Sonus Faber Cremona Vs. Dynaudio Contour S3.4

Hi

Thanks for your responses.

Kthomas, what amplification are you running with your Confidence 3's? I was told the S3.4's have a balanced sound and are as good as the old Confidence's.

A friend of mine is running a Krell FPB 300 and a pre (I forget which Krell) with his S3.4's and he finds them a bit bright - although he hasn't had the speaks for long. This is strange 'cos when I was auditioning amps, I thought the Krell was darker sounding then the ML's.

Also, the hard part is getting the scratch for the speakers and then deciding :)

Bigkidz, I did hear the Krells with the Cremonas at a show room and did find the sound a bit on the warm side - which was good for my tastes - I listen to mostly acoustic jazz, some big band, soul, blues, hip hop and pop - not really much into rock but was concerned that it would put me to sleep, as per Kthomas' impressions. With trumpet notes, it was fine whereas when my friend played Miles Davis on the Contour S3.4's on his setup with the Krell, the trumpet did seem on the bright side and slightly grating on the ears. A good balance between the 2 would be good. The dealer tells me that SF should be driven by tubes and he had paired it with the Krell for bass demonstration.

My impressions so far based on what I have heard is that on vocals and acoustic jazz, the Cremona is more warm and musical and the S3.4 is more natural and neutral.

MFish, your review on the S3.4 was why I started listenning to them.

Owned many Dynaudio (Confidence 5, 1.3SE, DIY Gemini) and Sonus Faber (Extrema, Amati Homage, Cremona, Cremona Auditor, Electa Amator, Grand Piano Home, etc) in the past, they both are wonderful speakers. I would vote for Dynaudio if you like to listen loud and have tons of power to drive them, but they can be finicky in system matching. However, if you like to enjoy your music rather than analyzing it, you can't go wrong with Sonus Faber. My current choice is Amati Homage over Temptation or C4, but I would love to have both if money and space allow.

It's hard to choose between dark and white chocolate, it all depends on your mood and craving.

Jonathan has a good point on your associated equipments. My recommendation is to loan the smaller version of both from local dealer to hear system matching. i.e, borrow the Audior and S1.4 home and see which one mates better with your front end.

David

Please do not take offense; [Krell owners], but I would initially attribute any perceived 'brightness' encountered with the S34s as a phenomenon [as mentioned above] when Dyn's are paired with Krell amplification. As I have yet to encounter ANY brightness whatsoever with the Plinius/Transparent combo with my S34s. Note: for anyone interested, I will be submitting [a comparison review] of the the Dali MS4s that have arrived.

I listened to all new contour speakers (1.4, 3.4 and 5.4).
I liked the 3.4 best, because it's less revealing than the 5.4 and has a better balanced sound.
I've heard them in different setups, best results where achieved with the good old ML no.29 and Bryston pre-amp. I wonder which ML amps do you own?
Although I like Sonus Faber, I prefer Dynaudio because of their more neutral character and the abbility to play every type of music at very high volumes. Sonus Faber's are far from optimal for huge orchestral works and rock music.

Lavardin - I drive the Confidence 3's with the Krell FPB-200c. I find it to be an almost ideal match, at least for my room and tastes. The only brightness I encounter is on bright (usually pop / rock) recordings.

I haven't heard the 3.4's or any of the new Contour line. I've heard the Special 25's. I have no reason to believe the 3.4's are better, worse or the same as any of the old Confidences. I know that my local dealer always says the latest "just clobbers" the previous model - typical hyperbole.

I look forward to hearing the new Contour line. -Kirk