Please save me from an expensive mistake! Sonus Faber Amati Futura longevity concerns...


Hello everybody! I would really appreciate your informed advice before committing to an expensive purchase. I'm strongly considering a pair of the speakers I've enjoyed the most among all I've heard, Sonus Faber Amati Futura. Now, these are my dream speakers and I'll get the chance to test them at length before buying, but even at used prices they are a very serious stretch to my finances.

I'm not concerned about sound, I'll figure that part myself, but I do worry about any future maintenance issues because they are 10 - 15 years old and I need them to last. I don't know if, or when, will I be able to buy something at this level again, so I need to keep them in good order for the next 20+ years. Down the road, this might require replacing the ferrofluid in the tweeters, replacing the rubber surround of the midrange drivers (the 4 woofers have just been replaced with new ones by the dealer, not sure why, but they should not be a problem I guess) or replacing some aged crossover components, for example. 

Is any of you aware of any reason why the above mentioned maintenance operations might not be possible for this particular model? For example if the crossovers are resin potted or for any other reasons? I'm "getting married" here folks, if there is any reason why I should not do it please speak now or be silent forever! :)

Seriously now, I'm worried sick... Please advise! 

Thank you!

donquichotte

Fair points.  I wasn’t actually suggesting that you buy spares for such an expensive and complicated speaker. ;-)  You say you love the sound, the woofers have been replaced so they didn’t seem to spoil what you like about the speaker, and they should last for a long time.  That leaves the tweeters.  I understand your concern but I would ask the dealer if they can or should be serviced, and how much that would cost down the road.  OTOH, if this is always going to be a worry, like with one commenter above, then stop right now and move on.

Something that does bother me a bit, however, is when you say that the other SF and the Spendor 100 were "bass light" in your small room.  Perhaps some treatemnt woukld help, but I can't help wondering if you're buying too much speaker for the room.

Unfortunately past experiences have made it clear to me that the dealer will not always keep his word.

Please correct me if I'm wrong but "too much speaker for a room" usually results in uneven, excessive and uncontrolled bass, not in an overall feeling of lack of bass. Maybe I'm placing the speakers in a null, but that's where the midrange and highs sound the best, about 1,2m out in the room (measured from the front baffle to the back wall) on the long wall.

 

Somebody told me that  "you have to check if the tweeter you want to repair is easy to open. Some tweeters have a ‘click system’, or are glued together, and therefore barely serviceable" . Anyone knows if the tweeters in the Futura are serviceable?

Not sure where I've got this information from a while ago, I might be wrong, but the tweeter might be a (modified?) Scan-Speak Classic D2905/970000 while the midrange driver might be a modified Scanspeak 18W8545. FWIW

@donquichotte @knotscott : You are saying that  ferrofluid replacement should be"Fairly easy to do if the tweeters come out, and the voice coil assembly is removable." How can I assess if this is actually the case with the Futura's tweeters?

I'd ask the dealer and/or Sonus Faber

By "too much speaker" I mean that the speakers don’t have the space to open up, and thus are restricted from performing optimally.  Not to put too fine a point on it, but I’’ve seen it often.  A good friend with good ears had a pair of huge Focals in a very small basement listening room.  They never could do what they were designed to do and eventually he got rid of them.  Ditto the Spendor 100s.  I’ve heard them in a small apartment and they just couldn’t do what they were supposed to do.  How big is your room?  If it is less than 20 x 12 feet, I would strongly recommend a much smaller speaker.  My living room is 20 x 12 and the Response 2’s do well but some Tablette’s or Reponse 1sc’s would probably provide a more realistic soundstage.