Sonus Faber and Naim amp

i used SF Cremona M Auditor with 200s for 8 years and very happy in my small / mid sized room, great mids.... not as open like my new Sopra 2s but very close with many music genre

I listened Olympica's very nicely build and very good sound... whatever supernait 2 can drive them not very sure

Looking solely at price and size, I’d say that it was too much speaker for a Supernait. You provide no information on your source, which is a critical part of the system. 

Yes, I have experience with Naim and SF, not the exact combo but with the Venere line and the older Cremona line of speakers.

The Olympica 2 speakers retail for $10,000 US dollars, I have heard the speakers many times driven by an Atoll 50, 80,100 watt integrated amps and other Atoll front end electronics at my dealers showroom, and they sound great.

The SN2 with or without a HiCap will most definitely be able to drive the speakers. My opinion, it may not be the ideal amp to get the most from the speakers, they would of course do better with a 300, but I don't feel they would outclass a SN2, HCDR combo. I actually think it would be a fantastic sounding system.

In general terms i think Naim and SF are very well matched but as HH says maybe not this particular combo. I've had SF Grand Pianos on the end of a CD555, NAC552 and NAP300 for many years and am now considering the Guarneri Traditions. Anyone heard these? My listening room is quite tight at the speaker end and not sure i can get away with anthing huge speaker wise.

Hi Bryce,

I have had Guarneri Memento and Guarneri Evolution speakers at home on the end of NAP135 amps. Both were a super match to these cloth ears. However, the Evolutions pumped a lot more bass out of the rear port than the Mementos could manage, so needed to be a long way out into the room to avoid bass bloat. While the Mementos were fine 60cm from our back wall, the Evolutions needed almost a metre which we could not accommodate.

As I understand it, the Guarneri Tradition is fairly similar to the Evolution in terms of bass driver & porting, so may be similarly sensitive to boundary placement. Georgeous looking speaker though!

Hope this helps, FT

Source is Chord Hugo. My listening room is about 30 m2, part of it with a high roof.

Zachris posted:

Source is Chord Hugo. My listening room is about 30 m2, part of it with a high roof.

Yeah, that's a room that probably deserves a bit more amp, as well as speakers.  An SN2 driving the speakers at decent levels in a much smaller room, maybe, but 30m2 I would expect to leave an SN2 a  little out of breath.  

Foot tapper posted:

Hi Bryce,

I have had Guarneri Memento and Guarneri Evolution speakers at home on the end of NAP135 amps. Both were a super match to these cloth ears. However, the Evolutions pumped a lot more bass out of the rear port than the Mementos could manage, so needed to be a long way out into the room to avoid bass bloat. While the Mementos were fine 60cm from our back wall, the Evolutions needed almost a metre which we could not accommodate.

As I understand it, the Guarneri Tradition is fairly similar to the Evolution in terms of bass driver & porting, so may be similarly sensitive to boundary placement. Georgeous looking speaker though!

Hope this helps, FT

Very helpful.  The back of my current SF Grand Pianos are 630mm from the rear wall (slightly toed in, 630mm is the shorter length).  I can do 800mm but a metre is pushing it.

I used NAP 135s to drive the SF Amati Homage. It sounded really good at normal to loud listening levels, but when playing really loud the pair started to sound congested. Couldn't say whether it was the speakers or the amps. It's odd reading everyone's comments and not a single mention of speaker sensitivity, certainly an important factor in matching a speaker to an amp. By the way, the Amatis are 92.5db (B-weighted).

I owned SF Elipsa and Cremona M before and they were good especially for the Elipsa and up models. But recent models does not convince me at all. This is personal opinion, I found out that SF does not carry the any signature sound or Character sound anymore.

Like Naim, we like Naim because of the its Character/sound taste and etc, if one day Naim new models with no Naim's house sound I think a lot of us will drop the Naim and go for something else. This is what Happen to Audio Research and Sonus Faber at SE market.

Try some other brand if you have a choice. SF always nice in outlook but when come to sound quality, it will get you bored very soon. Try ProAc/Dynaudio/Gryphon if you like their Character Sound.

Tried Supernait2 with Olympica II's. No problems whatsoever.

Dear PT109, in your opinion, was it a good match?

SN2 is a pretty neutral amplifier, at least it´s not on the bright side. I've heard some Sonus Faber speakers (Toy Tower, Concerto Domus, Cremona Auditor M) and as much as I can remember they weren´t bright either.

SongStream posted:

Zachris posted:

Source is Chord Hugo. My listening room is about 30 m2, part of it with a high roof.

Yeah, that's a room that probably deserves a bit more amp, as well as speakers.  An SN2 driving the speakers at decent levels in a much smaller room, maybe, but 30m2 I would expect to leave an SN2 a  little out of breath.  

Sounds like in logical assessment!

Anyone with hands on experience, with a room that size?

Allante93!

PS. The Forum at it's Best!

Hands on experience, as it relates to gear & room size!

30 squaree meters

Vs

3  square meters = a nice cozy room!

My living is 45 square meters and my Supernait has no issues filling it with good sound to unbearable levels. This is using BW CM1's with an efficiency of 84db. Hard to drive speakers.

Supernaits like to work, they are workhorses. 10 on the volume knob is their comfortzone where they balance out best.

I bought Sonus Faber Guarneri Memento a couple of years ago to go with a Supernait 2 (with some trepidation). I added a Hi Cap DR, which gave much more control from these beautiful and gorgeous sounding speakers - which I love.

Yes the Supernait 2/Hi Cap DR combination can drive such a demanding SF speaker to a point; but not with ease to derive the very best from what is there in the design and materials of the speaker . It has left me wanting to keep these great speakers but upgrade my Naim amplification, for I love the Naim house sound coupled with Sonus Faber.   

We use SF Olympica 1 with a 552/250 it’s a very good match. The last version of the Guarneri is a wonderful speaker and we would love a 300 with those.

regards

Ardbeg10y posted:

My living is 45 square meters and my Supernait has no issues filling it with good sound to unbearable levels. This is using BW CM1's with an efficiency of 84db. Hard to drive speakers.

Supernaits like to work, they are workhorses. 10 on the volume knob is their comfortzone where they balance out best.

I thought 45 square meters was 45 x 45, I know stupid Allante!

9 M long x 5 M wide = 45 square ft!

You learn something every day!

You guys are living large!

Nice size room! 

http://www.ehow.co.uk/info_857...ons-living-room.html

The above link Average size living room in the UK!

Allante93!

I have experience with this combination. To be honest I was left wondering how much better the SuperNait could have sounded with a different speaker option. Tread carefully. I believe there are better brand options to go with Naim amplification. Do try them.

Listening to SF Cremona with Uniti Nova. A very good match. I have all kind of sources - Rega Planer 5, Uniti Core, NKamichi CD1, P S Audio Direct Stream Memory Player, Roon with Airplay to Nova - each of thwm sounds great !!! My room size is 10x12x10.

My regular amp is 2XMC 275 in monoblock setup. With that SF Cremona creates a very different type of sound stage and clarity. But the sound with Nova is reasonably great given its price point.

Regards,

Sourav

Zachris posted:

Dear PT109, in your opinion, was it a good match?

SN2 is a pretty neutral amplifier, at least it´s not on the bright side. I've heard some Sonus Faber speakers (Toy Tower, Concerto Domus, Cremona Auditor M) and as much as I can remember they weren´t bright either.

I think it was, as I enjoyed it. Nice timbre and harmonics, and good punch when required.

But as we all have different biases, you should really ultimately listen for yourself to make sure this combo ticks the right boxes for you. 

Allante93 posted:

Ardbeg10y posted:

My living is 45 square meters and my Supernait has no issues filling it with good sound to unbearable levels. This is using BW CM1's with an efficiency of 84db. Hard to drive speakers.

Supernaits like to work, they are workhorses. 10 on the volume knob is their comfortzone where they balance out best.

I thought 45 square meters was 45 x 45, I know stupid Allante!

9 M long x 5 M wide = 45 square ft!

You learn something every day!

You guys are living large!

Nice size room! 

http://www.ehow.co.uk/info_857...ons-living-room.html

The above link Average size living room in the UK!

Allante93!

Lol, I did the same thing.  I was imagining what would be an almost warehouse-like 30m x 30m room.  Since this slightly embarrassing mistake has now been highlighted, I concur with the above.  The SN2 should be more than adequate fill such a room, i.e 30 square metres, and most likely considerably beyond, and also agree that 10 o'clock on the volume dial, or thereabouts, seems to be a sweet spot, though that may depend on speakers to a degree too.  

I'm sorry for confusion! It was a Scandinavian way of telling the room size.

Living room is 4,5 metres (speakers wall) x 7 metres = around 30 square metres. Don't know much about foot/feet...

My SN2's volume dial is usually at 9 o'clock, sometimes near 10 o'clock, so I think I haven't seen it's limits yet. Speakers are Linn Majik 140's. 

Zachris posted:

I'm sorry for confusion! It was a Scandinavian way of telling the room size.

Living room is 4,5 metres (speakers wall) x 7 metres = around 30 square metres. Don't know much about foot/feet...

My SN2's volume dial is usually at 9 o'clock, sometimes near 10 o'clock, so I think I haven't seen it's limits yet. Speakers are Linn Majik 140's. 

Still a nice size room, when compared with the Norm!

"National average

As of 2011, Dimensions Guide estimates that the average living room is a 4.8 by 4.8 m (16 by 16 foot. Depending on the size of your home -- including the number of people in your household -- it may make sense for your living room to be a different size or shape.

Small Homes

Dimensions Guide states that living rooms in small homes are also square and are 3.6 by 3.6 m (12 by 12 feet). You may find it practical to keep your living room to this size if there are only two people in your household, or if you live alone.

Large homes

Large homes, on average, have large, rectangular living rooms, 5.4 m (18 feet) long and 3.9 m (13 feet) wide. Though this would seem to be barely larger than the living room in a small home, consider that 1.8 m (6 feet) is enough room to fit an extra sofa; such a room could hold two more sofas than a 3.6 by 3.6 m (12 by 12 foot) living room."

The Norm = 23.04 square ft.

4.8 x 4.8

4.5 x 7 = 31.5 square feet

About the size of my Living Room.

Cdx2>282>HCDR>3 x 250.2>Briks

Next Upgrade SC/Snaxo!

Enjoy Your Music!

Allante93!

PS. As Quiet as its Kept, Naim is all good!

And the last time I checked, the SN 2 ain't Cheap!

Marque Separates 202/200

Digital Pre-Amp- 272

Integrated Amp- SN 2