Sonus Faber Cremona Auditor old v new

There is a review of the Cremona M's in the latest TAS, and Neil Gader comments favorably on the new M's. He also comments that in his small room, the speakers extend to the mid 20's in their frequency response (bass). This supports what Huskolf has observed.

Wonder why SF is so conservative in their specs when they claim a frequency response of 40HZ only.

Hi Pinkus,

Could you somehow mail me this review of the Cremona M? I'm very interested in the whole article. BTW I understand there's also a review of the Mystère tube amp. What's the verdict on that?

Funny how tastes and impressions differ. I own the original Auditor for some time now, I've tried different tube and ss amps, CDPs, interconnects and speaker cables. I never found them overly warm and laid back, quite the contrary, they provide an amazing presence and liveliness. In fact they even exaggerate a little in the higher mids that, depending on the recording, can add a slight harshness when played loud. You need to choose your amp, source and cabling *very* carefully in order to minimize this. If paired blindly with whatever electronics you will most probably end up with a fatigue problem or, in some cases, a dead and dull sound.

From what I read the new M version does not have that problem but sounds more hifi like instead. More air, more detail, more of that crystal clear sound many peolple like. That's reason enough for me to believe I prefer the original Auditors. Happy me, because I couldn't afford an upgrade anyway.

I've ended up with a Luxman L-505f, Meridian G08, Yter XLR ic and Van den Hul CS-122 speaker cable and the result is 98% perfect. The logical speaker upgrade would be a pair of Guarneri Mementos, not the Auditor M. Electronics that were the worst match of what I've tried: Electrocompaniet ECI-3 integrated, AudioNet ART G2 CDP, Kimber 4TC speaker cable.

Anybody who wonders which one to buy, the original Auditor or the Auditor M and does not have a chance to audition them both, keep in mind the following: It's easier to build a great system around the new Ms but the original Auditors might reward you with more emotion. If you succeed to find the matching electronics for your listening room. And that will take time and money.

Hulskof,

I read the review at the local B&B. I have not received my copy of TAS yet. Where are you located ? You can also download the latest TAS for $7 from the TAS web site.

If you own the Cremona M's, $7 is a small price to pay for reading a glowing review of speakers that you own :)

Auditor,

without hearing the two speakers side by side, anything you say is going to be speculative, to say the least.

Also, I think since you own SF's products, you should give SF the benefit of the doubt -- I would like to think that SF has done their homework, and produced a speaker that betters the older model.