Help with making a decision - Fried Studio V mars

You will have no trouble selling them. I'll say right here and now I am willing to buy them from you myself.

Though most do not know or have forgotten the legendary Bud Fried and his loudspeakers, there still exists a small, but fanatical following. There is no finer loudspeaker, period, for the AtmaSphere OTL amplifiers.

I listen to a lot of audio components, and in my opinion, my Fried A/6 compete with anything made today up to $5K. My Studio V, with their true TL bass and midrange loading are even better, and will run with most loudspeakers, irrespective of price. The Valhallas move another step forward. The only criticism I can level against these three is that despite their excellent low-frequency tunefulness (the TL truly without equal), their 8" woofer will obviously not go all the way down, and their crossover parts quality (though not bad for their day) warrants an upgrade. The Valhalla could be special ordered with the 10" O subwoofers, which do produce the lowest of lows.

One other thing about Bud, he brought both the Lowther and Quad ESL57 to the USA, and even after five to six decades, you'd be hard pressed to find better loudspeakers than either of those.

Trelja, I can only give a hearty AMEN to all you say.

I think you're preaching to the choir to any acoustic music lover who ever owned a pair !

Agreed. I wouldn't give up my Studio Vs for twice what I paid for them. With or without the MARS system, I really enjoy them.

By the way, has anyone else heard of Studio Vs with all Focal drivers? I believe they're real Frieds because their name is on the inductors in the crossover. One woofer (an 8v412db) is shot and I can't find a replacement.

Bobana0, Bud Fried DID use Focal drivers during the time when the Studio V were produced. I know they were also used in the Valhalla System. Beyond those two, I'd have to do a bit of research.

Not that you'll be happy to read this, but here's how sourcing moved from Focal to Gefco according to what Bud told me...

Focal drivers garnered a lot of hype, praise, and came at a premium pricing level. Always wanting to produce the best loudspeakers possible within sane technological and cost constraints, Bud decided to go with them. However, he noticed something didn't seem right. The drivers didn't match their specs; not even close. They went back and forth over the course of a few orders, with each side adamant in regard to their position. To make a long story short, Bud, who spent 1/3 of the year in Europe and the UK, dropped in on Focal for a visit. He demanded they measure the model of drivers with him present. Things came out exactly as Bud experienced. Subsequently, he went in a different direction.

Thankfully, the series crossover masks a lot of wrongs, and I'd think those Studio V still sound wonderful.

If you are happen to be looking for a replacement, Fried Products was selling Shanghai Silver Flute (Yindi) drivers, but you can purchase them from Madisound. These (quite) modestly priced drivers do much better than one would otherwise expect. Obviously, you want to confirm the dimensions first before moving on them. You could also go with something from Tympany (Vifa, Peerless, ScanSpeak). The third, and most overlooked, element of what I refer to as Bud's holy trinity is low Qts drivers (series crossover and TL representing the other two), so aim for that in your replacement.

Real good info Trelia. Thanks.

A couple of years ago I actually purchased a pair of the CS2.2 woofers from Thiel because their Thiele-Small numbers were very close to the Focal woofer. Unfortunately, the baffle would need significant modification to get them to fit.

The other problem is that I would need a dual voice coil woofer if I want the MARS to work. That isn't a big priority, but it would be nice.

Right now I use the functioning Focal Studio V as the center channel in a 5.1 setup with two Gefco Studio Vs up front and a pair of Studio IVs in back. I wouldn't trade it for anything.