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I had auditioned two Sonus-faber speakers as candidate for my next main.
Previously I owned Monitor Audio GR60 which was very good speaker presenting me crystal clear sound stage and really good dynamic climax although it was bit cool and analytical most importantly revealing for older or poorer recordings.
This time Ifm looking for more musical sonority or mature expression in Sonus-faber which has been attracting me for long time since I visited Violin museum in Cremona, Italy where I could have a listen to Sonas-faber Guarneri.
The choice of Amati or Cremona is not only the issue of money but quality of sound reproduction as a music transducer and fitting to my room. Since my room is not so big as 4m x 7m, I assumed that Cremona is easier choice thinking about setting and tuning while Amati has long been the one I dream of.
The listening room in shop was like 7m x 9m. Clark claimed that source quality is arguably best while Amati was fed by Krell KPS25sc and FPB400cx. It looked, say, peace of junk but anyway, I thought it was good enough at least itfs not tube which totally is not my taste.
Amati sounded rich and sweet as I expected. From Nagaokakyo ensemble hybrid SACD, Amati reproduced really good accurate sound stage with energetic deep bass. I felt seriously high tension from the performance that I forgot to breath! Aerial Boundaries of Michael Hedges sounded gigantic. There was no compromise between rich hall tone and detailed nuance. I could feel even stringfs vibration. Mahler Symphony Nr.5 of Inbal & Frankfurt SO, which was recorded by one-point mic, got huge depth and what impressed me was resolution that I hadnft expected in advance. Never lost movement of lower strings in Tutti. The Rite of Spring of Gergiev & Kirov Orch proved Amati has humongous dynamic range and brilliant overtone although climax for me was Hommage a Piazzolla of Gidon Kremer. The reality in this performance was breathtaking. I felt the trio was there! Real accompanying noise such as bowing or inhalation was making it even better. On the other hand, The Piano of Michael Nyman sounded distortedly with much standing wave which I think coming from room. All over, I was quite impressed with Amatifs performance.
Meanwhile, Cremona is another quality speaker from Sonus-faber. To my surprise, it sounded quite differently from Amati. Cremona presented more calm-downed, solid and balanced sound. Bass was nicely deep if tight and never be boomy. While I felt coming-forward energy from Amati, Cremona showed deep and streamlined sound stage comparatively. Cremona got less standing wave from The Piano which maybe comes from different turnover or peak. Also, it has never been revealing or harsh in which I donft mean Cremona is dull
In the end, I became to think that Cremona is better completed speaker than Amati. Although, my conclusion was for Amati since I fell in love with whose energetic way of reciting.
Now Ifm looking forward to have a demo of Amati in my room tomorrow. If Amati wouldnft fit in my room, I would go for Cremona without any hesitation.
Follow Ups:
Guys, thank you for your comments!So, I had a audition of Amati in my room.
Although it had humongous presence in my room, fortunately, it was not too big for my room practically.
First of all, to make sure that I have reasonably good frequency response, if not perfect, I played sweep tone of TestCD and set speaker position so that all the response from each speaker differ within 3dB.
My first music track was Organ pierce of Exton SACD. It was just gorgeous. Fast passage of higher key, backed by fruity bass, was clear and never be dull which frequently happen in many other speakers.
Next one was Tchaikovsky String Serenade of fineNF SACD and I found sound stage was not so clear as I had experienced in dealerfs demo room. We tried to widen the distance of the speakers, make the angle tight, and took closer listening position. What worked most was angle. Sonus-faber saying very tight positioning, like axis of speakers cross 1m before listening position, gets best result sometime. It was true for my case. Positioning of instrument got much more clear and accurate which is most important thing for me in listening to music otherwise reproduction is not at all real. I also found listening position make difference. Closer, resolution get sharper, farer, graduations get smoother.
Third CD was Rite of Spring of Stravinsky performed by Gergiev & Kirov orch and again, Amati reproduced percussive orchestral sound in excellent manner. With older recording such as Beethoven Violin concert of Heifetz from complete works, Amati did good job that it never be harsh. Poorness of recording wasnft weigh on my mind and I could be absorbed in this great performance.
Bach solo violin partita of Perlman sounded as if Amati was designed for this pierce. Double or triple string harmony sounded without any clumsy and reverberations were oh-so-gorgeous.
After listening some other classical stuff, I turned into another genre. Famous Blue Raincoat of Jennifer Warnes sounded as if I could see the spotlight towards her. The way Amati play accompanying noise make this even better. Get Ready of Jeff Beck & Rod Stewart was soulful & groovy, especially half front pickup position guitar sound of singing Jefffs Stratcaster was just amazing.
In my room, I got better result with port fill-up devices coming with Amati remains. Without this, nothing severe though, bass tend to be slightly boomy.
I have heard that Amati works well combined with various amplifiers, not like B&W Nautilus 800-802, which require behemoth to cope with. And it worked brilliantly with my Mos-FET one.
I'm now waiting for final bill that would be 11000GBP.
If you have a small room than there's no reason to look at the Amati. Yes the Cremona are better value for the money and they need less power. In any case, if you listen to them on solid state (maybe other than sonus amp) you're commiting a crime against musicality.
Did Franco Serblin ever suggest AGAINST using solid-state to power his designs?
I have Cremona and I think it is the best speaker for the money.Amati is a very "special" speaker, Cremona is a real value for the money in the world of high end and it has the supertweeter, so if you have SACD in your mind, you have better choice to go for Cremona or wait for Stradivari...
I got my Cremona two weeks ago and it sounded great for new from the box speakers. The timbre of string and woodwind instrument is the best for this price tag. The ability to create a credible soundstage is great.
now I have a pair of Amatis at home. As you said, they are different speakers, they share some sweetness and emotional involvement on the presentation, but the Amatis are closer to the real thing, they can reproduce music moving the air around you with more of the energy present in the real event than the Cremonas do. Amatis can deliver an unbelieveable soundstage by far greater than your room and speakers defined area, but you have to work a lot with placement and that's not easy with a pair of 75Kg/box speaker. Be aware, they need tons of time to break-in they sound very nice right out-of-the-box, but you'll miss some highs extension and tighter bass, wait hours, about 400 to get close to what will be the final sound, but at 200 the extended highs and deep-tight bass will be there.
Said that, I think that the Cremonas are also excellent speakers worth their price, for my taste better than many of more expensive ones out there, with less bass energy (but you need to play organ works or huge symphonic works with many double basses) than the Amatis but a wonderful tonal balance, I loved their delicacy on violins and in general all string instruments, also voices.I think that you'll enjoy very much with any of them, great speakers :-))
> > > > I felt seriously high tension from the performance that I forgot to breath!Did the Cremona's make you feel as emotionally involved as the Amati's ?
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