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REVIEW: Fried Compact 7 Speakers

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Model: Compact 7
Category: Speakers
Suggested Retail Price: $1750
Description: The Compact 7 is a two-way design employing a 7
Manufacturer URL: Fried
Model Picture: View

Review by Guth ( A ) on July 09, 2006 at 23:52:45
IP Address: 66.80.42.30
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In the beginning:

For years now I’ve been trying to recapture my youth. Not an attempt at feeling young again mind you, but regaining that feeling of excitement that I had when I was young and would make my then almost weekly pilgrimage to the record store to score some new music. I’d anxiously pour over new releases carefully choosing which album would make the cut, hauling it home and spinning it all too frequently for the next few days. Back then a typical system consisted of a receiver, turntable, cassette deck and a pair of speakers. I didn’t give too much thought to the gear I had accumulated, acquiring what was needed to play some tunes and from there it was pretty much set and forget. The emphasis was on the music. Back then, music was fun and exciting – something to get lost in.

When I went away to college, I noticed that others had invested a bit more money in their gear than I had. My options had been rather limited, but kids from larger cities apparently had quite a bit more to choose from. The speakers that they hauled along with them included brands such as Acoustic Research, EPI, JBL, Electrovoice, Advent, KLH and countless others. The primary emphasis was still on the music, but the gear obviously had a role to play as well. I knew that one of my early rewards for graduating would be the purchase of a new system. After I finished up with school I went out as soon as savings permitted to pick out some new equipment. My newly acquired gear included pieces from NAD, Philips, Linn and speakers from Fried. I was totally immersed in music by this point and I did not have to budget as carefully during my visits to the record store – which in addition to the large black discs were also starting to sell the little silver ones. My collection of music was really growing and I was enjoying all of it.

What happened?

I lived happily with that system for years until an accident blew out the surrounds on the woofers in both of my speakers. I got the trusty old Frieds repaired, but in the meantime I began to investigate other options. Over the course of the next few years I went through a number of gear/speaker changes that I previously would not have been able to imagine. I started to put more emphasis on imaging, resolution, reproduction of details, etc., etc. I also started to ignore large chunks of my music collection. Frustration was becoming an increasingly large part of the mix when I turned to music for an escape – not a desirable thing. What happened to the fun and excitement – how could I have lost track of what was the most important aspect of this passion to begin with? I’ve come to believe that I took those Fried speakers along with the emotion that they conveyed for granted.

Over that past few years I’ve been through a number of different speakers. Those that spent a lengthy stay in my system included Dynaudio Contour 1.3 mkII, Spendor S5e, and the Harbeth Compact 7 ES2. Also auditioned at home for a week or longer were the Linn Index2, ProAc Studio 100, ProAc Studio 110, ProAc Response 1SC, Spendor SP 1/2e, Spendor SP3/5se, Neat Motive 3, Neat Petite, Epos M12.2 and the Naim n-sat. There were probably a few others that I can’t even recall as I write this.

I consider most all of the above to be good speakers – each with it’s own strengths and weaknesses. In my case, most of the above had a hard time integrating with the room where my system resides. Bass issues in particular have been giving me fits (as in too much bass/boominess/overhang, you name it). What I had initially perceived as strong bass I later realized was actually problematic room-emphasized bass that would eventually destroy much of my musical enjoyment. So goes the audio learning experience that comes with time.

After lugging all of these speakers home with me and back, and in some cases driving a few hours to do so, or paying for the shipping involved, I was getting rather desperate. I could have simply pulled my older Fried A/3s out from my basement system and placed them in the living room with my main system. They still sounded wonderful given their original price and they integrated nicely with the room from a sonic standpoint, but they were showing their age and were too large for the space I could give them (room size 13’ x 18’ x 9’ with speakers placed along the long wall).

Leap of Faith:

I had just about run out of options when I decided to take a look at the website for Fried Products. I had been aware of the fact that Fried had been resurrected a few years ago and that before his passing Mr. Fried himself bad been involved with the brand once again in its current state. I was not aware however that Fried was manufacturing the Compact 7 model. The other models in the current lineup were too large for my liking physically and were beyond my budget to boot (although in the end if I were to add up just how much I spent overall buying and selling so many different speakers I could forget about budgeting altogether).

The Compact 7 looked as if it had potential. The physical size was within my target range and the specs appeared is if my Naim Nait 5i would be able to drive them properly. Previous to the Frieds I had contemplated the purchase of speakers based on reviews, without the benefit of an audition but I just could not bring myself to do so based on the number of other speakers that I had trotted unsuccessfully through my house. Unfortunately there were no Fried dealers in my area but I was able to locate a remote dealer who had a very reasonable re-stocking fee if I ordered the Compact 7s and was not happy with them. (I think that he was very confident that I would be happy with the Frieds.) So I did what I felt was previously unimaginable and placed an order for the Frieds without the benefit of hearing them beforehand and without any reviews available to my knowledge. I wanted to get off of the speaker merry-go-round and I was hoping the Compact 7s would be my salvation.

The speakers arrived just over a week later shipped directly from Fried Products in Pennsylvania. The speakers were double-boxed with the hefty package coming in at around 60 lbs. Externally the packaging looked good and everything appeared to be intact upon unpacking (UPS apparently taking pity on me). When ordering the speakers I was thrilled with the fact that walnut was available as a finish option (I am not a big fan of the lighter colored wood species as the look clashes with our house which was built in the early 1900s and features lots of darker wood trim inside). Pulling the speakers out of the box confirmed the fact that I had made a wise choice. The walnut veneer looks great and instead of multiple strips of veneer being laid up side by side, large single pieces of veneer were used on the exterior surfaces instead – a nice touch. The speakers felt solid and well constructed.

Listening:

After placing the speakers on stands and wiring them up to my system (Naim Nait 5i, Naim CD5/Flatcap2, Linn Basik turnable with Akito arm and Adikt cartridge), I was ready for the moment of truth. Even though I was ready for a letdown, I was still hopeful that the Frieds would come through for me – I was not disappointed. Even right out of the box, the Compact 7s sounded wonderful, really nailing the timbre of the instruments. I immediately noticed the even-handed quality of the bass reproduction. I quickly grabbed some recordings that had given other speakers fits in my room. As an example, a number of tracks on Mark Knopfler’s “Sailing to Philadelphia” would easily overload my room with bass. Through the Frieds the bass was deep and powerful, but it wasn’t overloading the room (even in a rather near-wall placement where my speakers reside much of the time with the stereo on simply to provide background music).

The bass was balanced by a full, dynamic midrange and wonderful treble presence that allowed the music to flow freely. There was plenty going on at the bottom end without sounding overly wooly. The top end also had lots on tap without inducing listening fatigue and the midrange brought everything to life. My music collection runs the gamut with a number of poorly recorded/engineered examples. You still know that the recording quality is less than stellar on such examples, but the music is still presented in an enjoyable fashion. Music is reproduced in a way such that it sounds full of life. Even at lower volume levels, you take notice that there is a lot of life to the music.

Aside from the Knopfler CD I’ll try to avoid using other specific recording references. I’ve now had the Frieds in place for over a month and have played countless albums and CDs through them. I think that my general impressions might be more helpful than any specific references as none of us share the same collection of music.

I’ve come to realize that what the Frieds excel at is conveying the emotion of the music. I’ve also come to realize that this is element that fueled my musical passion all those years ago. Back then I wasn’t listening for particular details in the recording, amazing imaging or the most convincing soundstage. I was instead grooving to the emotion that the musicians were working so hard to put forth via their music. I now feel that I’m back to the space that makes this pursuit fun once again.

One of my requirements called for a speaker that can handle any genre of music that was fed to it. The Fried Compact 7 does not disappoint in this regard. I listen to jazz, rock, blues, intrumental acoustic, folk and a number of other genres – to date, classical does not play a big role in the mix.

From instrumental acoustic guitar recordings, to rock and blues albums laden with screaming electric guitars, the Frieds are able to nail the role the guitar plays in the recording. Acoustic guitars are rendered in a full, woody tone with the initial attack of the fingers on strings captured and presented wonderfully. The bite of say a Martin or Collings guitar comes through as it should and the funky spirit of a pre-war Gibson is presented in all of its glory. Electric guitars are presented with a weight and impact that can stand my hair on end when called for (read: not thin, irritating and fatiquing). Put on a recording with a vintage Fender or Gibson played through a early 60’s tube amp cranked up high and you expect to have your ass kicked, and so it is. A lot of speakers that I listened to could manage to get the sound of either the acoustic or the electric guitars right, but for whatever reason it seems that few could do a really good job with both.

Bass guitars are also portrayed appropriately be it the upright acoustic double bass or the electric bass. Once again from jazz to Americana to rock, the baseline holds together with an appropriate amount of weight. The bass is not the tightest or most articulate of all the speakers that I’ve run through my house, but it is tight enough to hold together for demanding cuts. As mentioned, the amazing thing about Fried's bass reproduction in my room is that they can play deeply without causing horrible room interactions too often encountered with other speakers.

The drum work in a Jazz trio or quartet can be an exercise in restraint and dynamic explosion all in the same track. When called for, a drummers delicate brushwork is not lost but laid out appropriately in the mix. But when called for the percussive explosions used to highlight certain areas or presented in a solo sound convincingly real. While I am more in tune with the guitar than any other instrument, the ability to accurately portray the dynamic quality of the drum kit cannot be underemphasized when it comes to capturing the emotion presented in the music. I feel that rock recordings in particular would be lost without the necessary impact the drums create.

A number of speakers that I auditioned had a difficult time with recreating the piano. While the small Frieds aren’t going to fool anyone that there is an actual piano in the room, they do manage to get the timbre of the instrument right and the keys on the left side of the keyboard are presented with enough weight and authority that the overall impression made is a good one. The attack of the note is captured up and down the range of the keyboard without any dramatic overemphasis anywhere along the way.

Horns sound great as well, full of life and presence. So many of the classic horn laden Blue Note, Impulse, Columbia and Verve recordings from 50s and 60s sound wonderful through the Frieds. Vocals fare well to boot. Be it male or female, vocalists sound for the most part as one would expect. You might not be able to hear the last bit of spit flying from the lips of the vocalist, but what the Frieds do put forth is done right.

Technical Details:

The Compact 7 is a two-way design employing a 7" glass fiber woofer and a 1" soft dome/ring radiator tweeter. The woofer is vented via a transmission line. The crossover is a series, first-order design crossing over at 2.0 kHz. Sensitivity: 90 dB. Impedance: 4 ohms. Frequency Range: +/- 3 db. 45Hz - 22kHz. Grills are included with the speakers. Dimensions: 6 " H x 9 1/2 " W x 10.5 "D. Approximate weight: 26 lbs each.

Comparative notes:

I believe that the success of any speaker relies heavily on how well it integrates with the room that it resides in and how well it blends with the rest of the system components. My observations/comments are highly influenced by these two things. However, a few comments regarding some of the other speakers I’ve used with my system might be helpful here for the sake of comparison, to be used a reference points. While I don’t consider the Frieds to be bright, they are not as rolled off on top as the Spendors. One of the great things about the Frieds is that they sound so lively without being overly bright or harsh on top. They strike me as being smoother than say the ProAc Studio 100 or the Harbeth Compact 7. And while the Harbeths have more to offer in terms of detail and resolving power, in my system they just couldn’t boogie and the bass line would fall apart with more demanding music while the Frieds are able to hold it together better. The Neat speakers also had a very lively quality to them but really wanted to be cranked up a bit louder to really come to life, In general I preferred the Petite to the Motive 3, but I wasn’t sold on the ribbon tweeters. By comparison the Frieds seem to be able to breathe life into the music even at lower volume levels. The ProAc Response 1sc exhibited beautiful midrange, but needed more roon than I was able to give them to avoid booming. I really liked the top end on the ProAc Studio 110s,but the bass sounded to wooly for my liking. The Naim n-sats were fun, but really needed a good deal of volume to get things stirred up (to be fair these were designed to be used with a subwoofer and I did not want to go that route). The Epos M12.2 also suffered from positioning requirements that I could not accommodate to avoid bass problems. As I said, all of these speakers have their positives and in another system/room they might come across differently.

Summary:

If you’re like me, with a large variety of recordings of varying styles and quality, and are in the market for new speakers in the sub $2000 price range, then I would highly recommend auditioning the Fried Compact 7s. The music that is presented is full of life and emotion. If you place a high priority on reproducing the last bit of detail from your recordings or are searching for highly resolving speakers, then I don’t feel that the Compact 7s should be at the top of your audition list. If on the other hand you’ve found yourself ignoring large chunks of your music collection reaching instead for only those recordings of “audiophile quality” and you find this to be disappointing, then the Compact 7s might be worth checking out. I can’t say too much about the imaging or soundstage capabilities as I do not have my room set up to optimize those characteristics during playback. If your room is problematic or you don’t have a lot of flexibility with regards to speaker placement then you might be very pleasantly surprised by the Compact 7s. Finally, if you want to look forward to each trip to the music store and anxiously head back home to play your latest finds, regardless of the label or musical style and then simply sit back to enjoy some great music, definitely consider checking out the Frieds.


Product Weakness: Not the last word in detail retrieval or resolution. Lower tweeter placement might require different height stands than normally associated with a speaker of this size.
Product Strengths: Recordings are presented full of life and emotion - like music! Very easy to place. Handles all genres of music well and is not overly harsh with less than stellar quality recordings. Works well at all playback levels.


Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier: Naim Nait 5i (50 wpc)
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated): None
Sources (CDP/Turntable): Naim CD5/Flatcap2, Linn Basik/Akito/Adikt
Speakers: Fried Compact 7
Cables/Interconnects: Naim NACA5 speaker cables. Interconnects by Naim/Chord/Kimber
Music Used (Genre/Selections): jazz, rock, blues, instrumental acoustic, folk, bluegrass
Room Size (LxWxH): 18' x 13' x 9'
Room Comments/Treatments: Furniture, area rug, drapes behind the listening couch
Time Period/Length of Audition: 1 month
Type of Audition/Review: Product Owner




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Topic - REVIEW: Fried Compact 7 Speakers - Guth 23:52:45 07/9/06 ( 15)