The Highest - Suprema


I had a chance to listen extensively (length of time, plus able to request familiar material) to the ’end game’ configuration (for me, and which will NEVER happen not even close for obvious (figure 1 3/4 Mio reasons). On ALL levels/chriteria (sound, detail, staging, etc). I never thought that there is so much ’more’ beyond what I had previously considered the highest level of listening. A truly eye opening experience:

 

Room:

25x25 (not sure about height, say 15 ft). Treated.

 

Equipment:

Speakers: Sonus faber Suprema

 

Amplifiers:

Burmester 159s on the Suprema subs

Burmester 218s on the Suprema towers

 

Preamp: D’Agostino Relentless Pre

 

Source: dCS Vivaldi APEX stack (DAC, upsampler, clock)

 

Cables: Transparent Magnum Opus to the towers; Transparent XL to the subs / all other interconnects at the XL or Magnum Opus level

 

Racking: HRS VXR

 

The icing on the cake was a long conversation/discussion with Livio Cucuzza, the creator of the Suprema (in my eys). Sonus faber Suprema setup

 

kraftwerkturbo

@kraftwerkturbo It is always a good thing to listen to high end systems to get an idea what is possible. I really like Sonus Faber speakers. The problem with the Suprema is it is way too complicated and ignores some of the physical aspects of speaker design such as what happens when you mount a 15" subwoofer driver up high in an enclosure. Franco Serblin, who use to be SF's head designer would never have done it like that. He has passed away, but his own company and designs still exist. His K'tema speakers are probably more accurate for a fraction of the money. You have to remember, when it comes to point source speakers they all are limited by the power of their tweeter and midrange driver. In the middle of every big, well designed point source speaker is an LS3 5A. The more complexity you pile on top of the LS3 5A the more problems you create for yourself. 

On the very bright side of this argument, you can create an even better performing system for a magnitude less expense. It won't look as impressive, but does that really matter? Here we go. Take the aforementioned K'temas and drive them with a Bricasti Design M25 amplifier. Add two Martin logan BF 212 subwoofers and control all with a MiniDSP SHD studio through two Bricasti Design M1 DACs. Total cost = $90,000 before cables and sources. The Suprema speakers are $750,000 before everything else! All this assumes you like point source systems. I prefer line source systems. They project a more realistic sound stage. You are seated in the front row instead of the back of the concert hall. You can build the finest Electrostatic point source system for $150,000 and, IMHO, it will outperform any point source system including the Suprema. 

I would think the subs demand a lot more amps than the towers, hence the 159. 

I never sat in the front row of a concert, so I cannot say how it should sound :-) 

The issue with LS3 5A: "Klipsch later allowed that “For the blood stirring levels of a full symphony orchestra, you should have 115 dB at your ears.” He no doubt had instantaneous peaks in mind". Even a meak 100 dB in my VERY laraage (volume and square feet) living room puts that 'LS3 5A' idea to rest.