Sonus Faber: As Computer Monitor?

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[H]F Junkie
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The Sonus Faber Concertino DOMUS and CREMONA AUDITOR look fantastic. Similar in shape to my Insignia NS speakers, but probably a hair or two of improvement. :D
I don't have the space or desire to have a traditional speaker setup with stands that are 3-5 feet from wall, etc. And I listen to almost all my music from my computer desk/home office. It is with that in mind I ask; how would Sonus Faber bookshelves fair in a computer monitor setup? They would be on Auralex Mopads or Mapleshade speaker platforms or similar.

http://www.sumikoaudio.net/sonus/prod_cremonaauditor.htm

http://www.sumikoaudio.net/sonus/prod_concertino_domus.htm
 
Guess who has the Cremona Auditors coming for his PC?

Me. :)

I have thought about the EXACT same thing you did.... whether I go Concertino Domus or Cremona Auditor.. and I A/Bed the two of them and I thought that the Auditor is far better than the COncertino.

Although expensive, I figure, I'll give it a shot. The Auditors are shipping soon.. I want it to get here after my finals.

:)

PS
It's not a hair or two better.. it's like a full head of hair better. Like you're bald and you just got Rogaine and it actually works.
 
Fryguy8 said:
Where did you audition them at?
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Auditioned them at one of the 2 local Sonus Faber dealers... Quintessence Audio.

This was the gear that was under scrutiny...
Sonus Faber Concertino Domus - $1,495 + stands
Sonus Faber Cremona Auditor - $3,900 + stands
Primare DVD30 Transport - $4,000
Theta Generation VIII DAC/PreAmp - $10,000
Hovland Radia Amp - $10,000

I think his gear is slightly better than mine...
 
Pinipig523 said:
Guess who has the Cremona Auditors coming for his PC?

Me. :)

I have thought about the EXACT same thing you did.... whether I go Concertino Domus or Cremona Auditor.. and I A/Bed the two of them and I thought that the Auditor is far better than the COncertino.

Although expensive, I figure, I'll give it a shot. The Auditors are shipping soon.. I want it to get here after my finals.

:)

PS
It's not a hair or two better.. it's like a full head of hair better. Like you're bald and you just got Rogaine and it actually works.
Click to expand...

Come to think of it, I think it was your post on another site that hipped me to these in the first place! You described them in a positive manner (lol). I think it was you, judging from your signature list. I was under the impression you didn't keep them, since they weren't in your sig.
God these look sweet. About the only potential issue I can think of is that I would be listening via "near field" rather than on a couch 10 + feet away. Price is in another galaxy, but hey, the chase is part of the fun. I haven't heard them, and maybe I'll audition, but in all honesty common sense tells me they will sound great, and they hold their value on audiogon, etc.
And yes, a very, very THICK hair or two better :D

Im 24 years old. It would be cool to own something that I end up keeping well into my 30s. That is my thinking behind this.:cool:

You guys think it would be blasphemous to use something like the new little dot 150 watt tripath to power these? I currently only have tripath (trends audio 10.1) and that wouldn't even come close, so I would need another amp of some sort. A McIntosh would be nice, but I'd be saving dough for a long time, since the speakers are already more than a days wage:D
 
aardvark sandwich said:
Come to think of it, I think it was your post on another site that hipped me to these in the first place! You described them in a positive manner (lol). I think it was you, judging from your signature list. I was under the impression you didn't keep them, since they weren't in your sig.
God these look sweet. About the only potential issue I can think of is that I would be listening via "near field" rather than on a couch 10 + feet away. Price is in another galaxy, but hey, the chase is part of the fun. I haven't heard them, and maybe I'll audition, but in all honesty common sense tells me they will sound great, and they hold their value on audiogon, etc.
And yes, a very, very THICK hair or two better :D

Im 24 years old. It would be cool to own something that I end up keeping well into my 30s. That is my thinking behind this.:cool:

You guys think it would be blasphemous to use something like the new little dot 150 watt tripath to power these? I currently only have tripath (trends audio 10.1) and that wouldn't even come close, so I would need another amp of some sort. A McIntosh would be nice, but I'd be saving dough for a long time, since the speakers are already more than a days wage:D
Click to expand...

I agree.. thing is, I need something small (I'll add a sub later) for the PC. I don't want something cheap that doesnt sound good because I need to transfer my main system out of the bedroom and I dont want to have to keep on going to the living room for good sound. The way I look at it is that the Cremona Auditor will be in my bedroom and I'll borrow the DAC from my main system for daily use. I'm going to add a killer turntable setup for the main rig.. but keep the secondary Sonus Faber rig modest.

I cant spend another $10K on upstreams for the Sonus Faber, it's just not possible... I dont have that kind of cash lying around. What I can do is spend about $1.5 to $2K on a good Class A tube integrated from Cary Audio and push the Auditors that way, with the PS Audio DAC in tow for source from the PC.

It's definitely not for more power or what not, the SF just sound very good to me and I want a second system that offers me a lot of musical enjoyment. The main rig will have to be for when I want to rock out and truly sit in my newly acquired listening chair and focus on the music... hopefully with vinyl one of these days.

I just turned 25... still in school like most of you guys... cant wait to finish these academics and work.

In the end, yes... these SF Auditors will hold their used market value... just make sure not to buy new. I bought mine for $3000... SF Auditor in graphite with factory stands (there was a chip in one and I had the dealer order a new stand from SF... and they have to ship it from the SF factory in ITALY!!! :) :) ... no charge of course!). These retail at about $5K for the whole shabang... but I anticipate that if I keep these for quite some time, I can still get close to $3K if I keep them in mint condition and not bang them up (which I most certainly wont).

There is one caveat though... rumor has it that there is an improved Cremona Auditor coming... the Cremona Auditor M... and it should be out by the end of the year. With that out, I may have to dump the Auditor and get the M just to keep the hobby rolling :).

Though, even with the M out, the Auditor will still hold its value... probably will drop to $2.5... but it will still be a lot better than most speakers.
 
Wow good to know about the potential of a new sonus faber. Thing for me is, I freelance and so I don't know when money is coming, etc. So it could be that I end up waiting until the end of the year anyhow, before I bite. To further complicate matters, I am in the midst of trying to gather up enough funds for a pair of AKG K1000 ear-speakers. I don't really want to abandon the opportunity to get those, so I'll try and get both :)
Sigh....why do I always set such impossible goals for myself...

But back to amplification; Fryguy8: Perhaps my 15 watt Trends Audio 10.1 tripath amp could be sufficient at normal (not loud) listening levels? That would simplify things considerably. There is talk of a dual-mono 10.1 in the works at audiomagus. I assume that will compete with the Red Wine Audio Signature 30 in wattage. (and much cheaper)
 
And joey, please let us know how the PS Audio dac pairs with the SF speakers :) I've been eying DACs in the ~1K$ range for 'down the road'. That, the new usb Dac1, and the Lavry DA10 come to mind. But only after speakers and (hopefully) K1000.
 
aardvark sandwich said:
And joey, please let us know how the PS Audio dac pairs with the SF speakers :) I've been eying DACs in the ~1K$ range for 'down the road'. That, the new usb Dac1, and the Lavry DA10 come to mind. But only after speakers and (hopefully) K1000.
Click to expand...

Sure thing boss!

One thing is that I still need to get my ears on the DAC1 and compare it to the PS Audio. My readings have pointed to the fact that the DAC III is warmer and more textured than the DAC1, which is easy to believe considering one is class A (DAC III by PS) and the other uses opamps (DAC1).

Good luck with the K1000... dont let headfi murder your wallet though... even akwok (adrian) left headphones for a pair of Sonus Fabers.

And his headphones were the Orpheus. :eek:
 
There are alot of bookshelves available in that price range, I'd suggest you try all of them... Focal have the Micro Utopias, which are a very fine looking speaker... (or the 1007, a little chepaer?)

I'd just make sure that the amp and source are up to the task, I'd rather have less expensive speakers and decent electronics than amazing speakers that won't perform at their best.

Chris
 
ChrisII said:
There are alot of bookshelves available in that price range, I'd suggest you try all of them... Focal have the Micro Utopias, which are a very fine looking speaker... (or the 1007, a little chepaer?)

I'd just make sure that the amp and source are up to the task, I'd rather have less expensive speakers and decent electronics than amazing speakers that won't perform at their best.

Chris
Click to expand...

Too bad the Micro Utopia is costlier than the Auditor.

However, less expensive speakers with better electronics is a good tip... though I'd rather buy more and grow into it as time goes on. No such thing as completing the setup on first go.
 
Akwok sold his orpheus? FOR SHAME! I enjoyed seeing his headphone rig evolve over the last year or so since I got into this hobby. I've been living vicariously through him.:D

I do basically need (and intend to) upgrade my entire system. It just seems like upgrading the dac before the speakers will be lost on the Insignia speakers. Getting the speakers first just seems funnest to me. Plus its not like a poor dac would break the speakers, afaik. BTW my source is the Emu 0404 USB. Not the greatest, but its also no alien dac :cool:

I got into car audio before home audio, and thus am fairly familiar with Focal Utopia (granted not the Beryllium dewhicki) in research and forum chats/reviews. My impression of that company is they have very colored speakers that probably air on the side of warmth. I don't consider warmth a bad thing, but my overall impression is that Focal simply upgrades their driver material, with little thought to the speaker's structure, as opposed to Sonus Faber, who handcraft the damn thing, lol. It just seems like more research and fine tuning on the SF end. Plus truth be told I think the S.F. look badass. :D
 
Aardvark!

Have you ever seen shots of the SF factory? Nice stuff dude... they completely put some sort of polymer over the entire cross over board (not to mention, the crossover is made by a 1-man team), the wood panels are assembled by Italian ladies, the speakers are left to dry and set in large speaker holders. When I find the sight, I'll post it here.
 
Go here.. a nice little club for Sonus Faber afficionados!

www.SonusFaberClub.com

Seems like quite a few of them have enviable system... ok ok... most of them.... ok ok.... 99% of them.

Alright alright! They all do! :(

Anyway, peruse the links to the left and there's a link that takes you to some meets they had and there's one that takes you to the factory.

That site, btw, is a nice one. So clean, so neat... reminds of SF speakers. So nice....

Alright, I gotta stop daydreaming... I have a final tomorrow!! :eek: :eek:
 
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