparison

Currently, I have a Jolida 302b, CAL DX1 and KEF Q15.2 I just picked up a pair of Fried Q/3 and finished replacing the woofer surrounds. Can't wait to hook them up. Years ago, I had pair of A/5s and sold them to "upgrade". To this day, I regret parting with them. Would like to find a pair of Frieds higher in the line, but they seem scarce.

I've had a pair of Fried Betas for about 20 years ... they are my "got to" speakers when I need a mini-monitor type speaker.

Mtb_ww, you are right, it's difficult to find Frieds.

I would suggest A/6, Studio V, or Valhalla system (C3/L AKA C4 with D subwoofer) if they ever come up. I saw a pair of the Valhallas here about a month or two ago, though they had no finish and needed to be assembled (no big deal). I myself would absolutely love to purchase a pair of Studio V, but just can't find them.

Hey Trelja, I knew you'd jump in on this post.

I've owned(still own) many of the "higher in the line" Fried's going back to a pair of C/3L's I built about 30 years ago. I still have them.

My brother owned several of the entry level models, Betas, A/5's, Studio IVs, and that's how I became a fan. He and I first met Bud Fried at Jemstone Audio in Lansing, MI around the time the C/3L's were introduced and after hearing them, we both agreed, we had to own them.

Over the years, I kept in touch with Bud and when the C/5's came along, I upgraded my brother's pair of C's with the new drivers, crossovers and better parts. I wanted to keep my C/3L's original so ended up building new cabinets(furniture grade Honduras mahogany) for the C/5's and Bud's preferred O-4 transmission-line subs; still own them too and if I'm not mistaken, Trelja still has Bud's personal C/5's & O-4's?

Some years later I ran across a nice used pair of Studio V's and decided to snatch them for a second system. They turned out to be one of the best sounding one box full range speakers I've ever owned. The reason you almost never see them for sale is because owner's won't part with them!

When the Studio 7's came along, I decided to "upgrade" and sold the V's. Big mistake! While the new 7's have many virtues, they lost the top end extension, air and transparency of the V's. The 7's use a 1" ring radiator tweeter and it sucks compared to Bud's old fave, the 3/4" Hiquphon. So... the 7' are gone but I still kinda miss the V's.

I'm still living with speakers that were spawned by Bud Fried's passion for 1st order series crossovers and transmission-line loading but things have come a long way since then. Bud was never into "designer" caps, inductors or resistors(didn't like tubes either) but instead concentrated on good quality drivers like the Danish made Hiquphon.

Long story short, many of the old Fried models would still embarrass much of the current crop of speakers made today and considering the prices of some of them, they should be embarrassed. Any of the old Fried models employing 1st order series crossovers and transmission line type loading would be worth seeking out, particularly, the C/3L, C/5, C/6 and Studio V.

Actually Trelja, I had the same thoughts about the "Radio Shack" quality crossover components and wiring in my pair of Beta Signatures and set about to upgrade those components. I changed the caps to some Solen polypropolene and upgraded the internal wiring to Teflon coated silver AudioMagic wire and you know what, the "music" that the stock signature series Beta's had was banished and in it's place was accuracy. Note my use of the word "music"...

That was my first foray into upgrading stock speakers and it did not bode well although later attempts with other speakers proved otherwise. Somehow, the stock budget component quality configuration of the Fried crossover components turned out to be the best although the Teflon coated silver wiring was a major leap forward in resolution as compared to the stock wiring.

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