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.
The most holographic speakers i have heard in my life are the Omega SAM's they put a huge sound scape that envelopes you in the listening space. I've yet to find a speaker that can do what they did for sound staging. They have other issues though and do need subs to flesh out the bottom end and in the wrong set up can sound a bit shouty. but properly set up they win the holographic sound stage award.
second would be the smaller stand mount BBC monitor types like the Proac Tablets, LS's etc. again need bass reinforcement. and wont rock out well.
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.
So the guy at Upscale told you Sopra No.1s don’t image? Did they have a pair for you to judge for yourself? They may not be the right speakers for you, but the reason would not be that they don’t image! I think your room may be too large for them to deliver the bass you want. You should still give them a try. Philharmonic and Ohm both are Direct To Consumer. Ohm has a generous return policy, but if they what you’re looking for, you won’t be shipping them back. Semi-omnidirectional with directional cues from a DR tweeter, room-filling and well balanced are how they roll.
I demoed most of the speakers you mention and bought a pair of Charney Companions. They were the most realistic in terms of three dimensional imagery. These speakers are out of your price range unless you can find a used pair but Brian makes a smaller speaker that sells around your price.
I think the Martin Logan electrostatics are tough to beat for a real 3D sort of sound field. At your price point you could get Classic 9’s new or 11A’s used…..I’ve a set of classic 9’s in a smaller but highly treated space and I think the experience is quite amazing.
Based upon what you listen to, your room and budget, I would strongly suggest Volti Razz. I’m absolutely smitten with mine. IMO for the money there’s nothing I heard when looking to buy 2 years ago that even came close to the power, dynamics, imaging and tonal correctness. Owned. Pair of Klipsch Heresy 4 and they were very good, but at times fatigue set in. Lifelong fan of British brands like TDL, Mission, Tannoy. I was in the fence for a bit, Volti Razz or Tannoy Cheviots. The customer service, the overall sound and the fit and finish of the Volti won me over.
when I attended Axpona 2025 I walked away from most rooms feeling my set up sounded better to me. (Compromised hotel room listening and all the challenges aside). I did really like the DeVore towers a lot, all the Fyne’s I heard were great, and the PS audio Aspen 5s were wonderful stand mounts.
But for me there’s nothing better than my Volti Razz. They sound equally great at high or low volume. You might have guessed, I’m a fanboy. So what
@julesg13ththose are sold direct not via dealer. Last I checked there is a return policy designed to allow in home audition, which is the best kind to know for sure.
I never ask for such advise on these forums as this type of issue requires my own personal research and leg work to figure it out. All the suggestions and recommendations by others won't do you much good if you can't audition the speakers for yourself and make your choice base on your own personal auditions. That's the only way to know for certain what speakers are right for you. There's no other way. I could recommend 20 different speakers to you, but how many of them would you have access to audition? Go out and audition as many speakers as you can, or, take the risk of buying speakers unheard and having to sell them at a loss if you find that don't like them. What else can you do?
You demoed the speaker, presumably at the dealer in a treated room? I just want to put this out there as a consideration if your room can support what you are looking for. Otherwise, you will be disappointed when you hear it in your room.
I would shop for 2-way stand mount speakers with a 1-order crossover. This is a design that is most likely to cause the speaker to "disappear" in the room and provide an accurate "holographic" (audiographic?) soundstage. In that range I would look at the Dynaudio Confidence 20 and the Børessen X1.
Sonic holography is a trait of object based/multichannel audio (Sony's 360 reality, auro 3d, dts x, atmos, some of Yamaha's stuff, etc).
Channel based purist stereo (or even legacy channel based multichannel) doesn't fall in that category. You might be thinking that some forward prominence in presence region/vocals or even some odd phasey things going in some stereo mixes is holographic.
When you hear real holographic sound, you'll know it...it could be like being on drugs perhaps.
Nevertheless, a concentric driver design like the Fyne could be a conducive speaker when you get to the holography ecosystem someday or not.
OP, Are you determined to buy a pair of new speakers? It sounds like it. Your choices would be ten times greater if you decide to buy used. There are great speakers out there that don't get a lot of respect. If Escondido isn't too far, go listen to Acoustic Zen speakers. Well above your price range unless you buy used. I've never been burned doing so. Good luck. Joe
the best speakers for well defined 3d sound stage are the ones that really know what they are doing with respect to crossovers and driver to driver coherency. among the best i have heard or owned
@mike4597 thanks for your input. I'm glad the Fyne have made you a happy customer. Yes I demoed them with a solid state amp. It really opened up both them and the Cornwall's compared to the tube amp I also demoed. Solid state is what I will be buying with them if I do buy them. What did you pay for the 702's if you don't mind me asking? I believe the 502SP's have the same drivers as the 702's just in the 500 series tower.
@jeffbij thanks for you input. those are some beautiful speakers you recommended, I'll look at the used market.
I'm trying to demo as much as I can my fear is if I wait too long tariffs are going to drive the price up on everything. I'm already seeing companies list their prices as TBD because they don't know what the cost is going to be.
@ditusa both of those are sweet. I'll have to look in my area to see if any are for sale. I was looking to demo some Tannoy Arden's that Upscale has on clearance. They look like they might fit the bill but I couldn't find much information or reviews about them online.
Unless you’re doing a demo of different speakers in the same system you are hearing the system not just the speakers. Might sound totally different with your equipment, particularly speaker cables.
+1 on the Fynes. I have the F702–which I purchased before a sharp price increase, and I believe the 502 SP is somewhat similar and the SP line is made in Scotland. I am extremely pleased with the Fynes, as they give me an incredible sound stage, excellent tonal qualities of instruments, and real punch when it is in the music. I will say that I have done three things that improved the Fynes even more: at first I had a tube preamp and a stereo tube amplifier (100 wpc), both Rogue Audio. I felt the music was lacking in detail, so I switched to Odyssey solid state monobloc power amplifiers (200 wpc), and the improvement was significant in every regard. Then I purchased Silversmith Fidelium speaker cables (5 ft) to replace some very good Mogami cables, and there was an even more dramatic improvement in sound stage, instrument placement, and tonal qualities— it was dramatic. Finally, I added two Rythmic 12” sub-woofers (very reasonably priced), and the sound stage expanded further, laterally, in depth and height. So much so that when my Shetland Sheepdog barks at music he does not like, he never barks near the speaker, always between them or off to the side.
So, in my view, the Fynes are superb, but choose your amplification and speaker cables carefully, for there are products that can make a MAJOR difference. Of the three changes I made, the cables made the biggest difference—which I did not expect, the switch from a tube amp to solid state monobloc came next, and then the subwoofers. I suspect, however, that a comparable quality stereo amplifier in place of the monobloc would yield very good results. I had actually thought of replacing the F702s, but with these changes, they are speakers I can greatly enjoy for a very long time because they, in combination with the other elements of my system, reproduce the music so superbly.
Fyne Audio was on my shortlist after having heard them at the Accuphase official demo room in Yokohama. I was looking at the flagship Fyne at the time. Then TAD came along and completely blew all my preconceptions over what a speaker could do in terms of imaging. I was coming from many years and models of Dynaudio at that point.
So you’re on the right path :)
My TADs are at a different price point, but there are also more affordable models with the exact same point-source coherent transducer technology. I would definitely listen to this family before you decide. Who knows, you might have a similar eye opening as I did.
Also, as others have said, the room is very important.
”Holographic” is often associated with tube warmth, rather “3d soundstage” is what is what you are referring to.
For great 3d soundstage and top to deep bottom musicality, I suggest GoldenEar Triton. Plenty of positive reviews, especially noteworthy is it’s 3d soundstage
@julesg13th- 460 sqft, that is a BIG room, guessing around 20'x23', and with those high ceilings... Without actually seeing the room with all it's furnishings, etc., I think the size is going to limit you somewhat on speaker choices. Something like the Totem Forest's are going to get swallowed up real quick. And if you want/like off axis performance, then electrostatics (i.e. Martin Logan) is going to be off the table as well. Magnepan 3.7i's would still be possible.
You are going to get a lot of great suggestions from the group and there are a lot of great speakers in this price range, especially if you are willing to go to the used market. Key is to take your time and demo, demo, demo. And before you purchase, I'd try real hard to get a listen in your room first, especially with those 17' ceilings.
I would also budget in a good sub (or two) for the room.
Some other great imaging/soundstage speakers (used) I have heard that could work: Sonus Faber Olympica II's or III's, B&W 804's, Monitor Audio PL200 or PL300.
@dwellerUpscale is where i went. They are awesome! They are actually located east of Pasadena in La Verne. I didn't meet Kevin but his sales associates were great.
I am buying all the equipment with the speakers. So far my favorite amp I have demoed is the Music Fidelity M6si. I also demoed the Bluenote Node Icon streamer which sounded great to my ears.
I listen to a wide variety of music including electronic, classic rock, indy rock, hip-hop, orchestral music etc...
Room is 460 sqft with 17ft ceilings.
I am willing to buy used.
I listened to some Planar Magnetics but the ones I listened to were way out of my budget, ~30k Martin Logans. I was attracted to the 502SP's because of the dual concentric driver and their downward-firing bass port. From what I read they have a wide sweet spot with great offf axis listening. I confirmed this when I demoed them.
Take a drive up Pasadena way and visit Upscale audio. Uncle Kevin will help you find your dream speaker (He's also a Fyne dealer). The most Holographic speakers I've heard were Dunlavy SC-4As. Mr. Dunlavy would hand-tune every crossover for a +/- 1.5 db response tolerance. And Gano is correct, holographic sound is a lot like "seeing" the sound.
@dynacohum yes i was also interested in Focal's but Upscale told me they wouldn't image as well as the Fyne's so I skipped them. I saw the Phlharmaonic BMR's but I'm not sure if you're able to demo those since they are direct to consumer. If I can find them I would love to hear them.
@buellrider I actually went to Upscale Audio to do my demo. They are great and have lots of awesome stuff. They told me they can't demo the Tannoy's (might be because I am interested in blemished units). I'm going to try the MoFi888's next. The Cornwall originally sold me but then I heard the Fyne's and they stole my heart. I'll let you know what I end up with.
Carefully set up, many speakers can sound holographic. It helps if they are well positioned and have well controlled off axis and overall even power distribution. If you can hear Focal Sopra No.1s they are exemplary and might hit your range used.
Much lower in price, Philharmonic BMR towers should be considered. Then there are Ohm Walsh towers…famous for expansive imaging.
If you have the space magnepan 3.7i and a sub or two would work magic. You should be able to find gently used Maggie’s well within your price range, I have that setup myself, when I was out listening to demos and heard Maggie sound that was it.
Hi , I’m looking for similar type sound. I have 180 wpc tubes and 17’x27’ room, with 17’x17’ listing area. I’m in central California and noticed Upscale has Klipsch, Fyne, Tannoy, MoFi 888’s. Before I buy I’ll probably take a road trip there. Also talked to Terry London on this site and he highly recommends the Tekton Moab’s ( yes they’re big and ugly ). My listening criteria is mostly classic rock and some newer stuff ( Tool ). Please let me know what you decide. Regards , Mike B.
Stereophonic balloon is the function of how matched your left and Right speakers are, the recording trickery and how well controlled your room RT60 is.
@kofibaffour That’s an oversimplification and there’s much more to it than how matched the L/R speakers are. There are several aspects of speaker design that can contribute to the ability of a speaker to image/soundstage better than another including time and phase coherence among others. The OP’s experience is a good case in point where the Fyne speakers with their concentric midrange/tweeter design and first-order crossover between the midrange and tweeter are purported to be time and phase coherent where the Klipsch are most definitely not (and there are undoubtedly other reasons why they didn’t image/soundstage as well), and the OP was clearly able to hear the superior 3D imaging of the former in the same room with the same equipment and music. That pretty much says it all right there. But there are plenty of non time/phase coherent speakers that also can produce an impressive 3D soundstage if it’s in the recording so there’s more than one way to skin a cat. But regardless of how it’s achieved some speakers clearly have a better ability to do this than others, and while obviously you want L/R speakers to be matched it’s not the only thing involved in creating a voluminous 3D soundstage as there’s much more to it than that.
@audiojan Those look intruiging. I don't know much about open baffel speakers. I've heard open-baffle speakers don't work well in large rooms. I'm also secondarily interested in off-access listening in the room for social gatherings. Do you have any experience with open-baffle in large rooms and off-access?
@julesg13ththat can be attributed to the Klipsch having uneven dispersion. It balloons in and out and instruments can sometimes be out of place in the sound field thrown in front of you.
Coaxials don't suffer from that (well good coaxials) and it seems the Fyne speaker is a good coaxial. Haven't heard that one specifically.
Glad to help.
I think Erin has a video on how wrong the stereophonic balloon of the Klipsch is. I have to find the video and send it to you
@kofibaffour thank you for your input. I listened to the same songs on the Cornwall's and the 502SP's and the 502SP's had a way better stereophonic balloon.
@julesg13thI didn’t mean bad with my comment and I hope you take time to watch the video. But yes I’d say go demo the speakers or if you can get the speakers in your space even for a fee to demo, that is the ideal thing.
Also get the speakers in your space before doing any treatment. Treatment needs to be targeted and to be targeted a speaker must couple with your room first
Regardless I'm happy you're going about this the correct way making sure you getting the room to fit the speaker as those the biggest factors as to how you're hearing them.
Amp, DAC and every other tinkering that will be done won't come close to the effect of good speaker/room coupling and placement correctness
If you want holographic, there's none better than PureAudioProject. Connect them to a decent power tube amp (I'm using MasterSound Compact 845 with Trio15Classic)
And holographic in a 2 channel system is an oxymoron.
Well that’s just simply not true as you’ve obviously already found — some speakers absolutely produce an effortless, expansive 3D or “holographic” soundstage better than others. Some I’ve found in your price range new that excel at this are the Joseph Audio Profile, ProAc D20, Totem Tribe or Forest, and Usher Dancer Mini-Two. If you’re open to used I’d add the Vandersteen Treo CT as well. I’d think you’d be able to demo several of these in the LA area and highly encourage you to go hear as many of them as possible. Hope this helps, and best of luck.
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