Thoughts: Mofi Sourcepoint 888 vs Fyne Audio 501sp?

I would very much like to audition the MoFi 888 due to the rave reviews (though there are not many out there). I don't know the Fyne, but will Google it. 

Not the 501SP, nevertheless:

https://www.stereophile.com/content/fyne-audio-f301-loudspeaker-measurements

And https://www.stereophile.com/content/fyne-audio-f500sp-loudspeaker-measurements

888:

https://www.erinsaudiocorner.com/loudspeakers/mofi_soucepoint_888/

I’ve not heard the MoFi but have heard the 501SP and it was an outstanding speaker in all respects.

@patrickdowns   Be very skeptical about over the top rave reviews when regarding budget components. These high profit(%) products need to be sold in volume and quickly before the next claimed "Giant Killer" appears. Remember the speaker is only 1 link in the audio chain, focus on possible system synergy. To many Audiophiles focus on an individual component than the system as a whole.

@dayglow re "Be very skeptical about over the top rave reviews when regarding budget components. These high profit(%) products need to be sold in volume and quickly before the next claimed "Giant Killer" appears."

For sure! Andrew Jones (the designer, right?) has a stellar reputation, but yes, given the way they are sold, I am sure there is healthy markup. Buying direct from the manufacturer of brands that don’t have huge markup is IMO better. My Vandersteen 2CE Signature IIIs were an excellent value when I bought them 5 years ago (from a good dealer), and the price has gone up. I’d have to spend a lot more now to do much better, so I am not in any hurry. I move at glacial speed, because that 30-50% hit one takes flipping components all the time is death by a thousand paper cuts!

I don’t make changes in my system much, and have great synergy with what I have now. Synergy is so underrated, important, and often badly understood my newbies or people who think that just throwing money like darts at an a la carte menu of best components works. Nope! Cheers.

Rave reviews or not, I would be very hesitant about buying any audio component/speakers without first auditioning them.  If you're that interested in the speakers, then you'll have to take your time and somehow find a way to be able to sit down and have a long listening session with them both, wherever they may be found.  Happy listening.   

@patrickdowns    Thx for taking the time to reply! I always appreciate a well thought out and mature response. FWIW Fyne Audio especially the F1 series have top level build and parts quality. These will be near the top of my demo list at Axpona 2025.

@dayglow - Fyne has a great rep and pedigree right? Their founder is an alum of some esteemed brands, iirc. And I am of Scots descent, so I'd be interested. Represent! I hope you will post a review or thoughts. Which one do you favor in their line.

@patrickdowns     Probably the F1 8 or 701SP. If these monitors can avoid sounding small/strained or lacking body they could be an option for me over the much more expensive F1 8s. At $18k for the 8s places it in a very competitive list of loudspeakers. 

Thanks. Yeah, the lineage of the Fyne speakers is high end Tannoy but usually large 15” drivers. The 501sp is 6”! I had a pair of vintage Tannoy Arden’s that I regret selling. The Mofi’s seem all the rage but it’s like an advertising and reviewer blitz- with very little criticism. No doubt listening to them side by side would be best….

I owned the 501SP for about 8 months. I like to try different brands and this pair came up locally at a price I found reasonable. I paid around $3300, met seller 1/2 way.

I have mixed feelings about them but for the price I ended up selling them for ($2400) I think they are a great deal. I wasn't crazy about the midrange. I found them a little laid back but with good energy. They're not that speaker that makes everything sleepy at all. I just don't know if that Tannoy style driver system is for me.  They do like a little power for woofer control but no complains with the AN. I often didn't use the sub, or just below maybe 50hz. They had pretty full body but curious about the 502SP and 7 series having much more.

Like most speakers, the more you look at them the less you think they are worth the money. Everything that looks metal is plastic, but the binding posts and finish were great.

I was surprised to take such a loss on the 501SP. I figured maybe $300-400 but nearly $1,000 surprised me. It might be the lack of New England dealer presence (maybe changed) or the fact that the brand needs time to settle and fill in the gaps.

If I had to keep a speaker and it had to be Fyne, I'd shop higher in the line and really spend time listening to them first. I think they are well made, but like I said, maybe that driver compliment/quality for $ isn't for me. With the history of the brand and designers I'd encourage you to investigate further.

I heard the 888 at Axpona and was very very impressed. I was equally impressed with the SVS Ultra Evolution Pinnacle. They are also very worthwhile considering and in the same price category. I also was very pleased that day with the sound of the PS Audio FR5 speakers, although those are just bookshelf.

I bought Crutchfield’s demo pair of SP888’s. They are awesome, they are nicely articulate and play loud with great bass. I sold a pair of Magico A5’s prior to buying. They do not play loud and I would not go back for anything. Onkyo Grand Integra M-510 amplifier and Canary Audio CA-601 MKII pre and a variety of sources all of which sound great! $26k vs $5k easy choice!

Safe bet they are a lot of quality sound for the $$$$. 

I haven't heard the MoFi but I have heard the Fyne and it was not for me. It struck me as more about hi fi than the music and I am very pleased to say I went the Sonus Faber route.

I bought a pair of Fyne F-702s several years ago; they have 8” woofers and were a bit deficient in that department.  Adding a pair of subs made a huge difference, and not just below 50 hz.  I am driving the Fynes with a tube preamp and Odyssey monobloc power amps, via Silversmith Fidelium speaker cables, and the sound is, in the perception of my old ears, superb: great tonal qualities, imaging, instrument and voice reproduction, and soundstage.  I had wished I had purchased either the F-703 or F-704, but the addition of the subs more than satisfied those desires.  I believe I am end state in terms of reproducing the music for what I have spent.  I will, however, need to upgrade my streamer at some point.  The Fynes are keepers for me.  I believe the SP models are made in Scotland.

If I had the room size and budget I’d go for the Mofi.  See Erin’s review in an earlier post.  He bought a pair and he’s heard more than most of us.  Agree with the need to listen in your room and return for little or no cost.  Your room has a huge impact on how the speakers will sound followed by the equipment in your system.  Enjoy your speaker journey.   

plenty of good speakers out there, but MOFI is a got busted and sued and lost: they conned conned their most loyal buyers on some digitally sourced records they asserted were 100% analog.

to whitewash the scandal they came up with another sourcepoint speakers, made in china and sold at made in usa prices. 

MOFI suckes.  
not worth givin em a dime.

if u get em get em used. 

I spent a lot of time with both the 501 and briefly auditioned the 501SP.

Long story short; the 501 sounded terrible. Put over 1000 hours on them with no improvement. I had several friends with critical listening skills over and that session lasted about 15 seconds. Seriously.

I had a shorter audition with the 501SP. Not much better.

It's interesting that the previous US importer eventually dropped the 300 and 500 line and only sold the 700 and F1 series.

It cracks me up how Upscale Audio, the Tannoy importer at the time, trashed the Fyne line every chance they could. They then dropped Tannoy, picked up Fyne and now the opposite; greatest speakers ever. Sheesh.

I only heard the MoFis and I was underwhelmed. Maybe you can add a third and fourth option to compare?

https://speakerchoices.com/

I think I’ll need more options, lol. For me this would be an endgame speaker. I have a chance to get a lightly used pair (501sp) for almost half price but too many not great reviews. Yes, I should listen to them in person (and will when I can) but you’d think a 5k speaker basically knocks it out of the park! And this if for both the Mofi 888 and Fyne 501sp: polarizing speakers it would seem.

Someone also made a good point, with both these speakers, especially the Mofi, it might be wise to wait for the mkII or mkIII as they iron out the dual concentric design from a smaller speaker… just a thought.

And another thing- agree with the internet wasteland- almost every one of these folks review everything glowingly, to sell more product and get more clicks! How can every speaker be so 🤩 ugh

if it's an endgame speaker, I would certainly extend the search. Lots of good value speakers especially for medium size rooms

For more options: KEF R series meta, Revel Performa Be 226, Neumann KH120ii or 150, Genelec (not sure of model).

plenty of good speakers out there, but MOFI is a got busted and sued and lost: they conned conned their most loyal buyers on some digitally sourced records they asserted were 100% analog.

You wanted 100% pure analog? ... They should have got a 50 year old master tape (museum piece) from the vault and beat it to death, thereby, killing that long gone artist’s legacy.... so you could have your pristine 100% analog on spinning plastic. You are so special & extremely deserving, but, Mofi just didn’t understand how extremely special/entitled/deserving you are and what your demands were.

Funny thing...it was the best sounding vinyl you ever heard...but, as soon as you found out that digital got involved, it stopped sounding good instantaneously. 

"you’d think a 5k speaker basically knocks it out of the park!"

That's a matter of personal preference and how wide can your wallet stretch.

The Fyne and Mofi are both MIC/price point boxes. BOTH will sound great,each with strengths/weaknesses.

Research/forums can help with a wise choice but won't replace actual  listening. 

@vinylvalet Follow the money trail like everything else. 

Sorry if it was mentioned, but what are the destination room dimensions? And what type of amplification? These are both high sensitivity speakers, is that a requirement?

It’s a weird room with a part slanted ceiling, lots of stuff in it, but fairly big like 16’x 24’ .

I currently have:

Musical Fidelity M6si/Willsenton R8

Eversolo A8

Polk R700/Revel M22 bookshelf

A used pair of Focal Kanta 1’s on stands 

would be outstanding and in the same price range 

Good luck Willy-T

Thanks. I went an audio place today and heard a pair of the Fyne 501sp and the Magnepan LRS+. The Fyne’s are pretty small! They sounded very good, esp on simpler music. Good speed and soundstage, very nice and rich sound. It didn’t seem as good on busy, full rock and distortion.

But the room used to demo was so small that we couldn’t really turn them up! And the salesperson played songs I didn’t know, although I requested a few. I passed on them and they sounded very good but small”ish” -needed a better room to breathe. The treble would need more listening.

I’d never heard Magnepans and it was definitely different. Nice sound but once again, too small a room to turn up and really get the soundstage. One sounded louder than the other too??! Probably my ears but there’s these little circles inside that weren’t the same on each speaker- no idea what they are…. Kinda of unfortunate overall. The giant room has mad some high end Sonus Faber, they sounded good, lol.

@vladi123456 

Martin Logan is a good brand. Lots of good value, due to their size. Easy return at BestBuy too. Not the boutique looks and appeal as Fyne, but your ears should be the judge.

@vladi123456 check this out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nkx0CcR7JFM

I've heard both the Mofi 888 and the Fyne 501sp, unfortunately in different rooms/systems but still.

From what I could tell they were very different to the point where each would appeal to different types of users, and each would work better in different systems. 

The Mofi was more dynamic and I'd say technically correct? Great detail, nice imaging, very clean and well rounded. For me this would be a better speaker when playing complex big band or orchestral works, technical metal, and even just loud rock in general where I want it to be punchy.

The Fyne Audio speakers struck me as being more "pretty" sounding, kind of like certain older Sonus Faber designs. So not ideal for really technical and complex music but fantastic with small scale jazz and classical, or singer with guitar type material. There's a certain romantic coloration to that music which is more emotionally involving than the Mofi.

Obviously this is based on the systems and rooms I heard them in so it isn't definitive by any means. Both good speakers but extremely different, you really want to try them for yourself if at all possible. 

@davegh I'd agree with your assessment. At times when listening to music that demanded a certain level of grunge or not "pretty" as used above they struggled. It depends what you are after but for a $6k you can do better.

I have a pair of MoFi Sourcepoint 888's, purchased on October 1st. I'm powering them with a McIntosh MC152 amp, and Anthem AVM 70 pre/processor, all balanced connections. Even though they can go fairly deep in the bass, I cross them over at 80Hz using (2) HSU and (1) SVS subs. The subs are strategically placed, all time aligned and calibrated with a miniDSP 2x4 HD. I know speakers are very room dependent, so my comments are just for my room and equipment. I'm in a 1,300 sq ft finished, insulated, carpeted basement. The 888's are about 10' apart, and I sit 12' in front of them. Now-a-days I mostly like to stream HiRes and DSD music, using a Roon One for a server, an EverSolo MDP-A8 Streamer using i2S output, and Denafrips Pontus 15th DAC.

The 888's are just awesome, all 96 lbs of them! I love the female voice characteristics, nice tight mid-bass, and accurate high's. They have very good vertical and horizontal dispersion. They play plenty loud when asked upon. At first I hooked them up to the 4 ohm tap on the MC152. During an AC/DC Thunderstruck listening demo I briefly saw my right MC152 Power Guard LED flash once. The average 888 ohm rating is 6 ohms. I switched to the MC152 8 ohm tap and have plenty of headroom for my listening, have never seen the Power Guards flash again. I very very seldom play this loud, but sometimes... if you know what I mean. I feel this is my endgame speaker, but you never know!