This Hi-Fi Speaker Offers $30,000 Specs for a Tenth of the Price

PS Audio’s Aspen FR5 stand-mounted speakers harness the same driver technology as the company’s luxurious floorstanding speakers.

PS Audio Aspen FR5 speakersPS Audio

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The American hi-fi maker, PS Audio, is best known for its high-end audio components — such as amplifiers, preamplifiers, DACs and music streamers — that are aimed at audiophiles with fairly deep pockets.

Its line of loudspeakers, known as the Aspen series, is no different. To date, it’s offered several sets of floorstanding speakers, ranging from the $10,000 Aspen FR10 to the $30,000 Aspen FR30. And now its bringing some of those same technologies to a compact loudspeaker format.

Meet PS Audio’s new Aspen FR5 stand-mounted loudspeakers. They’re the company’s smallest and most affordable loudspeakers.

PS Audio Aspen FR5

PS Audio Aspen FR5 Loudspeakers (Pair)

Specs

Power (Recommended) 50 – 150 watts
Frequency Response 35Hz – 20kHz
Impedance 6 ohms (nominal)

The Aspen FR5 are PS Audio’s first pair of stand-mounted loudspeakers. According to the press release, they’re designed to deliver “the same quality of extraordinary musical realism as the larger Aspen Series models, [but] in a compact design that fits easily into smaller and medium-sized rooms.”

The Aspen FR5 are two-way loudspeakers that feature a 2.5-inch planar magnetic ribbon tweeter and a 6.5-inch cast frame midrange/woofer.

The tweeter is the same tweeter that PS Audio features in all its other (more expensive) Aspen loudspeakers. It has a symmetrical push-pull design with a high-strength magnet and a diaphragm made from Teonex film. According to the company, it promises “exceptional clarity, transient response and resolution.”

PS Audio Aspen FR5 speakers
The PS Audio Aspen FR5 can be purchased in one of two finishes: satin white (shown) or satin black.
PS Audio

The midrange/woofer has been newly designed specifically for the Aspen FR5’s compact size. It’s made from Curv woven polypropylene and uses a split-gap magnet structure with dual Faraday rings and a custom suspension. There’s a rear-firing passive radiator to help extend the woofer’s frequency range down to 30Hz.

Additionally, PS Audio equipped the Aspen FR5 with a new enclosure and cabinet-bracing technology to minimize vibrations and distortions and further enhance its expansive sound.

Price and Availability

PS Audio’s Aspen FR5 stand-mounted loudspeakers will be available in August 2024. They come in satin white (as seen) or satin black finishes. And you can preorder them now starting at $3,499.

Note: You can order matching stands with the Aspen FR5, but they cost an extra $500.

PS Audio Aspen FR5 Loudspeakers (Pair)

Specs

Power (Recommended) 50 – 150 watts
Frequency Response 35Hz – 20kHz
Impedance 6 ohms (nominal)