Sonus faber Guarneri Evolution and Naim: Great Match

[metaphacts]

Had a chance to visit the Sonus faber dealer in Bethesda Maryland on Friday. Bethesda Systems has been primarily a custom based dealer and they recently merged with Boulevard Audio, a Crestron based custom dealer whose owner, Lynn Hopffgarten, is an unapologetic two channel music lover. It was Lynn who first showed me the beauty of a Naim/Sonus faber coupling some years ago. At the same time Jon Stovall and Mike Wilson, Bethesda's founders, are music guys first and foremost.

Long story short, Lynn has brought Naim aboard and Jon and Mike have taken their already deep affection of Sonus faber to the next level, having brought in Guarneri Evolution. I dropped by to finish dialing in the now mostly broken in Evos. The guys were already blown away by Evo, especially Lynn, whose extensive Sonus experience includes Strad and Anniversario.

First step was to remove the jumper bars and make wire jumpers. After that, we hooked the Guarneris up to the NaimUniti and went to work. As the pictures show the room is not big and we had a rear projection screen in between the speakers. Typically RPs are a nightmare to work with and this was no exception. Finding where the bass mated with the room was relatively simple but toe/in toe/out and rake were more difficult due to the reflections from the screen. But once locked in, the system really began to sing. A beautiful envelope extended well beyond the outside of the speakers and well above. Bass was extended and well integrated, and the Uniti cruised through dynamic passages. I was reminded of just how well Naim and Sonus faber work together.

Even though the Uniti is an all in one, it did a wonderful job of highlighting the Guarneri's strengths. It's 90 watt (4ohm) output seems to be about right for the room size though I would expect that moving up the Naim range would only improve things regardless of power. The more I hear Guarneri the more I find there is a line of demarcation in power. Below the line can sound very nice but it so limits Evolution that I could never live with the compromise. Listening to an amplifier smear complex dynamic twists and turns just doesn't work for me. YMMV.

[Rafale]

very nice, thanks for sharing....

[Foot tapper]

Hi Everyone
First post, so go gentle with the newbie

You may have heard about the fate of the first pair of Guarneri Evolutions to arrive in the UK. Absolute Sounds sent them to a UK dealer for a demonstration at my humble abode. After the demonstration at home, the dealer then took them back and had them couriered back to Absolute Sounds.

Then disaster struck. The courier drove a fork lift truck through the side of the Guarneri Evolution's carton and damaged one of the cabinets. That must have taken some doing.

However, before that happened, we had the Guarneri's absolutely singing on the end of my Roksan/Naim system.

Much as I adored the Guarneri Mementos, the boss had vetoed them due to the appearance of the marble/resin bases. However, the Guarneri Evolutions have received the royal seal of approval and a new pair of "conker" GEs will soon be installed. And my oh my are they beautiful. Can't wait.

Best regards, FT

[metaphacts]

Originally Posted by Foot tapper

Hi Everyone
First post, so go gentle with the newbie

You may have heard about the fate of the first pair of Guarneri Evolutions to arrive in the UK. Absolute Sounds sent them to a UK dealer for a demonstration at my humble abode. After the demonstration at home, the dealer then took them pack and had them couriered back to Absolute Sounds.

Then disaster struck. The courier drove a fork lift truck through the side of the Guarneri Evolution's carton and damaged one of the cabinets. That must have taken some doing.

However, before that happened, we had the Guarneri's absolutely singing on the end of my Roksan/Naim system.

Much as I adored the Guarneri Mementos, the boss had vetoed them due to the appearance of the marble/resin bases. However, the Guarneri Evolutions have received the royal seal of approval and a new pair of "conker" GEs will soon be installed. And my oh my are they beautiful. Can't wait.

Best regards, FT

Welcome aboard Foot tapper. Congrats on the Guarneri Evos

[chessman]

Foot tapper, welcome aboard!

[TommyC]

Interesting! I heard the Memento with Naim gear and they were not very good. Quite bad sounding actually. It could be the room.

We need some high end SF dealer in Vancouver!

[larevoj]

Originally Posted by TommyC

Interesting! I heard the Memento with Naim gear and they were not very good. Quite bad sounding actually. It could be the room.

We need some high end SF dealer in Vancouver!

I have the same impression too...I thought the Naim gears don't have sufficient power to drive the Guarneri.

[Jerome W]

Originally Posted by Foot tapper

Hi Everyone
First post, so go gentle with the newbie

You may have heard about the fate of the first pair of Guarneri Evolutions to arrive in the UK. Absolute Sounds sent them to a UK dealer for a demonstration at my humble abode. After the demonstration at home, the dealer then took them back and had them couriered back to Absolute Sounds.

Then disaster struck. The courier drove a fork lift truck through the side of the Guarneri Evolution's carton and damaged one of the cabinets. That must have taken some doing.

However, before that happened, we had the Guarneri's absolutely singing on the end of my Roksan/Naim system.

Much as I adored the Guarneri Mementos, the boss had vetoed them due to the appearance of the marble/resin bases. However, the Guarneri Evolutions have received the royal seal of approval and a new pair of "conker" GEs will soon be installed. And my oh my are they beautiful. Can't wait.

Best regards, FT

FT, Welcome to AA !

[Jerome W]

Bill,

Thanks for sharing ! nice room and story.
I "treat" my plasma screen when I listen to music with a thick comforter. It takes 3 seconds to put on and I'm fine this way.
I wanted to put curtains on a bar and my wife told me that with the cats, this was the worst idea I had for this room, and she also thought that no matter the curtain, it would be ugly.

[Foot tapper]

Hi Tommy, Larevoj
I do enjoy hearing about these "rules" about equipment compatibility. Examples include:

• Naim doesn't work with Sonus Faber
• Naim doesn't work with Wilson
• Sonus Faber speakers add a rose tinted colour to all music
• Krell amplifiers are sterile
• All

valve amplifiers sound slow

I can only speak from personal experience that these generalisations are normally untrue.

My amplifier is a Naim 52 (pre)/Supercap (power supply)/135 (mono blocks) and it drives both Mementos and Evolutions effortlessly. The combination has a beautiful, engaging sense of rhythm & timing. It also conveys emotion and the texture of individual notes. In short, the combination presses all the right buttons for me.

As for Naim not working with Wilson, well Sophias sound gorgeous on my system in my room. The Sophia was only vetoed on aesthetic grounds.

I am sure that you can also take the "rules" about Krell & valve amps with a large pinch of salt!

However, I am genuinely and pleasantly surprised that a Naim Uniti will drive GE well. The Uniti has one of the smallest power supplies and amplifier sections in Naim's product range.