Best Amp/Preamp for Sonus Faber Concertino-Please

For what it is worth, I just auditioned both the Sonus Faber and Aerial 8's last week. The Aerials won out by many miles.

I'm assuming that you are going to be pre/amp shopping in roughly the same price range as the Concertinos... my thoughts... Consider the Concertos if you like the SF sound. If you are willing to buy used/demo, they can be had for a very small premium over the Concertinos and I thought the difference was worth paying for. I have used the Concertos with c-j (PV-11), passive, and Classe (DR-5) pres; also a combination of Classe (DR-10) and Krell (KSA-80B) amps. I found that a solid state amp was a good match for these speakers in that they have decent bass extension for their size but need a high current amp to control the woffer adequately. You might look into a Parasound if you're on a tight budget. All of the Pre's worked well, btu the c-j tube sound is along the same lines as the SF, so you can potentially get a softening of the sound and lack of detail. Cables are also critical, I found that Transparent mates very well with the equipment above and the SF's. I am in a 10'x14' room w/ 8' ceilings and the room is well dampened. Listening position in close to nearfield and the sound is outstanding given the cost of the system. My 2 cents... try some used high current solid state amps and find a very neutral preamp. Good luck and happy listening.

With reference to the previous comment. I dont' consider the Aeriel 8 and the Concertino to be in the same shopping league. I owned a pair of Aerial 7 (original) for 4 years and they are wonderful speakers. However, used Aeriels might be a good option to consider.
-twylie

Any reasonably well designed amp/pre-amps would drive the Concertinos nicely. The key is in fine tuning the type of sound to your liking by choosing the right type of cablings and treating your listening environment appropriately.