During the “Virtues of Vintage” seminar, Blackie Pagano suggested that the hifi industry has forgotten how to market. I tend to agree although there are a few outliers like Richmond, VA-based Fern & Roby. Just take one look at their room and the products in that room and you can plainly see an aesthetic that moves beyond the soundstage. If there’s a happy place in hifi, it’s beyond the soundstage.
This aesthetic informs the choice of materials, which sing to me, as well we the company’s overall approach (think analog).
The floor standing speakers are the new Raven Loudspeakers ($7,500/pair) which employ a single SEAS driver in a lovely walnut cabinet which can be ported or sealed by inserting the included (beautiful) port plug. Off in the distance are the Raven Bookshelf Speakers ($4,500). The Raven’s were driven by the Linear Tube Audio Z10 Integrated Amplifier with Fern & Roby’s Maverick Phono Preamp ($4,950).
I spent years listening to all manner of single driver speakers many moons ago and there’s still a part of me that appreciates the approach and the result. Unlike some designs, think Lowther-based, the Fern & Roby Raven’s don’t shout, rather they offered up an inviting and natural ease which served the music well.
