Sonus Faber Cremona Vs. Dynaudio Contour S3.4

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

My "ideal" setup when I almost bought C2s was a Hovland pre/Krell 400cx. I had 1.3SEs at the time.

Krell/Plinius are typical amp matches for Dyns. The latest iterations of the Krell FPBs are not bright to me in the least btw.

I will have to respectfully disagree with pendulus. I auditioned the Amati/Temptation/C4 in a local store. Even though Temptation was the overall winner, but Amati clearly outshined Temptation in classical music, large or small orchestral work. SF speakers are known for their silky and delicate high, a tribute of top Scanspeak tweeter which uses no ferrofluid which will improve speed and micro dynamic. I have owned Dynaudio C5 for many years, one of the very best Dynaudio ever made (better than C4 IMHO), and C5 still can't compete with Amati especially in string music.

If accuracy is what you are after, you should consider Wilson Watt/Puppy. But apparently you also like to enjoy your music, so YOU have to decide which one you like more.

Hi

Pendulus: My amps are 331 power and 380 pre. I thought the 3.4 was the safest to go with as fearing brightness I thought the Esotar 2 may be too revealing after reading Mfish's review comparing that and the S25.

Kthomas: My friend is using a FPB 200 C as well with a KRC preamp - what preamp are you using? I had suggested to him that it perhaps needed a tube preamp but he said that that would void the power amp warranty. What cables are you on? He has a real mixed bag - Naim Audio NACA 4 spk cables, Cardas Quadlink 5 C interconnects mostly and a Straightwire Virtuoso run between a ML DAC and the pre, all balanced. I told him to check the cables as the Straightwire may be bright. I thought the Naim's may be OK as the Naim sound is fast and bright anyway with the cables meant to tame this.

KeithR: was the pre you were referring to with the 400Cx a tube pre? If so, you would perhaps agree with my guess that a tube pre would smooth out the highs?

Hi

It could be break in you know. There are posts on Audio Asylum specifically mentioning break in for the Contour S3.4, with the poster saying that it needs at least 100 hours otherwise the treble is bright.

I am not a whiz with posting links otherwise I would have posted the link for you.

I'd say a tube pre would help with Krell stuff but you may need to be careful with impedance matching.