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Speakers sonically similar to Sonus Faber?

I recently demoed the Sonus Faber Venere line (their cheapest, made in china line) and loved it. It was being powered by inexpensive gear (sonos server source, arcam DAC, some integrated elite pioneer). i liked it much better than much more expensive speakers powered by much more expensive gear.

sadly, even venere 2.5 is still a touch out of my price range. my question: are there other speakers that might be sonically similar for a lower price?

some info that might help:

-the speakers in question use a silk dome tweeter and curv cone drivers
-i liked that they were very smooth and dynamic, and also sounded very good off axis and outside the sweet spot
-my listening rooms are not big. 14x17 ish
-my sources are 100% digital
-bookshelf/monitor or floor standing are both fine, just nothing too big

these are some that i've read might be a good fit, but might be hard for me to demo before hand: harbeth P3ESR, KEF LS50, sjofne clue, totem-mani 2

thanks for any suggestions!
tenken
dweller's avatar
dweller
3,735 posts
 
"Not sure that THIEL is soft sounding ???????????"

'Cmon bubba, it's not the '90s anymore. "Thiels are harsh" is an urban myth in this day-and-age.

I've been listening to Thiel's (1.6 & 2.4 SE) for 15 years.

Thiels are extremely neutral. If the recording is harsh, guess what?, Thiels will sound harsh. If your front end and/or cables and/or amplification are trash, guess what?, Thiels will sound harsh.
Are you detecting a pattern?

Saying Thiels are bright doesn't make you a hip hi-fi guy, it says you are not informed.
roccl007's avatar
Ag insider logo xs@2x
roccl007
205 posts
 
'Cmon bubba, it's not the '90s anymore. "Thiels are harsh" is an urban myth in this day-and-age, are extremely neutral.....

Neutral being a polite expression of an unit sounding somewhat lean or on the thin line of a razor blade quiet the opposite of S.F. sound
Sorry about that
dtc's avatar
dtc
1,047 posts
 
I would stay away from the Domus line. They came in when there was a change in management at SF and the sound changed. With Olympica and Venere, the sound is back to being more like the early models. I have not heard the Toy Tower, but the small Toy was quite nice.

The US distributor Sumiko only services speakers sold from authorized dealers in the US. So, I would check with the seller on where they were purchased and with Sumiko on their current policy, if service down the road is a concern. That said, the speakers seldom fail, even the older ones.
ps
740 posts
 
I found a pristine pair of used SF Liuto Wood Monitors on Audiogon for a great price. My dedicated listening room is 11x13 with the rear wall open to the adjacent living room and two other openings to the adjacent kitchen.

I absolutely love 'em.

On a whim, I added a couple of inexpensive Pioneer SW-8MK2 subwoofers which are fun when I listen to bass-heavy electronic music but not really necessary.

Total expense including subs was about $1500 including shipping and sales tax. Talk about great ROI!
tenken OP
5 posts
 
thanks everyone for the suggestions.

i went to another showroom where i got to demo some of them.

they didn't have the venere, however they did have the liuto so i could compare to SF

i demoed the thiel cs2.7 and vienna acoustics mozart and beethoven along side the liutos.

bottom line: i very clearly preferred the liutos. the vienna acoustics are my second favorite. so far it seems sonus faber has a direct line to my ears/heart

i've got one more showroom to check out, where i'll listen to some KEFs, totem, revel, amphion, and aerial acoustics

Ps - you got the liuto for under 1500? talk about a steal i would take that deal in a heartbeat
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