EgglestonWorks, "Fontaine" Small Tower Excellence!

So these EgglestonWorks, Fontaine are a fairly early model (00'-02'). They listed for $5400 and when new, were worth every penny of that and more... EW went into bankruptcy a bit after they were introduced, and then re-organized with a vengeance. The replacement Fontaine 2 was similar, but with some changes such as making them one piece and the dropping the granite side panels which was, buy all accounts, a design blunder. 

To be frank, these are wonderful, musically rich and full bodied speakers. They are uncommon, yet are great high end speaker values considering their quality and reasonable pre-owned cost. Eggleston focused on midrange quality, and these have a superb one, matched to an astonishing top end. If you look close and know the EW line, they are basically the upper part of the original Andras, without the compound woofers, with the same amazing build quality.

The cabinets are 4-5 layers thick - the sides are 2 layers of 5/8" MDF with a layer of vibration absorbent material between. The L-R sides are then coated with another layer of sound absorbent, then 3/8" of beautiful speckled black granite. Fronts, backs and tops are laminated with 1/8" thick mirror finish deep black acrylic resin.  It is beautiful and unlike lacquer or wood veneers, this resin is pretty tough and resists scratching and chipping well. Mine look nearly new after 20 years.

The 2 6" Morel midwoofers, same as Merlin used in TSMs, are loaded for minimal back pressure and reflections. These drivers have no crossovers but roll off naturally, but I hear no sign of breakup on the top end of the mids, a rare trait the Morels are well known for. Very smooth and clean, with midrange tone and body that is a joy to hear.

Tweeters are the massive (3.5 lbs.!) $1300/pair Dynaudio T330D, famously used in Merlin VSMs, Sonus Faber, Amator Electa and Extrema and Dynaudio's own top line speakers. They are extremely clean and detailed, yet natural and easy. They project a gorgeous top end image, truly fine. The tweeter crossover is only one high quality cap and 1 resistor.

The speakers themselves are 22" tall, and weigh a hefty 70 lbs. The 15" bolt on black lacquered bases add another 10 lbs or so, plus at least 20 more if filled, making them very heavy for pretty compact floor standers. The pair weighs in at 98 lbs. ea.

As to sound, they are lovely to listen to, fundamentally accurate and smooth, perfectly integrated, and with a slightly warm, full sound with a nice evenly spread soundstage. Very easy on the ears, more so than most audiophile speakers. No bass below 45 hz. or so. They are sensitive to listening position and are sounding best with ear level above the tweeter axes. At this position there is still a slight lack of energy in the presence range, which adds to their perceived sweetness. That said, the easy, natural presentation of the Fontaines is very seductive, and we find ourselves listening to them a lot here at the shop for the sheer pleasure of it. The Fontaines would be easy to live with long term in a fine main system. They present a very clean musical picture on their own terms. We consider them a real score for their great looks, wonderful construction and enjoyable, non-fatiguing sound. Anyway, these Fontaines are just fabulous and after being gone through front to back here in-house by our expert speaker tech, they are good to go for the next 20yrs. Solid 8 in the visual department with minimal signs of wear. Performancewise, staggeringly great!

Come have a listen here at the loft... shipping on these will need to be via Pilot Freight. You'll need to contact us to discuss and arrange.

Eggleston Works, "Fontaine" Small Tower Excellence: $2,199 plus sales tax & shipping when applicable