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Sonus Faber Cremona vs. Cremona M again, I know

I know this has been debated often before here, but I just wanted to ask yet again since it's been a while since it's come up.
I got a pair of original Auditors for my small 2nd system & like them a lot (their delicacy, vocal texture,and a driverless speak-with-1-voice sound to my ears). I'm really surprised how much I like them because so many speakers disappoint me, even some really high priced ones.

So I'm looking into the Cremona floorstanders for my main system, and wanted some insight in which would be better. I listen to popular music (50's-to-present) with vocals, but like a pure non-rock-concert sound, with controlled bass and non-piercing highs. I like something tame but resolved
and "refined" (I hate to use trite terms, but refined is one I make room for.)
So am I better with the original Cremona or the M?
Thanks.

System: Edge NL12.1 amp, Ray Samuels Tubed B52 preamp (Telefunken 12AU7 tubes, with some ECC802s in there),
EMM CDSA-SE with X-upgrade, Stealth Indra ICs, Cardas Golden Ref. speaker cables, various Shunyata Anaconda power cords, Hydra 8.
rgs92
martykl
3,578 posts
 
I own very old Minuettos and pretty recent Cremona Ms and have heard just about everything in between.

The M series did what pretty much every post above describes - tamed the mid bass energy and boosted the presence region, bringing the SF sound more into line with modern convention.

The older SFs were kinder to certain source components and electronics, certain rooms (tho not all), and - especially - certain recordings. The new versions are more neutral.

Marty
ebm
9,311 posts
 
M better by a wide margin.
rgs92 OP
974 posts
 
Yep, the Auditors are VERY sensitive to upstream things (like power cords and XLR/RCA choice), and positioning like crazy, but they do reward greatly when everything falls into place, like something I would guess to be much more expensive to my ears.

I'd also like to ask if the Guarneri Mementos are a real step up (though it seem there are a lot of these for sale each time I look).
Thank you everyone for taking the time to chime in here. I've never had a Sonus Faber before this and like I said, they sure do impress me more than I expected.
jrw40
64 posts
 
i have the original cremonas, ayre gear. last year i swithched to the analysis plus silver ovals. that seem to balance things out. lots of detail but still smooth. very happy with this combo.
4musica44107
520 posts
 
Rgs92 - I traded up from the Auditor M to the GM and have never regretted the move. The GM is at least one step up compared to the Auditor M. Then I added a REL R-305 sub to that system - that was the perfect finishing touch.
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