The Fluid Audio F5 is a crisp, clear compact studio monitor from one of the audio world’s newest and most exciting manufacturers! Fluid’s experienced engineer, Kevin Zuccaro, has designed monitors for some of biggest global audio brands, before starting Fluid Audio to bring his vision of affordable audio excellence to the world. His designs include some of Store DJ’s best-selling speakers, and the Fluid Audio F5 is already another of our favourites!
Despite its very sharp price point, the F5 includes plenty of experience and technology. The amplifier rear panel has XLR and TRS inputs for professional applications, with an RCA input for more "consumer friendly" applications. The amplifier has a generous heat sink for long mixing sessions, mounted externally – where most monitors have their amp heat sinks inside the cabinet where the heat generated can’t escape. Furthermore, the F5 amplifier ICs are mounted directly to the heat sink, so heat transmits harmlessly away from the drivers and internal circuitry. The amp also has something no other monitor in this class can boast: a standby circuit that shuts the amp down after 20 mins of silence, making the F5 eco-friendly as well as ear-friendly.
While the amplifier is an important part of the design puzzle, all of the sound radiates from the front baffle, where the drivers and port are mounted, and so baffle & driver technologies are crucial to the F5’s great voicing. The woofer uses a paper pulp composite cone, which has a curve-linear geometry and is mounted to a well damped butyl rubber surround. All this contributes to a very well-controlled woofer response that integrates seamlessly with the tweeter. The tweeter itself is treated silk, which makes it very light and responsive for just the right amount of articulation and "air" to high frequencies. The tweeter is mounted in a custom designed wave guide that is a perfect balance between optimising the low end response of the device, and a great off-axis response in the near field.
The well reinforced MDF cabinet minimises resonances, and the front mounted bass-reflex port allows the bass energy to radiate directly towards the listener. And unlike many other monitors in this class, there is a volume control on the front baffle for easy access.
All of these features come together to create a great sounding yet transparent listening and mixing experience...at a great price.
Features
- Frequency response: 49 Hz – 22 kHz
- Crossover frequency: 2.5 kHz
- Low-frequency amplifier power: 40 watts
- High-frequency amplifier power: 30 watts
- Signal-to-noise: > 100 dB (typical A-weighted)
- Polarity: Positive signal at + input produces outward LF one displacement
- Input impedance: 20 k ohms balanced, 10 k ohms unbalanced
- Input sensitivity: 85 mV pink noise input produces 90dBA output SPL @ one meter with volume control at maximum (101dB Max SPL)
- Power: 115V ~50/60 Hz or 230V~50/60 Hz user switchable
- Protection: RF interference, output current limiting, over temperature, turn-on/off transient, subsonic filter, external mains fuse
- Cabinet: Vinyl-laminated MDF
- Size (single monitor): 10.25” x 6.9” x 7.7” / 260 x 176 x 195 mm
- Weight (single monitor): 11 lbs / 5 kg