Sound. The FP-15 had plenty of energy and offered an obviously vivid musical presentation that wasn’t that highly detailed but above all conveyed a lively involving performance. These boxes might prefer extremely low-powered amplification and 10 quality watts in my opinion would be more than comfortable. Hello 300B or 2A3 SETs. My beefy Luxman mono were decidedly overpowered. Hence most of the time I used a new 20wpc Egg-Shell integrated also from Poland; and my trusty little 10wpc Trends Audio Tripath integrated. Its limited power easily filled my 50m² acoustically damped room. Too much power led to highlighting the physical limitations of such a shallow/short horn.


The stated 96dB seemed underrated to my ears and subsequent measurements at one meter confirmed a conservative figure. The overall impression was listening to high-sensitivity loudspeakers without the usual shortcoming of their overly forward sound. That of course also relies on your acoustical environment but I was surprised to immediately get such depth and soundstage layering. This is not always the case for hornspeakers. Our French distributor had told me from the beginning that these were pretty tolerant and room-friendly. I completely agree. Even the two enormous rear ports didn’t seem problematic though my room’s configuration always provides sufficient space from the front wall. Very strong points for the FP-15 were their vividness, soundstaging and easy integration. On resolution and transparency, the final result will depend on the choice of amplification (preferably valves) and the limits of the chosen drivers, especially the B&C woofer. Working with a bigger compression driver and deeper horn profile would have led to a lower crossover point but also a very different speaker. The FP-15 must be considered for its particular design which makes it possible to have, at the same time,  typical horn dynamics, a wide soundstage and plenty of depth all from a near/midfield listening position. I got the best results with my little Trends combo of integrated amp and external power supply which represented the lowest power option I had on hand. Working off its three quality watts, it offered pleasing clarity and authority in the bass. The small Trends integrated in fact was the by far most copasetic partner for my loaners.


The soundstage unfolded beyond the loudspeakers left and right as well as behind them. Width was undoubtedly a strong feature, height limited by the horn shape. This makes them more ideal for closer seating. Nevertheless, at 3.5 meters I was not really disturbed by their limited height. Symphonic recordings could have stood more vertical extension but the outstanding depth quite forgave this limitation. Dynamics were what you’d expect from a two-way hornloaded design. Bass was fast and taut and the mids shone pleasantly in my room. These however were not the most neutral of speakers I’ve heard. There was some colouration especially on voices which could be rather appealing though. I think this was due to the small size of the compression driver which cannot compete with a two-inch driver on clarity like I’m used to on my Vivids. That’s why low-power tube amps might really be the best option to avoid taxing midband behaviour.

Beyond their tonal fingerprint, these Polish speakers demonstrated an overall balanced nature. I’d expect that for most rooms in fact since I did not experienced major response changes when moving them into different positions. These are quite forgiving speakers which provide naturally involving results without fretting over what they should sound like. They simply played music and I enjoyed them for what they were. That’s perhaps the most important upshot. They were quite close to the Lawrence Audio speakers in terms of listening enjoyment. With their dynamics obvious without being in my face, they delivered a suitable level of energy for each musical genre in a very versatile fashion. On one hand, the big Lawrence Audio Double Bass had the more extended subtle treble and deeper reach in the low end. On the other hand, the hORNS had better dynamics and their midrange seemed to better blend with both extremities of the bandwidth (rather normal for a good two-way). Both finally provided a very addictive and earthy LP-type sound that let me focus exclusively on the tunes. That’s why their small flaws did not seem critical compared to the musical involvement delivered.