SF Guarneri Homage vs Harbeth 7ES3

I hate it when other people chime in and offer opinions on, and make recommendations for, products other then what the OP is asking about!

Its is nice to see no one doing so in this thread!

(Try the Verity Audio Parsifal Monitors - they beat out the SF G's, IMO)

John

Don, If you need more bass, I suggest a sub. Usually in a small room the G's have sufficient bass, but in a larger room, then a sub that is fast and as accurate as possible, is the way to go. I personally don't really like the A's as much as the G's in an average to smaller room. In a big room, the A's are more recommendable but I still prefer the G's with a good sub.
John, the Verity Pasifals are beaten solidly by the G's IMHO, not in the bass I would agree; but the Verities do not have the midrange magic of the G's nor the high end
smoothness. Personally I don't even like them as much as the Harbeth's!

After trying many different subs from $500 to $3K, I finally matched my SF GH with a REL T-2. The right sub makes quite a big difference and I am thinking of getting a second T-2 to even out some room modes.

Daveyf, My room is large enough where it needs some more bass....I like it deep and textured. Midrange and highs are amazing...not sure anything else I have had can touch this level of performance and pleasure to the ears. I would say if I had some more bass performance this would be about perfect for my ears.

As1963, Just curious have you tried any JL Audio subs? Was thinking about two F-110's. I'll have to look into the T-2.

It depends on priorities but in a larger room I would prefer a speaker with large drivers(8" or bigger) over a speaker with small drivers + subwoofers although the latter is preferable in smaller rooms. Larger speakers sound fuller with greater scale, realism and dynamics. Nonetheless, I agree with Daveyf in that some attributes that are inherent in select speakers like the Guarneri can sometimes be more desirable than speakers that are able give more bass and volume. It was further noted in Stereophile that although the bigger Electa Amator and Extrema will play louder and capable of higher dynamics and deeper bass, the Guarneri eclipses these Sonus faber designs when it comes to purity of sound. The G was described as truly balanced and truthful to its source with a tonal, harmonic linearity that extends from the upper bass to the treble. From the write-up, it appears that the G is an extremely low-colored speaker that does not sound much alike with the other models in the lower range of Sonus Faber speakers.