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Sonus Faber Stradivari Homage?

i would like to know if the sf strads(or anything really) sound good enough to
justify the price. with tad audio, wilson maxx's, avalon
eidelons, rockports, etc. in that price range, imho spending $40k defies rationality, unless you're trying to move enormous am'ts of air in an unusually large room. if i was a loudspeaker manufacturer, throwing everything i know and the best materials available at the project, i feel i could come up with a pair of speakers for under $30k that could do 20-20 with the utmost transparency and musicality, look beautiful, and complement most living rooms with "average" attention paid to acoustics. i trust m. fremer's descriptions of the sf strads (they image like a "3d curtain wrapped behind the baffles??") about as far as i can throw a piano. the sf amatis at $24,000 didn't make enough bass "in his (stupid) room".
THAT review ended with something like "they were to die for". then he sells those and gets wp-7's. however, the rockport antares, uglier than two 600 POUND(!) gorillas, are his "reference" by which everything else must be judged. so much for s.phile's choice of speaker reviewers... so could any MUSIC lovers who actually owns sf strads comment on their sound, and/or why you chose them over something else? should sf have put a 10 in. woofer in the amati's (i think so.)
should m.fremer do something about his freaking room before they hand him another pair of $40k speakers to review? (i think so.)
btw, have a happy and a healthy....
french_fries
slappy
903 posts
 
Ive heared these at the RMAF. Freakin unbelievable sound.
Not to mention they are absolutly stunning to look at, talk about eye candy the same calibur of a ferrari.

If i had the means to afford these you bet yer ass i would be buying them, but when i say "Have the means", to me that means i would be able to drop 40k without blinking an eye cause i got millions in the bank.
jeffjarvis
257 posts
 
$20,000 speakers in a $20,000 cabinet. Very nice.
slappy
903 posts
 
Jeff,
i think you hit the nail on the head with that statement.
cohnaudio
28 posts
 
I auditioned them with a friend yesterday for 2 hours at a dealer over here in the UK. System: DCS CD/SACD front end, Pathos hybrid monoblocks and valhalla cables and Nordost's new power conditioner. The room was of moderate size with the speakers about 4- 5 feet from the back wall and about 6 feet from the side wall. I found the sound very lush sounding. A bit too warm and not enough transparency for my taste (I currently use Revel Salons driven by Tenor 300HPs). I think M. Fremmer's description was exactly right They are absolutely gogeous to look at, and no doubt quite a bit of the cost is wrapped up in the cosmetics - they are essentially, furniture. While I would not pay that kind of money for them with that kind of sound, I could see people who enjoy that kind of presentation and are looking for speakers for their living room that won't stick out like a sore thumb spending that kind of money. Interestingly, the dealer also sells the Wilson Watt Puppy 7s, which my friend also listened to. Obviously, he got the two extreme ends of the spectrum (which is why I took him to listen to both), so now I'm having him listen to stuff in between (e.g., Von Schweikerts, Kharmas, etc.).
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