Sonus Faber

Overkill doesn't kill any more. VS may not be an overkill for SU as such, but I would be careful with room size and resonances.

The three 180mm woofer system seems to be a lot of booming potential to me.

Chag -

I tend to think that both options are a lot of speaker for a SuperUniti. Are you intending to upgrade the electronics? If so, getting very good speakers such as these could make sense as part of a process. But as a long term combination with the SU I'm not so sure. It's a lot to spend and you need to hear them at home. The SU has a big and bold sound and with these multi-woofer speakers it might be too much. 

When I had an SU I used PMC 23s, which cost £2,400. I see that the newly announced twenty5 23 is now £3,000, and I'd use them happily with an SU, so maybe the SFs are entirely appropriate. But the SU still won't get anything like the best from them. 

This thread is about speakers & will get more attention if its moved to HiFi Corner

Hi HUNGRYHALIBUT no i am not upgrading the SuperUniti. And if its better to move this to the HIFI Corner the moderator can do this .

Thread has been moved.

go for venere signature... heard the venere 3.0 and I thought it was ok, probably the signature is providing what I though is missing (the slight lack of bass)

CP,

As always with speakers you have to listen to them in your room with your system, everything else is just guess-work.

....at least you have a compact wish list which can be serviced by one dealer!

Be interested in what you hear.

M

I am reading the hifi magazines again something I did not do for a long time and one speakers brand comes out as very good and its PCM. So please share your thoughts about this brand?

I think you mean PMC, yes, they have quite a good reputation, but like others have said, speakers are quite a personal preference, what sounds ideal to some can be hated by others. You should try to audition as many different brands as possible before making your decision.

As for the Sonus Faber Venere S, I recently heard them at the Axpona show, they sounded quite good. I think the Superuniti being based on the SuperNait 2,  would definitely not be outclassed by the speakers, or as you put it, overkill, I happened to think it would be a very good combo, just my opinion.

Hi Badlands

Do you have a shortlist of speakers that you like when driven by Naim?

I do recall you mentioning Proac is your most favourite speaker.

What else can you recommend?

ANOLOGMUSIC.

I know you are going to think this is a copout, but to be honest, there isn't a speaker I have heard that ever sounded really bad driven by Naim electronics, it's funny, because I will listen to speakers on other electronics and think they sound terrible, then hear the same speakers on Naim stuff and they sound pretty good, I have never had the reverse happen, I must have Naim diseased ears!

But my personal shortlist, is very short.

Proac, Dynaudio, IMO, had the best sound at Axpona.  ATC, SCM 40's sounded excellent. Spendor D7,  Magico. For those on a budget, Elac speakers are hard to beat. But like I said, speakers that don't impress on other electronics, all of a sudden come to life on Naim stuff.

Not being familiar with Sonus Faber, and the talk of overkill combined with the images I found of them on t'internet, lead me to expect them to be way more expensive than they actually are.  I also thought they would be quite a bit bigger than they are.  Having looked up a few facts and stats, on paper at least, I see no reason why they should be overkill for an SU.

Unfortunately I have only heard the baby PMC twenty 21s, and not on the end of Naim gear.  And for the record IMO they are a good speaker, but certainly nothing that really impressed me beyond what one would expect for the price.  However, I can comment on Proac in terms of a similarly priced, and very capable speaker.  I use D18s with an SN2 and find them very enjoyable.  Amoung the things which impress me are the speed and punch they deliver, plus the crisp upper frequencies, and the fact that they deliver this without getting splashy and harsh when things get complicated.  Almost because of the crisp and sparkly treble, in the early days of owning them with some rock tracks, I would kind of expect things to fall apart and become kind of splashy as the track built to a climax, but impressively that moment never arrives, everything stays very much in control and balanced when I might have expected signs to the contrary.  How much of that is down to the grip the SN2 has over them I couldn't say, but the combo works very well, and an SU I would imagine is not so far away in speaker control abilities.  Might be worth considering.

Just my opinion, if you have other choice to get other brand of speaker please try before you confirm the SF new model speaker. For the, the best SF and still holding the Brand were the old models like Elipsa and before. There is so many good brand in the market. Try something that make it Europe/origin country for better built/sound quantity assurance. You can try ProAc D30R (carbon fiber drivers) or PMC or Tannoy.

badlands posted:

ANOLOGMUSIC.

I know you are going to think this is a copout, but to be honest, there isn't a speaker I have heard that ever sounded really bad driven by Naim electronics, it's funny, because I will listen to speakers on other electronics and think they sound terrible, then hear the same speakers on Naim stuff and they sound pretty good, I have never had the reverse happen, I must have Naim diseased ears!

But my personal shortlist, is very short.

Proac, Dynaudio, IMO, had the best sound at Axpona.  ATC, SCM 40's sounded excellent. Spendor D7,  Magico. For those on a budget, Elac speakers are hard to beat. But like I said, speakers that don't impress on other electronics, all of a sudden come to life on Naim stuff.

Thanks, I do agree with you, I have Naim even brining B&W speakers to life, so it is the electronics.

Good shortlist, the Spendor D7 seems like a reasonable enough price speaker (compared some other companies going a bit crazy on pricing nowadays) offering lots of performance.

Make sure you listen to the Venere 3.0 with your SuperUniti. 

I just auditioned the Venere 3.0 at a dealer with some Marantz equipment. I'm sure that it was the Marantz, but I left very unimpressed. It was their "good" integrated at 90W /ch. 

I own the 1.5 and with both my Qute and Tube Amp it is a great speaker.  The 3.0 seemed much more laid back. 

Why does it seem that only Naim Dealers can set up a demo that is fun to listen too?

BNN posted:

Try something that make it Europe/origin country for better built/sound quantity assurance. You can try ProAc D30R (carbon fiber drivers) or PMC or Tannoy.

Sonus Faber is a European brand founded by Franco Serblin although the series entry level Venere are assembled in China.

CP62, if you like SF please try an audition with Olympica I , one of the greates stand mount speakers with a very original Serblin style and made in Italy.

On the subject of whether its wise to push the SU with really quite expensive speakers, it really depends on the speakers and how they match the SU. For example, we never imagined that Shahinian Arcs would work with it, but they do and it's a cracking £10k solution.

So, provided the Venere Signature isn't an enormously difficult load, then the combination can work well.

Regards,
Frank.

We have a pair of Sonus Faber Olympica 1. They are not for everyone but for a very cultured smooth refined sound with a midrange of texture and refinement we have not heard better. Wonderful match with Naim, we use with a 552/200 and they want ideally a 300. 

The amazing Naim sound shines through them but not for bass heads or ultra clean sound freaks. SF sound too cultured for that.

Best regards 

Anto68 posted:

BNN posted:

Try something that make it Europe/origin country for better built/sound quantity assurance. You can try ProAc D30R (carbon fiber drivers) or PMC or Tannoy.

Sonus Faber is a European brand founded by Franco Serblin although the series entry level Venere are assembled in China.

CP62, if you like SF please try an audition with Olympica I , one of the greates stand mount speakers with a very original Serblin style and made in Italy.

The Venere S is assembled in Italy, not in China. There are two lines in the Sonus Faber catalog that are below the Venere line, the  Chameleon line and the Principia line.

These look proper Purdy , and are probably an easier load than those big SFs. Forget comfort and bring on the real.