2. speakers
  3. 194214-203070

Best Holographic Speakers ~$7k per pair

Hello,

I am currently shopping for a whole new system. I demoed Klipsch Cornwall's and Fyne 502SP's. They were both great in their own regard however I was won over by the Fyne Audio 502SP's because of the holographic illusion they were able to generate. I demoed them with a Music Fidelity M6si amp and Bluenote Icon streamer.

They are currently at the top of my list but this is a big investment and I want to make sure I do my due diligence before pulling the trigger.

I am interested to know if there are any other speakers in this price range i should be checking out before making my decision? I listen to a wide variety of music including electronic, classic rock, indy rock,  hip-hop, orchestral music etc... 

In addition to the holographic nature of the 502SP's I also liked the clarity and punch they gave. I have read about the Ascend Audio ELX towers, Mofi 888's and Tannoy Arden's, but only seem to be able to set up a demo of the Mofi 888's which i plan on doing soon. I live in the LA area if that helps. 

Thanks for your help

julesg13th

Showing 2 responses by richardbrand

richardbrand's avatar
richardbrand
529 posts
 

I would move upscale with KEF and try the stunning Reference 1 speakers (not sure how much they cost where you live!). 

There are scientific reasons why speakers that try to emulate a point source of sound have the 'holographic' qualities you are looking for.  I would add that they reduce the need for room treatment and have very large sweet spots.  To get a handle on why, have a look at KEF's 40+ page whitepaper on the Reference series.

richardbrand's avatar
richardbrand
529 posts
 

@pinwa 

Panel speakers also have relatively narrow sweet spots

Well, that may be broadly true, but certainly does not apply to Quad's electrostatic panel speakers from the Quad ESL-63 and all subsequent models.

The reason is simple, but the execution is not!  Note that the ESL-63 was conceived in 1963 but took 18 years of development before it was released to the market.  So this type of panel speaker has been around for over 40 years but the way it works is still poorly understood.

The design principle is to emulate a single point source of sound, radiating spherical soundwaves from an imaginary point about a foot behind the centre of each panel.

Each imaginary wavefront reaches the centre of the panel first, as it travels at the speed of sound from the imaginary point source. Then it appears to expand on the panel in a growing ring.

The Quad design emulates this behavior by organising the stators as eight annular, concentric rings. The signal is progressively delayed from the innermost to the outermost ring.  The delay required depends only on the geometry and the speed of sound.  The net effect is all the benefits of an electrostatic panel plus the coherent benefits of a point source, giving amongst other things a huge sweet spot.

Quad did this with inductive analogue delay lines, but these days a digital solution would surely be easier.  You would need 8 DACs and 8 amplifier channels per speaker!

More to discover