Sterophile has published its review of the Fried Compact 7 bookshelf loudspeakers ($1,795/pair). These are two-way designs apparently created in the spirit of the original Fried Q from 1976. Reviewer John Marks heard some top-end roll off and hollow coloration, both of which were confirmed by the uneven frequency response measurements. On the positive side, he noted:
In their favor, the Compact 7s were incisively dynamic, and created a large and well-defined center image.
Read the entire review, then check out the manufacturer’s comment. In it, Fried COO David Finley ascertains that the review samples were likely defective, the result of a hurried assembly outside the normal production run. Oops!