Avalon Indra vs Sonus Faber Cremona M

Hi Bobby,

I just brought a pair of Indras into my system. I love these speakers - they are wonderful at soundstaging and they are great at reproducing inner detail. My listening room was just too small for my prior speakers - Magnepan 20.1's, which are great speakers as well. What size room do you have? Mine is 14.5x18x11. How much power does your amplifier have? I'm using VTL 450's, but Gary at Avalon told me that VTL's integrated amp (I think it's 125 or 150 wpc) drove them nicely as well. I wouldn't hesitate to call Gary at Avalon and ask him about amplifier synergy. The Indra is pretty new, so I don't think there are many around here with first hand experience.

Best, Peter

That seems like a strange suggestion to me. Whereas the Indra would probably better the Cremona M, you have wonderfully musical gear (admittedly, I haven’t heard it together in one system) and, since it is the “M”, probably still fairly new on top of that. Why should you not heave your analogue source into the same league first instead of possibly widening the cleft between front-end and the rest? I’m putting on my most innocent look now, but does that particular dealer perhaps not offer the most inspiring choice of TTs? In Europe the Indra is thrice the price of the Cremona M. In the US that will surely be somewhat different, but I gather we’re talking about a five digit figure difference, aren’t we? I can think of a number of wonderful TT/arm/cart combinations for that!

I agree. Wouldn't change the speakers this fast either. Besides, it's like throwing money in the sewer. The M's are wonderful and for the price difference you can buy lots of stuff that will improve your sound.

By the way, I agree with the guys above. While I love the Indra, I would certainly bring your source up to the quality of the rest of your system...

Thanks for the info. Very helpful.
The story goes like this.
Upon getting the system (which cost a pretty penny), I wanted to upgrade my turntable, since I really listen these to only vinyl. So they really thought that a Brinkmann Balance or Lagrange would be the way to go. However, they would likely equal the cost of my system to date!

So, I looked at other turntables available that would be a bit moree economical for now, but Clearaudios, VPI, and Avids did not really float my boat.

So, I listened to the Indra, which made my cheap turntable sound better. The feeling was the upgrade to the speakers would offer a higher upgrade in sound than an in-between turntable solution. The plan being to gradually upgrade the turntable next year.

And, given that vinyl is really enjoying a renaissance, superior turntable designs will likely re-emerge at perhapos a lower price than today (maybe wishful thinking). I am also a vinyl newbie so I will take a bit of time before I get a final table.

What I wanted to know is simply if the Indras a re vastly superior to the Cremona M.

Thanks,

Bobby