I have heard more than one model of Sonus Faber: Olympica Nova, Amati and Lillium. Amplification: Luxman, MacIntosh, Audio Research, Boulder, and I am sure something I am not remembering. To my ear the best pairing by far is Audio Research. If you only listen to rock I can see the pairing with Mac. I can’t see the pairing with Luxman ever. Boulder sounds good for solid state, but misses some of the warms and midrange bloom of ARC. This is my taste for detailed and musically real presentation.
Sonus Faber Amati vs. Wilson Sasha V (and perhaps vs. Focal n3)
I am looking to upgrade my dual-purpose home theatermusic system. Currently I have a 5.2 system with Focal speakers (Aria line) driven by a Marantz Cinema 30 + Emotiva XPA-5. Source is Tidal with Wiim Pro.
I will replace the Emotiva with a McIntosh Mc462 + Mc255 (saving the two additional channels for a possible expansion to 7.2 down the road). I also plan to add a C2800 for 2-channel listening through its HT Bypass.
I am torn, though, on the speaker choice. At first, I was considering the Focal Sopra 3s since I am relatively happy with the Arias. However, the more I read, the more I was drawn the Sonus Faber Amati. It is a gorgeous speaker, and seems to garner significant praise for its musicality. I worry, though, about its dynamics for HT duty. The matching center (the Vox) is also extremely expensive, especially compared to the Sopra center.
I also started to consider the Wilson Sasha V. I have also admired Wilson speakers and I think the design, while polarizing, might fit with our contemporary decor more so than the very traditional Amatis. The Sashas, though, are 50% more than the Amatis and Wilson seems to have its fair share of detractors.
I plan to find time to audition each of these, but it will be in a dealer’s showroom and probably won’t accurately reflect the experience in my (less than ideal) room. I’d very appreciate any thoughts or opinions on these three speakers and how they might compare. Thank you!
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Hello, Can you provide the room dimension (LxWxH) as well as positioning details? I think that it's a very important information to provide a custom-advice for your room. Concerning gear, my advice for the AV receiver is the same as @deep_333 but I would advice for different kind of speakers for this dual-purpose setup: - Replace your AV with Marantz AV10 system (processor + amp) or Anthem AVM 90 - Replace your speakers with something that can handle music and can be driven with a good HT AVR, such as the Grandinote towers. Those are 8ohm simple load, high efficiency and huge power handling...The line arrays (from 8XL to 36 😱) models are pretty room-independent so you can live with really minimal room treatment. --Front/Center/Right: Mach 2s, 4s, 9s or 8XL floorstanders (depending on your budget) -- Surround left/Surround Right: Mach 2R (bookshelf) or Mach 2 (towers) Whit this hell of a setup, all the speakers will provide Serious Bass but any HT fan would use at least a couple of subs :) For subs I can advice about 2 or 4 (better) SVS 2000/ 3000 to shake your chest, depending of your room size/ budget. For music reproduction the Grandinotes are totally different beasts than the aforementioned ones...I strongly advice to find a dealer and listen by yourself... There are several YouTube videos about Grandinote and, in one of them, the Mach 8XLs hit 116 dB of SPL in Axpona 2024 with no distorsion at all 🤣! :) Happy listening! |
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