Sonus Faber Amati, who knows it?

I heard them not long after they got rave reviews from Michael Fremer and Martin Colloms. The dealer's electronics -- top Mark Levinson and Meridian units -- were unfamiliar to me, as was the cabling. I found them pretty boring and quite uninvolving, which surprised the heck out of me. Had the same experience last weekend at the same dealer, this time with Revel Studios (and this time with a friend who had the same reaction). Must be my tube bias or something.

I have had Amatis for two years and I am very pleased with them. During that time I experimented with what was connected to them. As for amplifiers: I began with a Krell KSA-150, which I owned before buying the Amatis. I also tried a Krell FPB 300c, running it in Cast to the Krell KCT preamp that I bought. The Krells, especially the 300, did a good job with the Amatis, but they were not as musically involving, in my judgment, as the Accuphase A-50V, which is the amp I finally settled on. As conventional wisdom has it, the sound will depend on how well all of the components work together. It is also well recognized that room acoustics are important and will affect the sound you hear. What audiophiles rarely discuss, in my experience, is the matter of human hearing, which varies significantly from person to person -- the lack of discussion probably relates to the fact that we cannot offer many informative generalizations beyond acknowledging the fact that, yes, two people may differ significantly in how they judge sound in the same room with the same system and the same source materials. That is why you must ultimately depend on how pleased or displeased you are with what you hear, regardless of what others say.

i heard the amatis last weekend . i was not familer with what was running them, i think a sonus amp. i think it is a great speaker with first rate fit and finish. i would use tubes with any speaker personaly, but this speaker is laid back enough to get by with ss. overall i thought they belonged on the top of the list of speakers in their price range. 22k ? i would not pay that for them . i would rather have jm lab utopias as well. i think the mezzo utopias would give them a hard time and you can buy them a lot less.

Without a doubt the most beautifully finished speaker.As for the sound,I can a name a number of speakers in this price range that surpass them sonicaly.Again,speakers are one of the most subjective pieces in audio.Let your ears be the judge.

Dopogue, welcome to the Mark Levinson "sound". Almost all the speakers I have heard on Levinson tend to sound boring and uninvolving. The first time I heard Amatis it was with Spectral electronics and I wasn't impressed with the sound at all but with the right front end (especially vinyl) and amplification, they can really shine.