Sonus Faber Cremonas or JM lab Diva

That is actaully the long term plan at the moment. It is what I wanted to do to begin with, but budget constaints kept from doing it. The above comments take into consideration of having only one system. I would eventually like a two channel system in a seperate listening room which I think is acheiveable now that my wife and I have moved into an office outside of the home (we both worked from home for different companies) so there is an open space, plus a garage that we hope to one day close in. Of course this is all wishful thinking and many years away. Right now I have to have one system do home theater and two channel, or I should say one rack hold all the components.

Chris In all honesty I feel the exact same way. I really was a little disappointed with the facts that the JM Labs did not out perform the Grand Pianos in my opinion. I was not disappointed in the JM Labs, I think I was more disappointed in myself for not buying something that I felt was a sonic improvment. I enjoy the JM Labs just not as much as I enjoy the Pianos. My thinking has been all along the Divas, but after coming to this conclusion with the Pianos I can't help but wonder what the Cremonas would sound like against the Divas. I guess if I was honest to myself I would admit that I guess I what I really want is someone to enlighten me on something great about the Divas. At this point comparing apples to apples and taking into consideration I am talking about roughly the same dollar amount if not a little cheaper for the Cremonas. I don't think the Divas stand to much of a chance ending up at the end of the chain.

thanks for the response Jay, you are the second person to tell me there is not much difference between the Cremonas and Pianos. I want great performance most of all, but it would be a less than honest answer if I said that the way they looked had no bearing on my choice. I do not know if they have $4000 worth of influence though.

Arthur I took a look at your system and was impressed. I purchased the Jolida CD player a little while ago. What is your opinion? I really plan on using it for about 6 months then I plan to go with a BAT tube CD. Do you feel yours is a keeper? I spent some time listening to the 926 and 927's and liked the 26's much better. I also like the 946 and 937. Have you heard of anyone using two Utopia Centers or LR's in a two channel? I saw one guy had that set up on e bay and said it worked. He also said he went with 5 of them on a surround set up. I have never heard the Utopia Center. I was just thinking if I am going to spend that much on the Cremonas I might would skip the Divas and find a pair of good used Altos or even Novas, but I think the divas look better. Any thoughts anyone?

I am not unhappy with the SF at all, quite the contrary actually. I am probably not going to get rid of the SF's but I have the means and the go ahead from the wife to upgrade when I sell a few items that I have, so I might keep both. I also owe this discussion a retraction of an earlier comment. The electra 907be's are much more enjoyable than I origianlly thought. I had then being pushed by a Audio Research Dual 75a which was not the best choice for those. My SF's love the AR but the JM Labs sounded better connected directly to my Poineer Elite Reciever which is the flagship model but I have no other amp or pre amp until my Cary and First Sound Arrive, so they they are connected directly and sound good. I thought about just using these in my HT set up with Lexicon gear.

The reason I was thinking about the BAT sounding muddy is not because of their equipment but becasue I have the First Sound Tube Pre Amp, Cary Tube Amp, Looking at a tube tuner, and now the tube CD seems like I stand the chance of a muddy sound from so much tube gear.

I am not unhappy with my current speakers and do not really "NEED" anything new and could stand to save the money. On a personal not however I will say this about myself. I read your previous threads and saw the the joking about how buying equipment and tweaks is reducing your budget for "other things" and in my case that is actually true. My point is the time and money I spend is much better than the ways I once did it, so It is actually
kind of theraputic to me and a better use of my spare time. I guess I am one of those people who enjoys not being perfectly satisfied but always trying to get there.

Ted

Glai you hit the nail on the head although I am finding that I am getting close to the love stage with the JM Labs and it is kind of scary to think about the Divas.

Let me ask the question this way of everyone. I know there are different tastes and styles and I do not think that JM Labs and SF are sonic opposites, but they are not that similar either. If you had to pick one what would it be? Lets say this that they are on magical pre and amps that make both speakers perform to their maximum potential. In other words everything is equal. 2 answers one for tubes one for solid state.

Jay excellent advise I had not thought of that and I will give it a try today.

Goatwuss thanks for the input. I am not limited to those, but I guess you could say that I got the green light to put them in our living room which is also our listening room. My wife agrees to let me buy floor standing speakers as long as I meet her half way and go with something that looks good. I have kind of replaced the JM Labs with the Audes Orpheus another speaker that I have never heard, but comes highly reccommended by the person I choose to purchase from. I am not familiar with the Schweikert but my wife who also acutally likes audio and is involved in the decision loves a dynamic speaker and those might be some I need to look into. Does anyone have any input on the orpheus or the Dali line. The Dali Euphonia is stunning to look at but I heard lacks in base. The Helicon is also a good looking speaker, any thoughts on those lines?