April 2025

World Premiere Review!
Tobian Sound Systems 12FH Full-Range Reference Horn Speaker Review
The feeling of being within the studio as musicians play.
Review By Tom Lyle

  The Tobian 12 FH hornspeakers' moniker, "Full Range Horn Speakers," accurately reflects their capabilities. These floor-standing speakers feature a 4-inch compression driver with a 9.5-inch horn / mid-high compression driver featuring a titanium diaphragm. The "12" in their name likely refers to their "ultra-light" 12-inch woofer located beneath the horn, near the bottom of their cabinet. The speakers have an impressive frequency response of 20 Hz to 20 kHz. Indeed, these are full-range high-sensitivity loudspeakers.

Designed
Designed and built in Switzerland, the Tobian 12 FH speakers look striking. Their real wood cabinets measure approximately 3-feet tall, 13-inches wide, and 16.5-inches deep. They are available in custom finishes, although I can't imagine most listeners being more than satisfied with one of their standard finishes: natural wood, high-gloss lacquer, or matte lacquer. With a horn and 98dB/W/m sensitivity, these hornspeakers need minimal power to operate efficiently. I auditioned these speakers in my "second" system in our home's dining / living room, which uses lower-powered amplifiers to drive smaller speakers. Also, Tobian Sound System's U.S.A. distributor informed me that these speakers perform best when positioned close to the front wall of the listening room, which is nearly impossible in the main listening room.

System
My "main" audio system does not use any low-powered amplifiers. It is set up in a dedicated, acoustically treated listening room, where I use large speakers powered by high-powered solid-state amplifiers. So, instead, I opted to review the Tobian 12 FH speakers in my second system, where I audition speakers that don't need as much power.

This system has an analog front end featuring a Pro-Ject X2 turntable; however, I listened almost exclusively to digital sources. These included the impressive FiiO S15 Hi-Res Audio lossless streamer / DAC, which enabled me to listen to high-resolution streaming from Tidal and true lossless Hi-Res Music Qobuz via my iPad or iPhone. I also used an Audio Analogue aaDAC from Italy, one of the finest sub-$5000 digital-to-analog converters I've encountered. I bypassed the S15's internal DAC using its digital output and connected it to the aaDAC.

To power the Tobian FH speakers, I employed a Pass Laboratories 25-Watt per channel INT-25 integrated amplifier and a pair of PrimaLuna DiaLogue Six monoblocks that put out 40 Watts each when in triode mode. The solid-state, Class-A Pass Labs integrated amp was an excellent match for these speakers. They produced improved sound quality when connected to the PrimaLuna vacuum tube-powered monoblocks pair. The PrimaLunas delivered 70 Watts in ultralinear mode but sounded even better when I switched them to triode mode, feeding the Tobian speakers 40 Wpc. Interestingly, the specifications listed by Tobian claim that the 12 FH speakers can handle a maximum amp rating of 800 Watts.

Initially, a Simaudio Moon 641 integrated amplifier was used as a preamplifier for the review. Its line out, also known as preamp-output, was connected to the PrimaLuna monoblocks. This allowed me to use the volume control of the Moon component and boost the source's output a bit by letting the audio signal pass through its preamp circuitry. Towards the latter part of the review period, I achieved enhanced sound quality by utilizing the dual chassis Pass Labs XP-22 linestage, which I temporarily integrated from my primary system. The increased sound quality I heard when using this linestage was likely because of its separate power supply and that it is a dedicated linestage as opposed to the preamp stage of the Moon integrated amp.

As recommended, I positioned the Tobian 12 FH speakers very close to the room's front wall where the system was set up. I found the best sound by slightly toeing in the speakers, with one edge nearly touching the front wall and another about two inches away.

Musical Performance
With the description of their positioning out of the way, I can finally get to the most critical portion of the review: how these speakers performed during their audition period. In a nutshell, these speakers sounded fantastic. A few might find the Tobian 12 FH too large if one uses their living room as their listening room, but the speaker's good looks might convince one's partner or family to accept them.

I've been reviewing high-end audio equipment for over 35 years, and I've found that nowadays, advancements in technology have made it so that audio companies very rarely produce inferior high-end audio equipment. Weeding out poorly made audio equipment has, for the most part, become a thing of the past. This means that system matching and personal taste can be one's guide.

Of course, the prices of high-end audio components and speakers have also risen quite a bit, which means that more than ever, there are higher-priced offerings in one's gear choice. At nearly $40,000 a pair, the Tobian 12 FH speakers aren't the most expensive speakers on the market, but many will still find them quite expensive.

Even though speakers with a high price don't always mean they are "better," the 12 FH were designed and built in Tobian's factory in Stanstaad, Switzerland. So, even before this review began, I anticipated that I would enjoy listening to and reviewing them. The speakers' fit and finish were a perfect example of Swiss precision, which I've come to expect from high-end audio gear designed and manufactured in this country.

One of the most impressive sonic qualities of the Tobian 12 FH speakers was that they didn't sound like horn speakers. Somehow, this Swiss company managed to take advantage of the assets of horn speakers but without any of their disadvantages. And so, the Tobian 12 FH didn't sound like excellent horn speakers; they sounded like excellent speakers, period.

Since the acoustics where I performed my listening tests were on the "live" side, I feared that placing these horn speakers in this room might not be wise. Thankfully, not only do the Tobian 12 FH speakers not sound like horn speakers, but they weren't affected by the reverberant acoustics of my listening room. So, I was wrong, the acoustics of my room were a fine place to audition these speakers!

Plus, regardless of which power amps I used, tube or solid-state, the sound of the Tobian 12 FH speakers sounded fantastic. They were incredibly transparent to both the source and the recording and seemed to truthfully reproduce both micro- and macro-dynamics and any speakers in recent memory. These speakers could take advantage of both types of amps I used because any variation in sound quality reflected the amplifier, not the speakers.

I did no testing besides using my ears, but the Tobian 12 FH speakers' frequency response sounded flat. No frequency or groups of frequencies dominated or stood out from the others. These speakers didn't impose their will on the music, and as I listened to the music that was playing, I could imagine that I could hear everything as it was recorded. This means that it treated all sounds equally; it didn't impose its will on the music but would allow me to hear everything as recorded.

A flat response is critical but often difficult to obtain. Spikes in a speaker's frequency response are often unavoidable because of the acoustics of one's listening room. Despite this, starting with speakers that can send a flat signal into the room is advantageous. Room aberrations can often be corrected.

Enjoying The Music
A fine example of this feature of the Tobian 12 FH's sound quality was when I played a true lossless 24-bit/192kHz version of Pink Floyd's Meddle album from 1971. On side two of the original vinyl, the side-long track "Echoes" is a bit bass-heavy, but the tracks on side 1 have a much more neutral frequency response. The opening track, "One Of These Days," begins with sound effects and loud kick drum hits from drummer Nick Mason. The song capitalizes on the acoustic capabilities of each speaker's 12-inch woofer. This kick drum's low frequencies shook my room's window frames and my guts. But this kick drum sound wasn't just sonic exhibitionism. It didn't sound like a kick drum coming through these speakers. It was a kick drum in my listening room!

These speakers' bass frequencies weren't simply deep but pitch-specific, and the speakers' transient response made this drum sound like the real thing. As the song progressed, the drums took center stage, spreading from wall to wall, floor to ceiling, and enveloping me in my listening seat.

On the remaining tracks of side one, David Gilmour switches to acoustic rather than electric guitar, so these tracks are much more pastoral than "One Of These Days." Their sound quality is of demonstration quality. Through the Tobian 12 FHs, Gilmour's acoustic guitar sounded like he was sitting in a chair between the two speakers, and Roger Waters' vocals were rendered with a striking reach-out-and-touch realism.

When playing a sound recording such as the Miles Davis Quintet album Miles In The Sky, also from a true lossless Hi-Res Music 24-bit/192kHz file, the ensemble filled the front of my listening room as if these musicians were with me in my room, or perhaps as if I was transported to the location in the recording. The sound coming from the Tobian 12 FH would envelop me as if I were attending a live performance, even when listening to a studio recording or an electronically produced one.

Many instruments on Miles In The Sky were hard-panned to each speaker. This did not reduce the realism I experienced when playing this album. But I am having a tough time explaining this objectively. I likely noticed bleed from the other speakers that these instruments were playing in Columbia's New York City studios, as they recorded this album with all the musicians in the same room. Even though I'd heard this album hundreds, maybe thousands of times before this audition period, my main takeaway was that I felt as if I were a fly on the wall in the studio as the musicians were playing, or perhaps sounding as if I was sitting on the studio's control room couch with the band members and producer Teo Macero, listening to the playback of the master tape. Regardless, the Tobian speakers were able to transfer the emotion of this music to my ear-brain, which I find difficult to measure objectively but can attest to hearing it.

I hope I'm not backing myself into a corner with my description of how the Tobian 12 FH speakers sounded in my system. Still, in my listening notes, I came up short when attempting to find some negatives regarding these speakers' sound quality. Sure, in my main system, my go-to speakers have always leaned toward those that are large and can play very loudly - which has always meant that I've preferred either large electrostatic speakers or large multi-driver speakers. Thankfully, the Tobian 12 FH speakers could play loudly without strain and sounded large. With most musical selections, the speakers' locations were challenging to determine when I closed my eyes.

But these speakers might not be for everyone (do any speakers exist that are for everyone?). System matching is essential with these speakers. In my system, they behaved much better when powered by 40 Watts of triode tube power than 125 Watts from a solid-state circuit. Of course, your mileage may vary.

Period
During my month-long audition with the Tobian FH 12 speakers, I observed that they provided clear and accurate sound reproduction of the source and the recording. As they accomplished this, they combined their precise sound with an elevated level of life-like accuracy. This last trait is the goal of any high-end audio equipment, and it did so, especially when listening to the playback of acoustic instruments, which makes sense. They did this thanks to the speakers' extended frequency response of 20 Hz to 20k Hz, exceeding the range of most humans hearing.

Lately, I've had to recalibrate my aversion to speakers that handle their high frequencies using a horn. The only way I could tell that The Tobian Sound Systems' 12 FH used a horn was to look at these speakers' front panel, as their sound quality was of a great sounding speaker, not a great sounding horn speaker. Even though their only 'shortcoming' was that I wish this type of sound quality could be had at a lower price, I recommend these speakers to anyone who can afford them. I will nominate the Tobian FH 12 speakers for a Best Of 2025 Blue Note Equipment Award. I've heard loudspeakers that cost much more and don't sound nearly as good.

Specifications
Type: Two-way horn and dynamic driver loudspeaker
Midrange / Tweeter: TI-4.0-inch compression driver
Bass: 12" woofer
Maximum Power: 800 Watts
Impedance: 8 Ohms
Sensitivity: 98dB/W/m
Frequency Range: 20 Hz to 20kHz
Dimensions: 54.3" x 17" x 20.9" (HxWxD)
Weight: 159 lbs.
Order Processing Time: On request
Warranty: Lifetime
Country Of Manufacture: Handmade in Stansstad, Switzerland
Price: $37,125

Manufacturer
Tobian Soundsystems GmbH
Rotzbergstrasse 15
6362 Stansstead
Switzerland

Voice: +41 320 3725
E-mail: tobian@tobian-soundsystems.com 
Website: Tobian-SoundSystems.com

USA Distributor
Luxury HiFi Distribution
7353 International Place, Unit 309
Sarasota, FL 34240

Voice: (727) 297 8162 
E-mail: tim@luxuryhifidistribution.com  
Website: LuxuryHiFiDistribution.com