Review Details

Reference Series High Performance Three-way Floorstanding Loudspeakers

Product Rating:

Product Review (submitted on November 20, 2015):

I've owned Klipsch, Polk, Acoustic Research, JBL, and Bowers and Wilkins. Over the years I've spent far too much looking for perfect sound. It doesn't exist. Audiophiles will tell you it does. Don't listen. Every speaker reacts differently to varying conditions; amplifier type, room size, layout, shape, volume of space (think ceiling height), objects placed throughout the room, power purity, and number of people in the room. You can spend as much or more as I have searching for perfection or near perfection. Or you can finally realize that value matters in sound.These Fluance XL7F Floorstanders are far and away the best value I've found in sound. Value matters hugely. You could throw a lot of money away trying to impress your friends with the sound your speakers throw or the value you can brag about, but you couldn't do both. With Fluance, you can.The speakers are beautiful, but I don't care about looks. My big floor speakers have to work, they have to age well, and they have to reproduce consistently. Highs have to be high and clear, and envelope me in ice. Mids have to be loud without distortion and warm me. Lows have to reproduce a bass guitar, a cello, a tuba, a bass drum as if they are in the room. If your floor speakers can do that, they will hardly break a sweat for surround movies.The XL7F does all of that for far less money than I spent twenty years ago. Yes, I use a ten inch sub alongside for movies, but for music, it isn't necessary, and let's face it; you buy speakers for music. Movies and television watching are fine, but they aren't ever going to give you an indication of how good your speaker really is.Want to find out how good these Fluance XL7F's are? Play Cyndi Lauper's All Through The Night. That song will test any speaker setup with its timbre and shifting tones. Beethoven's Fifth will force your speakers to keep up or quit.The XL7F's passed with ease.As you approach the best sound you can reproduce from a speaker, you spend more and more money to eek out a little more clarity and a little less "noise" on that last note. My last speakers were a pair of Klipsch with 12" woofers, a full range set of speakers that cost six times as much ten years ago. I recently sold them and used the money to buy these and banked a little extra. Yes, they were awesome speakers and held their value well over the years. But these XL7F's are their equal. Something about those 8" downdriving woofers and bi-amping helps these speakers match the lows of the Klipsch. The highs are equal but not as bright as the Klipsch, which really only factors in as a matter of taste. Mids are mids. Any speaker can do those well, but can they do them great? The Klipsch were amazing. I am happy to say that the Fluance are, too.I'm extremely satisfied with my purchase. The speakers are well built and have to be if they are going to reproduce as well as a Klipsch. They are heavy, tall, and stable. I've yet to approach even 60% max power. I'll give it at some point, but I'm not sure how my neighbors will like that. At 50%, in winter with my house sealed up, I can clearly hear my music outside 50' away from my house. Talk about throw!I've since purchased the XLBP Wide Dispersion Bipolar Surround Sounds and XL7C centers from Fluance and they are amazing values, too. Value matters hugely in sound, way more than volume or the mythical perfection standard you can chase for years and never find. I can brag it up with the best of them if how much I paid for my speakers is the measuring stick, because in the end, that's the only thing you're doing when you spend that much money for the best possible sound. It's like owning a Porsche when a Corvette will do.You'll not beat the value of these speakers. The reproduction you get equals a high end Klipsch or B&W. Take my word for it. Or go out and buy the Klipsch, absolutely great speakers, and regret spending so much for so little. -Verified purchase from Fluance trusted store.