Sonus Faber V's Sonus Faber

I totally disagree with Semi.

Owning both Extremas & Stradivarius, the Amati speakers are not in the same class of these two speakers.

The Best speaker is the Stradavarius. The only other speaker in Sonus Faber's lineup is cut from the same cloth of the Stradivarus is the Extrema.

Stradavarius is just a bigger version of the Extrema.

When Sonus Faber set out to make a statement speaker with no holds barr design. The Extrema & Stradivarus are the only two. The Amati is a very good speaker but not in the same class as the Extrema or Stradivarus. If the Amati was that great, there would of never been a Stradavarius.

There has not yet or never will be a replacement for the Extrema when talking monitor style speaker. Pound for pound the Extremas are the most amazing speaker. They can easily fill a large room. If you want to call a single drawback of the Extrema is that it craves lots of power. No tube amp should be used on the Extremas. Stick with Pure Class A Solid State mono blocks and you'll take the Extremas to another statosphere.

I own the Guarneri but I would have to say I have been impressed with all their speakers and from my experience the Extrema is their best speaker (have not heard the Stradivarus.

I spent a afternoon(whilst on holiday in Italy!) at SF's agent in Bergamo who were very gracious and eager to let me hear the various ranges.

Here were our conclusions

1st: Extrema but only with a very good SS amp that could control them. Amazing full range sound including a bass quality to die for when we listened with Spectral amps (which mated better than Levinson).

2nd: Guarneri and Amati. Love them both, especially with strings and vocals. The Amati of course went deeper. Great with both the Spectral and Sonus Faber.

3rd: Cremona had a great overall sound, lighter than Guarneri or Extrema and worked well with all the amps we tried (Audio Analogie, Sonus Faber, Spectral).

A whole lotta Pure Class A Solid state power for the Extremas and you'll be in beezzzzzzness.

Have a Happy Thanks Giving Day everyone.

Mfslgoldcd,

If you have a chance to compare side by side the following: Extrema, Amati, and Dynaudio Confidence 5, you will know why I vouch for Amati and sold the Extrema.

Dyn C5 with Esotar tweeter/mid has significantly more micro dynamic than Extrema, more details, even faster bass, and flat tonal balance from top to bottom. On top, Extrema has severe upper mid recess which gives it a polite and pleasing character that Amati does not have. It was Bobby from Merlin who pointed this out to me and I eventually could not live with the "flaw". Amati is significantly more difficult to setup correctly since it's less forgiving, so don't judge the Amati by one listening session. I have owned Amati and Extrema for 5+ years, I am speaking from experience.

You are entitled to your opinion of course, but I am sharing my experience with others who have an open mind.

In fact, I like Cremona better than Extrema overall so I bought a pair as well.

Semi.
The two top speakers that Sonus Faber ever designed are the Extremas and Stradivarius period. To say the Cremona model is better than Extrema , you must be deaf. I say no more.