In the ’60s and through the middle of the ’70s, bookshelf loudspeakers were the style in many American homes. My first serious speakers were a pair of KLH 17s. I bought them because my uncle had a pair in his den mounted on the top selves of built-in bookcases, and they filled the room with sound.
Christopher Hilderbrand of Fern and Roby has a similar story about his dad’s KLH 17s. When he asked his wife what kind of speakers she would own if they weren’t in the audio industry, she said something like those your dad has. So he designed a speaker with the same dimensions as the vintage KLH 17s. Let me tell you, however, the dimensions are the only thing that is the same. The build, the weight, the finish, the drivers and the sound are all superior.
Design
Let’s start by talking about the design of the Raven IIs. They are rather rare in the speaker world, modern or vintage. They are single-driver, sealed-box speakers with solid wood cabinets. Yes, there is a small community of single-driver speaker users in our very small high-end audio community. And yes, there are a few sealed-box speakers including the Gershman Studio IIs I just reviewed that sound great. Still, sealed-box speakers are not seen (or should I say heard) much these days.
Yes, I already love and own a pair of single-driver speakers, but I think the choice of a single-driver for a bookshelf speaker was inspired. Just think about it, the speaker can be placed vertically or horizontally, and even the logo rotates.
The driver itself is pretty amazing. It is made by Seas of Norway. The Raven II uses the 94 dB (8ohm) Seas Exotic driver. Seas specs the driver from 30 Hz to 20,000, but the Raven IIs start rolling off around 67 Hz with a gentle 3 db slope. This allows for more accurate bass when mounted in a bookcase or in the corners of a room. The slope is also almost perfect for mating with a subwoofer if you choose to use them in free-standing space.
The Cabinets
I was shocked when I first picked up one of the Raven IIs. It reminded me of the first time I saw a VPI Magic Brick years ago and picked it up. How could anything that small be so heavy and dense? I felt the same way about the Raven IIs. They are heavier, denser, and more solid for their size than I have seen before.
OK, I should also mention that the cabinets are beautiful. The artisan build quality is obvious and impressive, and I was very pleased to see how the cabinets were constructed. They are made from American walnut and are very thick. If you’re going to use solid hardwood for your cabinets, they must be very rigid to handle a big single driver with such a heavy magnet. The sound of the Raven IIs verifies the great job they did building these beautiful cabinets.
Amps, Setup, and Systems
The Raven IIs are easy to drive and sounded good with several amps. I started out listening to them as bookshelf speakers. The first amp I paired with them was my Electrocompaniet integrated amp. After a week of watching TV and movies with them in the system, I started listening to music. I tried several amps but the best by far was the First Watt SIT 3.
This SIT 3 amp was a very limited run and is hard to find, but if you have speakers that can be powered by 18 watts, it is as good as I have ever heard (read my review here). This pairing brought out beautiful tonal colors and an incredible presence from the Raven IIs.
Next, I put the Raven IIs in my reference system and listened to them on their retro-looking stands with a pair of TBI Audio Systems Magellan VIP Active Subwoofers. Even in this system, they sounded best with the SIT 3 amp.
You may not have spent much time listening to corner-placed speakers like those from Klipschorns or Audio Note, or wall-placed speakers like the original Linns. If that’s the case, it may take you some time to adjust to listening to the Ravens in this configuration. As a former owner of Linn Kans and Audio Note ANE speakers, I can tell you that speakers don’t have to be designed to sit way out in the room to sound like live music.
I love to listen to my QUAD ESL 57s or DeVore gibbon SuperNines which are five feet out into my listening room. In my upstairs system, I can’t pull them out more than about ten inches from the wall. So, if needed, give yourself time for your brain to adjust, because the Ravens can sound fantastic on a bookshelf or as floor-standers.
Listening to Music with Bookshelf Speakers
Let’s start with one of my new favorite female vocalists, Veronica Swift. Here first major-label album, Confessions, was released this summer, and you can read my review of that album here. When listening to her album with the Raven IIs, I relived much of the emotional experience of that live concert.
Listening to Swift though the Raven IIs, her voice easily moved from small to huge with great dynamics. Her scatting was easy to follow and to feel involved in. The piano sounded very alive. The song “I Hope She Makes You Happy” is the showstopper on the album, and it is followed with a tender, sad ballad, “Confession/The Other Woman.” Overall, with the Raven IIs, the album sounded very close to my experience of hearing her live.
Americana by Neil Young and Crazy Horse has become a go-to album for me when evaluating a system. I know it sounds grungy and raw sounding; it is meant to be that way. I promise you though you have never heard “Old Suzanna”, “Clementine” or “This Land is Your Land” like this before.
The trick is that your system has to let you hear the grunge, the distortion, and the power, and it must really rock to enjoy this album. I really didn’t expect the Raven IIs to pull this off, but they pulled off the most important thing about this album; it was tons of fun to listen to!
Listening to the Raven IIs with Subs
The Raven IIs come with nice stands to lift them a little off of the floor and angle them back a little. With the stands placed about three feet from the rear walls and about seven feet apart, the Raven IIs sounded very good down to the mid-sixties. I really like the retro look of these speakers when placed like this.
I used these speakers in this setup with my TBI Audio Systems Magellan VIP Active Subwoofers. I played around with the crossover, dialed in the phase and got the gain correct. The crossover worked best at 80 Hz. The speakers and the subs blended beautifully and gave me great sound down to around 20 Hz.
The sound was full and had great life. However, if I was looking for floor-standers that set out in the room, I would just get Fern & Roby’s bigger Ravens. This decision is based on two things. First, you have to consider the price of the subs. Second, the sound I heard from a pair of the Ravens and a ModWright integrated at the Capital Audiofest was simply incredible.
Conclusion
I don’t know of another speaker on the market like the Fern & Roby Raven IIs. If you want high-end sound in a family room or anywhere that the speakers won’t be the focal point of the room, the Raven IIs are it! As a bonus, you can’t overlook the beautiful cabinets, which may be an important factor for a multi-purpose room. These are very special speakers, and I highly recommend them.
Retail: Fern & Roby Raven IIs – $5,750
