Vintage Classic Gold SP Becomes Fyne Audio’s New Gold Standard

Posted on 3rd January, 2025
Vintage Classic Gold SP Becomes Fyne Audio’s New Gold Standard

Fyne Audio announces its Vintage Classic Gold SP Series of loudspeakers.

The Vintage Classic Gold SP series was previewed by Fyne Audio at the Munich High End show and touted as a "genre-defying loudspeaker" by the loudspeaker company based just southeast of Glasgow, Scotland. The brand adds that it encompasses "Dr Paul Mills' ambition to build the finest-sounding loudspeaker in a cabinet style from the Hi-Fi heydays of his formative years."

Vintage Classic Gold SP (Special Production) borrows much of the engineering and technology from the high-end Vintage Series and adds it to updated and enhanced versions of the Classic Series cabinets. The promised result is an immaculately finished, retro-styled loudspeaker with cutting-edge audio performance.

As a Dr Mills' Signature design, Vintage Classic Gold SP carries his autograph on every cabinet. Fyne Audio hopes the new range finds fans in a broader global audience as it bridges the price gap between the standard Classic models and the high-end Vintage Series.

The Vintage Classic Gold SP Series launches 8, 10, 12, and 15-inch (VIII, X, XII and XV, respectively) IsoFlare driver versions, with all four models featuring a single multifibre paper LF cone terminated with Fyne's patented FyneFlute roll surround. That special rubber surround is said to terminate cone energy to minimise time smearing and improve transient response. Large ferrite motors are used across the range, with rectangular copper-wound voice coils over an aluminium former to "aid heat dissipation during high-volume use." The motor assembly uses a copper shorting ring on the pole piece to reduce eddy and stabilise the magnetic field.

The smallest Gold SP VIII model owes much of its sonic excellence to Fyne's flagship F1-8 stand-mount loudspeaker. At the heart of its 8-inch IsoFlare driver is a 1-inch magnesium dome HF transducer using a ferrite magnet system with a bespoke waveguide to ensure the smoothest radial dispersion of high frequencies.

Meanwhile, Gold X, XII and XV SP draw their HF technology from the Vintage Series (below), using a 3-inch titanium dome compression tweeter driven by a massive Neodymium magnet system. The design pushes the crossover frequency to a very low 750Hz, ensuring the HF unit handles most of the critical vocal range. We are told that the conductive nature of the giant HF magnet effectively damps voice coil inductance losses, resulting in lower distortion and wider frequency response.

Each model's bespoke, hand-built crossover features upgrades over its Classic Series stablemates, including high-power metal-clad resistors and Claritycap high-grade polypropylene capacitors. Neotech PC-OCC internal wiring is used throughout. Once assembled, each Gold SP crossover undergoes a proprietary Deep Cryogenic Treatment process in Fyne's own in-house facility.

The new cabinet design draws on the traditional 'box' cabinet of the Classic Series, a shape prevalent in the 1960s and 70s hi-fi. However, Gold SP upgrades from fibreboard construction to Fyne's high-density birch ply build, boasting improved damping and lower colouration than fibreboard. Each cabinet is extensively braced and damped to reduce internal reflections prevalent in parallel-sided speaker design. Furthermore, the cabinet accommodates an "enhanced version" of Fyne's downward-firing BassTrax tractrix profile low-frequency diffuser system, with bass energy converted to a 360-degree wave that disperses bass energy uniformly into the room. The promised result is a speaker with exceptional in-room bass integration that is far less sensitive to room positioning than typical rear-ported designs.

Like the Vintage Series, all models in the Gold SP range benefit from subtle high-frequency Energy and Presence adjustments tailored to each model. This enables you to select up to +/- 3dB HF energy gain and up to +/- 3dB presence enhancements from c. 2khz to 5kHz, depending on room integration, equipment, and taste, all via the anodised gold metal adjustment knobs on the front panel. Finally, all Gold SP models feature five-way terminals for optional bi-wiring and Fyne's fifth ground connection. All models offer the finest real wood walnut veneer and anodised gold trim. The grilles are constructed from the same acoustically transparent material as the high-end range, and the floor-standing models in the Gold SP range are fitted with M12 threaded floor cones for optimal floor coupling.

The Fyne Audio Vintage Classic Gold SP models are available now at the following SRPs per pair:

  • Vintage Classic Gold VIII SP: £7,500 / €9.000 / US$10,000
  • Vintage Classic Gold X SP: £10,000 / €12.000 / US$13,000
  • Vintage Classic Gold XII SP: £12,000 / €14.500 / US$16,000
  • Vintage Classic Gold XV SP: £15,000 / €18.000 / US$20,000

Visit Fyne Audio for more information

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Jay Garrett

StereoNET’s resident rock star, bass player, and gadget junkie. Jay heads up StereoNET as Editor for the United Kingdom and Europe regions. His passion for gadgets and Hi-Fi is second only to being a touring musician.

Posted in: Hi-Fi

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