sonus faber electa amator iii or magico A1 or any other suggestion


Hi,

I'm a bit confused and undecided about which book shelf speakers to choose. Till now I've heard magico A1 live and Proack k1 live, both of them were fantastic, but i think majico A1, in my opinion, sounds better. Unfortunately, i can not listen to the sonus faber elcata amator III it in my country, i can order them, but can't hear them live. I've heard them on video in youtube and i have to say that they seem to be very interesting. Can anyone please advice me, what is the better choice between those two loudspeakers or suggest on any other bookshelf speaker at the price of approximately 10.000$.

Thanks a lot. 

If its important for the decision, I'm planning to buy a vac phi 170 iQ monoblocks. Thanks again.
128x128haimr

Showing 11 responses by daveyf

@mheinze So, you are going to argue that a silk dome/soft dome is substantially brighter than the Beryllium dome in the Magico..?? 
Ok, you win!~~  :0(
With Magico you have to be very careful with how you react to their tweeter. The Beryllium dome can be heard as very hot-- and it can also ring. Depending on your sensitivity to such things. A safe bet would be the SF's. IME, Magico can sound great, but they have to be matched up far more carefully with the ancillary gear, and since they insist on using a Beryllium dome....the aspect of Berryllium 'bite' is always present!
@mheinze The tweeter in the A series is still a Beryllium dome with all of its pluses and minuses. I would want to listen to the new Electa Amator before committing an opinion like you just stated. Presumably, you have not heard the speaker and just going off the measurements that you posted....:0(

Having just read the report that you linked to...I guess you forgot to include this part:

"Hi-Fi News Verdict 
After many ups-and-downs with Sonus fabers over the past decade, it warms my heart to be able to call the Electa Amator III 'the best I've heard from the brand since the original Guarneri'. Yes, it's that impressive, that commanding, that correct. Above all, it does exactly what the late Franco Serblin demanded of all his creations: it reproduces music so convincingly that the listener is transported. Bravissimo!"



Minor detail-----






@mheinze  I have heard the A1's. They are an ok speaker, but certainly do NOT put the EA 111's to shame. Your post referencing glaring highs and wooly bass in the SF'S has nothing to do with the final verdict in the review that you linked to. Then to add your review of the A1's has nothing to do with the SF's. You forgot to add the verdict that the Hi-Fi News stated about the SF's...why?? 
@henry201  Who says the Magico's are voiced dark?? Do you know something we do not?? I don't think so...;0)
The point that the SF's aren't as bright as the Magico's is spot on IMO. The Magico's can sound bright if mixed with the wrong ancillary gear.
But to be clear, I very much enjoy the sound of Magico's...and I think their line is quite fine. Having said that, i don't think the lower models are anywhere near as great as the models from say the A5 on up. The A1 and A3 are not that impressive to me. SF has changed their basic sound since Franco left the company, it is now more of the middle of the road than it was before. Franco's designs tend to be, at least to my ears, almost unbeatable. Yet, they can tip to the warm sound of the spectrum...again with gear that tends to lean that way. Magico's can never be said to be too warm! Since the SF's that I use are fronted either by a ss amp or by the aforementioned Jadis amps ( using KT150's and not KT120's) I think they are a very simpatico combo. Magico and Soulution are an interesting match up. I like the sound and I like the neutrality and detail...but I dont like the ease that the tweeter gets hot. 
Probably an ideal tweeter, and this is one that I think is pretty close to SOTA, is the YG billet dome..very impressive...and the best of both worlds, IMO.
@mheinze The term ’brightness’ refers to how ’lit up’ the sound is...which has to do with the material of the tweeter. The speaker balance is dictated by said material...ok your turn!
If you cannot hear the additional ’brightness’ of a hot beryllium tweeter that would explain a lot! There are a lot of folks who cannot...luckily for them.

@henry201 You know what they say about people who make assumptions. I have heard the A3’s and many Rockport models. The A3’s were not impressive. The upstream gear has a lot to do with the speakers presentation, but a hot tweeter is always a hot tweeter...and IMO almost all beryllium tweeters tend to lean that way...The term ’beryllium bite’ is something I guess you have never heard of.
@henry201 Like I stated before, if you cannot hear the high frequency issues with a beryllium dome, you are one of the lucky ones. There are a lot of folk who cannot, which is why they are still being utilized in a lot of designs. However, the rest of us tend to shy away from designs that utilize these. Having said that, there are designers who have managed to minimize the impact of the 'beryllium bite' in their speakers, they have minimized the issue, unfortunately they have not eradicated it. Magico and Rockport are two designs that have managed to IME minimize it, more so in the last few years...BUT this is still to my ears one major off-putting aspect, which is why I would choose a new YG with their silk billet dome over either of the other makes any day. YMMV.
@henry201  Sorry that you were offended by my opinion of the Beryllium tweeter.  At least you did finally disclose that you own the Magico A5...and so your posts now are more understandable. Oh, and you speak of being juvenile....LOL.