Reference High Performance 2-Way Bookshelf and Surround Sound Speakers for 2-Channel Stereo Listening or Home Theater System - Black Ash/Pair (XL8S)

This is my second Fluance purchase. I bought the bipole speakers for rear use in my home theatre setup. Awesome speakers. Bought the these two-ways for stereo listening. I’ve broken them in for about 12 hours with classical music (Esteban Salas), the Grateful Dead, Evanescence, Heart, and some Blues by Albert King. As each hour’s gone by they’ve opened up nicely. The clarity is good, but some might think they’re a little warm. But, then again, I use a tube preamp and enjoy that vibe when listening to music. The size of these speakers is great for a small to midsized room. I’ve done some acoustic treatments in my listening retreat. These speakers aren’t hard to drive in terms of power. They do sound better as you give them a little juice. Lastly. as to value for the money, I don’t think they can be beat as to sound quality for the price, build quality, and appearance. I’ve used Klipsch, Sony, Yamaha, and Definitive Technology speakers over the years. I’ll stick with Definitive Technology for my home theatre. As for 2 channel or quadraphonic listening, Fluance is absolutely the place to be for me. I sold my Klipsch setup after falling in love with Fluance. If you like a brighter or sharper audio profile, I can understand why you’d stick with Klipsch. There’s a huge difference in tweeter response between the two brands. Only slight negative is that the bass response is at 50hz on these speakers. I think a sub is necessary to enjoying a full frequency response on the soundstage end. I’m using one of my Definitive Technology subs and it’s all blending well. The soundstage is enveloping now. I highly recommend these speakers.

A very heavy and well built speaker - first the knock test, which felt like a brick. Bracing in this speaker was unexpected at this cost. I got walnut - the finish was literally flawless. Not as much bass as one would want, but these are surrounds, and the clarity and detail are fantastic. Best small bookshelf speaker in this price range I've tested to date.

I purchased these to replace a Klipsch surround system. I had the XL8F floor standing speakers in my music room. Those were replaced with Cabasse speakers and then the Fluance went into the living room for the surround. These proved to be much better than the Klipsch reference speakers they replaced. Way more clarity for a true surround sound experience. The XL8F can be powered separately for the woofers and midrange/tweeters and that's exactly what I did. Sub out from the Onkyo AVR into a small amp and then to the woofer speaker posts and I had dual subs with my surround. The XL8 bookshelf speakers went to the rear for the surround setup. I also have the Fluance Reference center speaker. Note on the XL8F from Fluance. They're fantastic for music in stereo. It was a tough call to replace them with the Cabasse, but in the end I have excellent music setup in the music room and the surround from the Fluance greatly outperforms the Klipsch they replaced. I also have a Fluance Rt82 turntable in the front room if I want to play an album out there. Fluance is hard to beat for price to performance.

They don't sound like 2-way speakers. I was a little bit skeptical when I bought these. I've always thought bookshelf speakers didn't sound nearly as good as floor speakers. My experience has taught me this. Usually the crossover network isn't matched for the drivers and cabinet so the resultant output sounds like crap (I've replaced many crossover in brand name speakers to fix them). So I was already thinking ahead when I was going to return them. Fluance was not to disappoint. I own one of their turntables and am more than impressed with it; why not trust their design team? All I can say is WOW! They sound amazing from my Pioneer SX525 Receiver paired with a Pioneer equalizer. Even with the equalizer set to flat, these speakers pump out sound in very good balance; they are not overly bassy or tinny. Mids come though perfectly in my opinion. I fully endorse these speakers, and at this price point I really don't think you can do any better.

Got these speakers today. Delivered in perfect shape and ahead of schedule. They work beautifully with my new AIYIMA T9 PRO amplifier. They are about 12 feet from the couch where I like to listen, and from my drum kit where I practice. I've been a jazz drummer for many years and I don't play loud, but still the amp and speakers have to put out a lot. The AIYIMA T9 PRO is rated at 200 watts, but 100 watts/ speaker is way more than it can really deliver with good fidelity. I started with high fidelity in the sixties. The 30 yr Bang and Olufsen speakers that I use for front speakers in my tv room surround sound system are, to my ears, not as clean as these Fluances. That may be a matter of taste however. Separation of instrument sounds especially in large orchestras playing things like Bartok Concerto for Orchestra is important to me. These Fluances do that admirably. They sound better without the grills, so I like it that the grills are held on by magnets and can be so easily put on and removed. Quality of constructions seems very good. A genuine hard wood cabinet would be nice, but to construct one properly and with the right materials would probably add a great deal to the price: not worth it. The black finish is fine, and the shape of the speaker cabinets is esthetically pleasing. I have had lots of disappointing speakers in my life, some of them overpriced. I am extremely pleased with these Fluances.

You probably recently did a search about speakers under $300 a pair on Google and YouTube and they mentioned this company and you should be very happy about that. After braking in the speakers with about 20 hrs of play at lower and medium volumes, I was impressed. The fluance is actually quite surprising at low and high volumes and it does have good natural bass, not a boomy .. The jamo 803 pair has a little more bass, but its sacrifices mid-range and high sounds to get it, but the fluance absolutely delivers everything you want and more. These speakers make you smile every time you turn them on with a good quality receiver. Also use only high quality test song material. Don't use anything grabbed off of YouTube, a streaming music source is fine or play a cd. If you're looking to hear amazing range and a bit lower natural sounding bass, then marry these speakers with a polk PSW 10 subwoofer for about 200.00 and have the true " dynamic duo". That sounds almost better than my Floorstanding polk studio reference monitors I bought for almost $850.00 at cost from polk. I threw every music genre you could possibly imagine everything from electronic , EDM , classical ,rock ,reggae, bluegrass, tropical, trap, glitch, vocals , Tim Henson solos and even Gregorian chants... Flawless at any volume. For about 350.00 ( Amazon open box/renewed is perfectly fine) cost you can hear sounds and bass like a audiophile. These are 8 ohm speakers like the Polk Towers, but you still have to have a good receiver or amplifier to get clarity from any speaker, bookshelf or tower About a 70 watt per Channel main brand reciver ( Pioneer, Denon , and Yamaha are my main consumer choices) for good basic features and Sound. Buy these Fluance speakers and smile on every song your play. Best 150.00( renewed from fluance but seamed brand new !) I spent ever since selling and installing home theater systems with audio for over 20 years at retailers. Ive spent thousands of dollars with audio companys at dealer cost not retail....enjoy. love your music even more...and listen to new sounds snd exciting sonics all over again. Jay audioguy

Speakers arrived with the magnet completely detached. Very shoddy work. I won’t be buying from Fluance ever again. EDIT: their customer service has been decently responsive and are processing my refund. I will update my review depending on how that goes. It may not have been their fault that the speakers arrived in this manner so I don’t want to leave an unfair review if they are willing to resolve the situation.

I discovered Fluance about a year and a half ago after getting a second-hand 7.1ch receiver. Initially I bought the Elite series 5-channel set; however, after hearing the quality of the sound they produced (and the Elite is Fluance’s lowest-tier series, by the way), I’ve purchased their bipolar surround speakers and these bookshelf speakers, both from the Reference series. This was by no accident. I’m an analyst so I tend get all the data I can handle before making a purchase and the process for selecting my home theatre speakers were no different. To sum it up… These speakers sound fantastic, accurately handling anything I’ve thrown at them. They are well constructed, both sturdy and aesthetically pleasing. And, for under $200 for a pair, their value cannot be beat. You don’t know me so trust my opinion or not… just realize you’re short-changing yourself purchasing almost any other bookshelf speakers.

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These speakers sound great! Perfect size. Nice, clear, even sound. Pretty good bass, but I bought the Fluance sub to go with it. But they would be decent without a sub. I am very happy. I bought these to go with my pawn shop 90's Technics receiver (I think around 80w a side), cd player and tape deck. Cabinets are very nice. I am really enjoying this brand.

Was able to purchase an open box variant and they showed up in absolutely immaculate condition. Didn't even look like the box had been opened. Love the sound quality and they're more than enough for my small basement living area (15ft W x 20ft L) to go along with some SoundStage in-wall side and overhead speakers (5.1.2). Sound great for movies and music so far.

If you're looking for a budget speaker these are the ones to try out . I was surprised on how much bass comes out them considering there small size, so far very happy with the purchase

I have had a few hours of listening time after the recommended 10hour break in. I like what I hear so far. They replaced Elac Unifi 2.0 with my 5.1 AVR. Running Fluance as my left and right front. Center imagining is surprising. My Elac have been moved to a listening room, and the Fluance are doing a good job for movies. Yes a sub is going to help with low end. Crossing at 80hz.