Anyone heard the Liuto?

[metaphacts]

Originally Posted by AudioPhilio

The Liutos my dealer had on hand were the North American Cherry, albeit the first generation; which did not have the leather accents. I understand that now the speaker is trimmed in leather instead of the textured black finish it was originally released in. Are you sure about the Liuto being solid wood? From what I have read they are MDF with wood internal sub structrure for bracing. Either way, it is clearly a better performer than the GP Domus, and mabye my preference for its looks are completely biased, since the GP Domus were my mistress for almost 2 years As they say, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. BTW, mine were gloss piano black, not wood veneer.

Certainly understand your love of the GPs.

North American Cherry has only ever been available with leather covering the spine and top and bottom plates. Only the black has the textured finish. The shape of the top plate also changes on Liuto Wood.

As for the solid staves, yes I am sure. That is the "wood" part of Liuto Wood's design. BTW, I am in possession of the first pair of NA Cherry and have seen inside the cabinet. Laid up solids it is, with leather covered spine, top and bottom plates.

Could you be thinking of the Domus series wood side panels being veneer over mdf? Domus never had solid wood anywhere except for the top and bottom inch+ of the side panels under the teak veneer.

[AudioPhilio]

Originally Posted by metaphacts

Certainly understand your love of the GPs.

North American Cherry has only ever been available with leather covering the spine and top and bottom plates. Only the black has the textured finish. The shape of the top plate also changes on Liuto Wood.

As for the solid staves, yes I am sure. That is the "wood" part of Liuto Wood's design. BTW, I am in possession of the first pair of NA Cherry and have seen inside the cabinet. Laid up solids it is, with leather covered spine, top and bottom plates.

Could you be thinking of the Domus series wood side panels being veneer over mdf? Domus never had solid wood anywhere except for the top and bottom inch+ of the side panels under the teak veneer.

Metphacts,
I have indeed misspoke. The Liutos that my dealer had were the black finish and indeed did not have the leather covering the top and bottom plates; but had a textured finish. I have a very good memory, it is just very short
As far as the solid wood vs MDF, I read an apparently inaccurate review on Sonus faber Liuto Review | Home Entertainment by Steve Guttenberg:

''Looking straight down on the top of the Liuto's cabinet you can't help but notice its curves mimic those of a classical lute (liuto is the Italian word for lute). The shape has graced a number of Sonus faber speakers, but instead of the company's traditional solid-wood cabinets, the Liuto's is milled, medium-density fiberboard. Its high-gloss, black-lacquered flanks are of more than cosmetic interest; its rounded sides minimize the speaker's resonance. Inside, strategically placed structural ribs further quell cabinet resonance, because unlike musical instruments, the best speaker cabinets are acoustically dead cabinets. They let the tweeter, midrange and woofer "speak" for themselves."

Is it possible that the Black Liutos are constructed differently than the Liuto Wood?

Phil

[metaphacts]

Originally Posted by AudioPhilio

Metphacts,
I have indeed misspoke. The Liutos that my dealer had were the black finish and indeed did not have the leather covering the top and bottom plates; but had a textured finish. I have a very good memory, it is just very short
As far as the solid wood vs MDF, I read an apparently inaccurate review on Sonus faber Liuto Review | Home Entertainment by Steve Guttenberg:

''Looking straight down on the top of the Liuto's cabinet you can't help but notice its curves mimic those of a classical lute (liuto is the Italian word for lute). The shape has graced a number of Sonus faber speakers, but instead of the company's traditional solid-wood cabinets, the Liuto's is milled, medium-density fiberboard. Its high-gloss, black-lacquered flanks are of more than cosmetic interest; its rounded sides minimize the speaker's resonance. Inside, strategically placed structural ribs further quell cabinet resonance, because unlike musical instruments, the best speaker cabinets are acoustically dead cabinets. They let the tweeter, midrange and woofer "speak" for themselves."

Is it possible that the Black Liutos are constructed differently than the Liuto Wood?

Phil

Actually Steve is correct about the speakers he reviewed. What he is describing is Liuto Black only. Liuto Wood did not exist at the time he received speakers for review.

Yes the Liuto Wood is built very differently than the Liuto Black. It takes the more modern design/look of Black and brings it in line with traditional Sonus design/construction. Liuto Wood sides are made of top plate to bottom plate vertical 3/4" staves of solid hardwood (cherry, walnut, oak depending on finish) laid up and milled to shape. There is no mdf in the side panels of a Liuto Wood.

Not only are top, bottom and spine covered in leather on Liuto Wood, the top plate is actually shaped differently. Lastly Liuto Wood adds the outrigger front spike bar similar to that found on Cremona M and Amati. Net physical result is that the two speakers are slightly different in size and weight.

The pictures here will show you some of the physical differences. (Sumiko Audio : Sonus faber).

I just prefer the more classic Sonus aesthetic of Liuto Wood. The Smoked Oak version shown at CEDIA was a really cool new take on it too.

[AudioPhilio]

I see. I can assume that the Liuto wood has an even more rigid cabinet; therefore affording even better control over resonances and sounding even cleaner than the Liuto in black that I listened to. I look forward to seeing/hearing the Liuto wood! I was at My dealer's (listening to the Magico V2) and he said he is pretty sure that he will be bringing in the Wood soon. Now that I Have the Cremona, I look forward to comparing with the Wood. Not to get too OT, but as I metioned, I have had a couple of opportunities to listen to the Magico V2 now and I would not spend the extra coin over the Cremona M. They have their strengths for sure (very neutral, incredible resolution), but I am unabashedly in love with the Sonus Faber sound; and the way they convey music to me seems just about perfect.

Phil

[1KW]

I know this thread is about the Liuto wood but I wlll tell you my experience with adding a JL sub to my SF Cremona's was very nice. I was happy with that set up but when the opportunity came to get a full trade in value for my Cremona's and several k off the MRSP on a new pair of SF Elipsa's I could not resist. Stick to the Cremona line or above if you want any kind of trade in value. the Liuto will take a huge hit when you want to upgrade.... trust me you will want to upgrade eventually. If you buy a pre owned pair of Cremona's like Howie suggested you will not take much of a hit and most people spending that amount of money on a pair of speakers take care of them.

[esteban]

(apologies for "hijacking" this topic, but due to the fact that this is my first post I believe I am not yet allowed to start a new thread).

I only auditioned both Liuto models briefly, so I can't/shouldn't really formulate any solid opinions. However, what I heard was sweet, detailed and relaxed enough, although I was not too crazy about the overall appearance of the speaker. For the amount the towers are going, you might as well get an used Cremona M or, even with a little less, a brand new Toy Tower...

...which is exactly what I ended up doing. And since I I used the "search" option and was unable to come up with any results regarding the Toy series, I was wondering what your opinions/consensus was on this particular model line?

Look forward to your comments. Apologies again for deviating from the main topic of the thread.

[scarpi]

I have the Liuto tower in piano black. I have had them about three months. To me they sound very open, three dimensional, and I find them to be very revealing in terms of detail. The bass response is outstanding and has good "punch"to it. This is my first foray into the Sonus faber line and I'm glad to be in the family!

[jfray]

Originally Posted by scarpi

I have the Liuto tower in piano black. I have had them about three months. To me they sound very open, three dimensional, and I find them to be very revealing in terms of detail. The bass response is outstanding and has good "punch"to it. This is my first foray into the Sonus faber line and I'm glad to be in the family!

These are my thoughts exactly... I listened to the Liuto beside the Elipsa at my the dealer. The Elipsas were more defined in the mid region but the LIUTO's held there own. I believe the LIUTO's are the best "bang for the buck" in the SF line up.....

[scarpi]

Actually one of the HiFi mags thought the same thing. It might have been the Absolute Sound. I really feel that for the $6k I spent, I got a good portion of the wonderful Sonus faber sound and build quality.

[jfray]

I really feel to justify an upgrade at this point.... I would need to spend much much more money. I am so happy with the Liuto's I am not even thinking of an upgrade...