During the last year I have auditioned at least 10 different speakers in my home (B&W805, Dali Grand Coupe, KEF RDM, Sonus Faber Concertino, Concerto and Electa Amator to mention some of them) trying to find a "perfect" monitor speaker. All of the above listed speakers are certainly very good speakers that I would recommend, but there are something special about the Sonus Faber speakers. Just the look of them, walnut and black leather, reveals that they are very extraordinary.And the sound.....a perfect blend of grace and power not just hi-fi. I know that some people think they lack bass, but don’t worry, feed them with a proper amp, spend some time to position them in your listening room and they will satisfy you, I guarantee.

If my budget would allow, I would choose the SF Electa Amator II, these are magical instruments. However, I decided to buy the Concertos and use the rest of the budget on the Norwegian made Electrocompaniet amps.

If music really matters and you have a passion for Jazz and Classical music, Sonus Faber speakers will not disappoint you. On the other hand, if heavy metal or hip pop is your cup of tea please go somewhere else, don’t waste your time giving Sonus Faber one stare rating, because that is ridiculous.


Equipment:

CD-player: Marantz CD 63 KISI,
modified with a high end clock (LClock 2), highly recommended
Pre amp: Electrocompaniet ECI 4.5
Power amp: Electrocompaniet AW60 fft
Speakers: Sonus Faber Concerto
Stands: Sonus Faber sculptures made of walnut and stone.
Cables: Tara Labs, Audioquest

I Use these speakers as surround speakers, I've tryed serveral brands nothing comes close to the clean sound of these speakers.
B&K Ref 20 pre amp
B&K AV5000II amp
solo center channel
concerto fronts
concertinos rear

Sold my 1 year old Hales Rev 3. Too big for my apartment. Brought a used pair of SF Concertinos from my friend with the matching stands.
These small speakers are amazing, the imaging, soundstage and clarity was
much much better than Hales. It very much lacks the bass but the mids and
hi's are just fantastic.
Recently brought the REL storm subwoofer (for the very much needed low
frequency extentions) and the results were amazing.

Hard to do better for $1000. But no real bass, A sub is mandatory.

I BOUGHT A PAIR OF SECOND HAND SF CONCERTINO FOR HK$5000, WHICH IS ABOUT USD 650,IT IS IN VERY GOOD CONDITION. I MATCHED IT UP WITH A NAD 3240 INTEGRATED AMP AND A DENON 2560 CD PLAYER LINKED UP WITH SOME CHEAP CABLES, THE RESULT OF COURSE IS NOT AS GOOD AT THE AUDIO SHOP WHERE I BOUGHT IT WHEN IT WAS CONNECTED TO AUDIO RESEARCH AMPS N KRELL CD PLAYER, BUT AT LEAST I KNOW THE SPEAKERS HAVE THE "POTENTIAL" TO PRODUCE SWEET AND WIDE SOUND, SO THE NEXT STEP I WILL BUY A SET OF COPLAND PRE & POWER AMPS TO MATCH WITH THE CONCERTINO,AND THE LAST STEP TO UPGRADE THE CD PLAYER, SPEAKER STAND AND ALL THE CABLES, HOPFULLY I WILL GET A VERY GOOD SYSTEM BY THE END OF 1999.

Great speakers for the price with some of the best imaging available. Better than BW N that cost twice as much and comparable to Totem Mod 1. Totem's do go a bit lower than the Concertino's (try Concerto), image almost as well but cost more and don't look as nice.
Do agree with some previous posts that the Concertino's sound bright on some poor quality CD's, but currently using a DVD player (Yamaha). I listened to these speakers with CD players (Classe & Meridian) and sound much better than typical DVD players. However, DVD's sound great with this combo.

Using Yamaha DSP-A1 with Cardas speaker cables and MIT digital interconnect. Concertino's are on SF fixed stands.

I have tryed almost all Sonus Faber products now 2 weekss ago i bought a concertino,it depends on want you put with them they are hungry for power....Worked exxxxtrmely well with my Jadis da 60/wadia 560/Straigthwire or Madrigal cables.Tubes are their best company cary/Arc/ear(BUT 60w tubes is for me the less amp power for them you see 86 db.......)

Worked not so good with arcams nad etc....
But for over 10000$00 in pre/power i prefer spending a bit more in speakers.

VGOOD if with the rigt pre/power

After a couple of years of previewing speakers (Proac, Linn, Monitor and countless others)I found that the Concertino's were the best bookshelf I could find in the 1K price range. I'd dare say that they rival some bookshelves I heard at higher price ranges. Coupled with my Naim Nait 3R integrated amp, my Naim CD 3.5 and Naim's Naca cables they sound superb. The sound staging and imaging are fantastic giving me the feeling that the performance is right in the living room. Vocals (both male and female) sound very natural as do most instruments. Bass is decent given the size, but I plan to add a Rell Strata II subwoofer later on. One extra bonus they look real fine. If you can afford the SF speaker stands go for it, they really do compliment the Concertino's and your living room as well.
In short there is little fault I can find with these speakers. If you are in the market for a high quality bookshelf in this price range (or even higher for that matter) give the concertino's a listen. They handle virtually all forms of music well; for harder rock or dance a subwoofer will round them off nicely.

Two thumbs up for the Concertino's.

Let's keep it simple: the concertinos are the best bookshelf speakers I've ever heard. And they look gorgeous too!

I was in the market for over a year testing out some bookshelf speakers for my small room. I started with the NHTs, Paradigms, PSBs, and whole lot more until I got the chance to audition the Concertinos and the B&W CDM 1SEs. The only thing I can say is that these speakers blew away the competition in terms of sound quality, detail, soundstage, depth, and neutrality. I had a hard time deciding between the SF and the B&W since I know that choosing one over the other also means letting go of one that is equally good. I know a lot of you will disagree with my pick, because I chose the B&W CDM1SE over the SF Concertino.
I found the B&Ws to be crisper in detail in the higher frequency range. Maybe because SF is softer sounding than the B&W. Build quality and appearance is at par with each other. Sadly, I had to let go of the SF. Can't take away anything from the Sonus Faber Concertino. It's got its place up there among the best in its category. But then again, the B&Ws better suits my taste in sound.