PS Audio Aspen FR10 Quick start guide

Owner’s Reference

2
aspen® FR10
Table of Contents
Safety Information 3
Introduction 4
Getting Started 5-9
Operation Guide 9-10
Specifications 11
Warranty Information 12-13
Service Information 14-15

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Important Safety
Instructions
READ AND FOLLOW ALL INSTRUCTIONS
HEED ALL WARNINGS
aspen® FR10
MAGNETIC FIELD
As with most loudspeakers, the FR10 uses strong magnets in the drivers. People with
implanted medical devices should use caution around the speaker. Magnetic elds of 5G can
be present up to 18”(50 cm) from certain parts of the speaker.
CAUTION!! HEAVY OBJECT. TWO PERSON LIFT REQUIRED.
Lifting can cause muscle strain or back injury.
DO NOT EXPOSE THIS APPARATUS TO RAIN OR MOISTURE. OBJECTS FILLED WITH LIQUIDS,
SUCH AS VASES, SHOULD NOT BE PLACED ON THE APPARATUS.
Clean only with a dry cloth. Do not place ammable material on top of or beneath the unit.
Turn o all systems’power before connecting the PS Audio® component to any other
component. Make sure all cable terminations are of the highest quality.
THERE ARE NO USER-SERVICEABLE PARTS INSIDE THIS PS AUDIO PRODUCT. REFER ALL
SERVICE NEEDS TO QUALIFIED SERVICE PERSONNEL.
Please contact your authorized dealer, distributor, or PS Audio® directly if you have any
questions or concerns that are not addressed in this reference manual. PS Audio® and the
sine wave logo are registered trademarks of PS Audio, Inc., and are restricted for use to PS
Audio, Inc., its subsidiaries, and authorized agents.
This product was designed in Boulder, Colorado.
© 2023 PS Audio, Inc. All rights reserved. Rev. B
Safety Information

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Thank You Thank you for your purchase of the PS Audio aspen FR10 loudspeaker. This is your
comprehensive Operator’s Guide, intended to provide a full overview of the aspen FR10’s
functions and capabilities. It is our intention to answer any and all questions you may have
in this manual. If you have additional questions or concerns that are not addressed in this
guide, please contact us and we will be happy to assist you.
A Message From
The Design
Engineer
After nearly 50 years in business and many years in development, PS Audio is proud to
present the aspen series loudspeakers. The FR10 is a clean, modern and elegant 3-way
tower speaker that is a modern take on our favorite planar magnetic hybrid loudspeakers
of the past. It has the clarity and detail of the most modern loudspeaker designs with the
ease, musicality and power that you’d expect from PS Audio.
The aspen series incorporates much of what we have learned as a company about design
and manufacturing as we pursue our ultimate sonic vision: to oer a complete end-to-
end system. On a personal level, it has been a dream project to put what I’ve learned
throughout my career into a reference product for your musical enjoyment.
Chris Brunhaver
Senior Speaker Design Engineer
Contact
Information
PS Audio, Inc.
4865 Sterling Drive
Boulder, CO 80301
1 (800) PSAUDIO
[e-mail]
www.psaudio.com
aspen® FR10
Introduction

5
Speaker enclosure in cloth bag
Cloth magnetic grille
An accessory box, which contains a product manual, jumpers (for conguring the inputs
for mono or bi-wiring) and a tool kit (Allen wrenches for all of the metric socket head
screws used throughout the speaker)
Turn the speaker box upside down so that the bottom of the box is facing up. Open the
box on this end and fold back the aps.
Included with the
aspen FR10
aspen® FR10
Getting Started
Unpacking
Instructions

6
aspen® FR10
Once the aps are open, ip the box over so that the side with the open aps is on the
oor.
Then lift the brown box o. The aps of the inner white box will open, revealing the
speaker.
Note: The cloth bag covering each speaker box is not shown.
Getting Started

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Configuring
Speaker Feet
aspen® FR10
Now that the box is removed, take the packaging foam o the top and place it to the side of
the speaker (you can use it as fulcrum when it’s time to move the speaker). The spiked feet are
now revealed.
For hard oors:
The foot’s spiked tip is not meant for hardwood and could scratch your
oor. To remove it, put the small Allen wrench through the two holes
in the spiked tip. Use this as a lever to help twist o the bottom 0.375”
spiked tip from each foot and expose the rubber foot underneath.
You can now ip the speaker out of the packaging and into place.
CAUTION: This is a two person lift. Do NOT lift alone.
For carpeted oors:
Leave the spiked feet in place and ip the speaker out of the packaging. It should now be
standing on its spiked feet.
CAUTION: This is two person lift. Do NOT lift alone.
Leveling:
These are leveling feet as well. First, loosen the top cap of the foot. Once it’s loose, loosen
the bottom of the foot until the speaker is level. Tighten the top cap again to lock the foot in
position.
Note: Aftermarket isolation feet with a compatible M8 X 1.25 thread to screw into the
aluminum base plate can also be used.
Getting Started
Top Cap
Bottom of Foot
Foot Shown with
Spiked
Tip for Carpets
Foot Shown with Spiked
Tip Removed for Hard
Floors

8
aspen® FR10
Getting Started
Speaker
Accessories
The accessory box is located inside the upper speaker packaging.
Accessory box contains:
• A product manual and polishing cloth
• Jumpers (for conguring the inputs for mono or bi-wiring)
• A set of high-quality Allen wrenches for tightening or replacing speaker components
Jumper / Input
Wiring
(bi-amp, bi-wiring)
The FR10 comes with four input terminals as shown. For single wiring/amping, connect
the set of jumpers from the accessory box to parallel wire the black and red terminals sets
together (black to black and red to red) as shown below. Connect a single amplier to the
left set of terminals.
Note: Binding posts may have plugs. If using banana plugs, remove the plugs rst.

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For bi-wiring/bi-amping do not connect the jumpers (as seen below).
aspen® FR10
Getting Started
Basic Setup
and Placement
Loudspeakers and the room layout work together as a system. To get the best
performance, it’s important to take great care when setting up your speakers.
Some helpful tools include a tape measure (or laser measurement tool), pen/paper to note
the distances and listening impressions, and some demo music.
Distances to sidewalls/front wall:
One of the most important aspects of speaker room placement is the speaker’s distance
from boundaries, such as large objects and walls. In particular, best performance is
typically found when the speakers are a minimum of 3 ft from the side walls and placed
symmetrically to each other (or very close to that). This distance minimizes early
reections o the wall from interfering with the tonality of the sound coming directly
from the speaker.
If you are in a dedicated space where the speaker can be placed out into the room, the
distance the speakers are from the front wall should be chosen through listening. In
general, start by placing the speakers about 18 inches from the front wall. From there,
listen to acoustic/vocal music with good bass and percussion and gradually inch the
speakers away from the wall, assessing the sound as you go. (You want to make sure that
the lower range voice and bass instruments are the most natural sounding and balanced
with the midrange.) Keep inching both speakers into the room until the current position

10
aspen® FR10
Operation Guide
sounds worse than the previous position. Then move them back to the previous position
where the tonal balance was the most natural.
Speaker width and toe-in:
In general, your listening position should be about 20% outside of an equilateral triangle
formed by the width of the speakers (+/- 30 degrees from center). For instance, if the
listening position is 10 ft (~3 m) from the speakers, a starting width for the speakers
should be ~8 ft (~2.4 m).
Placing the speakers closer together gives a bit less “width” to the sonic image but can
give a stronger phantom center image and more warmth and bloom in the low midrange.
The speakers should be toed-in a little, aimed at a point in space about 3 ft behind the
listening position.
Further pointing of the speakers towards the listening position will increase
“focus” and the level of the extreme treble at the expense of the spaciousness and
“width” (perception of sound coming from outside the width of the speakers).
Diagram of initial speaker placement if
listening position is 10 ft (~3 m) from speakers