An Extraordinary Find

Fiddler, yes, Dodgealum is correct. The Reference is $24K. While this seems like an act of folly, I personally know that in building the cost no object, "how good can we build a speaker?" Reference, a lot was learned. Much of which has flowed (not trickled) down into the Monitor and Studio 7, with no cost penalty to them. So, after it was all said, and done, I feel the exercise has provided truly meaningful benefits to all potential purchasers.

At this time, I do not own a current Fried production model. Dr. Raines is working on that, and really is steering me towards the Reference. My biggest worry is the interface of such a speaker with my 15' X 13' listening room. Though, one could argue that the Studio 7 is not much different in terms of size...

Dodealum, it's difficult to say what my actual role in Fried is. I am an investor, that much is certain. I put up a significant sum of money for me (probably not for most) to become a part of the family. Not for profit, as I don't ever see this being something I make money on, or ever would be able to consider leaving my career as a software engineer for. No, it was an homage to a man I love and more importantly, respect, Bud Fried. An opportunity to make sure the incredible legacy of the man would never be forgotten after he was no longer with us. I don't have a title, yet when I stated that I was a "nothing player" in the company, Dr Raines vehemently disagreed. He put forth some sort of honorary title, which I am embarrassed to say I now have forgotten.

I'll use Damone's description, "Assistant to the assistant manager at the movie theater", but in truth, I seem to take the role of more or less the liason between us crazy audiophiles on the net and the company. My sensibilities are audiophile, not corporate driven. I am an audiophile, I know how we think, act, feel, etc. because that is who I am. I could never be any other way. We get into a lot of disagreement, most of which because I put forth demands of what I see as audiophile perspectives, and I think that is healthy. Hopefully, in the end, it is all mutually beneficial to the audiophile, the company, the industry, and the hobby. I think Bud was the same way, always prodding, challenging, complaining, striving to move forward. As controversial, opinionated, direct, abrupt, and confrontational as I am, Bud was even more. That's the way he lived his life, that's the way I live mine. We are both of the Philadelphia stock. Hopefully, the rest of the world does not overlook that our aim is to provide happiness ever after for the true music lover. That's really all I think either of us ever strived for.

While I certainly hope people buy the speakers, as it is probably one of the surest ways that Bud's contributions to this hobby are kept alive, I recommend, and even use, a lot of loudspeakers. I have tremendous respect for Bobby Palkovic and his Merlins and will own a pair one day. I own and love Coincidents. I love the sound of Lowthers, and am building a pair. I have heard countless other loudspeakers that I believe would fit nicely into an audiophile's life.

You are certainly not the only one who utters much surprise at the depth of the Frieds. It takes a large cabinet to get the lowest frequencies of music produced by a TL - or sealed or ported speaker for that matter. We're not here to cut corners. When someone buys a Fried, they better get real TL bass. Even more important, as I confirmed with Bud after my own listening experiences, is the TL midrange. THAT will be a surprise to many. Despite this, the cabinets are maybe 6" shorter than the ones Drubin mentioned above, while possessing MORE bass. Thank the Reference, and what we have learned for that. In addition, it gives the speaker a more solid, relaxed, visually appearing look.

Feel free to tell us all about where you wish to go, Dodgealum. This isn't only a thread where I speak, it's a community affair. I certainly don't have all the answers, only opinions. Opinions that some may agree with, and some will find ridiculous.

I will ask that following along with my opinions, priorities, and perspectives, that you do a bit more than tell us about your gear. Tell us about you, which I consider the most important component. What you are really looking for, what you like, what you don't like, what your sonic priorities are, how loud you listen, what kind of music you like, and what your room is like. It could be that Frieds are not the best speaker for you, in which case, perhaps Vandersteens are, or Merlins, or Quads, or Coincidents, or Magnepans, or Sonus Fabers, or... - in which case, I would say so.

The current Frieds are the yang to the current Quads and the Vandersteen 2s and 3s. Whereas they are more dark and voluptuous, the Frieds are open, spacious, engaging, and forward. As in all systems, they should be considered in terms of how they will interact with the system. They will be influenced by the sound of room and the electronics to a very fair degree.

What I will now say will fly in the face of most of the conventional wisdom of audio, but I can only be honest in what I hear, feel, and experience. If one found them too bright, I would recommend solid state amplification, as I find it more rich, warm, and luxurious for the most part. It will also provide that midbass blump that a lot of people crave. Rowland, Levinson, Parsound Halos would all probably give this kind of sound, though as you stated above, the speakers don't need anywhere near the kind of power most of the products of those companies produce. If one wants a sunny and shining sound, tubes are a great choice. Again, the AtmaSpheres absolutely mate like hand and glove to them, but there are other fine choices, transformer coupled or otherwise.

Hopefully, others will offer up their own perspective as well!

Will Fried speakers be at He2005 next week? It would seem like a great opportunity to get the word out.

BTW, I attended CES this past year with high expectations for the Fried room and meeting fellow Philly Phile Trelja. Unfortunately, I was dissapointed on both accounts. Joe wasn't there and the Fried room did not sound very good. However, I know not to draw conclusions from CES. Perhaps Joe will someday host a Philly Phile gathering that will showcase the Fried's. That would be cool!

Joperfi. I agree, shows are not the best place to listen to speakers. I believe I am correct in saying that the speaker you heard was a preproduction effort similar to the one reviewed a while back in Bound for Sound. The current production models reflect some significant changes that have addressed the concerns many heard in the pre-production units and sound considerably different. Not sure if my facts are correct but that is my recollection of the chain of events.
Bottom line is the whatever is currently coming off the production line is a damn nice speaker!

Hmmm...

If the speakers Joperfi heard at this year's CES event, they are the production ones. Again, there is continuous improvement, but I believe it has been quite subtle since January. I am sorry that you didn't like the sonics. As you stated, I wasn't there so I have no idea what things sounded like, but I did get a lot of positive feedback. If I may ask, what about the sound was not to your liking? My audiophile mantra is "that's why they make vanilla AND chocolate", and it could be that we just aren't your flavor. In the end, of course, you must go in the direction of your own personal tastes.

Those shown at CES 2004 were a different ball of wax entirely. Drubin heard those, and seems to have potentially liked the sound. Those were taller, with different veneer/finish, used different drivers, crossovers, line damping, etc. I felt they lacked wallop, and indeed testing revealed a midbass dip that was corrected via crossover and line damping. The Vifa drivers further added punch.

I agree that Fried should be at HE2005, but alas, we as a company are not. In my opinion, the NYC HE show is where it's at, as a lot of East Coast audiophiles, including myself attend each year. For those who want this to happen, I suggest e - mails to Dr. Raines, asking Fried be there in 2006.

Joperfi, I will be in NYC next week, on Friday and Saturday. While I attended with two Audiogoners last year, a very old friend of mine asked me to take her this year to see what this whole hobby is about. She just moved into a new townhome, and because of my longtime addiction to this audiophile disease, was interested in checking out potential things for her down the road. Honestly, I told her that the "real world", which she is a part of should stay away from this stuff like the plague. It's really expensive, especially in the eyes of those who are not addicted. The "run, do not walk" statement in the "Advice For a Newbie" was what I provided. There are plenty of good enough sounding $399 systems at Tweeter that normal people should go for. Alas, she is intent on getting together for the show...

I would be more than honored to meet any of the Audiogon members at the show. Believe me, I'm nothing special, just a regular old Joe.

And, Joperfi, I have been hoping that we can arrange something in the Philly area to have people give the speakers a listen. But, more importantly, just get together and say, "Hello!"

Trelja. Thanks for all of your thoughtful commentary. My quest, which began over a year ago, was to find a pair of attractive floorstanders to replace my Harbeth Compact 7s. I very much have enjoyed the Harbeth's. They are so thoroughly "right" in the midrange and are listenable on the widest range of recordings. Nothing really sounds bad through them. They lean toward a warmer sound--a bit of midbass bump, a slightly recessed midrange and gently rolled off treble. I am used to this presentation and enjoy it greatly. However, they are fairly large, ugly boxes that sit on metal stands in our newly decorated living room. In addition, the Harbeth's do not have the dynamics, speed and authority in the bass that this new, larger room requires. They are polite and this is mostly good. However, when I reach for the rock n roll, they sometimes leave me unmoved. Acoustic music, chamber ensembles, small combo jazz are, except for the low end, handled beautifully.
My hope was to find a speaker below 5K that preserved the qualities of the Harbeth's that I like and did not have their shortcomings. I have found this to be much easier said than done. Most of what I have heard in this range (you name it, I've heard it--I've been at this a while now) was very disappointing. I would come home after the audition, put some music on through the Harbeths and say "Overall, these sound better" and cross another one of the list.
As a result, my price point began to rise--and in retrospect, beyond all relation to my budget. I heard a number of speakers that were in the 10-15K range. Some of them sounded good, others did not. In fact, I began to think this was all really going nowhere until I heard the Vandersteen 5A and the Wilson Sophia. I could easily live with either of these. In fact, the Vandy's are the best speaker I have ever heard. I also think that they are the most intelligently designed and the best value for money out there. In the end, once I came down to earth (after discussing with my wife) even the regular 5's were more than we could spend.
Now the task became harder still. After being seduced by the Vandy's how do you go back to the 5K price point? I decided to take a little time off this hamster wheel. Then I saw the ad for the Freid's in the one of the mags and contacted them.
Basically, I listen to all kinds of music--though as I get older it invaribly gets more mellow. I want a speaker that will rock my world on Saturday afternoon AND take the edge off the day with a glass of wine and Karrin Allyson at 11pm on Wednesday night. I'm no soundstaging nut. I am really not into picking out the chair screetching in the back of the orchestra. It is nice to have a pretty good idea of where everyone is but much more important is the tonal integrity of the sound. I want a basson to sound like a basson, a Rickenbacher to sound like a Rickenbacher. I want bass that is deep, tight and most of all tuneful. I cannot tell you how many speakers (including megabuck models) that give you lots of really awful bass. I want to be able to follow the electric bass line--every note, with excellent pitch delineation. I want it to be fast, dynamic and I want to FEEL it. I want all this without overloading the room, boom, mud. Most of the speakers that do this well tend toward slight overdamping. The bass is a little dry rather than full. My old Spendor S100's come to mind. So do the Frieds. This is why I like the Vandy 5's--you can tune it to your liking and to the room. Brilliant. Finally, I want the music to sound real. Inner detail, phrasing, PRAT, everything that makes it seem as if the musicians are playing in your room. This is one thing the Freids did so well--I don't know if it is the first order crossovers or the transmission line or a combo of the two or what. They just sounded like real music to me.
I guess these are my listening priorities and preferences. Sorry if I have bored everyone following this thread--I'm more responding to Trejlas questions than anything. To summarize as to what I heard with the Studio 7s (noting prior comments about the room):
Bass--excellent though slightly too lean in the midbass
Tonality--the cool side of neutral, very accurate
Musicality--one of the best I've heard.

Hope this helps you to help me. I appreciate your thoughts.