[RickAndrew]

Hi all,

Just found out about this site through the link on the Audio by Van Alstine site. I got my new CA1 control amp from Frank about 10 day ago, and am really loving it. Source is about 99% Qobuz streamed through a Bluesound Node X. SPeakers are Fyne 501SP's.

[FullRangeMan]

Welcome to AC 

[stylerb]

tell us about the Fynes! ive looked at these a lot online but no chance to hear them near me. plusses and minuses?

[Phil A]

Welcome!

[RickAndrew]

tell us about the Fynes! ive looked at these a lot online but no chance to hear them near me. plusses and minuses?

The story goes back to around 2013 when I bought a pair of Tannoy Precision 6.4's. These easily were the best performing speakers I'd had ever owned, with fantastic imaging being their strongest point. Then there was the whole thing with Tannoy being sold, and the leadership jumping ship to form Fyne. In 2019 I was considering purchasing a pair of the F501's so I emailed Fyne to get their recommendations. Much to my surprise the good Dr. Mills himself answered my email:

"Hi Rick,
Thanks for your enquiry.
I would recommend the F501’s as being a suitable upgrade. From personal experience of having Precision 6.4’s at home, I can definitely say they are a worthwhile improvement.
Best regards,
Paul."

It wasn't until early 2021 when I actually pulled the trigger on the Fyne F501's, but Dr. Mills wasn't kidding. As good as the Tannoy's had been, the Fyne's delivered more detail in the upper frequencies and the bass was tighter and better defined. My wife even commented from the next room that the Fyne's sounded better, and this was the very first listen with zero break-in time.
Fast-forward to November, 2023 when I purchased the F501SP's to replace the standard F501's. The SP's delivered even more detail in the upper frequencies and I was able to turn off the REL subwoofer. What I like the most about the SP's was mentioned in one of the British audio mags when the F501SP first came out: "the sound simply erupts from these speakers". They will go VERY loud without distress. Play a live performance and it is like being there. The imaging is fabulous and there is a ton of high-frequency detail.
I just sold the standard F501's about 3 weeks ago, and after the guy who came to buy them had finished the audition, we hooked up the SP's while we were packing up his new speakers. He agreed that the SP's were better across the board, and it was difficult to point out one specific aspect where they were noticeably better than the standard version because everything sounded better. Thankfully he didn't back out of the purchase of the standard F501's after hearing the SP version.
I do not have a Fyne dealer anywhere near me so I made both of these purchases blind, without an audition. If I had it to do over again I would have skipped the standard model and gone right to the SP version as it would have saved me a lot of money.         

[ArthurDent]

Greetings & Welcome to AC Rick   

[stylerb]

cool, nice to hear about that brand. not much coverage in the USA. ive considered a pair of Fynes recently... still thinking about it. i'm kinda drawn to their standmounts, the F1-5 and the F1-8.

[RickAndrew]

I think things kind of went sideways for a while when the distribution changed from The Sound Organization to Kevin Deal's Harmonia Distribution.

[edpetk]

Welcome, I'm new to the Circle as well. Early on, became a follower of Audio by Van Alstine (really want to get the SET 120 control amp) as well as the Fyne 501SP's which took Kevin Deal's breath away in an unboxing a while ago. Glad to hear they are a good match!

[kd4ylq]

Another New Guy: Welcome to the Circle! from Another Old Guy. 

[I.Greyhound Fan]

Welcome to AC.  By the way, you have some nice gear there.   Someday you should consider replacing the blue sound node.  I auditioned the BS Node and compared it the more expensive Lumin D3.  The Node sounded muddy and mid fi in comparison.  The Lumin was night and day better with more clarity, detail, resolution, transparency and musicality.