Sonus Faber V's Sonus Faber


What would you chose, if the price was identical between a shop demo pair of S F Guarneri's with a REL Sub and a pair of new S F Cremona's (no Sub) ?

What would be your deciding factor ?
kjgp
halelluia Sonus Faber fans what a thread.
I could say that little speaker companies in the world can be proud of so many good speakers in their lines to begin an "inter-brand" war.
Good points from everyone all are killer speakers let's enjoy them !
i have heard the extremas, guarneri's, and electra amators.
i have been nothing less than amazed by how musical all three speakers were, and i have zero doubt that the other models discussed above sound any less wonderful- mr. serblin has some of the best ears in high-end audio. i do have some concerns however with the introduction of the stradivari which doesn't image/stage that well (according to reviews)- at $40k that's not encouraging- it should do everything plus make cappiccino imho. i also feel that the amati's should do 20hz-20khz with ease, with tight, deep bass and macrodynamics second to none, especially at ITS price point. the amati-2's hopefully resolves these issues, although the pictures of it (that i've seen) aren't nearly as nice as the red-violin finish on the amati-1's.
so, i don't know if sf has done quite as well in designing large/expensive floor-standing systems as they have in previous years with their monitor-line, from a price comparison standpoint. i have guarneri's in one room, and eggleston andra-2's in my living room. both sound great to my ears, but as of late i've been tweaking/upgrading the guarneri system and the speakers actually "communicate" a bit better than the egg's, which are connected to a MUCH more expensive system (amazing). i do wish the sfg's could go a little lower (bass), so now i want to either get a different amp or better interconnects (or both!$!) to see what the little guys can do, without getting a subwoofer. but i just can't get over how good sf speakers sound- my first exposure to them was at the stereophile show in miami years ago, where i 1st heard the extremas. and, even under show conditions, the sf's sounded better than 95% of the competition in the other rooms, regardless of size, design, or price. i wasn't the only person who waited patiently for a chance to sit in the front-middle chair, where the realism and the imaging was really spectacular.
that day perhaps more than any other had an enormous effect on what kind of a system i myself would eventually end up with.
Late to the thread so my comments are going to be of no help to you Kjgp but may be of help to others. I was trying to make the same decision a couple of years ago and ended up with Kharmas. Anyhow, I really liked the Cremona. They were more "exciting" but I felt it "pushed" the bass a bit too hard for my tastes. I hope it doesn't overwhelm your room with bass (as it can do that). The Guarneri was simply much more refined and exquisite (not just the looks). But it needed a sub and so it was simply more money.

But if I was in the same boat, it would be a hard choice. The Guarneries are clearly the better speakers but they are going to be replaced so that might be an issue.

About the reasons behind your choice. I actually think it's the opposite. The Cremonas need to be played louder than the Guarneries. I doubt many owners play the Guarneries at too high of an SPL level. I would not worry about the stands being too high. If anything, the Guarneris and the Cremonas for that matter, are meant to project up. And so ceiling height would actually be the more important factor than room length or width with the Guarneries.