Sonus Faber Owners Thread

I own the original grand piano's (the ones that are a royal PITA to setup!)
I honestly don't like very many other speakers for music. I didn't use them much for nearly two years and finally went to sell them off. I hooked up a single one to a primare amp I had laying around to make sure it played right, ended up deleting my audiogon auction and sticking with them for music. Something about them always pulls me into the music like few other speakers ever have. I have a full martin logan home theater system but for music, it isn't my taste.

I love the cremona speakers, I wish I could afford them

any experiences with the Sonus Faber Concerto Domus?

I just purchased a pair of the Concertino Domus after auditioning a number of different speakers. I listened to the Concerto Domus as well. It sounded amazing. I would buy a pair of the Concertos if I had the space in my apartment.

I don't understand why Sonus Faber doesn't get more love in this forum. It's a great speaker!

I used to work for a company that sold Sonus Faber, as well as their Sumiko counterpart Vienna Accoustics. They were very nice speakers, but most of us preferred the Vienna. I wouldn't complain though if I had some sitting at my house!

I auditioned the Vienna Haydns as well and liked them, but I actually preferred the sound of the Sonus Fabers. Once I factored in the extra $$ that I'd have to pay for the Viennas, my decision made itself.

Went to my friend's house who has a pair of Minima Amators, and I really liked what I heard. We then went to a local Magnolia and auditioned Concertino Domus. Not in the same league as Minima Amators. We then auditioned Auditor M, and went "wow." The Auditor M is much more modern sounding, with more details, resolutions, and revelation. The quality of base as well as quantity was there. We then A/B'ed Auditor M and Grand Piano Domus since they were next to each other. They're roughly the same price (-$600 for GPD). I was expecting GPD to outperform the Auditor M, but nooooo.... When A/B'ed, the GPD sounded "muddier" and the vocal projected too large of an image. The Auditor M is overall hands down better.

But the price is just not right. MSRP $7,000 with the obligatory stand is just crazy for what you get. Unless you have a specific reason to buy it (ie wife only approves buying it for design reasons, etc.) then I would say there are better, cheaper alternatives out there. I think Sonus faber is a great speaker company, but a lot of what you pay for goes to the box, not to the sound itself. I'm sure to many people speakers are furniture and looks are just as important as sound, but if you are purely after sound then look elsewhere, like Vienna Acoustics.

Hello, I just recently purchased the concertino domus and domus center speakers. They sound great but I just had a question for other owners of the domus line of speakers. I noticed on my concertino pair that the woofers are of a different material in comparison to those on the center domus. The center domus' dual 6" woofers look just like in the pictures and brochures (typical paper coated cone with textured look on the surface(?) of the cone with vented phase plug). On the concertino speakers although the woofers have the phase plug, the surface of the cone looks different. They are smooth (not textured as in the center) looking and are shiny, appearing similar to some of the poly material woofers ive seen from other manufacturers. From far away the speakers look very similar (center and concertinos) since the woofers are black on both with the phase plugs.

So I asked my dealer about this difference and he said he had no idea and my pair were the first that he had seen like that (on the concertinos). So I called sumiko (distributor of SF in US) and someone in the tech department told me that SF recently made the change in some of their domus speakers since the new woofer had better power handling capabilities. I was concerned about issues with timbre matching (as I use these for HT as well) but he assured me that the speakers sounded the same as they would with the old woofer in the concertinos. I can't really argue with that as from my experiences so far listening to movies with panning scenes, the soundstage is seamless and I haven't come across anything odd at all.

My question to fellow AVSers is whether anyone else has the new woofers in their domus concertino speakers, or in the grand piano or concerto speakers? Thanks for reading this long post and I appreciate any responses as I am curious to see if the change has spread throughout the domus line. First picture shows same woofer as on my center channel and also on the concertinos I auditioned at the dealer. The second photo shows the woofer on my concertinos with new woofer material.

Thank you for sharing your opinion. I do not share it. Some of us who buy Sonus actually buy it for great sound in addition to fantastic construction. Sonus owners aren't all just blind shoppers who buy because our wives tell us to do so. I paid less for my pair of Concertino Domus than I would have paid for VA Haydns, and I like the sound of the Concertinos better.

Don't get me wrong, I made my self clear by saying I like the sound/looks of Sonus faber; I just think they're overpriced.

I have a pair of Grand Piano Domus, and I love the sound of these speakers with both movies and music. I haven't seen anything that looks nearly as beautiful except other Sonus Faber speakers. I will admit they're a bit shy on the vocals at low volumes. I power them with a Pioneer Elite SC-09TX which is a great match (I know 390 watts to 200 watt speakers is overkill). They're no Cremona Ms but they still cause me to wish they would turn off those noise makers they call speakers at my favorite restaurants, stores, and hang outs! I know these speakers are definitely not for everyone, but I would suggest anyone who hasn't heard them should give them a listen.



I bought my speakers towards to end of 2008, and they are textured mids with smoother subs.

Thanks for adding Zaffren. Thats interesting. I've never seen the grand piano in person, but those speakers look great! The larger woofers in your speakers look exactly like the 6" woofer in my concertinos (you captured it much better than my crappy camera phone). I purchased my speakers a couple of weeks ago, maybe this change was really recent decision by sonus faber.

New Sonus faber:

monitor ($3,000/pr)



luito ($6,000/pr)



smart

Thanks for posting those pictures. I like the look of the new series, but I'm wondering if they are worth twice the price that I paid for my Domus Concertinos a few weeks ago. I'm guessing not, but I suppose I'll just have to wait to hear them for myself.

I auditioned the new Toy speaker on Saturday. I liked it more than Concertino Domus. I'm now seriously considering buying a pair.

T-3,
What did you like about the Toy over the Concertino Domus?

Any info on the drivers used on the new Sonus faber Monitor and when these will be available?

I used to have Signums and Concertos and liked the scanspeak and vifa drivers used in those models. I auditioned the original Cremona (not M) and did not care for the sound. Noticably different sound than the previous classics.

Using Dynaudio now, but miss the old sonus...

Is the smart speak supposed to be a surround and center channel speaker?

I spoke to Sumiko and they didn't know about this new line and the 'monitor'. The Toy is apparently the new model but entry level compared to the Domus.

How does the Grand Piano Domus and the GP Concerto Domus compare to the Grand Piano Home? Anyone compare these speakers.

Dear all,

I recently moved to Japan, and my Gravis subwoofer came with me. I read that it is possible to change the voltage from 220 V to 115 V, but in Sonus Faber did not want to tell me how to do. Does someone know ?

I have another basic question: if you have carper on the floor what kind of stand do you have to put ? cone ? cylindrical ?

Thanks,

Davide

David,

My Sonus faber stands have spikes with small balls formed at the tips. I have used on carpet and wood floors without any problems.

FYI
New Liuto speaker line is up on Sonus faber website.

Anyone see or hear these yet in the states?

They had their world premiere at CES 2009, and the first retail debut at Magnolia Audio Video in Seattle last month. I haven't heard them yet, but I have it on good authority that they are very nice step up from Domus, and more like the sound of 'classic' Sonus faber.

Hi - new poster here. Thanks for the great info.

I'm interested in hearing thoughts on the Toy monitors vs. Domus Concertinos. I'm trying to pick between the two. Suprisingly - A local dealer is trying to clear out a floor demo pair of the Concertino w/ Stands for $1,281. The newer Toy monitor is going for $1,235 (no stand). Has anyone heard both. I auditioned both - they were similar but I thought the the Concertinos were a bit more full range....

I have a mid size listening room - plan on paring with Peachtree Nova (when it ships).

Thanks,

If you haven't already seen it, find Michael Fremer's review of Toy theater in the latest issue of Home Theater Magazine. I can't wait to hear the Toy Tower!

Liuto Tower is coming to the Santa Clara Magnolia Audio Video the 2nd week of May, for those of you that want to hear it!

The sound from the Toy was closer to the Classic line, which I prefer. The Domus can sound muddy and congested. It's not bad, but for that price point they can do better. I love the Domus look, though.

So... I actually went ahead and bought a pair of Toy monitor speakers. They are cute little speakers, perfect for my iPod setup on my desktop. Won't use them in a big room, but perfect for my den.

Lovely!

Luito Tower is in and breaking in now. Oh... My... God...

How does it compared to Domus GP or Cremona M? Is piano black the only finish?

Much smoother the GP, deeper more linear bass, and that classic Sonus midrange. Not as resolved as the Cremona M, nor as incisive, but definitely much closer to Cremona than to GP. Also, the single bass driver seems to make the speaker easier to setup than the double woofers of GP.