Naim and Sonus Faber speakers

I'd try to locate a pair of Fabers from the Franco Serblin (RIP) era--possibly Guarneri Homages they have the true flavour and the genes of the brand as Franco interpreted

These later show ponies just don't cut from the same cloth

YVMV

D41

not sure I agree with that at all 

I found the olympica 2 very musical, a really outstanding speaker when driven by 272/250DR

Some would say the older SF were more romantic sounding and therefore less transparent 

Not that I agree with that either, it is still all Sonus Faber, very good speakers when paired with Naim.

About 15 years ago, I used to own a pair of SF monitor speakers. The name escapes me now but I loved them for the laid back sound it had. I had to give them up due to financial issues at the time but I wonder if it's time to renew my love affair with them....

I used Cremona Ms for a long time with 200s and short time with 272/300DR.

They are not aggressive but detailed and aqustic speakers for a certain type of music. 

If you listen Blue Note records they will perform as good as Sopra 2 maybe even better...... If you listen small string quartet they will do the job, if you listen americana with guitars etc  they are excellent...

When sopra arrives all the electronic, large orchestra came to alive on a huge stage, that was the main difference.

Hi Richard,

In June 2011 I started a thread called "Sonus Faber has a new Guarneri...", which referred to the Guarneri Evolution.

I found it to be a fabulous music maker in our system, with looks to die for.

I also adored the sound that its predecessor, the Guarneri Memento, produced. The Memento is more lovable but the Evolution is ultimately much more capable, dynamic and revealing, with much more and deeper bass. Less sweet though.

Despite being small, both need a lot of grunt & control from the amp if you are to hear what they are capable of. A pair of NAP135s is ideal, so a 250DR would also cut the mustard these days. The Evolution is rear ported and does need a fair bit of room behind it to avoid bass boom.

For some reason, SF speakers do polarise opinion. The original Guarneri Homage was a bit soft, delicate, gentle and slow "the authentic SF sound", apparently, but the Evolution is a very different beast.

Some people become attached to only one brand of speaker, as the house sound suits their ear. I have never been so inclined, having enjoyed speakers as diverse as SF, Wilson Sophia, Proac, Kudos and these days ART and PMC.

Hope this helps, FT

Ah...rear ported would be an issue for me. My speakers are less than a foot from the wall. Ah well..

That's ultimately why we didn't buy a pair either. Then we auditioned the ART speakers...

It's a shame that there are not more speakers designed for close to wall usage. It makes things a lot easier when your system needs to integrate into a lounge. 

james n posted:

It's a shame that there are not more speakers designed for close to wall usage. It makes things a lot easier when your system needs to integrate into a lounge. 

The Diablos work....

There is a company in Salisbury that used to design wall hugging speakers. Unfortunately they didn't sell enough so stopped making them. They were quite good by all accounts. 

HH,

Our Naim dealer in Dubai now has stock of Focal speakers to pair with Naim electronics

I will audition soon

I do understand what you mean, but any reason you did not purchase Ovators and purchased SL2 instead?

I've always fancied trying the Ovator 400 but is quite a bit bigger, and still won't go 4" from the wall. Our room is only 3.6m wide and the SL2 is much less intrusive. I wasn't actually looking for new speakers at the time, being very happy with my PMCs, but when I saw some for sale I grabbed them, having owned a pair in the past. I love the look of them far more than very modern shiny speakers, which would look odd in our living room, which is more classic than modern. And they only cost me about £2,000, which was the limit of the budget. To get an equivalent new speaker you'd be looking at a lot more, which is out of our range. I find trying out speakers really tedious, and having had some before I knew they'd work. 

Emre posted:

I used Cremona Ms for a long time with 200s and short time with 272/300DR.

They are not aggressive but detailed and aqustic speakers for a certain type of music. 

If you listen Blue Note records they will perform as good as Sopra 2 maybe even better...... If you listen small string quartet they will do the job, if you listen americana with guitars etc  they are excellent...

When sopra arrives all the electronic, large orchestra came to alive on a huge stage, that was the main difference.

 

and how did you find your Cremona with  heavy rock music and hip-hop Emre?

Sonus Faber have just announced the latest version of the Guarneri called the Tradition. Costs £13,600 and there are also new versions of two bigger speakers in the range as well.

Two weeks' ago I had a chance to listed to the Tradition compared directly to the previous version (evolution?). The new speaker is a little smaller and comes with a neat carbon fibre stand that is a lot less intrusive than the large pillar of its predecessor. It was connected to a streamer and Devialet amps with Chord Music cabling. I would describe the main difference between the two speakers is that the new one has more get up and go but always remains listenable (never fatiguing). A very pleasant listen. They are rear ported as before. The sound is very tranparent and natural.

Also heard the Amati Homage Tradition last Friday. Big speakers that cost in the region of £23,000 I believe. They were excellent. It was if Belle and Sebastion was in the room before me. You were not aware of bass or treble - you were just listening to music.

analogmusic posted:

Emre posted:

I used Cremona Ms for a long time with 200s and short time with 272/300DR.

They are not aggressive but detailed and aqustic speakers for a certain type of music. 

If you listen Blue Note records they will perform as good as Sopra 2 maybe even better...... If you listen small string quartet they will do the job, if you listen americana with guitars etc  they are excellent...

When sopra arrives all the electronic, large orchestra came to alive on a huge stage, that was the main difference.

 

and how did you find your Cremona with  heavy rock music and hip-hop Emre?

not as good was the others but still ok... not a huge stage not extreme good lows...

Years ago I ran a set of Sonus Faber Extrema speakers, initially with a Classe DR10 power amp. OK, but insipid. Moving on to a set of Exposure XVI was transformative. But for fun I tried passively biamping them with a quartet of NAP135s with the 52 upstream. Possibly one of the top handful of systems I have ever heard. It seemed to do everything right-control, tune, pitch, soundstage, clarity. But by that time I had already committed to active DBLs (which was why I happened to have 4x135 lying around), so I sold them. The guy who purchased them came to pick them up and we spent a couple hours listening. Turns out he had owned a pair previously and had ran with with some 750 wpc gargantuan Manley power amps. And yet he said the 4x135 seemed to do a far far better job. Yes, the only time I have heard passively biamping REALLY work with Naim power amps-showing that it is not always a bad decision. 

One afternoon, I hooked up a set of Tukans, taking them active with the same 4x135 and a Snaxo I happened to have. While they did things no tiny speaker should be allowed to do, they sounded like toys next to the biamped Extremas. 

The two bits of hifi gear I wish I never sold were the Extremas, and the Exposure XVI power amps. 

Ron Toolsie posted:

The two bits of hifi gear I wish I never sold were the Extremas, and the Exposure XVI power amps. 

we have sonus faber olympica 1 with our 552/250 system - we love them. an excellent choice, natural unfatiguing, with good musicality.

I have a Naim 5i V2 integrated amp and Sonus Faber Venere 2.0 stand mount speakers. It is a combination that makes beautiful music!

The Venere 2.0s are lively and rhythmic, but never in your face or fatiguing. They can boogie when required, and take it slow and smooth when appropriate. The silk dome tweeter is wonderful. Very detailed and nuanced, but still smooth. Not bright or brittle in any way.

I bought them with the wood finish. They are beautiful to the eye as well.

Whenever I come across Sonos Faber (only a few times to be fair) I am saddened by what could have been happening on the end of a Naim system, and just isn't. I even tried a serious amp upgrade once and my friend and I couldn't hear a difference. Something blocked it .. tread carefully.

I own a pair of Sonus Faber Signum with Superuniti and they sing. Handcrafted with very good speakers.

i believe Naim goes very well with Sonus Faber. So if you are looking for new speakers always put Sonus

Faber on you to listen list. Specially if you like jazz and rock music.

analogmusic posted:

HH,

Our Naim dealer in Dubai now has stock of Focal speakers to pair with Naim electronics

I will audition soon

I do understand what you mean, but any reason you did not purchase Ovators and purchased SL2 instead?

 

Ask your dealer in Dubai to demo SF Aida speakers with any Naim if he still has them in the showroom.

They cost an exotic extreme but should be listened to if ever the chance presents itself.

Then no other speaker will be of interest for you ever again.

I did hear Aida with Mcintosh amps there, all I can say is "wow", real life musical performance, worth the money if one has very deep pockets.

A few months ago, I had the chance to hear the Sonus Faber Aida's. They were driven by the Naim Statement trio of pre-amp and amps. Jaw dropping! I will never forget the sound that combination produced.

Ok so to follow up, I got a chance to hear the Sopra 3, and focal electra 1028Be with Devialet electronics from our Naim dealer in Abu Dhabi. (I was short on time, so next time I will definitely try with Naim)

I am quite impressed with the sound, the electra 1028 having punchy bass way beyond expectations from the cabinet size, and also having very good clarity, also good pace and rhythm. Both speakers are highly engaging to listen to. I suppose it only will get better with a Naim amp (I am biased towards naim)

Sopra 3 also very impressive. The ability of both speakers to create a big soundstage with good depth is very impressive. 

Both speakers are extremely well finished.

I need to hear them with Naim electronics, but so far so good. I am impressed.

Anyone looking for speakers with Naim electronics or (indeed other like Devialet) really must audition Focal speakers.