I know what your thinking, your saying to your self, well if I can't hear these in the store then I'm not gonna take a chance on not liking them. Well tha'ts where I can stop you. I asked the same questions when reading all the other reviews about this product. I found it hard to believe that everyone raved about these without even had heard them prior. Once you take the risk and buy these, I can promise you that you wont be disappointed. Why should anyone spend a grand on speakers that thier brand denotes their worth based on the name? I say you buy your thousand dollar speakers, I will still enjoy my Fluance set and have over half left over compaired to what you paid. I'm not trying to make you think these are the next generation 2.0 version, ground breaking next big thing in audio because their not. Don't get me wrong these speakers sound great, but there is nothing space aged, or scientist developed in these puppies. They just play sound good. Using nothing more than any other manufacturer. Quality parts put together with care and precision, all combined to what makes these simple but effective speakers work. If you think my review is over the top and you are still not convinced, then don't take my word for it. Just look at all the others that say basically the same thing. They just sound good. Of course they have their short comings, everything does. The color is hard to match if buying additions, and I would have loved to see bigger drivers in the center channel. WIth that being said, let your ears tell you weather I am right or not.

Clean highs
Brilliance
Accuracy
Price
Value

None so far

I was looking to purchase an affordable home theatre setup without the high price tag. I looked around, did some research and came across Fluance on Ebay. After reading the rave reviews by happy customers I decided to give them a shot. And I am sure glad I did so.

Their speakers towers are defintely high quality mdf construction, terminal connections are top notch, and the speakers sound clean, 3 dimensional, and non distorted. It was a brilliant decision and I'm glad I did so. Make sure you use 12 gauge wire and bannana plugs to get optimum sound. You'll notice the difference.

Similar Products Used:

Seas

Excellent build quality
Excellent sound
Can be bi-amped
Hands down, the best 5.0 value in existence. These speakers have gone at auction for as little as $140, before shipping, brand new from the factory from Fluance's EBay store. The floorstanders alone are worth triple that. There is literally no competition, because no one else sells anything remotely comparable at the same price.

Strident for the first hundred hours; break them in before you judge
The brass bars on the base of speaker look old-fashioned
Difficult to blend with the BIC H100; could be my room acoustics

This is an extraordinary set of speakers. I combined them with an HK 230 amp that I bought as a warrantied refurb from H/K's Ebay store for about $150. Combined with the $230 (after shipping) H100 subwoofer, and the $370 (after shipping, but $100 more than they've sold for in the past), this is one hell of a $750 5.1 system.

A few specific comments:

The bass is plenty for music. The mains are rated to 50 hz, but they're flat down to at least 10 hz lower in a room setting. The bass response isn't quite enough for movies, however, and I connected mine to an Acoustech H100 subwoofer. Extremely capable HT system; playing Twister at reference volumes was a terrifying experience.

Music sounds best from the two towers alone. The center channel doesn't draw attention to itself in movies, but it's a bit on the nasal, colored side for music. A bit, not a lot; one could get used to it. If you want to use the surrounds, Dolby II also sounds very good.

The towers can be bi-amped, but they certainly don't need to be. The binding posts are all gold-plated, very high quality.

I recently auditioned these Fluance against a pair of $350 Ascend 170SEs, a bookshelf speaker reputed to run with others at double the price. This is the result:

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I took the Ascends home today and compared them back to back with the Fluance SX+. The Fluance were in stereo mode, mains only. No subwoofer. The room is hardwood floored, 10' ceiling, 12x24', with both sets of speakers about two feet from the far walls.

I didn't do any serious comparisons with the Harman AVR 230 amplifier. It was ponderous to change the speakers from one amplifier to another; too long for me to preserve a memory of the music. The character of the sound was far more influenced by the speaker, so I used the Panasonic XR55 amplifier for these comparisons.

I also invited my Mom to listen to three tracks in particular. She's a classically trained pianist with an excellent ear. I only played three tracks for her; she preferred the Ascends for two tracks of three, saying the Fluance sounded slightly tinny on the piano in John Hiatt's 'Have a Little Faith'. She also preferred the Ascends in Jurassic Park. She did point out that in Deanna Carter's 'We Danced Anyway', Deanna sounds like she's singing from behind the instruments on the Ascends.

My impressions are similar, though I wouldn't go so far as to call the Fluance tinny. A very slight metallic, more like, on the higher midrange frequencies. The Fluance have a stronger midrange, a noticeably forward sound. The extreme high range is recessed compared to the Ascends, which sounded immediately airy when I switched to them.

The Ascends have more neutral tweeter. High tones, like trumpets, sound slightly strident on the Fluance speakers, with some color. The Ascend version is very neutral, and certain extreme recordings that play harshly on my Grados, the Fluance, and my Klipsch (Future Corp's 'Maleguena') become more tolerable on the Ascends.

I tended to prefer the Fluance vocals. The Fluance put the singer almost universally front and center. The lisping quality of the Ascends at the end of certain notes isn't present in the Fluances, and while there was some color to them, it seemed more a different rendition to the Ascends than anything particularly objectionable. As per the Ascends, the vocals are better in this room than they were in my room at home. The accuracy is better than the Fluance, but the pushed midrange of the latter makes the Ascends sound veiled. It's the other way around with certain very high-pitched singers like Sia.

Another area the Fluance excelled was in lower midbass, but this was to be expected. They're tower speakers. Strangely though, even when the Panasonic crossover was set to 80 hz, the Ascends sounded quite a bit thinner in the low end, so much so that I have to wonder whether the 'B' speakers are affected by the crossover settings on this amp. The Fluance are double-rear ported, and because they're physically deeper, also closer to the wall.

Anyway, the point of all this is not to be a Fluance advertisement. As before, I found the Ascends exceedingly good at instrumental music and most vocal tracks where the instrumentation didn't overwhelm the singer. Imaging was also better than the Fluance; the Fluance singer was dispersed in front of me, only occasionally coming into focus on higher attacks. The Ascend singer sounds like he's coming exactly from the unconnected Fluance center channel.

However, given the fact that the entire Fluance 5.0 system with floorstanders goes for less, or if you're clever in auction timing, WAY less than the Ascends, that I can even make this comparison is a major win for Fluance.

Customer Service

Haven't dealt with them.

Similar Products Used:

Ascend 170SE

For what this speaker setup costs, the quality and sound absolutely blows me away. It sounds even better than it looks. The company Fluance.com was a pleasure to deal with.

* Excelent sound quality (after break-in period) for price point
* Excelent design / looks
* Matching Components
* WAF (Wife Acceptance Factor) isnt a factor with these, she will approve.
* Great Value
* Gold terminals
* Ability to order more speakers to create a 6.1 or 7.1 setup within this line.

* No real low bass (which shouldnt be expected since there are no LFE woofers)
* Center channel could be a little better with regards to midtones and vocals
* Unable to order these w/ option of black exterior (without buying lower model)

To be honest other than the center channel, the other things I mentioned dont really matter much and arent really complaints of mine, I just wanted to let you know everything I could think of if I were looking for more information about them online in a review.

I was looking for reviews of 5.1 speakers to replace some Cambridge Soundwork Cube's I had in my livingroom setup. It had to fit within a budget of under $500. After finding reviews of the Fluance line, I decieded to order them. of course, at that time they were on back order due to heavy interest. I waited several weeks. (normally its under 1 week). when I got them, it was packaged very good, as I unboxed them I was shocked that the front main's were so large and heavy. These speakers had immediately surpased what I had expected to recieve for such a low price. based on their looks alone. after hooking them up and calibrating my system with an SPL meter, for a subwoofer (which is somewhat needed to compensate for the lack of bass) I use an SVS PCi and Aura Bass Shaker Pro's in my couch running off of a 100 watt plate amp.

Since they are so cheap, Im not afraid to let my daughter play near them during the day, if she breaks them, It wont break my bank to replace them.

I must say these speakers are keepers. Even when I upgrade to higher end equipment, there will always be a place for these speakers in my house.

Infact, Im considering ordering the smaller black ones for my bedroom setup. (I have to stay small in there due to lack of room, and I need black because they would look better next to a 42" black bezeled plasma),

Since ordering the SX-HTB's, Everyone is SHOCKED when they find out how much I paid. No one initially guessed I paid lower than $800. my cousin has also ordered himself a set since hearing them, and my friend ordered the lower black model (which I have heard and they also sound great for it's price point)

Customer Service

* Good customer service
* Ability to track order via UPS

Did a lot of researching before the SX-HTB. Couldn't be happier with this purchase. This system teamed up with the Panasonic SR55 Digital Receiver prduces a 3-D soundstage directly in front of you with such clarity and depth that words can't describe. Must be experienced. The theater part of the system is a bonus. Rivals the big theaters' sound systems.
I bi-amped the two front speakers to start with excellent cables from Blue Jeans.
I don't use the sub except for the movie DVD's. The lower tones emmitting from the two towers are so precise and controled and deep that subs, in my opinon, are necessary in listening to classical, easy listening music.

- Fluance customer service is really excellent--had a couple emailed questions answered promptly and professionally
- Bang for the buck is unbelievably good
- Excellent construction and finish
- Superb home theatre reproduction--movies come alive like in a movie theatre!
- Music quality also superb
- Towers put out impressive bass without a subwoofer
- Surrounds are much higher in quality than the typical surround junk found in a Circuit City or such
- Impressive towers--sounding, build quality, range, etc--really the gems of the system (worth the price and then some all by themselves)
- Optional speaker wire is excellent and a steal of a deal--buy it

- Needs a dedicated sub-woofer, but that's something you can add later (would be nice to have another system with one as an option)
- Vinyl finish on speakers will make a plastic sound of you run something along them (like a fingernail)--kind of a nit at best
- Not sure how useful the bi-wire option is for most
- Will make your neighbors wonder "what the ruckus is over there" if you have thin walls

I was looking for a quality Home Theater solution for my home and considered many, many theater in a box solutions. None of the systems I looked at in the typical Circuit City/Best Buy realm really, truly pleased me. So, I started looking at "real" home theater systems (Paradigm, Axiom, etc), but could not afford them. What's the term: champagne taste with a beer budget? Then I ran into Fluance on audioreview.com.

I was skeptical to buy sight unseen from a company that I had never heard of, based solely on web reviews. The price was certainly right, and the specs sure looked a lot better than the HTIB solutions. My hope was that when paired with a quality A/V Receiver and DVD/CD player, this system would shine far beyond the low price. I emailed Fluance to inquire about their shipping and received an immediate reply—things looked promising, so I ordered the set.

The speaker set arrived within 3-days of ordering, and that is in Hawaii! The set came in two boxes, plus another box for the speaker wire and banana plugs. Each speaker was surrounded in two layers of styrofoam and double boxed! Amazing packing and no damage whatsoever.

Fit and finish is excellent—looks a heck of a lot better than anything at Best Buy! The surrounds are pleasingly hefty, and the towers are downright heavy. The colors are somewhat neutral for a wood themed living room and got the wife approval rating right away.

I hooked them up to a new Onkyo TX-SR603X A/V receiver and Samsung DVD-HD950 universal DVD player, and then excitedly put in a DVD-Audio disk. I am no expert, but the speakers sounded great, but a bit “tight” at first, so I let them play for awhile and came back several hours later. The music sounded more full and rich, and seemed to reach their ‘maturity’ within a couple days of heavy play. After a couple weeks of heavy use (we always have it on, either for TV watching, DVD play, PS2 gaming, local radio, or music), I would rate the sound quality as excellent—they actually exceeded my expectations! I bought these speakers planning to upgrade the system down the road, but I now wonder if I need to! The deep bass response is impressive with towers alone, but not perfect and could use a subwoofer (my next purchase) for better home theater. However, especially if you are upgrading from a smaller home-theatre-in-a-box unit, you may be very happy without the sub for awhile. The mids and highs are excellent, primarily coming from the superb front tower speakers. These towers are what really makes this system shine, and easily worth the price all on their own.

To those considering Fluance and skeptical about them from an “audiophile” standpoint, don’t worry about it. This speaker set sounds awesome--period--and I've used mine heavily for the past 8 months now. When you throw in the best price I could find anywhere, it makes this a no-brainer decision. If you have no home theater system, or a home theater in a box system with those skimpy little satellite speakers, this set will be a huge step-up without a huge price. Highly recommended.

Customer Service

Never had a problem with the speakers after 8 months

Similar Products Used:

Bose, JVC HTIB, Sony HTIB

- natural, clean, rich, full sound
- tight bass with excellent control
- solid 3/4" MDF, heavy cabinets

- recommend at least a 10' x 14' room -- these speakers are on the large size, so there is a wife factor to contend with
- sub-woofer definitely helps any movie
- I found that the L/R mains need to be spaced off the wall about 1 foot to get optimal sound. The in-take port is located on the back of the speaker, so I guess the spacing helps the speaker "breath" better and it produced much nicer harmonics

Paid $450CAD. Had these since Nov 2005. Range is very even from treble down to hi bass (150hz) although a sub-woofer is recommended for movies.

I listen to classical, 60's-80's and top 100, plus 1-2 movies per week. Initially, the sound was very treble and pitchy sounding...took about 2 months of periodic listening to break in, but after that they produced excellent natural, clean, rich, full sound - exactly what I was looking for.

I have these speakers hooked up to a Yamaha RX-V2500, so they get lots of power when they need it. You can play them loud (-3db) with no distortion or rattling (or ripping the drivers!) I auditioned Tannoy, BW, Axiom, Bose, Klipsch, Energy, KEF, Paradigm, etc, speakers (retailing at $1000+) at various stores (using my own mixed CD) over an 8 month period prior to purchasing the Fluance SV-HTB online and I can safely say that these speakers can compete with any of the above, and because they have no retail markups and middlemen they cost significantly less.

These speakers are HEAVY -- 3/4" MDF cabinet, so watch your back. Vinyl cherry wood appearance; I could not find any defects in the finish, so they are manufactured with some attention to detail and not just rolled off the production line.

If you are looking for excellent tone, full range, clean, natural sound then you will not be disappointed with these speakers.

Similar Products Used:

sony HTIB (satellite speakers)
toshiba HTIB (satellite speakers)
bose speakers

Looks
packaging

weak bass
gap in mids

I liked them overall, but was not really satisfied. You get exactly what you paid for: a $400 set of speakers. I got me Paradigm Monitor 7 v4 and Paradigms are way better for music: tight bass, mids and clear highs. Fluance felt like there is a gap in frequency somewhere in the mid and bass was lacking. If you like movies - they are ok, for music - you need something better...
Like they say in Russia: cheap pays twice. I had to sell Fluance at a loss to get what I want...

Similar Products Used:

Paradigm Monitor 7
JVC HTIB

well built
beautiful to look at
excellent sound
great price
awesome warranty
gold plated binding posts
removable grills
those towers are awesome

a bit more bass would be better but then again these are not subs
the surrounds should be more powerful if anything
these are my complaints and i'm a detail freak

before you read this review go order these speakers online before they become more expensive.
ok you're back well you made the right choice, these speakers are the best you can get under $400 and price is just relative if you want to spend 2000 on speakers be my guest but for the rest of us this is it.
the reason the're cheap is because you're not paying for the fancy brand ,showroom floor and ad money. i did 4 weeks of research on this ,went to many stores to listen and compare so i was a bit concerned in buying them before an audition but when i heard them for the first time my fears dissapeared faster than britney spears' abs after her first kid.i don't thik you have to break them in thouhg since they sounded great the first time i used them.
i have them plugged to an onkyo receiver( tx603x).i do have to say that you get a subwoofer though the bass is good better than any other speakers i've heard but nothing can replace a true sub(i have the athena 4000).
remember people these are speakers not subs so stop complaining.

they were well shipped double boxed , fast and cheaply.

Customer Service

great

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i had a sony hitb