Anyone familier with Fuselier speakers?

I have had my 3.8d bookshelf speakers since I bought them new in 1987 and they still sound amazing. Bought from Fat Julian in Roswell.

John Fuselier was an airline pilot by profession, a speaker builder by passion. His speaker boxes were made by a cabinet manufacturer friend of his in Dothan Al. An electronics repair company, Audio Lab, installed the drivers and cross-overs in Atlanta. Fat Julian was probably one of his largest, in more than one sense, dealer of his products. I know there was a dealer in Washington D.C. at one time and few others around the country. I came to know Julian in the late 70s, when I bought some Magneplanars from him. I meet John in the mid 80s. The 2.5s, 2.6s 3.8s and 3.8Ds were the lineup at that time. The 2.5s used a dual voice coil focal mid/bass with the individual voice coils crossed over at different frequencies to an Audax tweeter. The 2.6 used a Dynaudio tweeter and Seas woofer. The 3.8, used an Audax tweeter, Dynaudio dome mid range and a 8" Vifa woofer. The 3.8d used the same tweeter and mid range, but replaced the Vifa with a 8-1/2" Dynaudio woofer. The 3.8s were reviewed by an audio magazine perhaps TAS or Stereophile and garnered an very positive review. I helped Julian and John put together and packet to try and drum some more dealers on the strength of that review, but not much came of that effort. John was just too small of a manufacturer and was running on a small budget. Julian commented on more than one occasion that John enjoyed the designing and experimenting more than the business side of making loud speakers.

I eventually bought a pair of his speakers, a prototype called the 4.3i. Three pairs were built, at least one pair had a Vifa aluminum dome (which I have) and the other variation was using a Dynaudio tweeter. They all had a 5" Focal mid range and twin Vifa 8" woofer in a clam shell isobaric configuration. The tweeter, mid range and woofer were all in separate enclosures that plugged into each other. I found this very unstable and bolted all three boxes together, with a cork thin pad between the cabinets. Being a "prototype", they had a major problem in the upper woofer response below the cross-over point, which was cured with the purchase of an equalizer. Back to the drawing board John went. The second generation of this design, with the isobaric woofer, used 10" woofers in one box with 3" mid range and tweeter in second box. They looked similar to the Wilson Watt Puppy box design. I know at least 8-10 pairs were sold by Julian in the 1990-91 time frame and possibly more of these were produced.

I have a pair of 3.8E's I bought in 1992 from Fat Julian's Audio in Roswell, GA. They are three-way, time-aligned, phase-correct, circuit-matched, 3.8 ohm (so they are hungry), floor standing speakers. I am driving them through a pair of Denon POA-S10's at 300+ watts each and would not trade them for any other. I also have a pair of Fuselier Basic 8's (8in two-way) and a pair of Basic 6's (two-way 6in) both of which are incredible. (I have Focal in my boat, so I actually have other brands.) There is a fellow named Benny who owns modular Electronics, (www.aminaaudio.com) that actually built the last few pair of Basic 8's in conjunction with Julian and still has the circuit designs. Benny repaired my 3.8's and built a pair of front ported bookshelf's for my girlfriend; he absolutely understands Fusilier and sound.

A friend of mine bought a pair of Model 9's (I think that is what they were called) in the 80's and another friend of mine bought a pair of original design 6in two-way's that are still truly unbelievable. (Probably from the 70's and the SOB will not sell them to me!) Another friend had a pair that were multi-component that I think were called the Model 5; need some further reference on those.

Someone mentioned a pair of 3.8D's that were the precursor to the E's and a bit larger. If they are the speaker I saw at Julian's shop on many, many occasions, they have a mid-range driver with a protruding center from the cone. They are a hoss and definitely need some solid juice.

I compared my Basic 8's to a similarily configured pair of 8in two-way Sonus Faber and I believe the Fuselier's are a better speaker; transparency, less coloration, better imaging, broader stage, effortless bass.

The 3.8E's I have might be the last and the pinnacle of the Fuselier line. Absolutely clear, accurate, transparent, full, SICK GOOD and I have heard a lot of $$$ speakers - Thiel, Vandersteens, and many, many high-end sets. (My B&W's provide adequate sound for my garage.)

I was listening to a live studio recording on my 3.8's and heard what sounded like a slight crackle as if one of the drivers was giving way. OMG, a blown speaker! I took the recording and played it on my Basic 8's and there was a blown speaker - in the freaking recording studio! That's how accurate and revealing they are.

The Fuselier's are all hand built and luckily, Benny at Modular Electronics can provide service for them. Enjoy!!!

I have a pair of Fuselier's marked 3-BS. Anyone hear of those?

Also have floor model 3.3 purchased in 1983. They are currently in use as my rear surrounds and do pretty well with my Maggie 1.6 mains and Maggie center. A great speaker that I can not part with. The closest in my opinion to the clarity of presence you get the Maggies. If they only wet a little lower they could have been a perfect speaker and the greatest bang for the buck ever.