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Fyne F1-10/12 vs Harbeth 40.3 XD and Graham LS5/5

I am very interested in the Fyne F1-12 and F1-12S. Do they create a large soundstage? I have Harbeth 40.3 XDs and Graham LS5/5 powered by an Accuphase C2900/A80 comb. I also have a pair of Rythmik 15” subs. Room is 5m x 10m with 2.5m ceilings. 

Any thoughts on how the Fyne F1-12 would compare to the BBC style big Harbeths and Grahams? (The Harbeths and Grahams sound great to me.  But you know how this hobby/disease goes…)  I listen to acoustic music as well as classic rock (Beatles/Stones/Neil Young/Grateful Dead/Little Feat) and much of it was originally mastered on BBC speakers    I used to have Focsl Scala Utopia EVOs and I didn’t really like them   They made my ears ring and they just weren’t enjoyable (to me) for long listening periods  

There are no places near me to demo the Fynes. Finally, is there a big difference in sound quality between the F-12 and the F1-12S? Prices of second hand F1-10 and F1-12 are not unreasonable. New F-1-10/12S are pretty pricy. 

Any thoughts from someone that is familiar with Fynes would be greatly appreciated. 
 

Thanks,

Lew

 

lewl28
kofibaffour
247 posts
 

You have pretty decent speakers?

 

Unless you're not doing the best practices when it comes to speaker/room coupling. There's no need for a Fyne Speaker if you want a Coaxial.

 

Better off getting a MoFi or a Genelec or a KEF.

Fyne unfortunately has the worst implementation of coaxial tech.

I've heard the Fynes at a Fyne dealer where I live. Especially the 12. Was decent but the off axis was surprisingly terrible for a coaxial with obvious recession of presence region and lack of needed snap and pop that give sense of contrast.

 

For the price of the Fyne F10 I'd say go active but that means putting your Amps away and I don't know if you're ready for that so I'd say look at KEF or MoFi. The upcoming V10 from MoFi or KEF Reference 1 Meta @lewl28

gryphongryph
396 posts
 

I didn’t think you could upgrade from a Graham Audio ls5/5 ;-)

It is my dream speaker.

paullb
137 posts
 

Hi Lew,

I have never heard any Fyne speakers, so I cannot help you there.  However, I do own Graham LS5/5 speakers which I compared carefully to the Harbeth 40.3xd.  I'd be very interested in your thoughts about the two since you own them both. Harbeth just came out with the 40.5, so that might be an improvement.  I expect it would be evolution, not revolution.  

Like you, I never could warm up to the Focal Scala Utopia EVOs.  Just too bright and fatiguing.  After a number of years with the Grahams I feel like I know what they do well and where they could be improved.  With that in mind, I have started exploring my own upgrade.  Unfortunately, the Clarisys Studio+ and Stenheim 5se that I think also sound as musical and natural as the Grahams, while having greater resolution, dynamics and better sound staging are a lot more expensive. 

Is there any reason why you chose the Fyne's as a possible upgrade and did you consider any other speakers?

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