Sonus Faber Concerto & Concertino

Look for a pair of Sonus Faber Extrema speakers. They will end your search.

I have a 7.1 system composed of Concerto mains and center and Concertinos (Walls, the wall mounted version of the Concertino) with a REL Stadium III sub. powered by a B&K 507. My basis for comparison is a 2 channel Mark Levinson, WATT/Puppy 7 system. While obviously not in the same league as that system, the Sonus Faber system is extremely musical, easy to listen too, no fatigue and an extremely good value. Consider that the entire 7.1 system is approx. the cost of the WP7s.

I have listened to both speakers in different demo setups and was strongly considering the Concertinos a few years back. Very musical and involving (more so than the Concertos IMO), pleasant, nonfatiqueing sound. Not the last word in resolution though. I believe they are less sensitive to the faults of the front end and amps than a lot of their competition, which can be very important if your system tends to by harsh, grainy, bright etc.
Good luck

I have owned both the Concertinos and Concertos. I had such great results with the Concertinos I mistakenly upgraded to the Concertos just looking for a fuller sound. This ended up being a mistake. The Concertinos are truly a wonderful speaker and are capable of some real magic when properly paired. ( I was using an Electrocompaniet ECI-3 and a Sony XA7ES for my source via a Balanced Connection)

I ended up selling my Concertos and now own Grand Pianos and could not be more happy. They remind me more of the Concertinos but a much bigger version of them. As far as harsh and grainy, I have NEVER heard a Sonus Faber speaker sound that way. Must be a terrible match of equipment. The Concertinos are a wonderful speaker. Good luck!

Chris

I have owned the Concertinos, Concertos, and Grand Pianos Home edition. I now use a First Sound Pre Amp, Cary Amp, Sim Audio Eclipse CD. Most of the time I had all three of these speakers I was between equipment and owned only a Pioneer Elite Reciever. It was the top of the line reciever but still that was all I had. It was enough to sell me on this brand then and today I am trying to choose between the new Grand Pianos which are a three way and the new Cremonas. While to me they are more musical than accurate it is neither of those qualities that I find the most appealing. To me they have that X factor that goes beyond a good sound and great looking cabinet and really draws you in and interacts with you. I have heard some speakers that honestly were a better product and I would still choose my Grand Pianos over them because they lacked personality. I sum it up like this. I would rather go to a restauraunt that had great food and a great ambiance than one with pefect food that lacked personality. Sonus Faber just has a lot of charisma to me.