Thank goodness for trust funds! What a colossal, shameless, er, investment? I guess it’s worth it for the bragging rights, eh? Gotta wonder about their business model a little though. A 5000% margin and a target market of at least 10 Saudi Arabian princes. I’d grab a set before they’re all snatched up!
Finally...subwoofer that's aesthetically pleasing!
Saw these in a trade mag.
$750K for the set according to the article.
If one has the wallet for this kind of excess-HELL YEAH!
I personally think a pair of the old Stradivari would compliment the subs more than the Suprema towers. Perhaps not a sonic match, but that would only be a $20/30K goof-put those in the guest room.
I have to contact SF to see if they’ll sell another pair of subs for my SWARM setup.
Suprema Tech Specs | Sonus faber
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@james633 wrote:
@mganga wrote:
The Suprema subs themselves are passive (as opposed to active, rather than just powered) insofar they don’t have built-in amps and electronic crossover/DSP, but they don’t house any crossover components that would be met by the output side of the amp(s) that’s supposed to feed the 15" woofers either, so they’re intended for outboard active configuration with the supplied line-level electronic crossover and amps of one’s own choice. The main towers however are passively configured with built-in crossovers, and optionally can be high-passed through their active XO integrating them with the subs - an important feature. Sonus Faber are to be commended for realizing the importance and necessity of housing the subs section separately to the mains, both for the sheer size required of the LF-range as well as the opportunity offered to place the subs and mains where each of them will perform more optimally than if they shared the same enclosure and position. However, and this is not trivial, they seem also to have realized the importance of using the same amps (again, optionally) for both the subs and mains sections, an awareness here that is rarely if ever really seen with subs and mains divided speaker systems, even statement products. They could have supplied their subs with built-in amps, typically class-D, but I’m sure they decided not to for the reason just outlined. Going for tonal coherency top-to-bottom when using separately housed subs is vital, in the same manner that’s given when using a single stereo amp to power the total frequency range of passively configured speakers, but with the advantage of having an extra amp exclusively powering the subs, while the mains amp - when high-passing the main speakers - will be relieved of LF power requirement. It’s what I’ve found out myself, i.e.: the importance of using what’s essentially similar amps top to bottom with subs and high-passed mains, although I run both the mains and subs actively. I’m not trying to defend the $750k total-pricing of the Supremas, but kudos to them for not stuffing amps into the subs that would then be different from the ones used for the mains. At that price level I can only assume the buyer will not be troubled with the extra investment needed for separate subs amp(s), not least when there’s potential for an even better, more coherent sonic outcome. | |
The lil KEF KC62 microsubs (white or grey) look nice with modern home decor. One could purchase a couple of Ryhtmik drivers and diy a open baffle sub with a very a nice artistic design. hardwood and stain. In general, if many subs were not just black boxes and made to look like hardwood cabinets/ blend with furniture, WAF would go up. The Sonus Fabooboo looks like a sinister medieval torture device. | |
@bigwave1 No cam and windy, right? My wife’s uncle Murray was a | |
@roadcykler +1 | |
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@yesiam_a_pirate wrote:
It is my understanding that's the price for the entire mains + subs (and electronic crossover) system, not that that makes it a glowing bargain by any stretch of the imagination. Sonus Faber should be commended though for going the active filter route here, which at the same time makes you wonder why this is not becoming a more widespread solution with anything other than statements systems. | |
Jetter, not sure where I saw the driver with the sticker (another forum or YouTube), but I saved a screen shot of it. I am not sure how to post a picture from my phone on this forum. It does not really matter, lots of brands use scan speak, seas, SB Acoustics and get good results. Where I take issue is when the brand changes the phase plug or back plate and calls it their own design…
I thought it was more funny than anything in a $750k speaker. You get more tech in Vivid audio (just to name one brand) for 1/10th the price. Not that tech by itself makes things good, I still like good old paper drivers. | |
@bigwave1 Your's blend in nicely. Big wave? What's your home break? | |
If someone has the dough for this type of extravagance, just commission Franco Serblin, the man behind SF and have him design a pair of your own Suprema's? For one thing, design a magnetic setup so as not to ruin the look with those cheap fasteners SF still uses. $1,000,000+ McIntosh & Sonus faber Suprema Loudspeaker System at CES 2024 (youtube.com) I also noticed SF has reintroduced the Stradivari. Not impressed with the new look?
I guess I admire Serblin SF than current SF. | |
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The fit and finish on the Sonus product is really nice. However as is the case with many Italian "designer" goods (Ferrari, Gucci, et al) the prices are jacked up way past the actual value. $750K for subs? Are there that many people rich enough or foolish enough to plop down $750,000 for these? For me I'd rather take that money and build a fabulous listening room and budget $400-500K for some bespoke gear. But that's just one man's opinion. I also like French vanilla ice cream and you may like Dutch chocolate. Cheers to anybody wo has earned enough clean cash to afford this stuff! | |
As an avid DIYer, I’m still really not a fan of arm-chair audiophiles taking a speaker apart based on whether or not they can find some of the drivers in a catalog or not. They think "Oh, this is made by (Faital, ScanSpeak, Seas) so it must be garbage and over priced" , but the reality is the minimum driver price to sales price is 10:1, and it goes UP to 20:1 or higher once a maker makes their own in house drivers. Having said that, I can’t imagine buying a set of speakers for $750,000 unless they come with a stripper pole and multiple bars. | |
The good news is that my ancient speakers use all scanspeak drivers and I am putting them up for sale for only $740,000. Price is fair and firm. Cheapskate lowball offers will be politely ignored.
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@erik_squires : I have Snell Type A’s. Original price was like $1390. I bought them from the original owner after his passing. He bought them from the Connecticut audio store I worked for. I paid $500 + $400 USPS to ship the A’s in four boxes to Florida. There are bargains to be found on the used market! | |
I don’t think the woofers look st all good. The Stradd, on the other hand, do look good with the elastic string grill. The problem with these grills is that they don’t last and replacement is not that cheap. It is a good thing that the Strads look good nekkid. I’ve helped with the set up of four pairs of Strads, mostly using the Sumiko method recommended by the SF distributor. They are easier to set up than most speakers and sound good even in smaller rooms. I really like their natural tonal balance. They are, like most conventional speakers, not particularly dynamic sounding at low volume, so I prefer some other high efficiency speakers that are more dynamic, but they are very good speakers nonetheless. | |
Ah, Stradivari's daddy tried to pull a fast one, dropping scanspeaks in a box, eh? Well, with the purchased scanspeak drivers in there, price has now fallen to $7500 boys. Quiz: What do you call a Sonus Faber with a scanspeak driver? A Scanus Speakivari.
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If you are buying anything close to the cost of these speakers, you probably have a dedicated audio room, so why would it matter what a subwoofer looked like? I’d probably have a stack of Rel’s if I had a larger audio room and the Rels would probably sound better than this single SF subwoofer at 1/2 the cost. Some of the better speakers have black only enclosures or I have only seen them in black: Magic, Raidho, Borressen, and others. | |
Before all those pies? I hate to say it, @dekay , but the tune a piano/tune a fish thing induced a REO Speedwagon flashback, and I freaked out. Thankfully the internet exists and I was brought back to my senses and after some cursory research I discovered that tune a fish does not necessarily apply to REO's tuna fish. I am going to take some Thorazine now and go to bed. | |
I remember when I used to get nervous about discussing with my wife the desire to spend $1,000 for a new piece of stereo equipment. I’ve been married over 40 years, by the way. $1,000 was a lot of money for 23-year-old newlyweds.
When I sold my business and retired in 2017 my office building didn’t sell for $750,000. Good Lord.... | |
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@dekay Don’t you know, you can tune a piano but you can’t tune a fish! |
