Review Details
Reference High Performance 2-Way Bipolar Surround Speakers
Product Rating:
| Overall Performance |
Product Review (submitted on February 24, 2021):
HIGHLIGHTS:
* Beautiful appearance
* Solid construction from quality materials
* Clever and innovative magnetic speaker covers
* Great mid-range frequency coverage of 95Hz - 20 kHz
* Can actually perform as both fronts and surrounds in a compact surround sound setup if you pair them with a powerful subwoofer
The Reference Bipolar Surround speakers are a superb upgrade from the equally top-notch Elite Bipolar Surround speakers. I'm just blown away by the beautiful appearance, solid construction quality and of course the incredibly rich sound. They have a much better frequency range than the Elite Bipolars that floors at 95 Hz, allowing you to set the subwoofer crossover at a more ideal setting. I'm using two pairs as the fronts and surrounds in a compact 5.1.4 setup for my apartment living room and the sound is rich and fully enveloping. Impressively, when used as surrounds they effectively double as both a back and a side surround when placed correctly. As fronts, they provide an extremely wide soundstage that rivals and possibly even bests standard bookshelf and floorstanding speakers with their sheer room envelopment. Using two pairs of these speakers, I've essentially got a 9.1 surround setup for the price of a 5.1 setup.
To be clear, these are not intended to perform as front speakers. That said, I've proven they absolutely can perform as fronts in a compact style setup for a smaller more confined space such as an apartment, a condo or even just a secondary room in a house where a fully equipped home theater is not possible, wanted or advisable. You'll have to invest in an equally top-notch subwoofer to go with them and be willing to compromise a little if you build the setup that I did. I'm currently using a 12" 300W subwoofer and I've set the crossovers higher than the THX recommended standards for home theater. My subwoofer crossover is currently set at 110 Hz (the THX theater standard is 80 Hz) and the speakers are set at 100 Hz.
Overall, these are just incredible speakers. Extremely high quality and superb value for the money. Highly recommended and they've absolutely made me a Fluance fan for life.