Sonus Faber Cremona And Tube Amps


Considering the 91 dB (1w/1M) sensitivity but the difficult phase angle and impedance dip in the low frequencies, these seem to be (on paper), a questionable match for moderate power tube amps. Has anyone tried these speakers with a great 100 watt tube amp like an Audio Research VT 100 MKII or MKIII or any other moderately powered tube source?
Thanks
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Showing 1 response by hulskof

I wanted to ask the same thing for the new Cremona's (M)! I heard these baby's with a 50 W Mistere tube amp and was pleasantly surprised. Bass was more pronounced than with ss gear (Electrocompaniet, Audia Flight), albeit not as tight and dry. Mids and highs were much aerier though, it all sounded so much cleaner, more open en 'real'. My guess is that one has to spend three times more to achieve the same qualities with ss gear as with tube gear. The mistere IA21 is one heck of an amplifier. I'm not sure whether it's available in the US though. But plenty of good tubeamps out there.
Still, the question remains: what does the new Cremona do with high powered ss gear? The ones I heard were 150 watts max. I guess 250 - 300 watts per channel might improve the bass a bit? Although these speakers don't go very deep...