Sonus Faber Cremona Auditor old v new

Hi Influence

Nice write up.

The cremona is by no means a speaker that cuts of the higest frq like some of the old sonus fabers.
But the key here is to use a source that have a smooth and analog sound, somthing like linn source wich i found to be the key.
When i first got them i had a slimdevices transporter and there where some brightness to the sound i diddent like.

When i demoed the cremona and cremona m , it was in the same room using the same gear.
The room was around 25 sq meters and in that room the org cremona sound to strong and basss heavy maybe even boomy, sound was also thick and muddy, the sound was so different from other speakers.

The m`s havever where very controled and gave the impresssion that the would work just about enywhere, overall the sounded like other well designed speakers i have heard from gamut, dali,Dynaudio, but are much prettyer.

Its a fact that sonus faber tightend up the drivers when the new design team took over and franco serblin left just after the stradivaruius sonus faber.

Here in denmark where we have lost of speaker manufactors and speaker driver manufactors the answer is clear old cremona used better drivers and crossover parts then new one.
Old cremona uses all scanspeak revelator drivers wich are arguably the best and most musical drivers you can buy today + all mundorf supreme crossover components + franco serblin used 3 years to perfect it.

New one uses SEAS bass drivers wich is carbon design, the are good for bigger drivers as the ones in the strad, but the scabnspeaks are ALOT better for smaller aplication + the ms where diffently not given the atension that the old one was given from franco.
After the elipsa the design team launced 3 new models in half a year.

All this is just tech talk we all here it differently and we all love different kinds of sound.
In fact the very thing i love about the old is what others dont like.
I also love linn gear wich is has unqestionble synagetic with the OLD sonus faber sound and im not sure i would have boutgt linn or sonus faber if the diddent sound so good (to my ears>) together .
But living with both i know i would .

check out my system just uploaded it

reegards

On more thing.

Source first , the speaker can only reproduce the signals its being feat, if you hear the old cremona as being hard on the ears, its not he speaker thats the problem its 99.9 % surthen that its the source/uptream gear the problem lies.
I recorment if you have the chance to demo it again the ask to here them with different sources.

Tda2200,
Very nice system indeed. And you went for the graphite Cremonas. My preference as well. I truly think the Cremona just looks so much more expensive in the graphite. As my wife keeps reminding me, "If you are going to spend $10,000 on a pair of speakers, they better look like they cost $10,000."

I'm just at the start of my speaker hunt, so I've still got a few more models to listen to before making my decision (Monitor Platinums, Dali Helicons, Legacy Focus, Revel F52s/Studio2s, maybe a few others).
I'll try to find a pair of original Cremonas to listen to again, and maybe even try to find some Linn gear to pair it with as per your suggestions.

Tda2200 - I would agree that Primare and Rotel are not up to the task of bringing out the best of the Cremona. My comparisons were with higher end amps. The difference between the lower end B&K and the higher end amps was definitely dramatic, as expected. I did try the AR switching amp, which I believe uses a similar technology to your Linn amps. It sounded very nice, with good base control and reasonable good treble. But I liked the Levinson 432 better. It had the smoothest treble and most controlled bass, with very good dynamics. Might be interesting to compare it to the Linn amps. The Edge amps were also very nice, but are not easily available here (Boston). The general feeling is that if going SS, then lots of power and power reserve is the best for the Cremona, especially for the base. The 432 is 400 watts per channel at 8 ohms. I also agree that you need a good source. We actually prefer vinyl which matches the Cremona very well. We use a Linn Linto as a phono pre-amp. It is one of the most dynamic and quietest ones available. Incidently, I have Transparent Audio cables, which really matched well with the Levinson and Cremona.
Influence - you are lucky to be able to listen to all these options. SF is basically not available in Boston. I would have to come to NY/NJ to hear all these options. But you probably do need to try something other than Mcintosh if possible. Good luck.

Over 30+ responses and no has answered the orginal question. Well I will. I owned the original auditors and traded up to the M. I say without a doubt that the Auditor M is far and away better than the orginal. Forget about frequency response curve graphs and other numbers. The only way you can tell is with your own ears and in the room that you will be listening in