Напольная акустика — PS Audio Aspen FR30

The Aspen FR30 is a floorstanding loudspeaker from PS Audio and the first loudspeaker in the company's history, a brand otherwise known for amplifiers and digital converters. It sits above the smaller Aspen FR20 in the range. Its industrial design comes from Studio 63. The US price is USD 34,999, and the finishes are Pearl White and Sable Black.

Key specs that matter

Every FR30 uses two 2.5-inch planar magnetic tweeters and a 10-inch planar magnetic midrange, both with Teonex diaphragms, plus four 8-inch woofers with aluminium cones in cast frames, each driven by a 5.4 kg magnet structure. Four 10-inch passive radiators fire to the sides. The crossover divides the range at 400 Hz and 2,500 Hz with fourth-order Linkwitz-Riley slopes. PS Audio quotes a response of 23 Hz to 20 kHz at -6 dB in half space, and 20 Hz at -6 dB in a room. Sensitivity is 88 dB for 2.83 V at 1 m, nominal impedance is 4 ohm with a minimum of 3.6 ohm, and recommended amplifier power runs from 100 to 600 W. With the base the speaker stands 1,537 mm tall, 406 mm wide and 654 mm deep, and it weighs 104.5 kg.

Engineering and use context

Each speaker consists of two stacked enclosures. A sealed upper module holds the midrange and tweeters, and a lower cabinet carries the woofers together with the passive radiators. Placing the planar drivers in their own sealed box keeps them separate from the pressure inside the bass section. The cabinet itself is only 254 mm wide without the base, and the passive radiators are mounted on its side walls rather than on the narrow front baffle. For the low end, PS Audio chose passive radiators instead of a built-in amplifier, so the FR30 needs no mains connection and no separate bass controls, and all of its drivers are powered by the external amplifier. The large radiator area lets the cabinet reach deep bass without a reflex port.

Pairing

With an impedance that dips below its nominal rating and a substantial minimum power recommendation, the FR30 calls for transistor amplifiers, stereo or monoblock, that hold up with difficult loads and supply high current. Its generous maximum power rating allows powerful monoblocks, and a preamplifier or DAC with volume control completes the chain.

Alternatives

The PS Audio Aspen FR20 costs USD 19,000 per pair and uses one planar tweeter, two 8-inch carbon fibre sandwich woofers and a rated sensitivity of 86.5 dB.