Fluance Signature Series 3-Way Floorstanding Speakers Review

Signature Series Hi-Fi Three-Way Floorstanding Speakers Introduction

The Fluance Signature Series Hi-Fi Three-Way Floorstanding speakers have had something of a tumultuous history since their launch in early 2016. Initial enthusiasm about the specifications, features, and the nice finish for the low cost gave way to mixed reactions from reviewers and owners once the product was in hand. Our investigation into what was heard to be shortcomings in the sound revealed a problematic crossover. The crossover was redesigned, and the Signature Series Three-Way Floorstanding Speakers were relaunched in the fall of 2016. In this review of the relaunched Fluance Signature Series Hi-Fi Three-Way Floorstanding speakers (which we shall hereafter simply call the Signature Towers), we will see if the crossover redesign managed to rectify the weaknesses of the first units while retaining their strengths.

Fluance Signature Series Tower Speakers

Unpacking and Setup

The Signature Towers arrived at my doorstep well packed. They were double-boxed and the speakers were placed in a thick plastic covering and surrounded by large foam blocks. The packaging had taken a beating, and it was obvious that the carrier had not babied these shipments, but the speakers were in mint condition thanks to the smart packing. The manual that Fluance provided is pretty generic and seems to be the manual for all Fluance speakers, but it does give intelligent advice for placement and setup. One part of the setup is the assembly of the outriggers, and Fluance includes instructions for that, so it is a simple and easy process.

Appearance

Signature tower image courtesy of Aaron Wallace

The Fluance Signature Towers are not small speakers, at four feet high, eleven inches wide (fourteen inches wide with outriggers), and fifteen inches deep. They will not disappear in whatever room you place them in. This is not to say they look bad; on the contrary, the tapered cabinet, glossy front baffle, and slick driver array make this speaker look much more expensive than it is. It is a large speaker, but a tastefully finished one. With grille on, the speaker is a black monolith, but a handful of nice touches do distinguish it. The embossed cursive signature at the top and metal Fluance emblem down below are aesthetic touches one would expect to find on pricier speakers, as are the polished wire posts on the back. Even the floor spikes on the outriggers look attractive. My favorite visual element here is the sleek bass drivers. I can’t think of a nicer looking tower speaker at this price. It may be that, given the speaker’s sheer size, Fluance had to go the extra distance in terms of aesthetics to make this a more acceptable speaker for more people.

Design Overview and Build Quality

Signature tower driver images courtesy of Aaron Wallace

The “Three-Way” in the Signature Tower’s name is split between two 8” woofers, a 5” mid-woofer, and a 1” dome tweeter, with crossover frequencies at 530 Hz and 2,600 Hz. The 8” bass drivers use polypropylene cones and are claimed to have ‘long throw’ by the marketing literature, but I am not sure what their definition of ‘long throw’ is. Nonetheless, two 8” woofers would seem to offer more displacement than other similarly priced tower speakers. The 5” glass fiber woven mid woofer uses what Fluance’s literature calls a “pointed dome” but, since it is fixed to the pole piece, it is really a phase plug; as long as it serves to improve the driver’s performance, I don’t care what they call it. The 1” silk dome tweeter is embedded in a shallow metal waveguide and uses a neodymium magnet and ferrofluid cooling which are fairly standard features of dome tweeters these days. Notably, one of the complaints of the first Signature Towers was that the bass-to-mid crossover was too high, at 1,200 Hz, which allowed the mid-woofer to only play a relatively small range of frequencies, but we see this has been rectified with a more sensible 530 Hz.

The cabinet build quality is not bad considering the price. The enclosure is MDF, of course, and Fluance calls it “audio grade MDF” (first time I have heard of that grade of MDF). The side and rear panels are 0.7” thick, and the front baffle is a more impressive 1.4” thick. Window bracing is used in the cabinet, and one nice touch is that the drivers have separate internal enclosures. The mid-woofer and tweeter occupy their own sealed compartments in an effort to keep other driver’s back waves from interfering with their smooth operation. The speaker is bi-ampable for those who want to amplify the bass section separately from the midrange and tweeter section. This may help to reduce distortion slightly. The cabinet is chock full of polyfill for damping internal waves. Two 3” ports are flared on both ends and have netting covering the internal end that keeps stuffing from blowing out and objects (or critters!) from entering the cabinet. This looks like a good idea for those with children who like to hide things; most of the stuff they can cram in the ports won’t fall into the cabinet. The Signature Towers come with a very sturdy set of outriggers. The outriggers use floor spikes, but the spikes do not have a sharp tip, so they should be safe to use on hard floors without being a scratching hazard. The cabinetry is not as heavy-duty as one sees in higher-priced speakers, but it is good for its price, and there is some details in its construction that go beyond what you expect to see for the cost.

Fluance Signature Series Three-Way Floorstanding Speakers Conclusion

While the Signature Towers are not the perfect speaker, they are doing a lot right. To justly review them, we have to keep in mind the cost, which is $700 shipped for the continental United States and $910 CA shipped in Canada. For the cost, there are speakers that do one thing or another better than the Signature Towers, but the Signatures have a lot to offer as a package: good bass extension and output capability, a nice appearance, good dispersion, an easy load for amplification, nice soundstage, and an easy-going sound. It isn’t the best speaker at any one of these things, but it does them all well and for an extremely reasonable cost. Even putting the caveats of low cost aside, it is simply a fine speaker that I could easily live with. The Signature Towers deserves special consideration from a range of people: those who want good bass but do not want a subwoofer, those who want a speaker that will sound great for a home theater system that has to share the living room and thus has to look reasonably nice, those who want a party speaker that should look good and cover a broad area with good sound, and those who have a large room and a modest budget. Those are just some of the groups that the Signature Towers should have particular appeal to. 

In summing up these speakers at this point, I have to list some of the shortcomings, and shortcomings are inevitable, since compromises must be made to achieve its price point. One thing anyone looking to buy the Signature Towers should keep in mind is that they need some distance from the listening position to sound the best. While that is true of many speakers, I found it was especially true of these, since the tweeter and mid-woofer are mounted higher than is normal for tower speakers. Those looking for a tower speaker that has to be placed in relatively close proximity would do well to look at other models. By close proximity, I would say closer than 7 feet or so is too close for the best sound from this speaker. Another small complaint I have is that, as I mentioned before, I would have preferred a more neutral response rather than a ‘warm’ voicing, but I think many of the people who purchase these speakers may like a warm voicing more, especially if they are into rock music or any content meant to be played loud. The fit and finish is not bad for the price, but it won’t be mistaken for truly high-end upon close inspection. Thicker sidewalls and more robust bracing would have been nice, but that is probably too much to ask for at $700 a pair delivered.

To bring this review to a close, the Signature Towers are not a speaker for everyone, but I think most people who end up with a pair will enjoy them a great deal. Speaking of great deals, anyone (in the USA and Canada) who is not satisfied with the Signature Towers can return them with Fluance footing the cost for return shipping, as long as the speakers are in their original condition and original packaging, and the speakers are returned within 30 days of delivery. That is a risky policy for Fluance, as much as these speakers must cost to ship, and it demonstrates that Fluance has a lot of confidence in their product. Buyers also get a lifetime warranty on the speaker. In the end, I enjoyed my time with the Fluance Signature Towers, and I think they are a good choice for most people looking for tower speakers in their price range. 

 

Fluance Signature Series Hi-Fi Three-Way Floorstanding Speakers Review

MSRP: $699.99/pr shipped
Fluance Audio

4080 Montrose Road
Niagara Falls, ON
Canada, L2H 1J9

www.fluance.com

1-888-617-6863

Thank you to Aaron Wallace for the use of his terrific pictures for this review; see more of his outstanding photography at his Flickr page.

Fluance Signature Series Speakers Measurements and Analysis

The Fluance Signature Tower speakers were measured in free air elevated to a height of approximately 4 feet and gated at 9 ms. At this windowed gate, accuracy is lost below 111 Hz and so lower bass frequencies below that point should be ignored. The microphone was placed 2 meters away from the speaker at a height level just below the tweeter. The below graphs use 1/24 octave smoothing.  

Fluance Signature Tower Frequency Response (2 meters outdoors)

The frequency response of the Fluance Signature Towers can’t really be called neutral, however there isn’t anything very worrisome here either. This speaker has deliberately been voiced for a ‘warm’ sound, i.e, the treble is a bit lower than the bass. This is not unusual and can give recordings a slightly recessed response, but it can also take some of the edge off of a harsh recording and can be a less fatiguing speaker to for long listening sessions. A speaker with hotter treble might be able to provide a more detailed sound, however, between a speaker with elevated treble and a speaker with lowered treble, I will take lowered treble since too much treble can make for a hollow or tinny sound, although I would prefer a flat response. The first Signature towers were criticized for their heightened treble, but the frequency response from these re-launched Signature Towers certainly do not suffer from this anymore. A response like this would be good for those who want to throw on a rock album or a dance mix and listen to it all the way through, since it will be a less harsh experience than other speakers. For those who are looking for very high accuracy or who want catch every detail in a recording, there are better choices. The good news is there isn’t any abrupt peaks or resonances, which are the more egregious flaws. The ‘Listening Window’ curve indicates very little deviation of the near off-axis to the direct axis, so this speaker should sound good over a broader area than a narrow ‘sweet spot’ of seating.

Fluance Signature Tower speakers horizontal frequency response +/-90 degrees from axis: 3D view

Fluance Signature Tower speakers horizontal frequency response +/-90 degrees: 2D view 

For the horizontal off-axis response of the Fluance Signature Towers, the outer angles follow the on-axis fairly well, which is a desired quality off axis. The sound of the Signature Towers off-axis does not differ much from the on-axis sound, except of course, for the roll-off of the high frequencies. The dispersion pattern evidenced by this graph indicates that the Signature Towers would cover a relatively wide area with a decent response, meaning that this is not a speaker that only sounds good in one listening position. This is good dispersion for who need good coverage over a broad area. One thing to note about this graph is that there is a 5 dB dip around 10 kHz. These measurements were taken on-axis with the tweeter, and that dip occurs at that height. This isn’t a serious concern because the tweeter is mounted so high on this speaker, that a seated listener’s ears is likely to be around the mid-woofer height. When the Signature Tower speaker is measured at the mid-woofer height, the 10 kHz dip disappears.

Fluance Signature Tower Polar Map

The above Polar Map shows the same data as the horizontal responses above, but from a top-down view using color to indicate amplitude. What can be seen in this graph of the Signature Tower horizontal measurements that is not as easy to see in the others is a narrowing of the dispersion around 6 kHz, which is a consequence of the ‘warm’ voicing, meaning that the high frequencies above that point are not quite as widely emitted as lower frequencies. This will also contribute to the warm sound of the Signature Towers, since there won’t be quite as much high frequency reflection off of surfaces in-room.  

Fluance Signature Towers Electrical Impedance and Phase 

For the Impedance spec on the Signature Tower’s product page, they simply state “8 ohm compatible”, which I assume to mean they are compatible with amplifiers rated only down to an 8-ohm load. From examining the impedance graph, I would not dispute that. Even an entry level AVR should be able to drive the Signature Towers with no problem. The impedance minima is 5.7 ohms, but these speakers do not require special amplification or a heavy-duty amplifier.

 Fluance states an 89 dB sensitivity spec, but they do not say whether that was taken at 2.83v or 1 watt (this important distinction is discussed in our loudspeaker sensitivity article). Our measurements show an 87.8 dB sensitivity for 2.83v, which would be very close to what Fluance has, especially if they mean 1 watt. This means that it does not take a beefy amplifier to get this speaker loud. A 60 watt amplifier would be enough to pierce one’s ears with the Signature Towers.

Total Harmonic Distortion for Signature Towers at 95 dB drive level 

The Total Harmonic Distortion graph above shows fairly good performance. Pictured are both the 90 and 95 dB level distortion profiles, and they are nearly identical. These tests were not done in an anechoic chamber, so background noise may have a slight contribution here. Even at these loud drive levels, distortion is mostly kept under 1%, except for the bump centered around 70 Hz, which is where the woofers are driven the hardest. The dip in distortion below that peak is the ports taking over from the woofers, and alleviating them of the need for high excursions, so distortion drops markedly. Even that peak is not bad; 5% harmonic distortion at such a low frequency is very unlikely to be audible, especially since it is composed mainly of 2nd and 3rd harmonics much, which is far more audibly-benign than higher order harmonics. Distortion might have been reduced a slight bit more if we’d tested it in a bi-amped configuration, but this is already a good showing, so I would say that bi-amping is not needed. Overall, this is a good picture of performance with no real problems evident. The Signature Towers offer very clean performance across their frequency spectrum. 

Fluance Signature Series Floorstanding Speakers Listening Tests

In my approximately 24’ by 13’ listening room, I set up the speakers with equal stand-off distances between the backwall and sidewall, and equal distance between speakers and listening position, with tweeter at ear level and the speakers facing the listening position directly. A Pioneer SC-55 receiver was used in ‘Pure Direct’ mode, so no tonal processing would interfere with the speaker’s natural sound, and no subwoofers were there to disguise its low frequency abilities. Speaker distance from listening position was about 10 feet.

Music Listening

A good recorded instrument for evaluating speakers is the violin, on account of its distinct timbre. Therefore, one CD I decided to use for a close listen to the Signature Towers is the Kronos Quartet renditions of Philip Glass compositions, ‘Kronos Quartet Performs Philip Glass’ on account of its clean and revealing recording of violins in action. With respect to capturing the rich timbre of the violin, I did not detect anything off in the Signature Tower’s reproduction of the recording and have no complaints there. Headphones do give this recording greater resolution, and I think speakers with hotter treble would do likewise, and a factor in this may be the height of the tweeter on the Signature Towers. My own listening position puts my ears at about mid-woofer height, and a frequency response measurement at my listening position does indicate a somewhat shaded treble compared to measurements made level with the tweeter. Nonetheless, the imaging of the recording came through clearly, and positioning of the individual violinists were stable which made for a convincing soundstage, and this is much more the heart of a musical recording rather than some tiny nuance of an instrument. The Fluance Signature Towers made it easy to enjoy this fine recording once more.

While violins are good instruments for appraising the ability of a sound system to deliver subtlety, nothing beats the human voice for this task, since our hearing is so heavily tuned to that particular sound. For a great recording of a female vocal, I turned to ‘Odes’, a 1979 recording of traditional Greek folk music by vocalist Irene Papas and instrumentalist Vangelis. Irene Papas’ voice is exquisitely captured among Vangelis’s sweeping synthesizers and bombastic percussion. ‘Odes’ contains both delicate and sorrowful passages as well as vibrant, climactic passages. The Signature Towers handled both extremes nicely and everything in between. Papas’ vocals were cohesively rendered, and the instruments, both electronic and natural, were presented with a realism that revitalized this 38-year-old recording. For this classic album, the Signature Towers left me with no complaints.

Switching gears to something more rowdy and heavily-layered, I decided to use an album that would press the two 8” woofers much harder than female vocals and violins. Towards this end, I employed John B’s ‘Brainstorm’, a 2002 drum’n’bass and electro album with a heavy dose of synth-pop, meaning lots of bass, and very rapid and heavy percussion. It is a heavy-duty electronic sound meant to be played loud, which is precisely what I did. Here, with the receiver volume set to reference level, the bass was unleashed. The bass that the Signature Towers could produce could be felt as a buzzing sensation on my back, which I think was my sofa vibrating, and I also felt that chest punch on many of the kick drums. It’s hard to believe that tower speakers at this price point are capable of bass this prodigious. The speakers held their composure at very high volumes, and I did not detect anything amiss. I was a bit shocked that, for this album, I didn’t miss the subwoofers. I would have thought subwoofers to be a necessity for music like this, but these speakers handled bass output and extension that did not leave much to be desired.

Movie Content

One film I had been curious about was ‘The Neon Demon’ from Nicolas Winding Refn. I figured it may be a good movie for a speaker to show its stuff since Refn’s movies have been visually and aurally arresting in the past, and I wasn’t wrong on this. As a drama, ‘The Neon Demon’ may leave audiences divided, but it can’t be denied that the film provides a rich sonic experience, owing largely to Cliff Martinez’s mesmeric electronic score. The music is, at times, subtle and at other times pulsating with energy. The Signature Towers handled the range of sound within the film with aplomb, from the quiet chiming of bells to the throbbing turbulence of techno music in a club scene. I had no problems with dialogue intelligibility or the positions from effects noises. As with the album ‘Brainstorm’, subwoofers just weren’t needed for this content. The movie sounded great, and I didn’t think the speakers were holding back the sound mix at all. Necrophilia scenes never sounded better than this!

Another film that I thought would be good for demonstrating the capability of a speaker was 2013’s ‘Gravity’. Outside of the tense and sweeping score from Steven Price, nearly everything in the sound mix is what is heard by astronauts. This is a unique and effective approach that gives this movie not only a tremendous dynamic range but also a feeling of intimacy as the soundtrack quickly veers from the clamor of being aboard disintegrating space stations to the quietude of drifting in space where only breathing and heart beats are heard. In this sound mix, sudden silence is as startling as an unexpected crash. The Signature Towers executed the sound mix nicely; they gave the movie an enveloping experience, even though I watched it in stereo only. One thing I must say is that although the speakers do provide a decent bass experience for this movie, this was an instance where they were unable to match the experience when subwoofers are used. ‘Gravity’ has passages of very high energy yet low frequency sounds, and while the Signature Towers do a reasonably good job here, it is not quite the same without a deep-digging subwoofer. However, the tower speakers that would be able to fully recreate the low-frequency depths within the ‘Gravity’ sound mix would have to be a lot more expensive, larger, and much heavier. 

The Score Card

The scoring below is based on each piece of equipment doing the duty it is designed for. The numbers are weighed heavily with respect to the individual cost of each unit, thus giving a rating roughly equal to:

Performance × Price Factor/Value = Rating

Audioholics.com note: The ratings indicated below are based on subjective listening and objective testing of the product in question. The rating scale is based on performance/value ratio. If you notice better performing products in future reviews that have lower numbers in certain areas, be aware that the value factor is most likely the culprit. Other Audioholics reviewers may rate products solely based on performance, and each reviewer has his/her own system for ratings.

Audioholics Rating Scale

• — Excellent
• — Very Good
• — Good
• — Fair
• — Poor

Metric	Rating
Build Quality
Appearance
Treble Extension
Treble Smoothness
Midrange Accuracy
Bass Extension
Bass Accuracy
Imaging
Dynamic Range
Fit and Finish
Performance
Value