I used to own a set of Cremona M, Olympica 3, and now own Sonus Faber Amati Tradional. The Cremona M are very warm… I think most folks would say with a soft top end. The Olympica ushered in a more neutral balanced but still incredibly natural and musical speakers.
Given your musical tastes I would think you would be looking at B&W powered by McIntosh. Massive bass with a hot top end… or maybe JBL.
Don’t get me wrong… I think Sonus Faber are very close to the best speakers made… but for that kind of music folks that like the music you do generally want massive bass and power. Like floor standers with subwoofers. I listen to hard rock and some other “intended to be loud” genre and they sound fantastic on my Sonus Faber speakers. But this is not the normal match. I listen to all kinds of music and SF makes them all sound great without accentuating a couple genre.
It would be really helpful too,see your system and components. There is a place to put photos and your components under your UserID. We could be much more helpful if we understood what you have and the venue. Thanks.
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I have the Rogue Audio Cronus Magnum 3 vacuum tube amp, and both a Clearaudio Champion Limited turntable, and the new Denon DCDA110GS 110-Year Anniversary Edition SACD Player Amazing player.
I don't know if I should tell you how I listen to them, you'll laugh at me, ha ha
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My favorite is the Legacy Audio speakers, I have in my surround sound Krell Seperates, the Legacy Focus speakers, and center, and Miracle Audio flat wall hanging speakers for my rears.
I wanted to get the Signature SE speakers, but looking at others right now.
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But these new ones will be for my 2 channel listening
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If rock/metal and the like is a heavy staple of what you are listening to I don’t think really anyone would recommend Sonus Faber. Focal, B&W, JBL etc. Tektons are completely badass playing metal if wanna save some money.
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I'm going to try to audition the golden ear Triton tomorrow and possibly some others
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I apologize to the OP for the intolerant here who feel it necessary to judge your musical taste & suggest your needs are not worthy of the best sound you can get. Does that make them anti-audiophiles?
Good luck with your search! Sonus makes great speakers - hard to go wrong there. I've not heard the GoldenEar line, but Sandy Gross is an inventive and highly respected designer, and they've gotten great press. Both of the models you mentioned effectively have built-in subwoofers, so they're definitely going to go deeper & louder than the Sonus. I'm curious to hear what you think of their midrange & top end, though.
Please give us your post-listening opinions when you get a chance!
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@Op I have Olympica Nova V (previously Sonnetto V) and listen to a lot of hard rock/heavy metal and rap in addition to other styles.
I've heard Olympica Nova 2s and think they sound great. I'm sure there are other excellent options as well. Enjoyr your journey.
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I am using Sonus Faber Olympica Nova 5 and I am listening to many music genres. I love them and heavy metal sounds awesome without brightness. Such a beautiful musical speakers. I am driving it with McIntosh MA352. Awesome sounding pair.
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hey Petaluman,
Sandy Gross is not a designer. But his partner in both Definitive Technology and Golden Ear was an excellent one. But Sandy was one of the best audio businees men in audio. He was largely responsible for the initial growth of Polk, then Definitive Technology and finally Golden ear into three of the largest, important speaker companies. They would never be anywhere as important if it wasn't for his management genius.
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I run Sopra 2's and play tons of punk, metal, extreme metal and classic rock. @mofojo is probably right on with SF being too warm. You probably want a speaker more sharp, focused, detailed and fast. Focal does this, but they're so extremely overpriced I'd have a hard time recommending them now. They had a 20% off sale last week at dealers, but I'd probably wait for a used pair to pop up.
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I just picked up a pair of Cremona M and they sound very good. Nothing I've played so far appears off-limits - Jazz, rock, metal, etc, have all sounded very good.
In my system with my ears, these are not your typical warm and cozy sounding Sonus Faber speakers. I owned the Cremona Auditor M for a while and they were very warm sounding, quite veiled, and lacking in clarity and transparency. The Cremona M is far more neutral in my system....with my ears, etc.
I've driven them with hybrid amps (6H30 input, class D Hypex output) and a solid-state amp that runs Class A for 5 watts (Moon W5.3SE) and both sound great with the Cremona M.
They also look gorgeous and are fairly easy to get dialed in.
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@dynamiclinearity
Thanks for the correction! I didn't mean to give the front man undue credit, although his continued success with innovative designs is commendable. Do you know who the designer(s) are behind these speaker lines?
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I don't know his name. A friend of mine who knew Sandy well would but we lost him a year ago. I do recall he was Canadian I think and was a full partner in both Definitive Technology and Golden Ear. I don't know who the Polk designer was although I know it wasn't Mathew Polk. He was chosen as company 'head' because he looked the part especially in a lab coat.
By the way, no big deal. All 3 companies would never have been anywhere what they were without him. Sandy was brilliant in knowing the market and dealing with retailers and the public.
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By the way my friend actually built the first Definitive Technology speakers from a Sandy Grossman idea before Sandy took on his partner who then did the designs. And my friend designed the technique for putting the cloth sock on the definitive speakers without tearing them on the MDF.
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I have not heard the Cremona M but SF are known to have been a nit soft and great for jazz. Maybe not the best for rock. I would go with the Golden Ear or look for other brands. Unless you can listen to the SF first and compare to other brands.
I have Canton and would guess that their Reference 3K would work great. Someone mentioned Focal and their Kanta 3 can probably rock (I have mostly heard them with typical hifi show music).
Fyne has a Vintage Classic XII that might work. Or their F703 which are great.
Just some ideas.
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