FAB audio 1 speakers, how good are they?


Been hearing a lot of good things about them. Fascinated by the prospect of a part electrostatic speaker. Was dissatisfied with my Avantgarde duo's (poor bass, poor soundstaging a little too lean for my liking) Audio physic avanti's (not exciting enough)Hyperions 938, ( better than the duo's, but very refined and needs careful matching with the front end to ensure a lively sound).
About to try Audio note ANe/sp because I was so shocked by the musical involvement obtained from one of their DAC's that I just have to start trying their other products. For the first time i stopped analysing the system and started listening to the intricacies of the musical score.

rest of system

Canary Audio 339 monos with TJ 300's

Bent audio passive and the amazing space tech lab pre 113

Audio Note DAC 2.1 Teac vrds transport (await CDT 2 to arrive), apl and modwright high definition digital players.

Stax electrostatic earphones.

Platine verdier, ET2, Graham arm, ZYX and dynavector cartridges. Bent audio mc transformer.

Hoping to have in shortly P4 audio note power amps, ANe/sp speakers and M4 preamplifier.
audiojoy4
Musicality, that's the Grail, isn't it? And how do we get there without sacrificing all the audiophile shivers and twitches? In my experience there are two roads to nirvana. One involves saying, "To hell with the audiophile stuff - I want toe-tapping involvement, and I don't care about imaging and gnat's-whisker resolution." The other involves searching out all the audiophile stuff first, then moving through it (either through planning or luck) to where the musical intent of the artists appears within all the bells and whistles. The first is certainly cheaper, the latter gives you a system that does "Holy Cow!" on a few more levels, but at a much higher price.

The Fab Model 1's are firmly in that second camp. They have enough resolution, transparency and dynamics to easily turn into a standard "audiophile" system. All you need is a well-reviewed solid-state amp, an oversampling CD player and some Valhalla wire and hey presto, you're there. On the other hand, if you treat them nicely all the music that comes down the chain will make it out into the room.

One intrinsic advantage the Fabs have is that their efficiency will prompt most buyers to mate them with SET amps. This will automatically start them off on the right foot. Put a good turntable or a musically valid CD system in front of that, and you're pretty much there.

On the question about all Audio Note systems - the only reason I haven't gone that direction is circumstance. I started building this system about three years ago, and I didn't know about Qvortrup and company back then. I did know about Coincident, so when I was looking for a statement speaker to anchor the system, I bought Israel's Total Victories. Then I was smitten by a KR integrated amp, and then I started buying a lot of stuff off the net, based on web reviews. That approach doesn't lead you into a full AN system - for that you need a dealer who can demonstrate one to you.

While my dealer does sell AN and is very conscientious about helping his clients build good systems, he never had enough high end AN gear on hand to really show me the magic. I'm not that upset though, because the system (most of which came from his shop in the end) turned out all right anyway, and my experience with PX25 amps has been more positive than with 300Bs.

I do suspect that if he'd played me a system with a 3.1x Balanced DAC, an M5, Conqueror amps and a pair of high end AN-E speakers, I'd have been a dead duck...
Gliderguider,

thank you for your response, much appreciated and fascinating. I suppose i should not exclude from a review that musicality and the emotional impact of the music has not been taken into account simply becauase it has not been mentioned. I will experiment with some more audio note gear and look into triode operated non 300b set ups. I strongly suspect that you are absolutely right in having a better experience with the single ended non 300b's.
Audiojoy4,
I too own the FAB Audio Model 1 speakers like Gliderguider above and share his sentiments about its characteristics. I first heard them at the Montreal audio show back in early April 2005 and they and one other room (WLM speakers + Audio Aero electronics) were the only 2 rooms out of about 50-80 rooms that had a special musical presence making it appear that the musicians were before you. The other rooms while sounding good lacked this elusive quality that until it's heard you don't know how much you're missing until it's been experienced. My system is a little bit different from yours or Gliderguiders but I would echo the praise about the Model 1 speaker. The only caveat I would warn you about is that they tend to have a low WAF due to their boxy appearance but maybe this isn't a factor for you. Jim, one of the two company owners, is very approachable, provides prompt post sales support, can be very helpful and will deliver and set them up if you live in the Toronto area like I do. What more can I say? For the record I plan on replacing my VTL amp (that's too powerful and not refined enough) with a SET amp so suggestions, 300B, PX25(Telefunken's version of a 300B), or otherwise, are all encouraged. If there is anything specific you'd like to know about that none of us has yet addressed, then please ask away . . .

Kevin