An Extraordinary Find

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.

I can empathize with what you are looking for, Dodgealum.

I think you also made the very wise proviso that you are used to the Harbeths, and that often seems to color our perceptions of listening to new equipment. As much as I could be called out on the carpet regarding such, I have been as guilty of this as the next guy through the course of my audio journey. Though, I do try to keep the most open of minds. For that, I rely on trying to listen to as much gear as possible, to get my bearings the best that I can.

The Frieds are not built to have the midbass boost so common today. Whether that will appeal to the broad audience remains to be seen, but after hearing a lot of speakers in the past few years, I know that a significant number of people react positively to a speaker that has this characteristic. I'm not going to say much about it, beyond that people should buy what sounds good to them, and think about measurements or being a purist second.

I think you might want to try the Frieds in a more conventional sounding, warmer room. That would probably give you back at least some of what you were missing in the midbass. Again, a more conventional solid state amplifier such as Rowland, Levinson, Parasound, Aragon, etc. will produce that lushness you seem to be craving, at least in my opinon. I believe tubes will sound sunny, shiny, and open. I must be honest and say that the Frieds are meant to jump up and sing, to be musical, fast, dynamic, and, hopefully, real. They do not produce the plodding bass that you did not want, and are not "pipe and slippers" speakers as I find the Quads and the Vandy 2s and 3s (I don't have enough experience with the 5s to really comment on them intelligently). The Studio 7s are going to be lively. Whether or not that is your cup of tea only you can answer, but I think an additional audition, in a different locale, with different equipment might just paint you a different picture.

Joe, it's a bit hard to remember my time in the Fried room back at CES. I just thought they sounded a bit thin. The room had no treatment at all and the speakers seemed lost in a virtually empty room. It was not an ideal set up to say the least. I'm sure they would sound better at a Philly gathering :-) I'll look for your badge this weekend in NY.......JoeP

Thanks for your comments, Joe. I'm going to push for a Philadelphia get together to hear the Frieds.

I'll be there in NYC Friday and Saturday, perhaps we'll run into each other...

I have the FRIED Studio 7 speakers, which I purchased in December, before the price increase.

They are indeed, very musical, they do not have the WOW! effect - that is, the "boom and sizzle" that draws your attention, and eventually leads to listener fatigue.

They do require a minimum of 40 hours of break-in, as recommended by FRIED.

I am using NAD electronics to power the Studio 7. I auditioned the speakers last November, at Bud Fried's apartment, in the Phil. area. BTW, he was using NAD also.

The proof is in the listening, everyone perceives music differently, with the majority, unfortunately, very happy with mass merchandise audio.