The complete lack of inconsistency and distortion of the large air motion driver crossed over to the lightning fast mid/bass unit yielded that same level of naturalness and ease to the sound of everything I played. This is where I found the greatest difference between the electrostatics and the diminutive F300M. The Eficion F300M’s are astounding in their ability to play as loudly and as cleanly as the larger F300’s. Even with the low bass coming through the diminutive mid/bass unit, the F300M defies all sense of logic with its ability to deliver slam, beautifully rendered images, and sheer volume without ever hinting at any sort of strain or stress. Perhaps this ability is at least partially attributed to the shorting ring that is placed in the voicecoil of the mid/bass unit so that any aberrant cone excursions are extinguished before doing damage to driver and before going into distortion. Hell, these babies play louder than any other speaker I’ve owned with the possible exception being their larger sibling F300’s!
That said, there clearly was something missing to the sound. Yes, of course you say, it’s the low bass. Well, not so fast, there is more to it than that. Ultimately, it is the totality of the sound that the speaker creates that clearly differentiates it from its larger sibling. As I have written previously, I love to listen to well recorded “live” recordings. These recordings are what typically separate the men from the boys when it comes to transducers in general. In this case, the differences between the large full range F300 vs. the smaller F300M satellites lie in each speaker’s ability to transport you to the venue of the live event. Via the F300M, the feel of the recorded space was noticeably muted. The eigentone of the recorded space was all but gone. The top end air was present but yet it alone was not sufficient to yield that “you-are-there” feeling that the full range F300’s do so well. It is for this reason most of all, that I compare the experience to that of listening to the full-range Martin Logan CLS IIz. That very omission is why the CLS’ desperately needed to be crossed over to their dedicated subwoofers. In the case of the CLS, subwoofers did an excellent job of neutralizing that omission and at the same time greatly improving their dynamic range.
Well, the F300M’s didn’t need improving in dynamics, but they certainly could use some help in the bass. The thought of crossing over the Eficion F300M’s to my idled pair of Martin Logan Depth subwoofers just begged to be attempted! So, of course, I did. In doing so, I set a goal to achieve a sonic performance that would equal or better the performance of the larger F300’s. I figured this was not too far-fetched since the speakers were essentially the same from 1300 Hz on up. Also, the Depth subwoofers provided blazing speed, after all they were designed to integrate with electrostatics, a decent range of adjustability including phase, a generous selection of crossover frequencies and slopes, and level-matching. In practice however, this proved to be a major task.
It took me a while, but in the end I was able to obtain extraordinary top-to-bottom consistency from the pair of Eficion F300M’s, blended with a single Martin Logan Depth subwoofer at a frequency of 55 Hz. Did it successfully achieve the established goal? In short, no. The sound was indeed impressive, but no matter how hard I tried, I could not get to the point where the integration achieved that sense of top-to-bottom oneness as that of the full range 2-piece F300 system.
In Summary
My motivation for formally reviewing the Eficion F300M in my sound room was a personal one. I felt that it would be a way of preparing for a couple of future reviews I have scheduled for this year of other high-end satellite speakers. The process proved to be much more interesting than that. Intellectually, I knew that he F300M could not be much different from its larger F300 sibling, but I was always curious about the head-to-head comparison. It’s obvious that the F300M’s exist mainly to accommodate a smaller form factor and higher WAF for rooms that cannot accommodate the full blown F300’s. In this type of space, or perhaps a home theatre with, say, five channels and a couple of subs, it will get the job done supremely well and still provide a very respectable performance in 2-channel even through a mid-level receiver as is the case in my home. That said, during the course of this review process I found a much more compelling case for 2-channel audiophiles. The F300M’s are largely able to achieve the extraordinary sound of the large scale F300’s within a much smaller footprint and also within a much smaller space. Audiophiles who have space limitations but with aspirations for a truly high-end and full bandwidth listening experience in their homes are the true beneficiaries here. In my view, at an MSRP of $9,750 per pair with stands, there is little if anything that can match the over strengths and musical satisfaction in such a small form factor. These are indeed a must-audition.
- ← Previous page
- (Page 4 of 4)
