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Sonus Faber Question

I spent (wasted?) a lot of time switching amplifiers in and out of my system, never quite achieving the sound I was chasing. There were a lot of sideways moves. Then I purchased a demo pair of Sonus Faber Sonetto III's. After playing these through my system I finally feel I'm headed in the right direction. This speaker sound signature is the type of sound I've been seeking out. However, I get the feeling these speakers are really just scratching the surface of what Sonus Faber can offer. Unfortunately, I'm not independently wealthy. So the question is what speaker would you recommend as the next appreciable step up to capture more of the Sonus Faber essence / what should I expect to have to pay on the used market to get there? Thanks in advance!  

 

Current Equipment:

Sonus Faber Sonetto III's

HiFi Rose RS250A

Denafrips Pontus II 12th

Rega P6, Neo PSU w/ Hana low MC

Rega Phono Pre

PrimaLuna Evo 300 Integrated

Kimber Cable Cables, Interconnects, Etc.

jdm11

Showing 4 responses by ghdprentice

ghdprentice
7,502 posts
 

OP,

 

Thanks for your kind words.

 

 

ghdprentice
7,502 posts
 

OP,

 

If you stated this already, I apologize. What kind of music do you listen to?

My feeling is that, unless you are a real head banger the PrimaLuna Evo300 should be adequate and you will experience a very significant improvement in sound quality. I use the word adequate because there are a lot of variables… I am feeling like I am getting pretty far out on a limb here. I have a PrimaLuna amp in my office. The pairing should sound very good. But, the power level is getting a bit low. From my listening to the ARC i-50 with the SF Nova Olympica was in a small room and they sounded fantastic and not at all constrained, but in a very large room it might be different.

However, I think ithe purchase would be very low risk. I think they would sound good / great and if PrimaLuna is either slightly underpowered or less refined, then you should be able to enjoy them until the time comes you can upgrade your electronics. In many ways this would be a classic upgrade cycle. Get a better speaker… save up and then upgrade electronics. So, from this perspective… sounds like a great move, gettin speakers you can grow into over time.

 

ghdprentice
7,502 posts
 

Sonus Faber needs power if you are using solid state. They are easily driven by tube amps. I am using 70 wpc with my Audio Research Ref 160s (triode mode). They sound fantastic at low volumes and can play without compression or loss of dynamics to crazy loud volumes > 95db. Most are 90db efficient. I have hear Olympica Nova 3 with an Audio Research i50 (50wpc) … sounds fantastic.

ghdprentice
7,502 posts
 

I am a fan of Sonus Faber for the same reason you are. I am on my third set. I started with used Cremona -> Olympica 3 -> Amati Traditional. Very good question. I think you will find Olympica 3  a very large jump up. The Olympica 3 has been replaced by the Olympica Nova so that should put some downward pressure on used Olympica 3. I would imagine you could get a pair for ~$8K. This would be very substantial improvement in sound.

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