I once heard a pair of SF Venere floorstanders in non ideal setup environment at Magnolia some 5 years ago of so and wasn't that impressed but again the speaker placements, electronics and room acoustic were far from ideal. the speakers were in their switchboard room hooked up to bunch of Denon, Pioneer Elite, Marantz & Arcam AV receivers. And the SF Veneres were indeed made in China but anything above that were made in Italy.
However, the Venere line was discontinued and been replaced by Sonetto line, which is now a SF entry level line, and are made in Italy. I have yet to hear the Sonetto line speakers but according to many audiophiles who had heard both the Sonetto and the Venere they all commented that sonically the new Sonetto line is much superior sounding to the Venere. no comparison. and the SF Sonetto speakers are made in Italy.
All that being said, I would seriously look into a used discontinued pair of the SF Olympica line as they will be a big step up performance wise (musicality wise) from both the Venere and the Sonetto. But I think the Sonetto line will get you closer to the performance of the Olympica line and somewhat bridges the gap between that of the Venere and the Olympica line.
You should be able to get the SF Olympica at discounts as they are being phased out as SF is releasing the new Olympica Nova line.
