ELIPSA SE for a "smallish" room
 

Folks here know about my passion and love for Sonus faber. I have been vocal about what I consider to be missteps taken by the company recently, but I also have a profound admiration for most of the "classic" lines they produced not so long ago.

I am finally in a position where I am seriously considering the purchase of a pair of Elipsa SE's.

Looking at my signature you will notice that I currently own the Toy Towers. Yes, I realize this would be a gigantic step forward (some may call it "laughably so"! :) ). Actually, I am happy with the Toys. They were kindly and expertly set-up by our own Bill Peugh himself, and sound wonderful, all things considered. Truth be told, I don't really "need" the Elipsa's. Having said that, they have been my dream speaker ever since I laid eyes on them for the first time. Period. I don't "need" them. I do "want" them.

My concern is my room. You could say it is on the "smallish" side. Dimensions are roughly 15 feet (left to right) and 12.5 feet (front to back), with an opening on the right side of approximately 5 extra feet. Ceiling is about 8 feet high. Floor is tile, but a large carpet covers most of it. Walls are almost entirely covered with media.

You can actually see numerous photos of the room on these very pages. Here's a direct link:
http://www.audioaficionado.org/membe...bans-cave.html

There have been some changes since I took those photos (mostly the addition of Nordost Heimdall 2 speaker cables, an Oppo 105, a Panasonic 65VT60, etc), but the room lay-out is exactly the same.

Biggest concern is bass. One of the reasons I would like to upgrade is precisely a little more bass and extension. I do listen to a lot of classic rock, progressive metal, etc., but also a lot of symphonic classical. However, we know that "too much" bass is also a problem.

Amplification is a Prima Luna DiaLogue One. Perhaps not ideal, but I understand the Elipsas are relatively efficient. John Atkinson measured them for Stereophile many years ago and he did say they require lots of current. That was for the original model, though, and not the SE. Does anybody know if the SE's are more efficient?

What do you folks think? Is it viable?

A few more photos. These are more recent:

https://scontent-dfw1-1.xx.fbcdn.net...60369685_o.jpg

https://scontent-dfw1-1.xx.fbcdn.net...14&oe=55C0DDF6

Esteban,

I am positive that the Ellipsa SE will play very nicely in your room.
These are very refined, dynamic and musical speakers. Great choice imho.
I am sure that Georges will chime in and David too if he is around.

Esteban.......The Sonus faber Elipsa SE has a sensitivity of 91dB/1w/1m. Your PrimaLuna DiaLogue One will provide sufficient power to fill your listening space with plenty of volume and dynamic range. The Elipsa SE's are fine speakers with their Piano Gloss Red Violin finish. I am confident you will love their sound in your room. I would not worry about too much bass. When properly setup they will couple with your room and provide a deep and richly textured bass response. You won't miss your present speakers once the Elipsa SE's take their place. Life is short. Make it happen.

http://www.sonusfaber.com/ContentsFi..._TONE_8_12.pdf

I think the Elpisa SE is the bargain in the SF line-up. Go for it if you can.

Another vote in favor of the Elipsa SE. Great speakers.

Thank you, all! The value and quality of the Elipsa SE is not at all in question, mind you. My biggest concern is the size of the room. Will they sing with it or will they overpower it? One can never know for sure until one actually tries the speakers in the room, of course, but I am being cautious here. $20K+ is a lot of bills for me, and I would hate to use that towards the wrong (for my room) speaker. Would love to hear from folks in a similar situation. Having said that, your enthusiasm is contagious! :)

Esteban, are you considering buying new or used?

Anyhow, these speakers will shine in you room.
I've heard them with a 2x30 watts Jadis amplifier in a rather small room and loved them!
Good luck!

For sure it will work. I had a demo I heard of the elipsa se, it was similar size layout.

Hola Esteban,

For what it's worth, I have heard Elipsas SE in a room even smaller than your beautiful cave it sounded fantastic. You don't get the feeling that bass is excessive or starts bouncing over the wrong spots, not at all. Amps were by McIntosh though.

You should be more than fine, me thinks.

Abrazo
Fernando

Esteban...question for you. Are you going to be buying the Elipsa SE's from a local dealer? If yes, do they have a similar sized room? Also, can you take your PrimaLuna integrated with you to test out on the speakers? If the answers to all three are yes, then that would be my first attempt at assessing suitability of the Elipsa SE with a room your size and powered by your amp. It may be that you find that the Elipsa SEs play nice in a room similar in size to yours, which should give you the confidence that it can work in your room but that maybe a change in amplification may be needed to make them sing (or not). I don't know. But that is one avenue of enquiry that may yield enough risk-mitigation to give you the comfort to go ahead with the purchase. This is assuming the local dealer will not bring them over for you to audition in your space of course :D. The other avenue is to send Bill a PM, in case he does not see this thread (which is likely these days given his new responsibilities at Transparent) and get his most valuable input on the subject as I am sure he will have an informed opinion, especially since he has been to your room and voiced the Toys in them.

Good luck :thumbsup:

The current team is more involved in the design of Elipsa SE. If you really like the classic sound and design that is pretty much remain intact...Strad is it, you will happier for a long haul and it is a better speaker overall.

They will sound fantastic , I'm using the Elipsa in my 2 channel room which is about the same size as yours

Thank you all for the replies. Bart, more than I likely I would purchase these new. Unless I miraculously come across a mint pair in my neck of the woods, and the price is right. :)

Cyril, my dealer does not currently have a pair in stock. He would have to order them for me. He's been in my room several times and he also thinks they will work. He believes the wider cabinet will help with side reflections as well. I will try and message Bill as well, and ask for his advise.

Larevoj, there is no way I could afford the Strads, much as I love them, and I think they would definitely be too big. If I understand correctly, the original Elipsas were developed by Cesare Bevilacqua, with input from Serblin. The Elipsa SE was brought to market long after Serblin had sold the company, but it has the same tweeter as the Strad and an upgraded crossover. It is, in essence, a "mini" Strad, as they always call it.

I have a pair of the Elipsa SEs driven by an ARC Ref 110 tube amp. My room is 12' x 22'. It is section into two parts, the library listening part and office part. The listening part is about 12' x 15' so I don't think your room size would be a problem.

If you are buying from a dealer I would ask to hear the speakers with your amp. If I liked the sound I would then ask the dealer for a home demo. The speakers are large and heavy so he may not be thrilled. But at this price level I would want to hear them in my room with my system.

I did this with my pair of Elipsa SEs. My dealer brought his demo pair to my home and set them up in my room. He positioned them and set the toe in and rake so they sounded their best. This took and hour or so. After about a week I was so enamoured with the SEs, I called and asked him what it would take for me to just keep the demos right were they are.

The dealer must think your serious about the speakers though to go through this much effort. My Sonus Faber dealer is also my Audio Research dealer so I have been a long time customer who has bought a number of pieces.

The Elipsa SEs are very special speakers. They are like baby Strads. I think you would be very happy with them. I know that I am.

Beautiful speakers, and I'm sure they will be magical in your room.

Hope all is well with you Esteban.

I agree with your dealer. Your room should work very nicely for Elipsa SEs. I'd love to hear them there. Side walls will not be an issue. :thumbsup:

Bill

Esteban.......Well, there you have it. :)


http://www.adweek.com/fishbowldc/fil...imgres-96.jpeg

Bill...what do you think about Esteban's Primaluna Dialogue One integrated amp (36wpc into 8ohm in ultralinear mode and 18wpc in triode mode) for the Elipsa SEs? Enough power? Enough current (don't know peak current output on the amp)? Just curious...

Cyril.......When I reviewed the PrimaLuna ProLogue Premium integrated amplifier I had no real issues driving my Sonus faber Amati Anniversario speakers. The PrimaLuna ProLogue Premium delivers 40 watts with KT88 tubes (35 watts with EL34 tubes). I did managed to clip the amplifier at one point while listening to a Paul Hardcastle recording at about 1:00 o'clock on the volume control with the strong kick drum throughout a particular tune, but turning down the volume slightly solved the issue. No 35 watt or 40 watt amplifier is a "perfect" match for most modern speaker designs but in a small room you can still achieve robust volume with this power level. Considering the 91 dB sensitivity of the SF Cremona SE speakers I suspect Esteban will be pleased with his Primaluna Dialogue One performance although he may eventually seek an amplifier with more power.

Thank you very much for your input, Bill! That basically settles it for me. :)

I do have a good relationship with my dealer (almost everything you see in the room photos was purchased from him) and I'm sure we will be able to work things out once I'm ready to pull the trigger. He knows I've been wanting these for years, literally. :yes:

Dan, I appreciate your comments about the Prima Luna. It is a much better amp than most folks realize. If you achieved good synergy between the Amati Anniversarios and the ProLogue Premium, then my DiaLogue One (which actually has more robust transformers and would be considered a "step up" from the entire ProLogue line) should be able to handle the even more sensitive Elipsa SE's. :thumbsup:

Only problem now is finding the time in my schedule to arrange for the logistics. Luckily I have been crazy busy lately. The good thing is that because of this I am contemplating this huge (to me) splurge. The bad news is that I have no time to even move away from my work desk nor take a day off. I wish I was exaggerating. But as soon as I have at least a weekend off I will start making the arrangements. Hopefully within the next couple of months!

I appreciate everybody's input. Of course, do chime in with any additional comments!

Well, folks, it's official. Just placed the order for the Elipsa SE's in red violin finish. My dream speaker, basically (since I will never be able to afford the Strads!) :)

Crossing my fingers that they work well in my room.

I will keep you posted!

Excellent! Can't wait for pics. They will look smashingly good in your room. I too think they will work wonderfully well in your room ... My room is even smaller!!! Congrats Esteban and enjoy your new speakers. You have earned this long coming reward.

Esteban.......This is exciting news. You will love these speakers. Fabulous choice. . :applause:

Just to add: My room is 22 x 12.5 and they do not overpower the room (at all)
Congrats
Bill

Esteban...that's awesome! Congrats on a great speaker :thumbsup: Given how hard you are working, the Elipsa SEs will be the perfect tonic to calm you down from the stress of work. This will be a gift to yourself that will keep on giving for many years to come. Enjoy it in good health.

PS: Just make sure you make the time to listen to these beauties as often as you can :D

Congrats Esteban !!
They are wonderful. Enjoy them in great health.
And imho you may consider stop thinking that you'll never be able to afford more. You could be wright of course. But it is so much more stimulating and exciting to think the opposite way !

Esteban, a hearty congrats!
Like the others said: enjoy them fully!

Thank you so much, j3brow, Dan, Bill, Cyril, Jérôme and Bart! I appreciate the encouragement. Can't wait to have everything up and running and share the photos with all of you. :)

Can't wait also! :yahoo:
Love your room, looks very nice. I'm sure the speakers will look stunning in there.

Esteban, This should 'wet your whistle'...

Look at the most recent posts. http://www.audioaficionado.org/audio...o-rack-24.html

I'm coming late to this party but I'll be happy to say that you won't have any issue with the size of the room. I've listened to the Elipsa in a very small room and it was great.

Small rooms are actually great as you avoid a lot of acoustical issues you can have with bigger ones (like reflections).

The Elipsa's shape is also a great plus when placing the speakers. You don't have to move them away from the walls as you would for normal ones. I find them less intrusive than other models.

The only upgrade I can imagine is moving to the Strad. Otherwise I'm blessed to own them.

Last but not least, the PrimaLuna should give plenty of power. My system is 24W ! Sonus works great with tubes also.

Thank you, Georges! This is truly re-assuring!

Esteban.......So, how much longer before these beauties grace your room?


http://robbreport.com.sg/sites/defau...?itok=GoPsEFtY

Walls?
 

Do you believe this holds true for the back wall as well as side walls?

Hi Dan. Just waiting to hear back from my dealer now with an ETA. I am hoping no later than next week!

I think this is true for the back wall due to the thin shape. It is less true for side wall.

Mine are pushed on the side and back of the room due to room constraints. I found that it had minimal impact on the sound, it was actually better with the speakers far apart from each other.

Congrats Esteban on the next speaker for me, unless I decide on the G. Mementos.

back wall
 

I think mine are 27 inches away from back wall and 10-12 from side walls. I think I get more bass with that amount of distance from back but I am not sure what I gain or loose with my space from the side walls

I need to measure mine. I'd say that mine are farther from the back, maybe 35-40 inches.

There is maybe 5 inches from the side walls (measured from the top edge of the speaker to the wall)