Review Details

Reference Series High Performance Three-way Floorstanding Loudspeakers

Product Rating:

Product Review (submitted on November 20, 2015):

In short, these are great sounding, high quality speakers that are excellent value. I bought them on sale so they were a particularly good deal. I wish Fluance didn't bump their direct prices up a bit just so they could offer sales, but that's their marketing strategy for now...

Before I bought the XL7Fs I was wondering how they sounded. The specs looked good but that never tells the whole story. I had borrowed a friend's Fluance speakers for a few years and replaced them with Polk Audio R30s a while ago when I had to give them back. I remember at the time the highs, mids, and lows of the Fluance speakers sounded better than their replacements.

Now that I've had the XLF7s for two weeks I think I've broken them in and listened to them enough to offer a semi-objective review. I've used them almost exclusively for listening to music (but a few movies), only in stereo (no surround or centre channels), mostly without my powered subwoofer, and at moderate volumes. Imaging and clarity are very good. Voices sound rich, natural and in the room (subject to the recording quality). I'm sure if I compared them to speakers costing $1000 more there would be further subtle improvements, but the XL7Fs sound so good, I can't justify paying that much more for a negligible improvement, or paying the same amount for something that sounds inferior. These speakers are so good they allow me to hear subtle differences in how albums have been recorded and mastered.

The bass response is full and (for the most part) smooth and probably go as low as the specs say. The bass goes so deep, there's almost no need for a subwoofer, although having one helps the extreme lows (5-string bass, low synth sounds, percussion hits) sound more punchy. The exception to the smooth bass response, and really the only flaw (more of a quirk) is a little bass boost around 200hz that stands out only when I listen for it. I'm guessing it's an artifact caused by the tuned bass port. Above and below this boost, the low frequencies are smooth and sound great. This little boost is subtle, not annoying, and only noticeable when I listen closely to a bass instrument note-by-note. I've thought of plugging the port to see if it makes a difference, but it's so minor, I can't be bothered. When I crank the volume (which, unfortunately isn't that often) the bass remains quite powerful and well-balanced in relation to the higher frequencies. Whatever distortion may be present at high volumes is lower than any distortion caused by the acoustics of my living room.

Final things worth mentioning are: shipping was fast but the outer box was beat up. These look really nice and are nicely finished. There are no visible or audible flaws given they're made in China. I'd give them 5 stars if the bass response was 100% flawless (really making them indistinguishable from $$$$ speakers) and the shipping was a little more gentle.