I had the Concertinos and traded up to the Concertos,The Concertinos were excellent but lacked bass,

The imaging is excellent on both speakers but is
a little deeper on the Concertos

I also have the Solo center channel, which is actually a
Concerto, the three make an impressive sound stage for
home theater

As for music, the Concertos can bring you to tears,
they are also nice to look at,
If you are planning to buy these, you will not regret
it, they are worth every penny

Good luck

I recently auditioned the Sonus Faber Concertos at the urging of my dealer. As expected, they fully justified their $2000.00 price tag. They are fabulously built and their sound is pure audiophile.
The Sonus Faber Concertos posess a superb sound that demands top notch electronics. They do not flatter budget amps!

The Concertos sound polished and very refined. They sound lustrous, crisp, and ultra-transparent. I was impressed with the overall clarity of the sound. Furthermore, the Concertos are very accurate. They really reveal the quality of a recording.

An overly bright, though tremendously clear treble reflects the need to pair the Concertos with a quality amp. Budget amps cannot adequately control the tremendous amount of treble information that the Concertos reveal. This revealing quality marks the Concertos as "audiophile" grade speakers.

1. Upper Orchestral Strings (Wagner) ****
Refined string tone. Rich sounding cellos and lower strings. Polished, accurate sound. Treble edge highlighted on upper strings (need less harsh sounding electronics).

2. Piano (Liszt) *****
Very accurate and refined sounding. Crystalline. No exaageration.

3. Vocals (Motown Hits) ****
Shiny, lustrous, brightly lit sound. Strong sibilance (need less harsh sounding electronics).

4. Looks *****

5. Build Quality *****

6. Value ***

I recently purchased these speakers about a month ago, and I love them. My girlfriend seems to like the way they look. I think she likes the leather covered baffle. They have an incredible midrange that's full of clarity and detail. I have found myself getting new found joy listening to my old CD collection, especially my Beatles collection.
The soudstage the SFs have are huge. The music seems to come from beyond the walls.
The SFs Concertos are bookshelf size speakers and like many other bookshelf size speakers, they lack bass. This doesn't mean they don't rock. They just lack the impact that larger speakers and power subwoofers provide. But that problem, if you can call it that, can be solved by adding a powered subwoofer like a REL, Velodyne, Sunfire, and etc. to your system.
So give them a try, I'm pretty sure you're going to end up liking them like me. And maybe your wife/girlfriend will like them too!

One truly great speaker. Very musical, with excellent rhythm and pace.Couple it with a real heavy stand like the Target R2s and hear them sing !
With the Sonus Faber trademark of midrange beauty ... Tight, tight well-defined bass - try Holly Cole's "Temptation", or Patricia Barber's "Modern Cool" ...

I have had the concerto's since January of 1998 and must say that they are trully a great - balanced speaker, heck they should be, $1,9500.00 + Stands @ $400.00 to as high as $900.00...not cheap, Other speakers that I was impressed with in this price range were the Pro Ac's, Vienna Accoustics and Monitor Audio. However, for my taste I find the concerto's to possess ease of listening, excellent imaging and depth, a wonderful sweet midrange with a very good high end sparkel. In my opinion, the concerto's are right up there with the best and worth spending some serious time auditioning. I have had some of my audiophile friends suggest I get a sub woofer however, I find the concerto's to deliver a solid, real sounding and satisfying bass through a broad range of music. The concerto's won't slam you in the chest, but they won't leave you short in transmiting the true essense of the lower octives in "real" music & rock & roll.The equipment that I am using is Linn mono blocks - 125w a side, linn wakonda pre-amp & the linn mimik cd player (different strokes for different folks) which in my opinion works very well and complements the concerto's nicely.

Even though this is not the speaker I ended up settling on, it is by far the best of the two-way stand-mounted variety I auditioned. I could (and did) listen to every type of music for hours on the Concertos. Other speakers that made it to my short list: Thiel 1.5, Dynaudio Contour 1.3, B&W Nautilus 805 and Hales Trandscendence One. Only the Concertos get five stars (all others get four except the B&W at two stars).
The sound? Full, rich, transparent, detailed, smooth, well-paced, rhythmic, wide, deep, etc. Did I leave anything out? The only quibble was something my wife complained about ... they seem a tad laid-back or "less immediate" as she put it. She actually preferred the sound of the Thiel 1.5, and I agree that they are both very good. However, I preferred the relatively easy placement of Concertos, the wide and deep soundstage (even compared to Thiels) and their beautiful build quality. What's more, they simply made music that completely drew me in, something only a few other speakers have done (one of which I purchased).

The speakers I settled on were the Magnepan 10.1 with a Vandersteen 2WQ sub ... which for the same price do everything listed above (some a little bit better) and provide significantly more bass.

Even so, the Sonus Faber Concerto's are a pair of speakers I could have happily lived with and would gladly pay the $2000 to own:

I bought the Concerto for both sonic and astetic reasons, and have been happy with both. Doesn't play very low bass, so don't try. The high end can bite with bright electronics. I bought the Krell 300i on Stereophile writer Ken Kessler's recommendation as the "perfect match" for this speaker. DO NOT make the same mistake. The Krell has tons of low end punch, but the speaker rolls off before using all the power. The high end with the Krell will make your ears bleed! Way to harsh. I tried YBA's Integre DT, Sim Audio's I-5, and Conrad Johnson's tube integrated with much better success. I finally bought a McIntosh MA6850 integrated. I know, the underground audio press believes that Mac is built for the "hearing challenged". Try it yourself. The Mac is at least as good as the other brands, weaker in some areas, stronger in others. You will NOT feel as if you're sacrificing if you chose the Mac. You also will get a product that will play to its original specs 30 years from now. The Mac has the "classic" look in spades - backlit etched glass, accurate well lit active power meters, fully functional remote, etc. It may be the real "perfect match" to the Sonus - both sonically and astetically. (Sonus site: www.datateam.hu ; McIntosh: www.mcintoshlabs.com)

Some History:
Over the past 4 years, I've had a series of upgrades to my music system. The key challenge for me was to put together a musically satisfying system at a reasonable cost...after all, I have a family to support and I don’t have a fat bank account :-)

System #1: The $3K solid-state combo.
The first ‘audiophile’ system I put together was a solid-state Acurus RL-11 pre-amp and the Acurus A250 (rated at 250wpc) driving a pair of B&W CDM1 monitor speakers. I would rate this system 3.5 stars - good with R&B and some jazz. However, I found this system fatiguing and bright in my room. I sold this system less than a year later.

System #2: Tubed! at $2.5K
My first tube amp (integrated) was the Jolida SJ302A paired with a NOS (New Old Stock) EPOS ES14. Clearly a notch higher in musicality over the Acurus. The EL34-based Jolida was a sweet sounding amp and great with jazz, vocals, and light classical. The EPOS speakers were very neutral and revealing and were a perfect match to the Jolida. This combo is clearly 4 stars -- I found the bass a bit soft and sounded a bit ‘confused’ on complex orchestral pieces. I had this system for 3 years until, I finally moved on to...

System #3: The Combo-2-Die-4! at $4.5K (August 1999)

The new Jadis Orchestra Reference (with the big KT90 tubes) paired with the Sonus faber Concerto.

The REVIEW:

Using the old Epos but replacing the Jolida with the Jadis Orchestra Reference easily revealed the weaknesses of the older amp. The Jadis was more dynamic, with tighter bass, it simply had better control on the music. It threw a wider and deeper soundstage and made it easy to isolate the instruments. Whether it was a CD or LP I was playing, I noticed more musical information being presented. It had the clarity I did not get with the previous system -- this made me quite uncomfortable with the sound. I realized the Jadis was simply presenting the music as it was recorded in the CD or LP with all its imperfections. I found the sound a bit analytical, and frankly was less engaging as the Jolida. I thought the Jadis-Epos combo was simply not a good match.

The Sonus faber came highly recommended by Net-friends and other audiophiles in various newsgroups. I loaned a Concerto for auditioning at home, and on day 3, with barely 50 hours of break-in, I decided it was not leaving my room. Simply, no way! This was a combination to die for – extremely musical, natural and engaging – a clear 5 stars. It easily beats any system I’ve heard at the same price point, perhaps even some costing twice as much.

On Jazz, the saxophone has a fuller, natural sound; and the piano sounds just so realistic. On well-recorded LPs, Jazz musicians just come alive in my room, it was easy to get ‘lost in the music’. On vocals, whether I play some Ella’s or Patricia Barber’s, the sound was very seductive, I could feel all the emotion in the music. Classical pieces are likewise very enjoyable, it just fills the room with so much music with all its grandeur, it could be intoxicating (!). The violins sound sooo sweet, liquid and distinct.

This is my third audio system in 4 years and probably my last for quite some time – perhaps another 4 more years? I’m glad I discovered this combo - extremely musical and engaging. I find myself spending more time listening and importantly enjoying the music! It has completely changed my listening habits: I now enjoy CDs more than ever (but my Analog system still beats Digital!) and I can stay on for 6 hours without feeling any fatigue!

The rest of my gear:
DIGITAL -- NAD CDP connected to a Margules Magenta ADE-24 (Analog/Digital Enhancer)
ANALOG – Michell Mycro turntable/RB300/Grado into a Lehmann Black Cube phono-preamp
CABLES – van den Hul interconnects; Tara Labs RSC speaker cables (bi-wire)
UPGRADES coming – MSB Link DAC, Grado Reference Platinum, REL Strata III
MUSIC – Jazz (Monk, Contrane, Miles, Ella, Rollins, Evans, etc.) LPs and CDs, female vocals, classical

Warmth, clarity, and the resonance. These speakers sound like musical instruments. And they are beautiful, too.

Sometimes I think that they add a warmth to the music that may not be there.

I picked these speakers as the first part of my new system. And, I picked them mostly because of the way that they reproduced stringed instruments. These speakers sing like a beautiful violin!!!!!

However, as I have used them in my home, I have discovered that the low-end that was adequate in the showroom were woefully inadequate in my listening room. They scream for a subwoofer. Further, the complaint that I have about them is the very thing that attracted me to them. I loved the warm tone...they sound like a buttery chardonnay tastes. And now, I think that they add a color to the music that isn't there. Everything sounds warm.

Overall they are wonderful and gorgeous and well made. I am going to try the B&W 805s side by side in my home and I'll make my decision.

Similar Products Used:

Tested: B&W 805

Clarity, good mid bass

no deep base...hey...its a bookshelf>?

I owned a Sonus Faber Concerto for one year. The Sonus is better with a tube preamp and a solid state amp. A good solid state amp will make your day...I am using threshold..I tried Krell,,,,but they were to noisy and hard punching, but nice bass...

I am getting reasonable bass quality from this little speakers and frankly, i do agree with many users to add with a subwoofer.

A single NHT 1259 was therefore handmade at a 85hz low cuttoff, 6 db ran with a adcom GFA 555, bridged mode. The result, sounds like the sonus faber electra....no kidding......Deep deep bass. better low mid response....Kick ass....

The concertos is quite difficult to position in a small room as the sound could echo ....if you have a small room. I had experimented using 5" insulating fibreglass wrapped with a breathable cloth....it works wonder....focus focus focus...Place it behind the speakers.

Cables is important...use a shielded cable for quietness and better imaging. I am using the emsemble speakers and interconnects....Gramophone works well too...Wireworld,,,abit to noisy.