[Thedo]

Originally Posted by jakegt3

I got a chance to audition the Guarneri Evolutions at the local dealer. On the positive side, the speakers were brilliant in terms of soundstaging and imaging. The speakers totally disappeared and presented a soundstage that was wide and deep. The bass was OK and the midrange was great. However, on the negative side, the high frequencies sounded very rolled off above a few kHz, which resulted in a tonal balance that was quite dark overall. Honestly I don't think I could live with such a dark sound. The speakers did not sound like what I expected from the reviews I had read.

The equipment used to drive them was an ARC Reference 75, SP20 preamp, and a Luxman CD player that I was not familiar with. I'm not sure how much different the sound would be with other equipment. However, I listened to other speakers in roughly the same price range (Focal, Wilson Audio) through the same equipment in the same room and did not get the same sense of tonal darkness.

So, I'm kind of puzzled here. The sound of the Guarneri's is nothing like my Cremona M's, which have somewhat less midrange richness but much more high frequency sheen without being overly harsh or bright. There could have been something wrong with the dealer's demo model or the way they were set up, but based on what I heard there, I was disappointed overall.

I may be an odd guy here but I think I agree with you. I used to have the Guarneri Mementos and I absolutely loved them. When the Guarneri Evo came out, I came to my local dealer to check them out. I was disappointed, they are dark compared to the Mementos and the sound stage is not as wide. They do have more bass than the Mementos but that only because they have bigger cabinet volume. I ended up upgrading to the Amati Anniversarios. In my opinion, you should find a used pair of the Mementos and listen to them. I bet you will love them if you have a small room. And in my eyes, the Mementos are aesthetically better than the Evo too. I still miss my Mementos....