My Sonus Faber Speakers are in the house!!

[mbovaird]

As many of you know, I had to sell my Revel Salon 2's due to their power requirements. I was simply unwilling to part with my McIntosh 2301's after experimenting with a few amps - none could come close to the sonic characteristics of the 2301's. Sorry, not even close. So I put my Salon 2's up for sale and began my search for a highly efficient speaker which could compete or even exceed my Salon 2's.

To my surprise, I sold my Salon 2's rather quickly. A nice gentleman from Orlando (a huge Mark Levinson fan with an incredible ML system) purchased them. He literally emailed me in the morning, we spoke shortly after that and two hours later he was here cash in hand! After the second song, he stood up and we closed the deal. Both of us willing to give just a little and we met in the middle. Both parties very happy!

Well, that left me without a pair of speakers! I began auditioning several speakers and ended up buying a pair of speakers I had not even heard!

I went on the advice of Dan, Ivan, VTSkier, Mark, Jeff, William13, Joe and several others. I trust their judgement immensely. To make sure I was making the right call, I spoke to a few professionals from Stereophile and TAS and ToneAudio. All confirmed that the Strads are indeed one of the top speakers in the world, easy to drive and a perfect match for my McIntosh 2301's.

My Strads arrived on Wednesday on a 18 wheeler truck. Careful offloading and a rather painful trek up the stairs took the better part of Wednesday (and my back!). I tore the muscles in my right arm 3 weeks ago playing hockey, so I have the strength in that arm of about a 4 year old or 104 year old. Take your pick. But I digress.

I began setup on Thursday. I read through all of the literature and associated guides from Sonus Faber (oddly written in Italian on one side and English on the other)....but tastefully done and filled with some good information. With the assistance of my wife, we attached the bases and carefully positioned the speakers. I took a great deal of time to carefully place them using the 80% formula which has worked well in my room. By Thursday afternoon I was ready for my first listen.

I sat there in amazement as the most incredible midrange, the most tactile bass that has graced my room. The Strads had no problem filling my room with glorious music. The Strads can play LOUD - and I mean very loud - without any fatigue and using only 30 watts. They are a clear example of just how good high efficient speakers can be with even a tube amp. I'm convinced now that highly efficient speakers and moderate power can play much louder and cleaner than inefficient speakers and massive amps.

I spent the next 3 hours circling through a wide variety of music and sources. EVERYTHING sounded better. A massive sound stage. Wide and deep. The detail was incredible and the bass was the BEST I had ever heard in my room. The bass of the Strads is so real and so accurate, it will spoil me forever.

I spent the better part of the evening (late into the evening) playing with everything. Suffice it to say, today was not a very productive day for work either. All day today I experimented, listened and smiled from ear to ear.

I have observed the following: In my room and to my ears, The Strads don't like Silver speaker cables. The silver SP cables made them sound way too bright. When I put my copper cables back on, it was night and day and PERFECT sounding. No extra turbo push on the highs. They were much smoother. Glorious.

I also observed that the MEN220 had NO affect. How could this be? It had worked miracles with my Salon 2's and may even be considered product of the year by some. It brought my Salon 2's to a whole new level. But with the Strads, I reconfigured the MEN220 - TWICE - and I couldn't hear ANY difference. I had noted that many folks with Sonus Faber speakers had ditched the MEN220 for the same reason. I'm not sure why it did so little on the Strads, but was so profound on the Salon 2's. But that's what happened....so, the MEN220 is out of the loop and will be up for sale (if anyone is interested! )

With my Salon 2's (which I still consider one of the best speakers I've ever heard), my 2301's would be OVER 300 watts/channel at a average to below average listening level. With my power hungry Salon 2's, turning up the 2301's even slightly, had resulted in my 2301's shutting down (6 times).

With the Strads, 3 watts is a very nice listening level, 10 watts is loud and 30 watts starts to really hurt my ears. 30 watts is LOUD - and I mean LOUD. I find myself using only about 10-20 watts of the 300+ watts the 2301's have on tap. This to me was a huge goal. Pushing your amps to 100%+ all the time - is not a good idea. Using 10% (max) is glorious. The 2301's handle the Strads with easy and beauty and control.

I couldn't be happier. These speakers are truly the most beautiful speaker I have ever seen and heard. Their finish is immaculate. Perfect as perfect can be. I believe their real wood design gives them a unique sonic signature (like comparing a $99 acoustic guitar made from MDF to a $2000 acoustic guitar made from some exotic wood). Truer. More natural. And with a timber reminiscent of such a fine instrument, they sound so natural. Their design makes all other non-SF speaker look, boring. And, they just happen to sound even better than they look.

I want to give a special thanks to Ivan for baby sitting this deal for me. Five minutes after the speakers literally arrived, Ivan was calling to make sure everything was ok. He kept in constant contact with me, updating me on each step along the way and answering all my questions. I also want to thank Ivan for "thinking outside the box" and suggesting a Cremona Center in the matching Red Violin. This is certainly not an inexpensive option, but one which will look STUNNING. He really is good at helping me spend my money! The only down side will be the wait on this custom order!

I've attached some pics.

[jdandy]

Mike.......Holy mackerel. Your system looks fantastic. The Stradivari's compliment the room perfectly. Very nice.

[rscotth]

Mike, nicely done. You must be in audio nirvana. Congrats!

[gtubes]

Mike, what a great ending to a successful sale and wonderful beginning of the next chapter of audio bliss. It even looks as though the SF's were made for your space/room.

[Volks]

Lovely story Mike and im happy you have the perfect speaker for your 2301's

[mbovaird]

Originally Posted by rscotth

Mike, nicely done. You must be in audio nirvana. Congrats!

Thanks Scott. They sound amazing with that AVID TT you sold me! I added a Furutech DIN cable just today and what an improvement. You were right, that stock SME309 cable is rubbish.

[mbovaird]

Originally Posted by gtubes

Mike, what a great ending to a successful sale and wonderful beginning of the next chapter of audio bliss. It even looks as though the SF's were made for your space/room.

Thanks!!

[mbovaird]

Originally Posted by Volks

Lovely story Mike and im happy you have the perfect speaker for your 2301's

Thanks Mike.

[joeinid]

Holy Cow!!!!!

Absolutely beautiful.

Congratulations Mike!

[mbovaird]

Originally Posted by jdandy

Mike.......Holy mackerel. Your system looks fantastic. The Stradivari's compliment the room perfectly. Very nice.

Thanks Dan! I was a little worried about space...but even when you have a big room, its hard to visualize....and yes, they look ideal in the room. I can't wait to add that matching red violin center.