Guarneri Memento----Pics

[gregswaim]

Lavon, it's as simple as placing a order for the red finish and writing a check. These are exceptional speakers. What's the wait period?

['cisco]

Originally Posted by gregswaim

Lavon, it's as simple as placing a order for the red finish and writing a check. These are exceptional speakers. What's the wait period?

That check might (WILL) bounce higher than a kite Don't know the waiting period....I believe they're $15k.

Doesn't that "Candy-apple Red" look awesome? But then again....I love the look of that wood

[Uberbrown]

Originally Posted by 'cisco

That check might (WILL) bounce higher than a kite Don't know the waiting period....I believe they're $15k.

Doesn't that "Candy-apple Red" look awesome? But then again....I love the look of that wood

8k with stands on Audiogon in NY.

['cisco]

Originally Posted by Uberbrown

8k with stands on Audiogon in NY.

Uberbrown.......Thanks but that check will still

I just made a purchase and I'm awaiting delivery of a very special package

[PHC1]

Originally Posted by 'cisco

Dan.....It was my audition 20 years ago and Serge's pics of his GM that made my heart skip a beat

You're absolutely dead on...these Sonus Faber Guarneri Memento's are drop dead "GORGEOUS" Thru my limited experience....I would say they are on par with Wilson Audio's fit and finish. Italian craftsmanship or American Ingenuity?

It would be an interesting comparison between Wilson Audio's Duette's and Sonus Faber Guarneri Memento's ...... a shoot out at the OK Corral. Any thoughts on this Serge?

Though it's not quite summer yet....could this be just a summer fling...infatuation? What ever happens, those GH's will always have a place in my heart

Having owned the Cremona A's and GM's and having heard the Elipsa, Strads, Duettes, WP8's, Alexandria X2 many times at the dealer and now living with the Sophia 2s, I can tell you that I have not been happier or more impressed with any speaker over the Sophia 2 in my own listening room.

As to Duettes vs GM's, if you have to have monitors, that is a tough choice, the GM's are a touch more romantic/warmer sounding in the mids, the Duette's are a bit more neutral, open sounding and have effortless dynamics. I guess a lot would depend on preference and more importantly partnering gear and room acoustics.

The Sophia 2s are very close in price to Duette's and I would without hesitation take the Sophia 2s over Duettes if your room and budget allows. You will get truly impressive bass that is both well controlled, plenty deep, articulate and having the proper "weight" and slam to it. Top to bottom coherence, incredible dynamics, extended yet smooth top end, "palpable" imaging with sharp focus and very impressive soundstage capabilities are all strong traits of the Sophia 2.

Having said that, I run Class A hybrid Lamm monoblocks and a very transparent Ayre preamp in my system which give me a very clear picture of what's going on the recording. My system is rich in harmonics but is also very resolving, much more so than the McIntosh gear was before them. With the Sophia 2, the best/great recordings will often have me picking up my jaw of the floor but some of the crappy dynamic range compressed recordings will have me struggle a bit through them at the edge of my tolerance levels. In general, the Wilson's can be a window to another dimension in musical enjoyment or they can test your patience if the partnering gear/room acoustics are only so so as is the quality of the recordings you listen to.

The Sonus Fabers can't quite keep up with some of the performance parameters of Wilson speakers but if you'd rather give up a bit of that openness, clarity, slam, extension and have a higher margin of tolerance for poor quality recordings, then the SF is the way to go. If you are willing to do some careful gear/cable matching to the Wilson's, then you will be rewarded with incredible performance, a window into the recording that will erase your room and put you right into the recorded event and have your heart race and skin covered in goosebumps.

[gregswaim]

Originally Posted by 'cisco

That check might (WILL) bounce higher than a kite Don't know the waiting period....I believe they're $15k.

Doesn't that "Candy-apple Red" look awesome? But then again....I love the look of that wood

The red ones do look better. My Linn dealer has the silver ones for demo.
Just curious, are you no longer happy with your PMC's?

[1KW]

"The Sonus Fabers can't quite keep up with some of the performance parameters of Wilson speakers but if you'd rather give up a bit of that openness, clarity, slam, extension and have a higher margin of tolerance for poor quality recordings, then the SF is the way to go. If you are willing to do some careful gear/cable matching to the Wilson's, then you will be rewarded with incredible performance, a window into the recording that will erase your room and put you right into the recorded event and have your heart race and skin covered in goosebumps. "



Serge , are you talking about all SF speakers compared to the the wilson sophia 2 ? I am thinking about the SF elipsa ?

['cisco]

Serge.....wow..that is some revelation on both speakers....I appreciate your candidness . I also heard the Sophia's..not the "2" at my dealer. It sounded very nice but too large of a footprint in my room.

The Duettes were something special....they were hooked up to Naim and sounded so very nice! If and when I do decide to pull the trigger....hooking them up with the Macs is a must.

Thanks Serge.... excellent write up....you and Dan are the greatest

Greg....I still love my PMC's Maybe 2 pairs of speakers?

Like I said earlier about the summer fling thing

[gregswaim]

Originally Posted by 'cisco

Serge.....wow..that is some revelation on both speakers....I appreciate your candidness . I also heard the Sophia's..not the "2" at my dealer. It sounded very nice but too large of a footprint in my room.

The Duettes were something special....they were hooked up to Naim and sounded so very nice! If and when I do decide to pull the trigger....hooking them up with the Macs is a must.

Thanks Serge.... excellent write up....you and Dan are the greatest

Greg....I still love my PMC's Maybe 2 pairs of speakers?

Like I said earlier about the summer fling thing

Naim electronics are quite excellent. MAC amps are a bit more dynamic in my opinion. Careful listening will reveal the winner.

If you're looking for improved sound from your existing system, work backwards from your source(most important) which is your MCD500. If you're happy with that then look at your preamp(2nd most important in the audio chain) the C220. Looking further still at your amp(s)(3rd most important), and finally your speakers. After that, interconnects,speaker cables,then AC line.
In my opinion, you should take a look at improving your preamp rather than speakers right now.

[PHC1]

Originally Posted by 1KW

"The Sonus Fabers can't quite keep up with some of the performance parameters of Wilson speakers but if you'd rather give up a bit of that openness, clarity, slam, extension and have a higher margin of tolerance for poor quality recordings, then the SF is the way to go. If you are willing to do some careful gear/cable matching to the Wilson's, then you will be rewarded with incredible performance, a window into the recording that will erase your room and put you right into the recorded event and have your heart race and skin covered in goosebumps. "



Serge , are you talking about all SF speakers compared to the the wilson sophia 2 ? I am thinking about the SF elipsa ?

I like the Elipsa but there are a few things the Sophia 2 is clearly better at. The Elipsa's cabinet allows in-room placement flexibility but robs the speaker of some of the soundstage and imaging performance. The Sophia 2 throws a huge soundstage with very focused, precise imaging that presents the listener with palpable images that you can "reach out and touch". I also like the bass of the Sophia 2 a little better, it is more real sounding with great articulation and "presence" in the room that seems to flesh out the bass instruments in a more believable way. As impressive as the tweeter is in the Elipsa, the Sophia tweeter has a sparkle to it that just "lights up" the soundstage. Of course much of what I hear is also due to the gear driving them but if the speaker is not able to reproduce those qualities, I wouldn't hear them to begin with. Sophia 2 is a great speaker all around, what can I say, I love them.

As a side note, I loved the looks of natural wood/maple of the SF speakers but Wilson does allow you to choose from a pretty generous palette of automotive paint colors and even custom color is possible, so having them look good in your room is not too difficult. With most other speakers you just don't have that flexibility.