Sonus Faber Guaneri Homage or Extremas?

Oops, meant to say would NOT trade bass for the greater transparency and truth to source that the GH's bring to the table.

BTW, it is not that difficult to add bass to the GH's if needed. Any good sub would do..:0) OTOH, adding greater transparency to the E's, well that's a different story..:0(

This thread cracks me up...we have the OP deciding on a pair of speakers without seemingly hearing them and how they interact with his current gear and room. We have Rwwear posting how inefficient the Extrema's are...which in my experience is very true! Then in a recent thread on another forum, we had another member trying GH's and Extremas with a low powered SE amp. Wherein, when said amp failed to work well with these speakers, he decides its the speakers fault and buys something entirely different. Folks, the GH's and the Extrema's are two VERY different speakers! Depending on your ancillary equipment and taste, they will either work for you or they won't.
But without an in-home trial...or at least the ability to hear both speakers for yourself, all else is just meaningless, IMHO..:0)

Mal, please do tell us what you think of the two...However, please remember that the speakers will interact with your up-line gear and that this will, IMO, color the speakers in a way that you may or not like. The Extrema's need a lot of current to shine, the GH's less so, but still need an amp with good stick up front. My main point is the synergy with your other gear and room, is going to be a factor in your opinion of the speakers.

Mal, I personally do not like the match-up of Mac gear and SF, particularly with the GH's or Extrema's. The only possible exception to that is the Mac 275 which, while not IMO a great match to the GH's,is the best of the Mac gear I have heard with these speakers. With the Extrema's the 275's are, again IMHO, not powerful enough to really drive them and so I have no Mac suggestions for those.

Eddie, I think what you were trying to say was that the Extrema's have a great soundstage, perfect depth and solid bass but are not as transparent as the GH's. This would be my opinion as well, although I wouldn't say that the GH's have no bass whatsoever...just not a lot:0) Without question, the Extrema's do bass better. OTOH, I would trade bass for the greater transparency and truth to source that the GH's bring to the table.

Malwow1, are you still using Mac gear?
BTW, agree with you that the E's produce more bass...don't agree with the soundstage and imaging comment....YMMV
I'm sure the GH's will go to someone who appreciates them..:0)

Since this thread is resurrected, I think it might be useful to highlight something that I have fully realized in the interim years. With the Extrema’s, one is severely limited to the amp one can utilize. That amp needs to be a large powerful ss amp, or maybe a pair of huge CAT amps ( I can think of no other tube amp that could drive these!). This limitation, which was briefly mentioned before, was not really highlighted. I had somewhat realized the issue, but was not as cognizant of it until a fellow a’phile bought a pair and had a very hard time matching up to amps that could do the speaker any justice. In the end he had to buy a massive and expensive ss brute.

The GH’s OTOH are not that difficult a load, and as such a number of great tube amps can work well. This, IME, is a major factor when choosing a speaker, more so than I realized before. For example, the new Estelon Aura’s, sound great...BUT if you read the Stereophile review and the follow up by JA, they are an absolute bear to drive!! Easy pass for me given this.