Sonus Faber Cremona I need input on this

I extensively auditioned the Cremona and found it to be warm, smooth and pretty dynamic. They have a very spacious sound when positioned well out into the room. Bass response is impressively deep, but not as tuneful as I would have liked. My major problem with this speaker is that it does not produce piano in a believeable way--I don't know if there is a crossover issue or what but it really did not produce this instrument with a very high level of realism. Pretty to look at and relatively good sounding I ultimately decided the Cremona was not worth the money. At 8+K there are more musical choices like the Proac D38. Hope this helps.

Never heard them, but they are one of the most beautiful pair of speakers these eyes have come upon. Gorgeous piece of workmanship. They weren't hooked up so I have no clue about the sound. I would think long and hard about spending $10k on any speaker that you haven't auditioned. You have oodles of possibilites, at that price, of killer sounding speakers. If looks help you with the sound, you're way ahead with the Cremona.

I really suggest you go hear the speaker. DO not buy without hearing it. It is a nice speaker. I really enjoyed listing to it.

I owned these speakers for about a year and a half and enjoyed them tremendously. They are not the most neutral and are certainly not the most transparent in sound however they are quite musical and enjoyable. The wife liked them as well because of their looks. They were easy to sell on the used market so if you do buy them and them move on to something later, it should not be difficult to find a buyer. Good luck!

I listened to them at a dealer near me for about an hour and liked them very much. They seemed to do all things well good bass and high end extension with very nice midrange. I listened to some chamber music (strings and piano) and some large scale symphonic music such as Mozart and Beethoven. Placement is important with SF as it is with most speakers. I felt they would have been better had we played with placement a bit more. They are, however, on the polite side meaning they are a bit laid back in their presentation. That same day I also listened to Wilson Watt Puupy 7's and prefered the SF's over the Watt Puppies. I must qualify that statement by saying if I were going to spend this kind of money on speakers I would need to do a home audition and both dealers kindly offered that option. For reference I own Thiel 3.6's and conrad johnson electronics. Hope I could help.

Chuck

I think the Cremonas are a very good speaker, but I don't see them as an upgrade over your ProAcs. The SF is a very listenable speaker and you won't find a better looking speaker, but I just don't see where the ProAcs have a fault that the Cremonas solve, except for good looks.

I would second the last response, the 3's are great speakers and have a lot of potential for performance by upgrading or experimentation with pre/power amps cables etc. try a very high quality passive pre.

This would be from ProAc to Prozac

Onhwy61 has a point. My friend has Proac Response 3's driven by Audio Research tube equipment and he gets VERY good results. I'm not sure if the Cremona's are really a step up or more of a lateral move toward warmth and glow. The Proacs are pretty damn good (if dated) and the new D38 is better still.

The Cremona's are worth the drive. You should try to hear them at home with your system and your music to really get a handle on how they will sound. It will be worth it and you will know. After 4 months with the Cremona's this is only one aspect of their sound but a very important one. The neat thing about the Cremona's is the way it pulls you in and gets you involved in the music. I personally find this very refreshing and hard to resist. Quite different than the audiophile approach of tearing apart the music and sound and analyzing it's elements or parts. I know this will sound overly simplistic but the Cremona's in my opinion put the music back together. It's very seductive and I find myself getting lost in the music's ebb & flow. It's a speaker that has nothing to do with the latest blah blah blah. Some will love it and other will not understand it. I certainly can't make any universal recommendations but for me this speaker is very special.

99,999% agree with circleman.

agreen with circleman..

i really looked and listened to them when i was looking at speakers a couple of years ago... they are really easy to listen to and get swept away in the music. though i didnt buy them (they were more $$ then my ap speakers which are a little more resolving and a heck of a lot more inefficent) it is one of the few speakers that i would actually upgrade to.

i am really impressed with sonus faber speakers as a whole. they have a easy going musical "house sound" and i went with sonus faber in my ht system and also encouraged friends to buy them who were putting together their system for the first time..