Twoleftears requested I give an impression of the FS Ktemas. Truly, the Franco Serblin website explains the history of the design of the speakers, so I will refrain in giving a background and post the link: http://www.francoserblin.it/home.php?lang=e
To summarize, Franco had the passion to develop art using music in the construction of speakers. Originally he believed in capturing the sound of beautiful instruments and trying to convey concierto sound to as close to original as mechanically as possible. He believed in having the ability to provide a large sound stage and depth so it immersed the listener in feeling like they were listening to a live performance. So, his original speaker design, the Snell, separated the mid/tweet from the bass. in doing so, it provided a large sound stage. Obviously a difficult task indeed.
Through out the 80s, 90s and until he sold SF in the 2000s he strove to make beautiful aesthetic instruments in the design of speakers. His speaker design was simplistic, but well tuned using the best designed speakers called Scan-Speak from a Danish company. The internal wiring developed by his son-in-law Y-ter and the cross-overs and wood construction built in Italy. FS perfected it.
Fast forward, SF sold to a large enterprise (Sumiko) as spoke of early in the thread. The engineers steered away from the simplistic design and focused on complexity. As you will see the new design is much different the old. Just take a look at the Almadi design in comparison to the original design of the Strads. Yes, SF continues to make the legacy speaker design such as the Stradivaris and Guarnis, but if you ask anyone who have listened to these speakers designed and built during the FS era to the present day era will say they don’t sound the same. Today, some would say they sound more mechanical, clean and perfect where the old sound warm and airy. At the tail-end of the FS era at Sonus Faber he stated that he felt pressured to design speakers for mass market and transition in making his speakers more complex. I believe I read his last speakers he designed, the Elipsas were not to his liking. I can imagine you can do a search and read more on this.
Ok, now let me focus on Franco’s work status post selling SF. He decided to return to his original design of the "Snell" and develop the Ktemas. He used his ability as an artist to design a beautiful cabinet, purchase Scan-Speak speakers, use his son-in-laws own speaker wire design and construct the crossovers internally in Italy. As a result, the Ktemas were born or many would say, the "Snell" revived. Two Scan-Speak mid drivers, tweeters and two rear firing woofers. Please take the time to read 6moons review in 2011 on the Ktemas. I have found this review to be one of the best in giving history and impression of the Franco Serblin. http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/francoserblin/1.html
Franco died in March of 2013. His son-in-law took over the company and continues today to build and distribute the three FS designed speakers, Ktemas, Accordos and the Ligneas. Both the Ktemas and Accordos were build prior to demise of FS, but Massimiliano built the Ligneas after his death, but stuck with the FS original design.
Personally, I had the fortunate opportunity to purchase production number 75 of the Ktema FS model. I purchased these speakers in San Bendento Italy from Audio Plus. These speakers were delivered to this store directly from FS’s son-in-law. I purchased these shortly before Franco’s death. Matter of fact, they were delivered to me in May of 2013. I remember this because I remember reaching out and asking the community if there was a need to be worried about purchasing these speakers and finding replacement parts if needed at a later date. I guess I was worried about the company folding. Today, I will say, these speakers were the best purchase. I have not had one issue. I love the old Franco Serblin sound of being warm, spacious and vocal focused. Anyone who have heard the Strads will contest to this sound. They love Class A amps and powerful tubes setups. I run Accuphase Class A and they are a match in heaven. I truly believe he reached his mark in formulating the "Snell" sound with these speakers.
Again, long live Franco.
P.S. Production #1 of the Ktemas continue to reside in Tokyo Japan. I ran into them while living there.
To summarize, Franco had the passion to develop art using music in the construction of speakers. Originally he believed in capturing the sound of beautiful instruments and trying to convey concierto sound to as close to original as mechanically as possible. He believed in having the ability to provide a large sound stage and depth so it immersed the listener in feeling like they were listening to a live performance. So, his original speaker design, the Snell, separated the mid/tweet from the bass. in doing so, it provided a large sound stage. Obviously a difficult task indeed.
Through out the 80s, 90s and until he sold SF in the 2000s he strove to make beautiful aesthetic instruments in the design of speakers. His speaker design was simplistic, but well tuned using the best designed speakers called Scan-Speak from a Danish company. The internal wiring developed by his son-in-law Y-ter and the cross-overs and wood construction built in Italy. FS perfected it.
Fast forward, SF sold to a large enterprise (Sumiko) as spoke of early in the thread. The engineers steered away from the simplistic design and focused on complexity. As you will see the new design is much different the old. Just take a look at the Almadi design in comparison to the original design of the Strads. Yes, SF continues to make the legacy speaker design such as the Stradivaris and Guarnis, but if you ask anyone who have listened to these speakers designed and built during the FS era to the present day era will say they don’t sound the same. Today, some would say they sound more mechanical, clean and perfect where the old sound warm and airy. At the tail-end of the FS era at Sonus Faber he stated that he felt pressured to design speakers for mass market and transition in making his speakers more complex. I believe I read his last speakers he designed, the Elipsas were not to his liking. I can imagine you can do a search and read more on this.
Ok, now let me focus on Franco’s work status post selling SF. He decided to return to his original design of the "Snell" and develop the Ktemas. He used his ability as an artist to design a beautiful cabinet, purchase Scan-Speak speakers, use his son-in-laws own speaker wire design and construct the crossovers internally in Italy. As a result, the Ktemas were born or many would say, the "Snell" revived. Two Scan-Speak mid drivers, tweeters and two rear firing woofers. Please take the time to read 6moons review in 2011 on the Ktemas. I have found this review to be one of the best in giving history and impression of the Franco Serblin. http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/francoserblin/1.html
Franco died in March of 2013. His son-in-law took over the company and continues today to build and distribute the three FS designed speakers, Ktemas, Accordos and the Ligneas. Both the Ktemas and Accordos were build prior to demise of FS, but Massimiliano built the Ligneas after his death, but stuck with the FS original design.
Personally, I had the fortunate opportunity to purchase production number 75 of the Ktema FS model. I purchased these speakers in San Bendento Italy from Audio Plus. These speakers were delivered to this store directly from FS’s son-in-law. I purchased these shortly before Franco’s death. Matter of fact, they were delivered to me in May of 2013. I remember this because I remember reaching out and asking the community if there was a need to be worried about purchasing these speakers and finding replacement parts if needed at a later date. I guess I was worried about the company folding. Today, I will say, these speakers were the best purchase. I have not had one issue. I love the old Franco Serblin sound of being warm, spacious and vocal focused. Anyone who have heard the Strads will contest to this sound. They love Class A amps and powerful tubes setups. I run Accuphase Class A and they are a match in heaven. I truly believe he reached his mark in formulating the "Snell" sound with these speakers.
Again, long live Franco.
P.S. Production #1 of the Ktemas continue to reside in Tokyo Japan. I ran into them while living there.