Favorite Speakers Under $5,000: PranaFidelity
Vayu/fs Speakers This category actually had some pretty good competition this year, with excellent performances from the aforementioned AllSonics and from Chapman’s T-5s. But the speakers that my thoughts keep returning to with admiration are PranaFidelity’s Fifty90 ($3,950). While I’m sure these speakers were helped along by Steve Norber’s excellent electronics, I was enormously impressed […]
Best of Show
Vayu/fs Speakers “With a number of digital and analog tracks of reference quality, the PranaFidelity package delivered remarkable bass definition and tonal accuracy, making it a contender for the best-sounding system at a not-so-stratospheric price.” Steven Norber designs and builds loudspeakers and electronics under the name PranaFidelity — all known for their ability to offer […]
“Nothing Short of Wall Bending”
Vayu/fs Speakers “…the performance was nothing short of wall bending. The system easily communicated the tonal richness of the Miyajima cart, with the Prana electronics adding just about no grain to the completely musical presentation.” Prana Fidelity‘s Steven Norber always seems to be smiling about something. He’s just one of those guys who seems to […]
“…great dynamic range and musicality.”
PranaFiedlity were playing their strangely named Vayu/fs which at $6950 are a great price, for a speaker with such great dynamic range and musicality. It competes with many other loud speakers with a much higher price point.
Newport 2014. PranaFidelity
PranaFidelity $6,950 Vayu/fs speakers, $8,950 Purna amplifier, $4,500-$9,950 Purna preamp I heard this system evolve over the days at the show. Always sounded good to me; however they did put a lot of work into optimizing the in-room bass response. So much so that on the final day, when these photos were taken, I heard […]
“Speakers that deserve serious attention…”
Vayu/fs Speakers Steven Norber designs and builds loudspeakers and electronics under the name PranaFidelity — all known for their ability to offer sound quality beyond what is often thought possible for the price. Norber eschews expensive cosmetic faceplate armor but does not cut corners under the hood. His Vayu/fs speakers ($6950/pair), discussed separately, were driven […]
“…Vayu/fs speakers was amazingly good.”
PranaFidelity Making noise in Ayre, Boulder, and PS Audio’s backyard A relaxed atmosphere at the end of a long hard day to just sit down and enjoy some good old vinyl. PranaFidelity is located in Colorado, where a lot of other top names hail from – is it something about the clean air up there? […]
“…revealed a gorgeous midrange.”
Yogi Steven Norber of PranaFidelity (above) demmed the new production model of the PranaFidelity Vayu/fs, 2-way, quasi–line-array loudspeaker ($6950/pair). With a frequency range of 29Hz—22kHz, 8 ohm impedance, and 89.5dB sensitivity, the Vayu/fs kept company with PranaFidelity’s Purna 400W amplifier ($8950) and Purna, full-function, balanced preamplifier ($4500–$9950 depending upon options). Cabling was from Audio […]
“…totally coherent and highly musical sound.”
Prana Fidelity, Atma-Sphere, Kuzma, Aesthetix, Furutech I heard Prana Fidelity’s largish stand mounted speaker last year and was very impressed. This year they showed their larger, floor standing Vayu/fs speakers system ($6950) driven by the ever-beautiful sounding Atma-Sphere M-60 MK3.2 OTL amplifiers and MA3 preamp. Even playing some of the goofiest (in an intentionally humorous […]
Las Vegas 2014 Best Sounds T.H.E. Show
For the second time in two years I mention PranaFidelity. This year the company from Denver was presenting the Vayu/fs, a two-way floorstander with a 30 mm tweeter. Also this year the sound stood out for dynamics, sound pressure, timbric expression and plausible tonality.