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Speakers sonically similar to Sonus Faber?

I recently demoed the Sonus Faber Venere line (their cheapest, made in china line) and loved it. It was being powered by inexpensive gear (sonos server source, arcam DAC, some integrated elite pioneer). i liked it much better than much more expensive speakers powered by much more expensive gear.

sadly, even venere 2.5 is still a touch out of my price range. my question: are there other speakers that might be sonically similar for a lower price?

some info that might help:

-the speakers in question use a silk dome tweeter and curv cone drivers
-i liked that they were very smooth and dynamic, and also sounded very good off axis and outside the sweet spot
-my listening rooms are not big. 14x17 ish
-my sources are 100% digital
-bookshelf/monitor or floor standing are both fine, just nothing too big

these are some that i've read might be a good fit, but might be hard for me to demo before hand: harbeth P3ESR, KEF LS50, sjofne clue, totem-mani 2

thanks for any suggestions!
tenken

Showing 1 response by twoleftears

twoleftears's avatar
twoleftears
5,320 posts
 
I've heard the Venere 2.5 and 3.0 in one system, and the Liuto in another, compared against VA Beethoven Baby Grand.

The Veneres struck me as engineered for the mass market: impressive and ear-catching over the first 15 seconds of listening, but not for the long haul (too "Technicolor" a sound, the same way color and saturation is adjusted to the max for display in shops). The Liuto is in a different league, far superior. If you're considering the Liuto don't give the Veneres a second thought.

I listened to them carefully against the VA Baby Grands. The Liutos go deeper, but ultimately I preferred the treble presentation and overall integration of the Baby Grands. But it was a fairly close-run thing.

Gifted Listener has a pair of demo Liutos at a decent price. They also come up here used at very attractive prices (there was a set in Midlothian not so long ago). At Gifted (Centreville) you can audition them against the VA, some Thiels, Linn, etc., but start with the VAs.
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