Sonus Faber Cremona Auditors/Cremona - Integ Amp

Hi - Great question by the way. I too am interested in the responses here. Let me first say that I am not an expert by no means so I will share with you my experience and pass along what I was told and maybe someone else can confirm and or refute the following. I auditioned the cremonas at the local Magnolia store and they paired them up with all Primare stuff. They also told me that Sonus worked with Primare alot (strategic? I dont know), however I have never validated that. I will say though, the setup had the most impressive soundstage that I have ever experienced. They also ran mont blanc cables and attributed some of the detail to the cables. Anyway - my quest continues to determine whether I will go B&W, JM Labs or Sonus. I really liked the Cremonas.

Used a krell 400xi and an ASL hurricane driven directly with Wadia player both combo were very synergistic. It is not hard to find a amp that sounds good with Cremonas or Auditors. Both are way better than the Primare stuff IMHO

I use a Classe CP-65 pre with a B&K amp on my Cremonas and have also heard them with Mark Levinson and Edge separates. I particular like the Edge and Classe electronics with the Cremonas.

For integrated amps I auditioned Cremona's with Primare and with the Pathos Classic One. The Pathos was much richer sounding, with more detail. The cables were mid-range Nordost, but I do not remember which ones. I would skip the Primare.

I heard the Cary SLI-80 with SF Grand Pianos (home, not current Domus) and it did not really bring the Grand Pianos to life - not enough detail and the Sonus Faber musical sound did not just come through. It may do differently with Cremonas.

There is definitely a Primare-Sonus connection in the US as there are both distributed by Sumiko. Not sure that translates back to Primare and Sonus working on development together, however.

I am confused by the Jeff Rowland / Sonus Faber Auditor remarks indicating "cold, cold, cold". I wonder what the problem really was. I use the Ayre C5xe, JR concerto, SF Auditors & REL B-3. All interconnects, speaker cables and power cords are Cardas Golden reference. Power conditioning by PS Audio P500 with the UPC 200 as a pre-filter. Warm, detailed, musical, lots of air, all one looks for in hi fi.

The Rowland amps are quite lifeless, but clean. Sterile, dry, toneless. I am characterizing this relatively. They particularly sound this way into 4 ohm speakers. I have heard JR on Cremona Auditors and thought the resulting sound lacked body, tone, and dynamic expression. It just didn't sound like music, which I know the Auditors are capable of. In an integrated, the Mac MA6900 is far better for that speaker.

Phil