Sonus Faber Guarneri vs Guarneri Memento

Semi,
I have heard the Scanspeak Revelator, the Raven ribbon, the Accuton tweeter, the Accapella Plasma Ion tweeters, the Maggie ribbons and others. IMHO, and frankly in many other 'philes opinions, the Esotars are still up there with the best. Why not ask Bobby at Merlin why he still uses them? Comparing the GH to the GM I still believe that the cabinet, the x-over, the drivers and the bi-wire ability of the GH is superior to the GM.
Sorry, but when we 'AB'ed the GH with the GM, the magic of the GH was not present. Not just my opinion but our entire audio club that evening.
Comparing the GH to the LS3/5A would seem to indicate that you have not heard the LS3/5A's or maybe the GH's. The LS3/5A's are good speakers but have a definitive BBC coloration ( boxy somewhat woody sound), which I do not think that Italian speakers of any brand exhibit..:0)

Daveyf, of course you are entitled to your opinion and I am entitled to mine. Like you, the whole audiophile circle here thinks GM is significantly better than GH by a mile.

As of which tweeter is the best, there is no end to that debates. I have spoken to Bobby because I owned Merlin VSM before, reason why he is still using antique Esotar T-330D is he believes in 2-way design and he can't move up to the new Esotar2 which has better extension at the expense of not going as low like Esotar1. On top, Dynaudio is not selling the Esotar2 to anyone, so Bobby is stuck with his old design which he has tried to perfect for 10+ years. Can you imagine Bobby switching tweeter now and start this whole VSM, VSM SE, VSM M, VSM MM, VSM MMe evolution all over again?

I have lived with Esotar1 for 7 years, from SF EA1, Extrema, Merlin VSM, and Dynaudio C5, I think I know a thing or two about Esotar. in fact, I was like you who used to defend Esotar until I open my mind and start listening to other designs. If you love Esotar so much, you should get a pair of Dyn C5 to hear what Esotar can really do.

Semi,
MF at Stereophile reviewed the GM's in Vol 30 #8.
In it MF says the GH's use Scanspeak woofers, which as we both know they don't. He also says he hasn't heard the GH's so of course he cannot compare the two models ( fair enough).
The 6" Audiotechnology unit in the GH's was custom made for SF... apparently true for the GM's also. Now I have one question.... Do you believe that the ability to bi-wire is of value?
Also, so we are all clear on this point, I do NOT feel that the GM and the GH's are vastly different; there is a very similar family resemblance between the two speakers ( they are both SF's after all) and both are excellent speakers, both are mini-monitors however and because of this cannot compete against larger floorstanders with the ability to move air.(Bass response if frankly the weak point of both designs). I just feel the GH's have a certain magical midrange that the GM's seem to lack. That is IMHO.

you probably know I am a SF fan too, otherwise I would not have owned so many SF speakers in my life. all Franco's works are masterpiece.

I owned GH briefly, it was a speaker I always wanted to own for its look, sound, and reputation. it was overall more coherent than Extrema to my ears except the lowest extension and weight, but GH's ability, or lack of, to play at decent volume in a medium size room had me sold them very quickly. I don't listen loud, but GH just does not move enough air. so as sweet as the midrange is, GH did not work for me. Esotar1 is a fuller sounding tweeter than most, the lower treble is quite full body so combined with the Skaning woofer, the sound was very sweet and addictive. if I have a smaller room, I think I could have lived happily with GH.

On to GM. the new drivers are more dynamic. I am not only referring to macro dynamic which GM does better, micro dynamic is also improved. devil is in the detail, GM protrates details very effortlessly partially due to better micro dynamic. the new woofer also does midrange texture better, I just heard more of everything and Sonus Faber's strength in reproducing string is best reproduced by GM. when you said a certain magic was missing, maybe GM is just not as sweet, not as full body, or not as "colored". I am not saying GM is neutral, my Aerial 20T is much more neutral in comparison. but GM vs. Amati Homage, Extrema, Cremona, or GH, I will rank GM as the least color.

I can live happily with either speakers, but if I have to choose between the two again, I will pick GM for having better balance of sweetness and neutrality. Amati Homage vs. Amati Anniversario is similar in that sense. as good as Amati Homage was in midrange and up, the new one was better w/o sounding like a Wilson Watt/Puppy and that's progress in my book.