B&W 705 or Sonus Faber Concerto / Concertino


Hi
I'm a newbie here. I have been audiencing some speakers, mainly B&W's, Dynaudios, Martin Logans, and Sonus Fabers. I am looking toward building a small system consisting of a pair of bookshelf speakers and a ~40W/ch Integrated Amplifier. My primary choice is between BW 705 and Sonus Faber Concertino / Concerto. What kind of experience do you guys have in comparing the two / three ?
For the integrated amp. most likely I will choose Arcam DiVA A65. Any suggestion ? My budget, hopefully, in the $2.5k range. CD player will be added last. Thanks for any input.
gewe21
Well I auditioned both of these speakers last year very closely. The SF concerto and concetino are different models, as you know.

I'd go with the SF Concerto personally. But in the scale of things, I didnt find the gaps between these choices to be very great.
The 705s with a good high current amp is what u need, they are thirsty for power, not wattage, but good electronics also.

The arcam is light in that dept, quality amp/sound but not good for 705s, the only good combo i have heard is the rotel 10series.

I played with the naim 5i, great sound , but 705s do need a kick.

Cant speak for the concerto etc.
Im using a classe 70 with my b&w 705 and they sound really full with deep bass my wife allways ask me to turn it down the less than quarter volume. Im using a melos 110 line stage with telefunken tubes and a 400 volt strapping cap I really enjoy my system. Bring your intergrated and have them hook it up so you can hear what they will sound like with you amp.
Choosing a speaker is a personal thing. That I will leave it to you.

However, I would have to chime in on the amplifier selection. Do yourself a favor by auditioning a Naim Nait 5i or better still Nait XS. These amps sound a lot more musical and involving than the Arcam(to my ears) and match well with both B&W and Sonus Fabers. The Classe matches well with B&W but not with Sonus Fabers .
Are you talking about Domus Concertino/Concreto or the older Home/Concert series? Domus is quite different from the earlier models and I prefer the older models. The old ones are both monitors, whereas the Domus Concerto is a small floorstander. I think the Toys and the Liutos have replaced the Domus line. If you are looking new, you should look at those. If you are looking used and the old line, I would definitely prefer the Concerto to the Concertino, for not much more money. The Cremona Auditors are a real step up and the older ones (non M) are pretty available used, at a higher price, unfortunately.