New Sonus Faber Electa Amator 3...anybody heard these yet?

Nice review(s) Thanks for posting. Makes me want to hear the new EA3 even more.

A new review of the EA3 at hometheaterhifi.

@vtag  If you bought your EA2's years ago, you need to adjust for inflation. The new EA2's are what price in today's world, adjusted for inflation? Then you can ask the question that you did! 

I have owned SF Electa Amator 2 for years wonderful speakers,can the new 3 be almost 3 times the price be 3 times as good! Even though they are very good.

@tonnesen   I would bring those tube amps out of storage asap. I have found that a good tube amp with a good/great transformer can sound as powerful as a ss amp with considerably more power. SF's love tubes and I suspect you will be more than pleased with your 50watt/ch tube amps. Have a good friend who also own the same integrated Pass as you, he is not really that enamored of it. 

So, I upgraded from the Signums to the EA3 and am very pleased but wondering about amplifiers. The EA3 is not an easy load per the Hifi News lab report copied below.  

I have a Pass INT-25, an integrated version of the XA-25 that provides 50w Class A at 4 ohms and measured up to 130 wpc in Class A/B. The volume control on the INT-25 has increments from 0 to 63. I need to set the volume to at least 35 for the EA3 to start to open up and typically listen in the range of 40 to 50, sometimes higher than 50 with a few CDs.
I'm wondering if a higher power SS amp might have better bass and dynamics, or maybe the INT-25 has plenty of power since I've never maxed out the volume control.  (That was Almarg's philosophy - only pay for as much high quality amplification as you need.) Curious to hear what experience others have with amps for the EA3.  I might experiment with a higher powered SS in the future but I'm very happy with the INT-25 for now.  I also have 50 wpc tube amps that I plan to use in winter, so that will be another interesting comparison.


Hifinews lab report: "Sonus faber's nominal 4ohm is entirely consistent with our measured minimum of 3.3ohm but low frequency impedance phase angles are quite high, as a result of which the EPDR falls to a minimum of 1.6ohm at 116Hz. While this is pretty typical of modern loudspeakers, a second dip to 1.9ohm at 610Hz makes the Electa Amator III a tougher than average amplifier load."

Has anyone  compared the EA3 to any of the other versions of the Guarneri?  I had the Amati Homage about 15 years ago, sold them when I moved, but still have the Signum monitors.  I've been thinking about  getting a version of the Amati again (used), or the Guarneri, or perhaps the DynAudio Confidence 20 monitor.  Have not been able to audition these so would like to hear how they compare. 

Yep. It’s been a year for me too. Just love these speakers. 
I am thinking of getting a sub too. 

Going on 8 months with the EA3 and I have found my forever speaker.  I have them mated with the Sf Gravis II sub and it blends perfectly with the monitors.  My only gripe is with the crossover setting dial on the sub - graduations are not easily defined for what freq you are setting the cut off to be.

Are the SF Electa Amator special order only?

I can't find them anywhere online.

I also can't find any to see, touch and hear.  Ugh!

Will they be limited production?

Review pretty much sums it up. 

https://www.soundstageaustralia.com/index.php/reviews/278-sonus-faber-electa-amator-iii-loudspeakers

200 hours now. Starting to open up. This is the greatest tweeter I’ve ever had the pleasure of owning. Such a wide open sound and completely fatigue free. Never feels
like you’re listening to anything electronic. Very analog sounding. 

You will love them. Still running them in. One thing that’s apparent from the outset is vocals. 
Every lyric is so enunciated you have no trouble following the vocalist. 
There were so many albums I was uncertain bout the lyrics; through the EA3 they are so obvious and easy to follow it makes you wonder what the problem was in the first place. 
These are very special speakers. 

Had mine on order since 3/18 - dealer is waiting for the shipment to arrive.  They will replace my Cre. Auditor Ms and REL B1

 @dsholl1  Very nice. Congratulations. I’m sure you will enjoy your EA3’s. They look to be a great speaker, doesn’t surprise me that you like them better than the GT’s. 

Couldn’t resist. Have them now at home. Only 5 hrs playing. Very airy and midrange / top focused. Has a very ethereal sound. Vocals sound astonishing and tonally spot on. Completely fatigue free and has an illuminated from within sound. I think they’ve done a great job at getting to that “old” SF sound. Listened to these against the Guarneri Tradition. These sound like instruments, GT sounded neutral and Hi-Fi. 

Will update at 200hrs

Agreed, the SF stand mounts typically really work well with tubes. The GH’s and the JA30Mk2’s are an excellent match..I would guess the same would apply to the EA3’s.

It’s the Masterclass power amp  does 20w pure Class A then goes to 75w in A/B. I took it to the dealers today and it had no problem driving them. I think these speakers will sound great with valves. I think it’s a 1st order cross over like the old SF speakers. Your Jadis would sound sublime with them!

Sounds like that would be a great match up with the EA3’s. Not sure if the Sugden has enough juice for the new SF’s, that might be something to discuss with your dealer, if you haven’t already. 

I’m running a ARc Ref6 preamplifier with a Sugden Class A power amp. 

Still using the Kuzma TT (let’s just leave it at that 😉) 

What you report makes me really want to hear these. There really aren’t that many superb stand mount speakers available, certainly at or near that price point. 
What gear would you be running the EA3’s with?

Thanks. I’m very close to actually buying a pair. They do have a bit of that old SF magic.

BTW you do truly have one of the best speakers ever made!

 @dsholl1  I will be very interested to hear the new EA3’s. If they can hold candle to my GH’s, I would be surprised, but that would be a great thing...as the GH’s won’t last forever. I will report back if and when I get a chance to hear the EA3’s.

@daveyf  I know you have the original Guarneri Homage I haven’t listened to them for over 15 years; if you get hear the new EA3 I’d be interested to hear how they compare to yours, which I still think we’re one of the best speakers made. 

 @tonykay  Completely agree.

i have AB’ed my SFGH’s against a number of different stand mounts, from Magico’s to Dynaudios to TAD’s and more....none have come out superior to the GH’s. If you have the upstream gear to work with them, I don’t think there has ever been a better stand mount ...and frankly even very few floor mount speakers that can stand with them!

I saw a picture today of the Sonus Faber Electa Amator 3 in the Absolute Sound. Good looking speaker, similar to EA 2. The stands had a round pedestal look that are not nearly as attractive as my walnut and marble stands. 

I completely agree that the Guarneri Homage are a bargain. Even at $10K-15K used, they are a lifetime investment. If you want a speaker that you will love to listen to, and always be proud of, the SFGH are for you.

Heard these today with only 4 hrs out of the box at a dealers. 

Was really impressed. I’ve always been a fan of Sonus Faber but only when Franco Serblin was running the show. My first pair of “hi-end” speakers were his Grand Piano floor stander with the passive radiator. 

I was was madly in love with the Electa Amator 2 version but never had the funds at the time to buy them. 

I still think the Guaneri Homage are the best SF ever made but never bought these and nearly bought them years later but didn’t as they aren’t the most “rockiest” speaker and I listen to a lot of rock and blues having said all that.....

I really liked these these speakers I think SF have done a really good job at getting at the heart of the old classic SF sound. These are very midrange focused speakers with a surprising amount of bass and quite a bit of snap that the older models seemed to miss out on. The room is a medium to large sounding space and the EA3 had no trouble projecting a huge soundstage. 

Very musical and rhythmic sounding I’m going to let the dealer run them in a bit more and have another listen but I’m seriously considering buying a pair. They did give me that feeling I had when I first heard the SF lineup in the late 90’s. 

Would love to know if anyone else has heard them. 

I haven’t seen the newest version, but the first (and probably the second, as well) were works of art. At $5500 (in 1990), they were a bargain. I’ll reiterate that used, early-version Sonus Faber speakers are a great investment. You won’t be disappointed!

@tonykay   I saw that mini review in Absolute Sound. They certainly look like the real deal.

As I predicted, the new Electa Amator Version 3 has been introduced. They were shown at the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest in 2018. They were introduced to celebrate the 35th birthday of Sonus Faber. The price is $10,000, including stands. Absolute Sound reported that, "Even in a small hotel room, the speakers imaged beautifully and voices were spookily real."  

The EA2’s were a good speaker, I think the EA3’s have the potential to be a much better speaker. Should be interesting to see if that holds true. I would very much like to hear it myself, and to see if anyone has actually heard it yet?

I heard the EA-2's at an audio show. They were sitting close to the floor!
Like just above my ankles.
And they still sounded like the real thing. The rep was there for a Carver amp and couldn't shut up, talking to a customer (?) So I just left in frustration after a few minutes. But given the horrendous placement of the speakers I must tell you that they were freaking wonderful. The carver amp wasn't bad either, but who cares?

I lived with Extremas ( with Kef B 139 ) for a year ( on loan to me from a friend ). Mated them with a modified Crown Studio Reference I owned. " Awesome " is all I can say. Enjoy ! MrD.

I’m not surprised. I have owned the original SF Electa Amators since the early 90’s and they still sound great. They feature the famous Dynaudio Esotar tweeter. The second version added a rear-firing woofer, and now there are apparently three in the Electra Amator line. The second iteration of the SF Extrema was far more expensive than the first version, so it’s no shock to see another (probably far more expensive) version of the Electa Amator. Used versions of either of the previous models are a bargain.