DE NETSPOREN (S)

Sonus Faber Concerto: "One truly great speaker. Very musical, with excellent rhythm and pace. Couple it with a real heavy stand like the Target R2s and hear them sing ! With the Sonus Faber trademark of midrange beauty ... Tight, tight well-defined bass - try Holly Cole's "Temptation", or Patricia Barber's "Modern Cool" ..."

Sonus Faber Concerto: "I have had the concerto's since January of 1998 and must say that they are trully a great - balanced speaker, heck they should be, $1,9500.00 + Stands @ $400.00 to as high as $900.00...not cheap, Other speakers that I was impressed with in this price range were the Pro Ac's, Vienna Accoustics and Monitor Audio. However, for my taste I find the concerto's to possess ease of listening, excellent imaging and depth, a wonderful sweet midrange with a very good high end sparkel. In my opinion, the concerto's are right up there with the best and worth spending some serious time auditioning. I have had some of my audiophile friends suggest I get a sub woofer however, I find the concerto's to deliver a solid, real sounding and satisfying bass through a broad range of music. The concerto's won't slam you in the chest, but they won't leave you short in transmiting the true essense of the lower octives in "real" music & rock & roll.

The equipment that I am using is Linn mono blocks - 125w a side, linn wakonda pre-amp & the linn mimik cd player (different strokes for different folks) which in my opinion works very well and complements the concerto's nicely.

Sonus Faber Concerto: "I recently auditioned the Sonus Faber Concertos at the urging of my dealer. As expected, they fully justified their $2000.00 price tag. They are fabulously built and their sound is pure audiophile."

"The Sonus Faber Concertos posess a superb sound that demands top notch electronics. They do not flatter budget amps! "

"The Concertos sound polished and very refined. They sound lustrous, crisp, and ultra-transparent. I was impressed with the overall clarity of the sound. Furthermore, the Concertos are very accurate. They really reveal the quality of a recording."

"An overly bright, though tremendously clear treble reflects the need to pair the Concertos with a quality amp. Budget amps cannot adequately control the tremendous amount of treble information that the Concertos reveal. This revealing quality marks the Concertos as "audiophile" grade speakers."

1. Upper Orchestral Strings (Wagner) ****
Refined string tone. Rich sounding cellos and lower strings. Polished, accurate sound. Treble edge highlighted on upper strings (need less harsh sounding electronics).

Sonus Faber Concerto: "I recently purchased these speakers about a month ago, and I love them. My girlfriend seems to like the way they look. I think she likes the leather covered baffle."

"They have an incredible midrange that's full of clarity and detail. I have found myself getting new found joy listening to my old CD collection, especially my Beatles collection."

"The soudstage the SFs have are huge. The music seems to come from beyond the walls. The SF's Concertos are bookshelf size speakers and like many other bookshelf size speakers, they lack bass. This doesn't mean they don't rock. They just lack the impact that larger speakers and power subwoofers provide. But that problem, if you can call it that, can be solved by adding a powered subwoofer like a REL, Velodyne, Sunfire, and etc. to your system."

"So give them a try, I'm pretty sure you're going to end up liking them like me. And maybe your wife/girlfriend will like them too!"

Sonus Faber Concertino: "Very sweet sounding speakers with beautiful finish."

Sonus Faber Concertino: "I have been looking for speakers to buy for my bedroom system(the ULTIMATE SMALL ROOM SYSTEM ON A BUDGET as I would call it) and havent even listened to these yet and I just fell in love with them don't ask me why but it was just a calling of me to look at these on the net (THANX ALOT Bob from Audioreview Techtalk) I will be soon trying to find some dealers that sell these and the Concertos so I am very happy and expecting alot out of these guys!Thans for the help all I am so excited!!!"

Sonus Faber Guarneri: "Guarneri is very good, it makes me feel very tenderly. I like it very much."

Sonus Faber Concertino: "I had tried several small bookshelf speakers, including the Paradigm Studio 20, NHT 1.5, Monitor Audio Studio 2 SE, Epos ES 12. None in this price range came close to what these speakers did in terms of imaging, transparency and coherence. They lack ultimate bass extension but get most other things right."

"Besides which they are beautifully made and really are quite excetional for the price."

Sonus Faber Concertino: "To make a short story as short as possible: Bought an Arcam 8 CD player and took the Concertinos' home on demo loan. Put the Arcam up against my 7-year old, slightly wheezing CAL Tercet III, then put the Arcam back in the box, shipped it back to the store and took home a new pair of Concertino's instead. Feeling foolish that I had bought a US$1K pair of speakers with no comparrison's and no research, I rushed out to all the other hi-end dealers in the city to sample bookshelf speaks. Heard some B&W's, still not a big fan. Heard the Focal's, yawn. Took home a pair of PSB Strata Mini's (see seperate review) on extended week long demo (the dealer went to a trade show and was closed for a week), by Sunday they were taking up floor space. I think I'm a gonna keep the Concertino's (unless I can convince myself to pop down the extra $600 for the larger Concerto's)".

"The full story? I have realized that any speakers in this size are going to have flaws. Most try a bigger box and tune drivers and ports for maximum bass and and end up stretching the midrange too thin. They might have good bass "for their size," a good section of midrange, and a crispy high end, but it seems like those big dots are hard to connect. They may achieve a "good overall response," "disappear" and be "easy to listen to" but what good is all that if they put you to sleep?"

"The Concertino's are the only small speakers I've yet heard that are far more than the sum of their parts. They work so well as a unit that they "dissappear" immeadiately, almost everything you put through them jumps alive. Soundstage is Big, Deep and Wide. Hi's and Hi-Hi's are crisp, exact, and exciting. There is a slight emphasis in the hi-mids that can get brash, particularly at high volume with horn's and crash cymbals. In fact, this is one of my two main criticisms. This slight emphasis in the high mids has, in turn, two side effects. One, they seem to pick apart bad recordings. The detail they reveal tonaly, spacially, and in phasing terms means that really good recordings sound really great and bad ones sound really bad. Every studio trick, every digital effect, every slightly missed fader move is laid bare for you to hear. This can be fun and exciting, or else annoying."

"For instance, I happen to really like Portisheads album. They have a mood, a pretty good singer, and some really good songs. But, part of their 'concept' appears to be that all the tracks sound like they were mixed on my clock radio. And, in fact, on the systems that 99.98% of their audience listens to them on, they sound fine. On my last speakers, some M&K's, they sounded great. On the Concertino's, they are almost unlistenable. The sampled record pops are suddenly overpowering the mix, the bass is a dull thud hitting the exact spot between the 'Tinos and my sub-bass rig and Beth Gibbons' whiny, over-effected voice is grating and so shrill that I can't even aproach rock&roll volume without my ears protesting. I almost returned the spekers because of this one CD. But this CD was a pretty rare exception."

"The second side effect is that they can seem a tad unruly. I find myself constantly adjusting the volume from track to track. I can feel myself getting a bit tired of listening after awhile because things get just a tad overwhelming. But when I am listening, mama mia, paradisio!"

"My only other criticism is not really a flaw considering their size - they have no bass. In what is perhaps a very smart move, these speakers do what that they do (high's & mids) exceedingly well, and then leave it at that. They don't try and overcompensate for bass response and thus don't screw anything else up. The problem is that they roll off just a tad too early. If you have a typical active sub-woofer (and you're gonna need one with these babies) then the usual highest crossover point is probably between 125-180Hz. If you can x-over at 180, you're probably OK, especially if the slope is >18db/octive. My AudioControl x-over is 24db/octive and I got it up to 216Hz, and it seems fine except that there's actualy some vocal in the sub-woof, which I don't like. But I definately noticed the lack of punchy bass when x'd at 125Hz - it was weak in the 150-250Hz range. So just be careful about matching. I could say the same thing about CD players - I listened to them with an Arcam 8, which I found to be a bit forward and bright, and the effect is accentuated with the 'tino's, so try at home if possible before you buy. Anyway, to review:"

"Hi's above 10K: Perfection. Crisp, detailed, technical.Hi's 5-10K: Great. Round, full, dynamic, musical.Mid's 1-5K. Great. Alive, extreamly musical. Female vox sound amazing. A bitoverextended, can become brash, esp on questionable recordings, but with agood mix, you'll never notice.Low Mids 500-1K: Fantastic. Sweet, linear, full.Low's 100-500: Starting to lose energy.Below 100: non existant.Sounstaging: Unbelievable. The unity and phase-acuracy of these speaks is atonce the most impressive thing about them. Instruments are precisely placed left-to-right and front-to-back with truely impressive depth. Verticalsoundstage is not as dynamic, but still very good.Musicality: Genius. Passionate, tempermental, involving. They will make you cry."

Sonus Faber Concertino: "The SF Concertino's are a pair of remarkable speakers which will not fail to impress. They can really sing. I find that their strong point is in the treble/midrange, where the clarity and resolution really shines. The bass is not the most powerful around but for their size, it is hard to beat. Compared to other small speakers, their bass is powerful and dynamic."

"The SF Concertino's is an articulate speaker. It has good transparency and is suitable for long hours of listening. From a different point of view, it would be unfair to judge the quality of a pair of speakers based on their dealers. After all, that's what this column is all about - to review the speakers and not the dealers."

Sonus Faber Concertino: "It is too bad that the poster below had a terrible experience with bad sales people, because this is the best speaker I have heard in it's price range. It blows away other speakers of its size, and all speakers in its price range pale in imaging comparisons."

Sonus Faber Concertino: "I bought the Concertinos last week, the imaging is amazing, the highs and mids are the best I've ever heard, add a good sub to these and you can't go wrong. I have a large room and they fill it better than most large speakers."

Sonus Faber Concertino: "I tried the sonus faber on a Macintosh MC 1000, Wadia CD separates and prepower. The results, dynamism that is difficult to match in its class. I later tried the lower powered Krell power amp, no problem perform beautifully. What is interesting that this bookshelf is able to stage the sound close to you, like you are sitting at the front seats."

"Sonus Faber Concertino don't only sound facinating and really looks authentic. Easy to drive, transparant, and plenty of bass for jazz enthusiast. Its a piece of well priced and high fidelity equipments."

"Its an easy choice for jazz avid listeners if you have big or small room."

Sonus Faber Concertino: "I just got a pair of the Sonus Faber Concertino speakers and they are great! Beautiful sound and beautiful looks. The clarity of the high end is bell-like and the tight, supple mid/low end comes through with punch and definition. Very neutral sound also; no harsh or artificial coloring. If you close your eyes on a trumpet solo or a vocal, the sound seems to float in the middle of the speakers. Experiment with placement and height, it makes a difference. I have a low-end Luxman receiver and it is plenty powerful for these. I also have a Boston Acoustic sub-woofer that rounds out the sound; this is a powerful combination! I am a serious listener but until now never spent as much money on a component as these speakers. After hearing these in a sound room in comparison to others I couldn't resist, and the price is favorable when compared to true audiophile performance."

Sonus Faber Concertino: "These are great value for the price. For the price, these small Sonus Faber's are hard to beat."

Sonus Faber Concerto: "The best compact speaker that I have ever heard ! To-die-for midrange ! Sweet, sweet treble, yet detailed ! Big, tight bass ! Deep, wide soundstage ! Dynamic ! Best description is : very, very musical !! And just because it's a Sonus Faber doesn't mean it can't rock. The Concerto can even be used as a home theatre speaker, being magnetically shielded. Of course, partner it with the best equipment you can afford ... Add in a REL sub to make it full-range ..."

"It's pedigree is immediately apparent, as it sounds so good even just out of the box ... In the words of Sandy below, I agree that "it'll make you cry" for joy at making the right decision ... "

Sonus Faber Concerto Grand Piano: "The Sonus Faber Concerto Grand Piano are stunning to look at. They are also stunning to hear. These speakers have blessed me with musical experances that are detailed, warm and left me listening to music till morning."

"Along with the Grand Piano I purchased the Solo for the center channel. On the DVD Sessions At West 54th, the speaker disapears as Susan Vega starts to sing. The 3D imaging of my system is unreal as the speakers blend to create a wonderful soundstage."

Sonus Faber Electa Amator mk2: "These may not be the best speakers for everyone. They don't have great low bass, dynamics are good but not great, and they can't play at the highest volume levels without strain. BUT, if you like vocals, folk music, string quartets, or simple acoustic arrangements, the sound is fabulous. Some songs can sound so realistic that the hair on the back of your neck stands up."

Sonus Faber Electa Amator mk2: "Morris.......a music system can never immitate live music ,it can only be reproduced no matter how live ...mixed music, it's sheer stupidity to believe you can hear live music through a hi-fi system, take PIANO for instance. No system in this world could reproduce faithfully it's notes, & I've listen to live JAZZ combo & I've listen to stereophile speaker of the year (3yrs) the DUNLAVY playing my fav disc (& pianist) GIOVANNI-SERENITY, NOPE not even DUNLAVY could. Sorry Morris no dice, your system sucks, change to system that screams of neutrality and then borrow ELECTA AMATOR (DON'T STEAL) and be amazed."

Sonus Faber Electa Amator mk2: "Have owned and loved my electa amators for five years. at this price point any speaker wroth the bucks better tell some truth and the electa amators tell a good deal of it. i bought while auditioning very different speakers (wilson watt/puppies and theil 5 - each told a truth. as an opera lover, the truth of timbre in human voice is paramount and the electa amators reproduce unamplified human voice in a real acoustic as well as anything i have ever heard."

"Absolute bear to set up - difference of 1/4 inch is audible, but worth the work. i drive mine with bel 1001 amp/audible illusions modulus 3 pre-amp - is worth any amount you can spend on front end (sota cosmos, graham arm, transfig temper and theta stuff when i have to)."

Sonus Faber Electa Amator mk2: "If the rest of your system is " very laid back, rolled off in the highs and has a bastard type mid-range...too sweet, with poor dynamics" like Morris's of Ontario, then you won't like the Sonus Faber."

"If your system is neutral, rich in timbre, dynamic, musical and high in resolution w/o being analytical then the SF may be just the speaker for you."

"SF cannot make a silk purse from a sow's ear."

Sonus Faber Electa Amator: "Bought this speaker two months ago and Iīve never been happier! This is truly the best upgrade Iīve done so far.This Italian speaker is a true beaty, with a solid cabinet in pianolacque-finish and a genuine leatherfront. The elements are from Dynaudio(famous Danish manufacturer).This is a loudspeaker that has it all according to me(well, almost).The soundstage is surprisingly big for a speaker this size, with a great 3-D capability, which give the listener a really lifelike experience.The treble is very impressive, with great dissolution, and the midrange have just the right warmth that give voices a real natural and seductive character.The bass is tight and full-bodied, quite impressive for a speaker this size (about 15 litres). I think that this speaker manage to combine a quite analytic sound with great warmth and musicality. Sounds like the perfect loudspeaker, doesnīt it. It probably isnīt, but in this pricerange(under 6000 USD), I think itīs very hard to beat."

Equipment:

Preamplifier: Electrocompaniet EC-3 MCPoweramplifier: Electrocompaniet AW-250 DMBCD-Transport: Pioneer PD-77DAC: G-Dis DAC-1 (GREAT DAC, MADE IN SWEDEN!) Cable: Kimber 8TC/PAD Elementa XLR

Sonus Faber Extrema: "After owning Sonus Faber Electa Amator, KEF Reference 3, Genesis VI, B&W 801, Wilson Witt, and hear many other "high-end" speakers, I finally settled with the Extrema. Some might be right about the losse bass, and some might compain about the recess top-mid freq, but no one will ever argue how musical the Extrema is if driven and setup correctly."

"All those "high-power" hype about the Extrema are not real - I owned ARC VT-100 which sounds better than FPB 300, ML 333, and Classe 400. If you are looking for absolute bass from Extrema, you are looking at the wrong speakers. Extrema gives you music, not sound. You can easily buy a solid state to drive those big cheap speakers and get better low end."

"One of the most musical speakers on earth!"

Sonus Faber Extrema: "Having listened to many different speakers, I chose the Extremas for the good qualities highlighted in the previous reviews. Straight out of the box I was very dissapointed with the sound and wondered if I had made a mistake. However, after a few months of running in I couldn't be happier. The Extremas can be driven to very high sound levels and yet retain full control over treble and bass with excellent punch and drive. If I have a complaint, it is that I feel the bass could extend a little lower, but what bass there is certainly makes its presence felt. There is no doubt that, in certain areas, other speakers I listened to were able to deliver a better performance than the Extremas. None, however, had the same all round capability to deliver a true audiophile sound that I could listen to all night."

Sonus Faber Extrema: "What is clearly evident is that Yee Fung must have more experience before posting ridiculous commentary like the one before this."

"The Totem Mani 2 is a nice speaker but it is nowhere near the resolution or explosive dynamics of the mighty Extrema. All it has is a bit more controlled bass thats all, but it is a boring speaker because it is so slow! It does not project a similarly sized and focused soundstage etc etc. I could go on and on but that bottom line is the Extrema is a much more musical speaker than the Mani 2."

"1 star for Yee Fung, 5 Stars for the Extrema!"

Sonus Faber Extrema: "I listened to these at the Stereophile show some years back. WOW ! These speakers make anything elce I ever listened to pale into the far distance. They have an impact that will stop your pacemaker, a realism that is scary, soundstaging that is holographic. Treble does not end, bass nut-tight. There is no real x-over in these things. My reference speaker- and I should know since I use to sell KEF Reference. $10,000 two-way use to be Stereophile class A."

Sonus Faber Extrema: "I recently had an opportunity to upgrade my old speakers, which were a pair of Sonus Faber Electa Amators. Having heard everything from Genesis (300s), Wilsons (Witts, Watt Puppies), Quintessence, Pro Ac, Thiels (3.6, 2.2), Focus 78, JMLab, Aerial Acoustic (10s, 8s), Avalon (Eclipse), I finally decided to go back to Sonus Faber. I traded in my beautiful Electa Amators for an even more beautiful pair of Extremas, their current flagship model.There were one or two speakers that were arguably better but the Extremas are everything the reviews said they were: transparent, dynamic, amazing soundstaging (both deep and wide) and, oh, so sweet sounding that, after the system settled down, the music I played often raised goosebumps especially, but not only, if I play it late at night when the AC lines are quiet. Maybe I should look into a line conditioner so that I can enjoy it like that all the time ...."

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Bijgewerkt op: juli 12, 1999