Best amp for Sonus Faber Amati Anniversario?

Hi Lloydelee, I just realised I had not replied to your post! Is great to hear fromm you again! Thanks for your kind comments, as you know its a labour of love getting your system set up :) Would love to know more about your set up. Where do you live anyway? I'm in Perth, Australia. What are your thoughts on cables that would work well with SF? Have you had the opportunity to listen to the Futura's at all? Hope your having a great day! Tim

Hi CNoirM,

I have used Transparent REference cables with SF for many years. I also know a number of people use Nordost successfully and could believe it, depending on your tastes.

Some people love encouraging the midrange magic thru the use of midpowered tubes and organic cables. The SF, imho, is clean enough to do that without getting too 'honeyed'. OTOH, others will use SS and Nordost to 'liven' up the sound...but the richness of SF remains organic under these circumstances too, and the liveness/quickness can equally be exciting. I do like SF!

I have heard the Futuras...they are a bigger change from the Amati Anniversario, than the Anniversario was from the original imho. In particular, the Futura maintained the special midrange, tonality of the SF voice...but the signal is now very, very clean across the spectrum and the bass seems more damped...much more damped. I like it, though not all do.

Based in Europe and now running Zanden, CJ, Gryphon (all second hand) with Wilson X1/Grand Slamms I managed to get thru trade-in. I got the 'voice' i like from Zanden, a natural, low noise floor attenuation thru CJ and an effortless amplification thru Gryphon...and Wilson just delivered the original voice of the Zanden. It is a formula that works for me after many years of learning. and still learning! Enjoy your great system!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Has anyone compared the Sonus Faber Amati Anniversario or
Sonus Faber Amati Homage to the Sonus Faber Stradivari speakers?
The Stradivari looks much wider and uses 11 inch woofers.

Both the Strads and the Amati Homage are old school SF, during the Franco Serblin era. During that time the speakers were know for being very "musical" although somewhat colored. After that, SF went to a more modern, more detailed and more neutral frequency response. That said, I love the old sound. Full disclosure - my main speakers are old Cremona and I have 4 other pairs of older SF, so I am very tied to the old sound.

The Strads are, IMO, are a real step up from the Amati Homage. The Amati are a minor stop up from the Cremona, but the Strads are much better (and twice the price). The Amati was released first (1999), followed by the Cremona (2004), then the Strads (2005). Serbio clearly learned over time. For comparison,

I heard the Strads and the Wilson Alexandra II a few days apart. The Strads delivered the music. The Wilson's had great detail and focus, but, for me, just did not deliver the music.

The Strads are, indeed, an unusual form factor. Serbio always claimed that was one of the main reasons the Strads deliver such a music sound. I would go for the Strads in a nanosecond.

I have not heard the Anniversario. I have heard the updated Cremona and the Elipsa and did not care for either one. They were too lean, without the sweetness of the old SF.

Hi Twilo,

Yes, i have compared the two and owned the SF Strad. The depth of soundstage and bass capability of the Strad is greater than the Amati apples to apples...however, there are several factors one needs to be careful of with the Strads. They require a lot of control to get the bass response smooth and taut...the impedance dips to around 2.7 as i recall during certain lower elements of the range.

I found the Strad retrained the beautiful voice of the SF/Franco Serblin heritage that is the hallmark of this work, and was particularly beautiful (imho) in the Guarneri (which i also owned).

The Amati original was strangely 'tipped up' in the high treble...we compared G to Strad to Amati and there were very specific tracks where the Amati was bringinforwar forward high-frequency information that was more in the background in all other speakers in the room. The bass also could be excellent or faint...lots of factors there.

The Anniversario seemed to ameliorate both issues.

The Strad went beyond the Anniversario in bass, depth and richness of the overall breadth of soundstage and effortless capability. However, many also found the bass difficult to control and keep damped. So while midrange tubes sounded great with them...i eventually found SS Class A worked best (Gryphon).

I loved the Strad and knew at the time of only 2 speakers i would ever 'trade' for the mighty Strads. One of them came my way, the Wilson X1/Grand Slamm, and i took it and have not looked back.

Nevertheless, the Strad is an all-time great in my book. The Amatis equally are an amazing speaker, and with the right amps/electronics will fill most any room with beautiful, rich sonorous music.

all one man's experience. feel free to follow up with any specific questions. hope that is somewhat helpful.