Sonus Faber Sound?

Hgeifman,

You peaked my curiousity. I am using a Cary SLI-80 Signature with great results in the 40WPC mode and they sound fantastic. The amp does not even seem like it is working that hard.

Maybe this is just Tube verus Solid State Results? The added power made that much of a difference?

Chris

Yes. the aded amp power makes that much difference in my system. I bought the McIntosh MCD205 CD player and the McIntosh MA6900 Integrated amplifier. The overall sound quality is excellent with my Sonus Faber Grand Piano speakers. The extra power plus the tube like quality of the MA6900 make these speakers really stand out. I was very suprised at how good it sounds and so were my friends. I suggest you borrow another amp with more power and test it out. cheers..

I have a pair of Cremonas and find them to be very well balanced. I will join the chorus and say a touch warm but not dark. Very detailed but not "ruthlessly revealing". The highs are excellent as well, and though I would not call them particularly sweet, they are not at all etched or mechanical. The midrange is just glorious. IMHO, they are fantastic speakers for fans of tube gear. I am driving them with a c-j Premier 140 and this seems to be more than enough power.

I hane my GPs hooked up to an antique Nak CA7A for preamp and a Nak PA5ii for power amp (150wpc). They are the best speakers I have owned bar none (including my Klpschhorns, Mordaunt-Shorts, Martin Logans and Magneplanars). Thay are so cheap for what you get, its like buying a Ferrari for Toyota pricing. You simply cannot go wrong with SF GPs or Cremonas.

To throw a different opinion in the mix -

I am not a fan of the Sonus Faber sound. I have had extensive auditions with: GPH, original GP, Concertos, Concertinos, Cremonas, Cremona auditors. All different electronics, tubes and ss. Though there are certainly qualitative difference between these models, they all share a similar house sound.

That house sound is VERY warm, and exhibits this characteristic that I will call the "Sonus Faber Glow". This glow makes acoustic instruments and some well recorded voices sound holographic, textured, and eerily "in the room". I will admit in some contexts it is an entertaining characteristic. However, I have found that on less well recorded music, electronic music, rock music with drive, large orchestral music - the soundstage collapses, and the glow kills the tonal balance of the music.

So - I would say that before purchasing a sonus faber product, an audition is necessarily to determine what your opinin of the "glow" is. It certainly makes Diana Krall and other "audiophile test discs" sound great, but Radiohead on SF speakers will sound completely unengaging, and essentially broken.

I personally prefer a much more dynamic and "clean" sound, without the addition of the thick Sonus Faber colorations. Wilson speakers do this for me (the Sophia at ~11k is amazing) as well as the Dynaudio Contour series of speakers.