Sonus Faber Amati or what....

The Sonus Faber's that I've heard have a nice sound to them. I can see why some might find their voicing incomparible in any other speaker, so they may just be your thing. However if you are looking at that sort of money I'd advice you take a look at at the Avalon offerings, and my personal choice the Piega's. You could perhaps go with a C-40 and I think before I spent that sort of cash I'd absolutely want to have heard these first.

Have you heard some of the recent Piega's like the C-8 Ltd?

The Amati Homage is the absolute best speaker I have heard period. I have auditioned and own dozens upon dozens of speakers.

I do presently own a pair of Sonus Grand Pianos so I am probably a little biased as it is my third pair of their speakers. I just think they sound "right" and give the listener the ability to enjoy music for hours on end. Good luck!

Chris

The Amatis are wonderful speakers. That said, there are a number of speakers in the Amati price range (or less) that are its equal or better, depending on your taste, and well worth auditioning.

These include, in no particular order:

JM Lab Alto Utopia
Verity Audio Parcifal
Genesis 5.1
Meadowlark Blue Heron II
Linkwitz Orion (DIY)
Vandersteen 5A
Avangarde Duo
Joseph Pearls
Aerial 20T
Ascendo Z
Revel Studio
Beolab 5
Usher 8871
Talon Khorus X II

I have owned over half of these speakers and listened extensively to the Amatis. Bang for the buck-wise, I'd say the winners above would be the Orions or the Genesis speakers. In terms of clear winners over the Amatis, IMO, I would cast my vote for the Aerial 20Ts and Ascendo System Z, with a close second, by the JM Lab Altos (I currently own their older sibling the Novas and love them). Just my thoughts. Enjoy!