In search of a new integrated

I just sold my Cremonas. I wonder...

Anyway, I think placement is very important. In fact, I think the Cremonas are every bit as placement sensitive as my Magnepan 3.7s.

Regarding electronics - I had good luck with Parasound Halo and Krell, medium luck with Van Alstine and NAD, and bad luck with Nuforce 9v2 and Musical Fidelity. Please keep in mind that I am not commenting on the quality of the electronics, just the synergy in my room with my ears.

I read the OP's post again and he said "the sound is not exactly what I was looking for" and "I am looking for more detailed and transparent sound".

Besides room and speaker placement tweaks that you must try first, I would also suggest that maybe your Sonus Faber Cremonas are not the speaker for you. SF's are a very musical speaker but not known for their detailed transparency. They are a warm, slightly dark sounding speaker and have never been known to disappear and deliver sonic accuracy like a fine monitor. For many of us, this is OK - we like this kind of sound. I own Vienna Acoustics and like SF's, they too are warm and dark sounding. But very smooth and musical.

Again, I would explore your room, speaker placement and then the speakers themselves for your answers. A new different amp or player will not get you "the sound you are looking for".

Hi,

With Sonus Faber loudspeaker a very nice match is with Burmester that builds up very excellent integrated amps.

Also, to address your question of other amplifiers, while I have never heard the Primare with Sonus Faber, I did recently hear the Cremonas with a Marantz Integrated (I believe it was the PM-11S3) and I thought it sounded fantastic. And to elaborate on my last post, I have tried the experiment I suggested many times over the years with many systems in many different homes (I have moved around a lot). One example, I had a large bookshelf speaker in a dedicated sound room with a wonderful Rowland Integrated amplifier, and for kicks I put the speakers on top of an entertainment center (not their stands) in another room with a cheaper Harmon Kardon 25 w/ch A/V receiver and the overall sound was still very good...

Going with the recommendation not to change any components just yet, if you can, try to move your entire system to another room. If that is not possible, try to move your speakers to an entirely different wall in your room. I have done this over the years and am amazed at how differently a system sounds in different rooms. Many have said here and elsewhere that the room is the biggest determiner. If that does not convince you, I have also tried the same speakers in the same position with very different systems (vintage tube equipment vs. modern solid state) and the difference is NOT overwhelming at all between these components, albeit good ones. Changing electronics can make a difference indeed, but if your room is to blame, changing electronics can really hurt you in the wallet!

If you MUST have a new integrated, the Sonus Faber Musica may be to your liking. Obviously it was voiced with SF speakers in mind. If remote control is a must it will not suit you though.

Jeff

I agree with most above who advise not to change electronics. You have an outstanding integrated and CD player. Come to think of it, the speakers and the rest are not too shabby either!

Your amp is more than capable of driving your SF Cremonas. Do you really think another amp will do a better job when you have a great one already? Instead I would be analyzing your room acoustics and experimenting with speaker placement - especially the placement in relation to rear and side walls and listening position. Finally you said you recently purchased these products. Give the speakers time to break in. With proper placement and room tweaks, I'll bet your system will sound incredible!

Onhwy61 nailed it. You have an outstanding system. Enjoy it and work with it for awhile. I could rattle off a list of integrateds you could check out and the one you have would be on the list.:-)

If I were you I wouldn't change anything for awhile, say 6 months to a year. You have a very fine system and you should give yourself some time to fully acclimate to its capabilities. For now you should limit yourself to setup issues like toe-in, speaker distance from walls and speaker to listener distance. Also read up on the differences between the original Cremona and the M version.

Consider an audition of the REGA ISIS cdp (ss or valve versions) and the REGA OSIRIS inregrated amp ... Goliath killers (convinced me to buy them)

Google them for great reviews.

There is a used OSIRIS amp available on AGON (I think)

Cables that I use with them:

(i) NORDOST FREY XLR ICs and

(ii) NORDOST FREY shotgunned speaker cables with matched jumpers.

(iii) The REGA COUPLE power cables (made by KLOTZ in Germany) that come standard with the units outperformed my top-of-the-line FURUTECH

Worth a peek IMO.