Peak Consult Zoltan vs Sonus faber Amati Annivers

I have been very impressed with the stand-mounted Peak Consult speakers I have listened to at some length at my dealer's; they get the midrange right, not something I can say about all speakers, and overall are among the best I've heard. That said, Mapleleafs3 is correct, particularly at the prices you are talking about, a personal audition is mandatory, as each speaker has a character that may or may not appeal to you, no matter how good I or someone else thinks it is.

The Empress and Diablo are wonderfully refined speakers with very natural sound. I much preferred them to comparable JMLabs in the same room, which though providing a bigger sound lacked the elegance of the Peak Consults. The Peak Consults put out a very tight, realistic, textured bass, surprisingly much so for their size, but lacked the ultimate volume and slam some people may want. Perhaps a subwoofer would make up for this. I'm not enthusastic about Sonus Faber Stradiviaris I heard once, they seemed too laid back for my taste in music. They seemed suited to classical music.

In terms of the physical beauty of the speakers, that's a laydown. The Amati Anniversarios are simply beautiful. I hate to stir the pot because I know there is going to be quite a few rebutals, but the Peak products I don't think look good at all. I don't like that Upscale showed the Amatis with that Primaluna stuff, but they sure sounded amazing - yes, a little rich, but so deeply engaging. I suppose it depends on your taste. For example, I don't think a Wilson Audio fan would like the Amatis, but an Amati fan would probably not like the Wilsons.

Sonus and Peak Consult are on the same "camp" of sound flavor. If you like the Sonus you will like the PeakConsult. IMHO Anniversario is more value for money than Zoltan.

The Zoltan is a wonderful speaker, much more neutral than than the Stradivari, which is more like an instrument. I would also say that the bass is different where the Strad seems to give out more bass. But the images that the Zoltan has is pure magic. The Zoltan may not be as impressive at first listening but I'll suspect it could last a lifetime.