PS Audio Aspen FR30 Floorstanding Speakers (pair)
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Our goals for the FR30 were to design and build a state-of-the-art full-range loudspeaker with extraordinarily low distortion, effortless reproduction, seamless tonality, and exquisite beauty.
Our highest expectations have been exceeded.
The aspen FR30 represents the culmination of 50 years of industry experience; learning in intimate detail what works and what does not; what it takes for a loudspeaker to disappear and leave only the magic of the music; designing a no-compromise phase-correct crossover; constructing a cabinet that does not color the sound; crafting a near-flat impedance curve for driving the speakers with any power amplifier, and when not even the most advanced driver manufacturer’s products are good enough to meet our exacting standards, designing woofers, radiators, tweeters, and midranges from scratch. In all respects, the FR30 will transcend your expectations of what it means to be called a reference loudspeaker.
No longer do you have to compromise.
Breathtaking to listen to, beautiful to behold. The aspen FR30.
Design Application
Loudspeakers are part of the family. With their presence, they grace our homes and living areas by bringing the joy of music into our lives. Unlike the electronics that drive them, to perform their best most loudspeakers depend on proper placement and optimized room parameters. The aspen FR30, however, is designed to more easily fit into any living environment and perform at their best with a minimum of setup hassles and a maximum of options. Using the rear-panel adjustments, FR30 owners can place their speakers where they best fit into the decor with nothing more than the flick of the baffle-step switch, or the turn of the rear tweeter control. While the FR30, like all high-performance speakers, appreciates some breathing room between them and the front wall, these unique rear-panel controls offer users greater flexibility of placement without sonic compromise. Using the included step-by-step guide and CD, setup, from unboxing to playing music, happens easily in a few short hours.
Technology
OVERVIEW
By far the most important piece in the HiFi chain is the loudspeaker. If the speaker cannot reproduce what’s it is fed from the electronic chain, the missing musical information is forever lost. To achieve all that music demands, over the years loudspeaker designers have tried to leverage every trick in the book: electrostats for details, conventional drivers for dynamics, planars for transparency, ribbons, domes, horns, open baffles, bipoles, dipoles. The list is endless and the choices and their inevitable sonic compromises daunting. With close to 50 years under our collective belts, we at PS Audio determined to design the perfect loudspeaker. Our strategy would be to combine the best of all possible driver and crossover technologies in a single coherent design. We would call it the FR30. It would have unquestioned dynamics. It would be full range and capable of being driven by just about any amplifier. Its high-frequency drivers would have lower mass than the air they were driving and the speed and clarity of the best electrostats. Its midrange driver would be so transparent and uncolored as to be unnoticeable. And our FR30 would never be shy when it came to the low end. With 8 woofers supported by 8 high compliance passive radiators, in-room bass response would be nothing short of legendary.
THE DRIVERS
The heart and soul of any loudspeaker are its drivers, the transducers that in response to the amplifier’s demands pressurize the air and generate the music. Each driver must be optimized for the task at hand. In the FR30, it quickly became apparent we could not source from even the most advanced driver manufacturers in the world the ultra low-distortion high-dynamic output drivers we would need to build the FR30. We started with our tweeter and midrange for here are the two most difficult drivers to perfect. Moving air at high frequencies without colorations or distortion is a daunting task. On the FR30 we chose to go with a technology that has the speed of an electrostat with the dynamics of a cone. Planar Magnetics. These ultra-low distortion drivers are equally driven with front and rear magnetic structures that offer inherent linearity through symmetrical “push-pull” neodymium motor structures and directly driven ultra-low mass diaphragms with none of the cone or dome breakup, inductance modulation, or hysteresis distortion that plagues traditional drivers. For the low end, we crafted long-throw high-excursion woofers with massive 12-pound motor structures that match the effortlessness and transparency of the planar magnetic drivers. To lower distortion, we employed a unique split magnetic gap and a double faraday ring for low, linear inductance and wide bandwidth, coupled with a symmetrical double spider. Lastly, to achieve maximum linearity and extended deep bass extension without the compression and distortion of ports, we designed our own high compliance passive radiators.
THE ENCLOSURE
Loudspeakers have an honored place in our homes. They often are the focal point of our living rooms and in that capacity must proudly make a statement of fitting elegance. The aspen FR30 enclosure design starts with the internal structure necessary for great sound and then lovingly sculpted into a work of art befitting our homes. With industrial design by famed Studio 63, the FR30 stands as a proud sculpture comfortable in almost every decor. Internally, the FR30 is an extensively braced enclosure designed to minimize external vibrations that have the potential of coloring the sound. Externally, the enclosures are lovingly finished with 20 coats of hand-rubbed high-grade “piano gloss” lacquer. While the main body and baffling structure are built with MDF, the sculpted front baffle is formed from a dense, rigid and well-damped high-tech thermoset fiberglass resin composite material with integrated high-frequency acoustic waveguides. Despite the FR30s cumulative weight of 230 pounds each, the speakers look to be almost floating as its curved bottom rests upon its sturdy aluminum base featuring large milled brass spikes with removable tips and integrated plastic feet for hard surfaces (and to aid in speaker placement). When delivered, the FR30 comes in two pieces: the upper midrange tweeter enclosure that easily couples onto the lower woofer enclosure through a custom machined sliding system. Together, the FR30 is stunning both visually and sonically. A masterpiece of design and love, crafted by those of us that care deeply about music and its reproduction in the home.
Features
- Full-Range 3-Way System
- 87dB Sensitivity
- Two 2.5″ Planar Ribbon Tweeters
- 10″ Planar Ribbon Midrange
- Four 8″ Low-Distortion High-Excursion Woofers
- Four 10″ Low-Distortion High-Excursion Bass Radiators
- Rear Tweeter Level Control
- Baffle Step Adjustment for Best Speaker Placement
- Flat Impedance Curve for Easy Amplifier Load
- Smooth and Full Off-Axis Response
- In-Room Bass Response to 20Hz @ -6dB
- Two-Piece Cabinet for Easy Setup
- Adjustable Feet
- Easy to Position for Best Performance
- Heavy Internal Bracing for Low Cabinet Vibration
- Custom Film Capacitors & Premium Air-Core Inductors
Videos
Literally Nothing Like It
If you want to make uniquely beautiful art, you have to start by creating your own paints. That’s why for the FR30’s, the decision to custom build every component was an easy one. The result is something that is truly a one-of-a-kind listening experience.
Reviews
Anthony H. Cordesman, The Absolute Sound, October 25, 2022
I tend to be a bit hypercritical in evaluating anything I consider for purchase. The FR30, did more than live up to my hopes, however, and one way to sum up is to state that I’m buying my review pair as another set of reference speakers. The FR30 is truly outstanding, highly recommended, and well worth the set-up effort necessary to make it perform at its best!
Doug Schneider, Soundstage!, March 5, 2022
I consistently heard super-powerful bass, a really rich and robust midrange, smooth highs, and the kind of effortlessness and scale that you get from big speakers with large and/or lots of drivers….I heard no disparity between what the woofers and planar-magnetic drivers were playing……anyone looking for a pair of speakers that are this large and styled in such an unusual way should explore them. I could tell that there was at least the potential that amazing sound could emerge from them
Robert Schryer, Stereophile, March 28, 2022
The Aspens projected an electrically charged soundfield that was big and dimensional, with notes that were bold and fully formed, supple and dynamic. Even the quieter moments seemed to emit an energetic presence, a kind of radiant musical assertiveness. The speakers sounded well balanced across the frequency range. They also balanced power and agility, machismo and finesse, soaring highs and low-end heft
Stefan Gawlick, HiFidelity, November 9, 2022
Even if we didn’t get to try them in our usual conditions, our visit clearly showed: the PS Audio Aspen FR30 are impressive in practically every aspect. With their elegant design, they have what it takes to conquer a prominent place in the living room, despite their size. Their incredibly natural, dynamic sound then seems to flow effortlessly from the gigantic floor-standing loudspeakers. The nimble magentostats combine their advantages excellently with the powerfully gripping bass section
Paul Miller and Andrew Everard, Hi-Fi News, July 11, 2022
Having read about the development of these speakers literally for years, in various online postings, I was both keen to hear them and also filled with a little trepidation that they’d not live up to expectation. I needn’t have worried: it only took a few tracks to realise that the Aspen FR30 is every bit a sensational design and – to cut to the chase – nothing short of one of the high-end bargains of the moment, making some much pricier speakers seem just a little bit silly
TAS Staff, October 18, 2024
The Greatest Bargains in Loudspeakers: 5,000–0,000
Tom Frantzen – Stereo, September 9, 2025
PS Audio lays out a stage that is both wide and deep, filled with vibrant life, and even extends upward beyond the height of the speakers. The resolution on offer seems very fine across the entire frequency range
Product Specifications
General
Color Options: Pearl White, Sable Black
Enclosure Type: Two-piece design with a sealed upper mid/tweeter cabinet and a lower cabinet featuring four 10-inch side-firing passive radiators
Drivers
High-Frequency Drivers: 2 × 2.5-inch planar magnetic drivers with Teonex diaphragms
Midrange Driver: 10-inch planar magnetic driver with Teonex diaphragm
Low-Frequency Drivers: 4 × 8-inch woofers with cast frames, aluminum cones, and 12 lb advanced magnet structures
Performance
Crossover Frequencies: 400Hz and 2,500Hz (4th-order Linkwitz-Riley acoustic)
Sensitivity: 87dB (2.83V @ 1m)
Nominal Impedance: 4Ω (3.2Ω minimum)
Recommended Amplifier Power: 100–600W
Frequency Response: 28Hz–20kHz (-6dB)
Physical
Dimensions (H × W × D): 60.5 × 16 × 25.75 in (with base; cabinet width 10 in excluding base)
Net Weight: 230 lbs (104.5 kg)
Documents / Links
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