Sonus Faber Guarneri's

To add a few notes to Dovetail's and second some suggestions.
{Ref to recent pair with a "factory tweaked" esotar tweet (haven't quite grasped exactly what they did to it)}.

Very musical is the motto, one of the best sounds I have experienced. It's also commendably fast (i.e. timing is top-notch).
Power: that's a difficult one. We first tried these speakers with a number of medium-sized amps, and got stumped (the esotar sounded too loud, or the instruments were lacking in volume, the voices were clear but "angelic" i.e. disembodied...).
To give an indication, we started driving them well and getting beautiful music at Passion stereo / Symphonic Line Kraft /CAT JL (whatever) stereo levels. Another amp we tried was the KR Antares tube (good driving capabilities) -- but, no cigar. Unfortunately, these were the available amps (i.e. no big bat, cary, arc... etc).
The cables used were bearlabs -- consistent in earmarking differences between the amps. We also had Nordost spm's (IC & speaker) on hand, but they seemed to invariably excacerbate the tweet frequencies at the expense of the rest of the spectrum, so we gave up on them.
We listened to classical, leider (mono & stereo) and symphonic music.

Placement: as above, with listening position about 3ft away from the back wall and toe in focusing behind the listening position.

If there's anything youneed & I know, don't hesitate.

Thanks mucho Greg.

I've always had the SF's in the back of my mind and now that I'm going to change amps, I'd like to do so with them in mind in the future. I'm looking into a mod'd up Lectron JH 50 - an EL34-based 50W tube amp - and the person doing the mods has the Guarn's with the same amp and says it is a wonderful match. Literature says 30-200W needed, but with the 200 staring at you (and the sentitivity) you know what that really means. I have a smallish room for this system and mainly listen when I'm writing or take a break for a glass of wine or have company over, so not as critical for that sit-down-and-immerse-for-three-hour-experience, or for loud listening. My problem is that I'm VERY picky on mids and on the musicality route even in that context (I've also been a stalwart Quad owner in the past and if don't go with the SF's down the road may go back to the Quads, and the Lectron would be good there too). The Gaurn's sounded like they'd fit the bill (I heard them years ago, but didn't hear as well then, but liked them very much). I mostly listen to violin, live jazz and blues and female vocals and piano on this second system, so I can also work within those parameters.

We'll see...

Would still like to hear any comments, especially on the old vs. new models.

Thanks again.

Mark

Hi Mark, the newer version is supposed to present a more "benign" load and sound vs. the older version that was a wilder beast more difficult to "tame".
It also seems that many SF resellers were having trouble selling the G's... Allegedly NOT because the asking price was high for the speakers but, rather, because the price for appropriate electronics went through the roof.
This is hearsay, I haven't actually gauged the differences myself: in a well treated room (dealer's) and driven by the same 250W class A machine, I hate to admit that old & new version G's sounded nearly identical to my ears... whatever.

A note about the sub: our experiments above were conducted WITHOUT the sub (SF's big one). We wanted to solve the driving issue disregarding, as far as we could, the low frequency roll-off (it was -2db @ 45Hz in the room).
In this respect, and as Mr Hiraga's machine is being modded with these speakers in mind (heavy duty caps will move into the PS, I suppose!), there shouldn't be a problem. But you do need a minimum amount of power to get correct sound from the G's, however low the volume. I would assume that the nominal rating required for a good tube could easily be half that of the equivalent ss... Cheers

If you decide on the Sonus Faber, consider the VAC 70/70 MkIII-S Ren as it will be a highly recommended match. I mention this not only because I have one (VAC) for sale but because from experience it is one of the best synergies I've heard.

Thanks Gregm and Mjc. Probably a couple of years off on the SF's, but some of my buying decisions now will effect that system, so I wanted to start mulling it over. You've given me some great advice. Thanks again fo the help.

Mjc: on the VAC, yes, I am familiar with it - nice piece. My problem with it is all the 300B outputs. NOS systems ALWAYS sound better if properly done, and you are pretty much left with the Golden Dragons that VAC distributes if you want to run the thing, ie. for me, at least, drudging up multiple pairs of new issue WE300B's at $400 a tube - and you really have to because the GD's sound harmonically brittle in comparison - gives me a cerebral hemmorhage just thinking about the expense, much less the logistics! Thank you, though, a good choice. I think I'll end up with a Lectron JH50 EL-34 based amp, or, more likeley, a Cary 805 SE (not a push pull SE like the VAC).