Fritz Speakers Carbon 7s - A Review

LadyDog · « **Reply #20 on:** 18 Dec 2010, 02:45 pm »

Very nice write-up Jerry.

And agree w/Tyson, appears there was some chemistry there.

DW speaks highly of them, and certainly enough to use them with his gear for shows.

marvda1 · « **Reply #21 on:** 18 Dec 2010, 03:50 pm »

usher drivers are not copies of scanspeak drivers, in looks only as they buy from the same german manufacturer of the carbon fiber cone paper. they are actually copies of a 1920's jbl driver.

mhconley · « **Reply #22 on:** 18 Dec 2010, 04:22 pm »

Firtz uses the ScanSpeak driver in his Carbon 7 bookshelves and the Usher clone in his Carbon 7 towers.

Martin

dangerbird · « **Reply #23 on:** 18 Dec 2010, 04:25 pm »

Thanks for the review,,I have been very interested in these,,I moved from a pair of Tyler Acoustics Taylos reference monitors to a pair of custom built monitors that use the dynaudio drivers and a french made ice cream cone "supertweeter,,the part in your review that states that these sound like the instrument (instead of a speaker),is quite a compliment.Thanks for taking the time to post your impressions.

satfrat · « **Reply #24 on:** 18 Dec 2010, 04:49 pm »

Quote from: mhconley on 18 Dec 2010, 04:22 pm

Firtz uses the ScanSpeak driver in his Carbon 7 bookshelves and the Usher clone in his Carbon 7 towers.

Martin

Do you have a Fritz Loudspeaker link that verifies that these are indeed named Fritz Carbon 7's who's drivers are Ushers and not Scan Speak? While I am unable to even find floorstander Carbon 7 models on his website, the only verification I'm finding that the Carbon 7 line only uses Scan Speak was in the link I provided.

After Standub's claimless post, I'm suspicous of any Carbon 7/ Usher driver claim that can't be verified. Hope you understand,,, thanks.

edit, from the Fritz Loudspeaker website:

Quote

I get the same speaker drivers that are typically used in real expensive & highly rated loudspeaker systems. As you probably know, most companies that sell loudspeakers do not actually build all (or any) of the component parts that go into them. There are hundreds of manufactures around the world that build woofers, midranges & tweeters. About 6 or 8 European companies are widely recognized as building some of the finest drivers available. My systems utilize top quality driver units mainly sourced from Vifa/Scanspeak, Morel, Seas & Peerless.
[/l][/l]

I see no mention of Fritz ever using Usher drivers so you'll have to verify your claim mhconley or I'll be inclined to think your claim is as intentionally misleading as Standub's post obviously was.

Cheers,
Robin

mhconley · « **Reply #25 on:** 18 Dec 2010, 09:18 pm »

Quote from: satfrat on 18 Dec 2010, 04:49 pm

Do you have a Fritz Loudspeaker link that verifies that these are indeed named Fritz Carbon 7's who's drivers are Ushers and not Scan Speak? While I am unable to even find floorstander Carbon 7 models on his website, the only verification I'm finding that the Carbon 7 line only uses Scan Speak was in the link I provided.

After Standub's claimless post, I'm suspicous of any Carbon 7/ Usher driver claim that can't be verified. Hope you understand,,, thanks.

edit, from the Fritz Loudspeaker website:
I see no mention of Fritz ever using Usher drivers so you'll have to verify your claim mhconley or I'll be inclined to think your claim is as intentionally misleading as Standub's post obviously was.

Cheers,
Robin

Fritz hand delivered the original Carbon 7's I auditioned to my home in Discovery Bay, CA on one of his trips to visit his "sweetie" in NorCal. The racks he used at this year's RMAF are mine. (See my website at www.audiorak.com.) You can see my review of his excellent speakers here as well as my follow up in that thread that he sold me Carbon 7 towers. Fritz does not advertise the tower version because he'll only sell them to folks to which he can hand deliver them; they are too big and too difficult for him to ship safely.

When Fritz picked up the stand mounted Carbon 7's and delivered the tower version he told me the only difference between them was that he used the Usher woofer in the towers - something about them being a better fit for the increased cabinet volume. They sound every bit as good as the stand mounted speakers I auditioned.

Fritz can chime in and verify the accuracy of my statements.

Martin

satfrat · « **Reply #26 on:** 18 Dec 2010, 09:37 pm »

I already PM'd Fritz after my post Martin cuz if I was wrong and he did actually use Usher drivers, I wanted to be corrected. I have no way of actually knowing myself, I've never even heard a set of Carbon 7's but I can only go by what has been posted on his website and in the posted reviews from his website as fact and which have never mentioned the use of Usher drivers.

That said, your comments about your Usher Carbon 7 Towers only make me feel there would be little difference sonically between the two 8545 carbon/paper models and I hope to someday give the bookselves a listen in my HT systsem as I will never part with my Lorelei's. Another thought would be to find somene who would switch the Usher X-616 8836 drivers to 8545's and make whatever crossover changes that might be required. Now there's a thought.

Thanks Martin for correcting me by adding further details to your prior post as well as the links.

Cheers,
Robin

fritzspeakers · « **Reply #27 on:** 22 Dec 2010, 10:04 am »

Hi Jerry- Thanks for the nice review of my Carbon 7's & it was fun checking out your system. I will admit that your Van Alstine pre-amp & amp with my speakers was one of the best sounding combos that I've heard. The guy who wrote the Stereo Mojo review had said that the C7's & the AVA Insight amp had great synergy.

Also, I would like to thank everybody else for all the nice comments about my Carbon 7's!

I've been so busy since getting back from RMAF that I'm just now getting caught up. I have a blast doing those shows & it was great meeting all of you who came to check out my room. I really enjoy getting turned on to new bands & music so please, keep bringing the new tunes... & the old ones too!

Regarding the drivers in my Carbon 7's, Martins (Mhconey's) tower pair does have the Usher clone mid/bass driver with a ScanSpeak tweeter.

In my ongoing quest for building better sounding loudspeakers, I buy, measure, test & play with as many different drivers that I can get my hands on to see which ones are the best to use in my designs. I bought those Ushers several years ago when they were just starting to get into the speaker business.

The ScanSpeak 8545K 7 inch driver is basically optimized for smaller sized stand mount cabinets. In the Carbon 7 cabinet, the Usher doesn't go as low as the ScanSpeak (Usher FS or resonance frequency of 35 Hz vs 28 Hz) & it sounds congested in a smaller box compared to the ScanSpeak 8545 drivers. However, it does work well in a larger enclosure.

Thanks, Fritz PS- Here is the pair that Jerry reviewed.

mhconley · « **Reply #28 on:** 22 Dec 2010, 01:41 pm »

Thanks Fritz. The Carbon 7 towers are right at home in Florida. Hope the rains haven't hit you too hard.

I had them in a smallish 11' x 12' carpeted secondary bedroom with 9' ceilings in our old home. They are the main feature in our open plan living room in the new home. The new room is 21' x 20', tiled with 12' vaulted ceilings and opens to the kitchen, dining nook and family room beyond. It's amazing how these speakers fill the space with sound. I've been trying to tame reflections but it's diffcult with this much hard surface area. They are about 9' apart, 3' from the rear wall, at least 3' from the side walls and toed in pointing directly at the listening seat about 10' away. In the sweet spot they sound absolutely wonderful creating a wide soundstage with amazing authority. They can also fill the entire home with sound when we just leave them on in the background. Simply amazing speakers.

Martin

wywires · « **Reply #29 on:** 22 Dec 2010, 05:25 pm »

I was lucky to have the Carbon 7's on loan from Fritz for about 4 weeks recently. They replaced my Reference 3A MM deCapo-i's on the same 26" stands. Initially I had them hooked up to my 15WPC Cary 300B monoblocs but the Carbon 7's need much more power so I did the bulk of my listening with a very old Bryston 2B.

I must say that all the reviews of the Carbon 7 are spot on. Simply an amazing speaker with the right amp. Open, detailed, coherent from top to bottom, dynamic and just plain fun to listen to. They have a fullness of sound that is rare among small monitors where they often sound thin and compressed with wimpy bass. Many speaker companies try to impress potential buyers with in your face detail in the highs. The Carbon 7's have as much or more detail and micro dynamics as I have heard in other high end designs but it is presented naturally without that ear bleed that often follows after extended listening

The bass from these small speakers is really astonishing with usable lows in the low 30Hz range, I would guess. Soundstage depth, width and height is first rate with these speakers. They totally disappear 100% of the time and image specificity is as good as you will find. Performers had an "in the room" quality that was almost spooky.

It was a sad day when Fritz came over to take the carbon 7's back. Just for fun, we did some back and forth between the Reference 3A's and the Carbon 7's playing the same tracks. The Reference 3A's were up on AudioGon the next morning.

For $2K, the Carbon 7 is a steal! Especially true when you consider the build quality, top notch drivers from Scanspeak, unique crossover design, and hand made in Redondo Beach, CA. What's not to like?

bummrush · « **Reply #30 on:** 22 Dec 2010, 06:45 pm »

That guy is Lone Wolf. You just don't recognize him cause he's not holding a beer. Lol. Lol

satfrat · « **Reply #31 on:** 22 Dec 2010, 07:41 pm »

Quote from: wywires on 22 Dec 2010, 05:25 pm

For $2K, the Carbon 7 is a steal! Especially true when you consider the build quality, top notch drivers from Scanspeak, unique crossover design, and hand made in Redondo Beach, CA. What's not to like?

The fact that he doesn't live closer to me up here in the Northeast maybe?

But I want to thank Fritz for taking the time to post and go over what Martin's already laid out.

Maybe I can get Fritz to do some custom work on my Usher centers down the road,,,

Cheers,
Robin

timjthomas · « **Reply #32 on:** 22 Dec 2010, 08:45 pm »

Fritz often comes to the Detroit area -- if that's near enough to you

satfrat · « **Reply #33 on:** 22 Dec 2010, 08:48 pm »

Quote from: timjthomas on 22 Dec 2010, 08:45 pm

Fritz often comes to the Detroit area -- if that's near enough to you

Well it's north enough not not even close to being east enough,,,, Vermont.

JLM · « **Reply #34 on:** 22 Dec 2010, 08:55 pm »

I for one am very glad Fritz builds such good speakers and visits us in Michigan (he has family here). I spoke with him at the 2008 AKFest (back when I didn't really know who he was). Now he's big time.

I did get to hear the C7's at the 2010 AKFest and can copy what wywires wrote. They provided a very full bodied sound that was pleasing and detailed. And they filled the room (driven by a very beefy 100 wpc amp).

timjthomas · « **Reply #35 on:** 22 Dec 2010, 09:39 pm »

Quote from: satfrat on 22 Dec 2010, 08:48 pm

Well it's north enough not not even close to being east enough,,,, Vermont.

Sounds like it's time for a road trip!!!

wywires · « **Reply #36 on:** 22 Dec 2010, 09:49 pm »

How about coming to sunny California...It's been raining non-stop. Fritz - keep those beautiful veneers dry!

Afterimage · « **Reply #37 on:** 29 Dec 2010, 08:15 pm »

I am highly impressed with monitors from Green Mountain Audio and Mark and Daniels(I own the Ruby's). Anyone heard these brands and how they sound in relation to the Carbon 7 monitors?

Afterimage · « **Reply #38 on:** 7 Feb 2011, 01:17 am »

I got a pair. My curiosity got the best of me. I must say, I am highly impressed. For awhile I didn't consider them because of the price...to low. I mean, in my narrow mind (at the time)how can something in that price range sound good enough? Well, the Fritz Carbon 7s are more than good enough. What is not to like? They image well, have great bass, VERY good highs without sounding the least bit harsh, nice mids, coherent, and most of all musical and fun.

smwick · « **Reply #39 on:** 7 Feb 2011, 03:18 am »

Congrats. Now how about a couple of photos to show those beauties off.

Quote from: Afterimage on 7 Feb 2011, 01:17 am

I got a pair. My curiosity got the best of me. I must say, I am highly impressed. For awhile I didn't consider them because of the price...to low. I mean, in my narrow mind (at the time)how can something in that price range sound good enough? Well, the Fritz Carbon 7s are more than good enough. What is not to like? They image well, have great bass, VERY good highs without sounding the least bit harsh, nice mids, coherent, and most of all musical and fun.