Amati Futuras in the house
 

We took delivery yesterday on a beautiful pair of AFs, replacing our B&W 802Ds. Over the past few weeks we replaced the MX136 with an MX151, and put in a C2500 preamp for stereo listening, to drive the front MC501s. A McIntosh MVP901 arrived yesterday too, so a lot of upgrades around the core amplifiers.

Each step has resulted in improvements, but the combination of the Amati Futuras having the C2500 preamp upstream with its tube magic really made the hair on the back of my neck stand up when we were dialing in the speakers.

The soundstage of jazz and ensemble classical we've played so far is wider, and the separation of individual instruments has us amazed. Our Sumiko-trained dealer placed them in the listening room, and it amazed me how the small differences in placement affected the sound, especially the first "fix" of the bass on the left speaker. There is an "air" around the sound, with greater detail, that lends a heightened presence to the music that brings it closer to live than we've had here. The bass coming from these beauties is amazing when one considers the woofers are just nine inches (granted, my frame of reference is the Cerwin-Vegas I used to sell with 15- and 18-inch woofers a LONG time ago), and while deep, it's very fast as well.

I don't know if it's the placement, which is different from what we had with the B&Ws, but they sound much better from the next room than the 802Ds did. All the upgrades have really enabled us to enjoy the music on another level, and we're really looking forward to exploring the music again, and having more "I never heard that before" moments when playing old favorites - had a couple already.

Truly a piece of art.

Congrats! Loving my Futura's - they will grow on you. As you've noted with proper placement they really sing.

Congratulations, they are amazing speakers and they look great even when off. They will give you many years of pleasure.

Congrats!
Beautiful speakers in all aspects.
You've built a fantastic system, and the Sonus Faber sound indeed fits jazz and classical very well. :yes:

Paul.......Welcome to the Sonus faber family. The Amati Futura's are remarkable speakers that sound every bit as good as they look. Glad to read the Sumiko trained dealer dialed them in for you. I used the Sumiko Master Speaker Placement guidelines to locate my Amati Anniversario's. The improvement in the way bass loads the room and my sound stage localization astonished me. Enjoy your new Amati Futura's in good health.

:ttiwwp:

Congrats :D

Congratulations, the AFs are gorgeous speakers and you have many more moments to come of hair standing up on the back of your neck and goosebumps.
What finish did you get? Any pictures forthcoming?

Thanks everyone - I've got a lot of work to get done at the office before taking off for Christmas, so it's going to be tough to not pop into the listening room as much as i'd like over the next couple weeks. A good "problem" to have!

Dan, your Anniversario review was a key influence, beyond the listening we've done with SF speakers over the years. The first time we heard a pair of SF's, the Cremona, my wife was smitten with the sound as I was.

When we were placing the AF's at one point as we were getting close, and I was near a far corner, I thought we had the whole 5.1 setup going and jerked my head around to see if the amps running my front center and rear speakers where on. I knew in my brain they weren't, that we just had the C2500 running the MC501s up front, but the sound so enveloped the room from that poor listening position that my ears were telling me something else for a moment.

Congrats on some beautiful speakers both in looks and sound! You should enjoy them and your equipment for many years to come.

Ivan, you're right!

Took a few with the iPhone; will get the Nikon with the wide angle lens in here at Christmastime.

On the second photo, here's proof that Boss-girl is pleased! :thumbsup:


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