Sonus Faber V's Sonus Faber

Then Mfslgoldcd is declaring solid state is the best sounding amp on earth because Extrema can't be driven with tubes and without tubes there is no music. I rather live with Cremona with tubes than Extrema with any solid state amp.

That goes to show your musical taste.

Not sure if I can agree with some of the claims above.

I have owned almost every single higher end Sonus Faber made except the Stradivarius. After owning Amati for a while, Extrema, though very nice overall, just can't quite compete. The higher efficiency of Amati brings out so much more than Extrema in details, transparency, dynamics, and many other areas. You can see all the newer SF speakers having higher efficiency for the same reason.

Dynaudio Esotar is a very nice tweeter, but it does have its short coming. I have owned Dynaudio Confidence 5 for years, probably the best executed Esotar based speakers, and Amati still betters C5 overall.

I think for overall enjoyment, Cremona is a better speaker than Guarneri unless you limit your listening preference to music without bass.

Mfslgoldcd,

If you have a chance to compare side by side the following: Extrema, Amati, and Dynaudio Confidence 5, you will know why I vouch for Amati and sold the Extrema.

Dyn C5 with Esotar tweeter/mid has significantly more micro dynamic than Extrema, more details, even faster bass, and flat tonal balance from top to bottom. On top, Extrema has severe upper mid recess which gives it a polite and pleasing character that Amati does not have. It was Bobby from Merlin who pointed this out to me and I eventually could not live with the "flaw". Amati is significantly more difficult to setup correctly since it's less forgiving, so don't judge the Amati by one listening session. I have owned Amati and Extrema for 5+ years, I am speaking from experience.

You are entitled to your opinion of course, but I am sharing my experience with others who have an open mind.

In fact, I like Cremona better than Extrema overall so I bought a pair as well.

Lawyerman,

Until you have a chance to hear Amati/Cremona/Guarneri driven by Tenor vs. Extrema driven by the best solid state amp, you have no clue what you are talking about.

I have owned them all for years, have you?

Before you insult someone, you need to do your homework.

Mfslgoldcd,

Since you have owned them all, you know very well Extrema is a dry sounding speaker due to the tweeter. I have spoken with Dynaudio NA (Al Philippele) in length about their Esotar tweeter when I owned C5 in the past, they openly admitted Esotar T-330D used in Extrema and many other was very dated (introduced in the mid 80s') and slow sounding. The huge amount of ferrofluid used to cool the tweeter slows the speed. Yes, it can take 1000 watt in transit which is needed for recording studio that plays at 100 db all day long and reaches 110+ db in loud passage, but that design also becomes its fatal flaw when compares to modern dome tweeters not to mention ribbon. As a result, Esotar 2 employs smaller rear chamber to increase its top end extension at the expense of lower freq extension. Bob of Merlin decided to stick to Esotar 1 for that exact reason since he is making 2 way speakers and can't crossover woofer any higher in freq and still go to 30 Hz. He told me that verbally.

And as Branimir mentioned, Franco also perceived the shortcoming of its old design and moved to much higher efficiency drivers for all of his new speakers. I have also read in Taiwan audio publication an interview of Franco claiming the same thing. So if Franco is deaf, his Stradivarius should suck big time since Stradivarius is his cumulation of experience from past 20+ years.

I am not saying Cremona is perfect. What I am claiming is Cremona, given its higher sensitivity, can make beautiful music with modest tube amp and create a magical illusion that can't be matched by Extrema. Extrema is a speaker designed to wake up at loud volume, try playing it at 80 db and see what you can/cannot hear.

There are two camps of audiophile for everything - amp, speaker, etc. I belong to the camp that without tubes, there is no music. If I can use a small tube amp to create beautiful music, I don't mind Cremona's top end being not as refined nor as textured, low bass not as detail, etc.

Extrema and Stradivarius are on the two totem poles of Sonus Faber design. If you agree Stradivarius is a fine speaker, how can you claim Extrema is the best ever came from Sonus Faber?

Pass X350, McCormack DNA-2 LAE, Rowland 8TiHC, and on and on. If those don't bring out the best of any speakers, something is wrong with the design.

It's like saying your Ferrari GTO will not be competitive against a Honda S2000 unless you have F1 superglue tires, 110 octane racing fuel, and Michael Scheumacher behind the wheel.

Bottom line is Kjgp bought what he liked and I thought he made an excellent purchase. Cremona is more coherent than Guarneri unless you only listen to light jazz and string quartette. No subwoofer can perfectly integrate a small monitor or no one will pay the extra bucks for full range speakers. Guarneri is even more refined than Extrema from midrange and up, but Cremona is not far behind and has decent bass for better musical enjoyment.

For those Extrema lovers, go hear Dynaudio Confidence 5 and you will ditch your Extrema like a hot potato. Just make sure you have a power plant at home because they are even less efficient than Extrema. Guess why I sold them.