Floorstanding loudspeakers — Fyne Audio F501SP

The Fyne Audio F501SP is a floorstanding speaker and the Special Production version of the F501, built, hand-finished and pair-matched at the company's own factory in Scotland. The SP models take drivers, crossover parts and bass-loading technology from the upper F700 and F1 ranges and fit them into the more compact F500-series cabinet. Technical director Dr Paul Mills tuned the F501SP. It is a 2.5-way design that adds a dedicated bass driver below Fyne's coaxial IsoFlare unit, so it reaches lower and plays louder than the F500SP stand-mount.

Key specs that matter

The 150mm IsoFlare unit combines a cone of mixed fibres, mounted on a fluted roll surround, with a central 25mm magnesium compression tweeter, and a second 150mm multi-fibre cone handles bass. The crossover points are 250Hz and 1.7kHz. The bi-wirable passive network uses a 12dB/octave filter on the cone and 6dB/octave on the tweeter, with Cryo-Lite-treated parts. Frequency response is 36Hz to 34kHz (-6dB typical in room), sensitivity is 91dB at 2.83V/1m and nominal impedance is 8 ohms. Fyne specifies amplifiers of 30 to 180W and continuous power handling of 80W. Each speaker measures 984 x 288 x 320mm and weighs 21kg. Finishes are gloss walnut, gloss black, gloss white and natural walnut.

Engineering and use context

Inside each IsoFlare driver, the high-frequency section is placed in the throat of the larger cone, giving the two sections a common acoustic centre and a common axis, and their timing and dispersion stay aligned in every direction. The compression tweeter has a powerful neodymium motor and a vented rear chamber that shifts its resonance far below the crossover point, while the pole piece forms a computer-modelled waveguide that controls wavefront expansion up to 30kHz. The FyneFlute surround is a roll surround with flutes moulded at intervals, which breaks up resonances where the cone edge meets the surround. The lower bass driver is rolled off above 250Hz, so it adds output only in the bass and the IsoFlare covers everything above. The cabinet uses twin-cavity loading. Its port opens downward through the base onto a flared BassTrax cone in the aluminium sandwich plinth, which spreads the port output evenly around the base and makes the speaker less sensitive to wall proximity. The aluminium driver chassis has diamond-cut detailing, and the plinth is machined, anodised aluminium.

Pairing

Moderate amplifiers, valve designs included, cope well with this sensitive and easy load, and the separate pairs of terminals allow bi-amping. With the port firing down into the plinth, the speaker is easy to place in a medium-sized room.

Alternatives

The Fyne Audio F502SP is the larger version, with 200mm drivers in a taller 30.4kg cabinet.