Sonus Faber V's Sonus Faber

Semi.
The Extrema from a design perspective is one of the best speakers ever. Plus remember the Extrema is a monitor design that can truely fill a large room.

You made some valid points Semi. So we are mending the fence.

In laymen terms these are the points I am trying to incorporate without insulting anyone.

The Stradivarius is top of the food chain for full range design.

The Extrema is top of the food chain for monitor design.

I am torn between the two speakers owning both of them currently. Both are great but in there own ways. The Extrema is a special design and feel that it has the most accurate highs and natural mid vocals you'll ever hear from a speaker. The only drawback if you can call it one. Is that the Extrema is definitely difficult to drive to reach it's potential. But at this level it's all worth taking the time out and matching the equipment to the speaker.

It is a matter of opinion with the tubes. Tubes are warm and can be rewarding. But solid state can deliver a lot of advantages over tuber if set up and matched with synergy. I personally feel that the Extremas reach a higher potential with pure class A mono blocks than triode tube amps. Don't want this to be an issue of tubes vs solid state. This is a debate and fact that the Extremas are great speakers. And are head & shoulders above the Cremona speakers. Remember these Extremas were $14K with stands back in 1992. Today dollars you are easily over $20K. Not to say price is everything but Sonus Faber knows what they are doing.

The Cremona speakers have there place. But when compared to either the Extremas or Stradivarius speakers they can not compete overal. Remember compare apples with apples.

In my opinion the Stradivarius is the best full range speaker. The Extremas are the best monitors. Now overall when listening to Blue Note Jazz Lps or CDs, believe it or not I prefer the Extremas over the Stradivarius. Stradivarius has more bottom end over the Extrema. But when it comes to lush midrange, vocal and super smooth highs I prefer the Extremas. So overall as a speaker I feel the Extremas are the best in Sonus Fabers designs. A lot of Extrema owners will agree.

10, 20 yrs down the line people will be searching for Extremas. Honestly I cannot say that about the Cremonas. Time will prove that I am correct as they are harder to find.

I am done on this topic.

Semi, what amplifiers are you driving the Extremas with? If you have heard them driven by amps like the CAT JL-3 (or even JL-2), if you like tubes, and the Gryphon Antileons, your perception of the Extremas may well change.
To really enjoy the full potential of the Extremas, a lot of attention must be given to the proper set-up of these speakers.

Thf.
I could not of said it better !

Extremas are not the easiest to setup and match . But when it's done correctly; WOW !! You'll hear how wonderful the Extrema speakers really are.

Now this is the last I speak on this topic.

Very good friend of mine owns Extrema's and he also think that it is the best speaker ever but, this weekend he came to my house to audition new Amati Anniversario and left completely confused... He admit to me that Anniversario is better speaker then his beloved( and cult like worshiped) Extrema's! Please, don't talk about amp since he also owns Mark Levinson No.33 and No.32, one of the best designes in his opinion! Extrema is 15 year old design and I simply can not except that somebody claim that it is better then Stradivari Homage, Amati Anniversario or new Guarneri Memento(yes, it is released in Europe!)... I respect Extrema very much but, let's put them were they belong-in history of high end audio. Of course, as one of the best speakers ever designed! Mr.Serblin do not share same opinion as Extrema fans but, at least they are very 'extreme' in defending their object of worship!
I like new Franco's speakers more then the old ones. In fact, IMO every new generation of Sonus Faber speakers is better and better. This is not souly my opinion(it is Franco's claim)...

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.