smooth detailed treble, great mids, taut bass, very efficient, one of the most attractive speakers on the market

None found

I have done extensive listening to the above listed speakers, and even had the Thiels in my home for a month. The Sonatinas that I have owned for two months sound as good as a $10,000 pair of Avalons I auditioned and sound much better than the other speakers listed above. In comparison, the Hales sound dull from lack of dynamics, the Thiel bright and mechanical, the Heron soft in the bass, the Aerial just plain dull. The Sonatinas just sound right across the board. Imaging is very good, the sound is non-fatiguing, the bass is tight and pretty low for a speaker this small, the treble is very smooth and extended without any brightness or fatigue. I just don't see any weaknesses in this speaker, except that it is not real big, and in a very large room a bigger speaker would have more bass. But even in the huge room I have them in the bass seems pretty low. These are very efficient at 93db and a minimum impedance of 7. This gives me the flexibility to switch to a low power amp (even SET) in the future. This speaker gives the most value for the dollar that I have found. While the Stereophile review calls them underpriced, I find them fairly priced and most other speakers vastly overpriced. You can spend a lot more than their $3,800 price and get less, like those above, and the increase in performance is worth the extra money from cheaper speakers.

I am using them with a Wadia 830 CD player, Plinius 8150 integrated amp, Straight wire, and PS Audio P300.

Similar Products Used:

Hales Transcendence, Thiel 2.3, B&W N803, Meadowlark Heron, Aerial 7, Avalon

Saturday Morning. My wife is taking the kids shopping - looks like I'll have the house to myself for a few hours. Serendipity - my order from Amazon came today; Art Pepper meets the Rhythm Section, 24K Gold remaster, also Erik Friedlander's Topaz (HDCD, no less). But the icing on the cake is this: the Silverline Sonatina's that arrived last week are now broken in to the tune of about 180 hours - time for some serious listening...
I pop in the Friedlander disc and settle in. Track 1 opens with cello, sax, electric bass and percussion. The house is empty, so the volume is UP.

The bass guitar is resonating though the coil springs in my chair. At about 1 minute in, Friedlander bows a low string on the cello, which sets off a sympathetic resonance through my chest (about the 3rd rib). More volume - Andy Laster blows some high alto sax which resonates in my molars. At 2 minutes Stomu Takeishi starts plucking the bass and the liner notes in my hand start snapping around like a flag in a breeze. Satoshi Takeishi is whacking away on wood blocks, cow bells and coffee cans(?). The sound stage is HUGE. So I'm sitting there, tapping my toes, with my head, butt and rib cage all vibrating at different frequencies and the forgotten liner notes snapping around in my hand. Notes and sounds are swirling around the room - between the speakers, outside the speakers, behind me. Some 40 minutes later, I notice a sharp pain in my jaw muscles. Only when the disc ends do I realize that it's from the ecstatic grin that's been pasted across my face - I've been to Audio Nirvana!

The sound from the Sonatinas is amazing. Bass is deep, tight and controlled, but not overwhelming. The mid range presents detail effortlessly with an openness and absolute clarity that I have heard nowhere else. The treble is sweet and airy. Leading edge transients are clean and crisp (not crispy). Detail is presented without the least amount of edge or harshness - it seems as if the weight of the attack is there in full, but somehow the edge has been ever so slightly rounded to achieve the perfect presentation. These speakers are very easy to listen to - they sound like MUSIC!

Dynamics are awesome, try the thwack of the snare drum on "Ghetto" from Rickie Lee Jones' Flying Cowboys. I lived with a drummer in college, so I know what a drum kit sounds like in a small space. Rickie Lee recorded it "in your face" and the Sonatinas get it right. Micro-dynamics are outstanding as well. Rebecca Pidgeon's "Spanish Harlem" on the her Raven disc - listen to the puff of air blow across the mike as she "Picks that Rose...". Soundstage is perfect. Instruments are presented in real space. Try "Lianmo" from James Carter's In Carterian Fashion - alto left, trumpet right, James' signature baritone sax dead center and the drum kit is in your lap! "Coward of the county", title track on Ginger Baker's latest combines Baker's unmistakable drums (and cymbals) with Hammond B3, piano, pedal steel bass and trumpet. The Sonatinas allow you to place and identify each instrument in a complex soundstage.

These speakers are full range, absolutely coherent and reproduce sound with the proper balance. Some might feel the presentation is a little forward, but I think it is the unparalleled openness - regardless, it balances my system perfectly. My impression is of a fountain. The base of the fountain represents the low frequencies, but this is not a massive foundation - it is of fine marble, not granite. The mid-range is the water being driven upwards - cohesive between the hydraulic pressure and the force of gravity, but liquid, flowing and alive. At the treble, gravity takes over and the fountain opens like a flower in a cascade of liquid droplets that shine, sparkle and dazzle in the sun. Apologies if I wax poetic - I do like these speakers!

Sonatina is an easy to drive, 8 ohm, 93db, three way. It mounts two 6" bass drivers, a 2" dome mid-range and 1" tweeter. The cabinetry is bird's-eye maple. The fit and finish are exquisite. Dimensions are 38" x 8" x 12" - they actually fit in my living room!

I have seriously auditioned a wide range of quality speakers priced from $4K to $8K (see my review of Silverline SR-17). With the Sonatina, Alan Yun at Silverline delivers a speaker that easily outperforms products costing 2X. The sound and aesthetic quality is superb. When the trade press discovers this small manufacturer, rest assured Silverline will become a major force in high end audio.

Steve Klein at Sounds of Silence in Nashua, NH was extremely helpful in my purchase the Silverlines. Steve is an audio professional and a true gentleman. Look him up if you're in the area.

My humble system:

Rotel 971 cd player - (awesome detail, accuracy and full range sound)
Balanced Audio VK-30 pre-amp - (warm, rich, sumptuous sound)
Classe CA -100 amplifier - (Perfect match with VK-30, top, bottom, mid, soundstage all outstanding - also very happy driving a 93db speaker).
Transparent and Cardas interconnect and speaker wire.

Very detailed sound, clear treble, enhanced bass, amazingly finished cases.

I bought this pair because I like the fact that the speakers were built locally in around the Bay Area by a guy devoting to the sound engineering. Every speaker is like a limited edition art work, not mass produced like most of the name brands. This allows the builder to use better materials. Just by looking at the surface finishing, you can immediately tell the quality of the built.
After going through the reviews here, I was so confused why people would spend $3995 for a pair of spearkers that described as 'awful' or 'no strength'. Don't people audition the speakers before you buy? Of course there are so many factors that would affect the sounding of the speakers such as the room size, shape, or the material of the wall. But, you have to put all of them in consideration before you purchase.
After auditioning so many speakers, I purchased this pair for its value. The woofers cones and tweeters are all by the best manufacture in the world. To get the same quality, one would have to spend at least $5000 or more. For my budget, the is a great option. I would give 5 star rating just for the quality of the sound and the value. What else can you ask?

Amazing midrange and soundstage. Extremely musical. Beautiful cabinets (briarwood).

None I've noted.

These speakers are possibly the last I'll buy, a major step up from the Sequerras, which are also quite good. I use a lovingly restored (not by me) Dynaco Stereo 70 and a Marantz CD63-SE, and the soundstage and accuracy are breathtaking. I was able to purchase these new when they were blown out due to threatrened litigation against Silverline.

Similar Products Used:

Sequerra Met 7.7 Mk. IV (now in bedroom); Genesis Genre III

Clear crisp treble, huge soundstage, excellent speed defination of transinets lively dynamic response and overall acuracy.

Lacks a bit of ultimate musicality when compared with the Soliloquy 5.3 and Joesph RM25Si. I particularly preferred the 5.3's overall when using my KSA 250. With my Cary CAD 2A3's I would arguablly say that the Sonatina's slightly bested the 5.3's in overall performance providing a near prefect combination of liquidity, dynamics and detail.

The Sonatina's are outstanding speakers and imo vastly superior to similarly priced designs from B&W and Theil.

The Revel F30 gave the Sonatina a run for the money and appear imo to be ultimatley more dynamic at the extremes as well as having a more elctrostatic like midrange. And my overall favorite at least with solid sate gear was the Soliloquy 5.3's. The Soliloquy's have many of the wonderful attributes of the Sonatina's such as incredible resolution of detail, near holographic transparency, huge soundstanging and lively dynamics but with my vintage Krell KSA 250 driving the speakers, the Soliloquy 5.3 had a just a slightly nore musical presentation with a a tad richer and more involving presence and a more fleshed out mid range than what I heard through the Sonatina's.

An example of this is in Seals Human Beings CD. Seals voice on certain tracks has an ever so slight rasp; this rasp was a bit over empahsized and slightly disconnected through the Sonatina's whereas that this same raspy tone more cohesively reolved through the 5.3. With The 5.3's You could almost see the texture of Seals delicate rasp as his vocal chords extended themselves The Joseph 25Si were nearly as good in this regard, but with a somewhat softer over all resolution. - the rasp was a bit more hushed.

However, I must say with the Cary's this slight over emphasis with the Sonatina disappeared and overall they were a bit better than the 5.3, providing a slightly deeper and more holographic soundtage with a richer bass reponse. Again though the differences here are slight.

I urge anyone looking for speakers under 5k to audition the Soliloquy 5.3 & 6.3 the Silverline Sonatina, the Joseph 22SI and 25Si and the Revel F30. I find all of these speakers to offer a true glimpse of audio nirvana. For solid state power I like the Soliloquy 5.3 best as they share most of the attributes of the Sonatina's but feel less rushed the Joseph 25si' and the Sonatina second. For tube amps, particularly SET designs the Sonatinas are the best I've heard with the 5.3 a close second.


ASSOCIATED EQUIPMENT

CD PLAYER: SONY X77ES, REGA PLANET
SPEAKERS/INTERCONNECTS: CARDAS GOLDEN CROSS GOERTZ MI2 NORDOST BLUE HEAVEN, ALPHA CORE MICRO PEARL-silver, JDS SUPERCONDUCTOR
AMPS: CARY CAD 2A3 KRELL KSA 250
PREAMP: SONIC FRONTEIRS LINE 2
SPEAKERS: SOLILOQUY 5.3,B&W 801 series3,SILVERLINE SONATINA

Similar Products Used:

Theil 2.3,Hales Rev3,Revel F30, Joesph 22 &25 SI, B&W nautilus 802&803, Soliloquy 3.5 Magnepan 1.6 and 3.5, Martin Logan Response,

I am sure there is some, however could not find one.

Build quality is very poor, bass port was broken They are made cheap poor quality materials

This speaker sounds awful and I cannot think of a reason to recommend them, maybe they look good from a distance, but after a close examination you will see the defects in the finish.
1 star for the effort

Amazing good looks, detail and soundstage. Can be driven with 10 watt SET amps to 300 watt solid state amps. Preforms excellent with both. Alan Yun is genius with the simplicity of design and the minimalist crossover.

Sometime the Sonatina's show weakness in other components. The earlier biwire binding post were inferior to a design of this caliber.

After reading Bob Morris and John's review I was amazed that someone would have such negative reviews of the best "sound for the dollar" Speaker that I know!
I Heard the Sonatina at the Chicago "99" HI-FI show.
This speaker was voted "the best debut" by the people who attended the show. This was a great accomplishment. The Sonatina won this honnor over its $5000.00 brother the Sonata! Somewhere between the 7th and 15th floor I walked into the Silverline room sat down and could not leave for hours. I returned again the following day! These speakers blew me away with there appearence, clarity, air, soundstage, tight fast bass. As Soundstage mag said "The Sonatina produced some of the best sound heard anywhere at HI-FI 99--with everything from delicate female vocals to Pink Floyd to pipe-organ music."
In Johns defense I did have a similar problem. I had a edgey sound or slight sibilant sound. The sound was excellent except for this. I traced it down to the 9 year old Levinson Preamp. I could not here this sound with my Thiel CS 2.2's. When I replaced the preamp with the Chord The Sonatina's were wonderful! when I replaced the old Theta with the Bow ZZ-8 I was amazed! Finally the Pass Aleph 5 was the best soundstage and over all sound. The Levinson the best Bass. The Chord 600 the best looks and comprimise. Sonatina's need good equipment to sound there absolute best, and they will show any weakness. I think John was right when he said " maybe it was the combination of his components". It seemed that he gave them a very good effort. This is sometimes the case in audio, some components just don't sound right together.
As far as room size My room is the same size as John's, however placement is important. The best sound is far apart (14 feet + for me) toed in and far away from the wall behind them. The Sonatina is ported out the back! This my have produced a mid bass bump.
As far as John's review " the bass port was broken." The easiest way to move the Sonatina is to put your hand in the bass port. This probably explains this. As far as "The speakers are made of cheap materials". They are made what most speakers are made of MDF and veneer. Alans finish is a slight woody appearence (mine are Rosewood finish). The defects in the finish? I don't know what is being said here. Unless the reviewer thinks the speaker should be glass smooth. The majority of audiophile's prefer satin finishes. Smooth or glossy finishes add reflections that interfer with home theater viewing, many manufacturer's are avoiding them. I have review's from 6 months ago on audiogon. Yes there are Sonatina's for sale on the auctions. Since this speaker has been so popular, There is a new upgraded version with Internal bracing and a Sand filled Bottom. Mike Thiel

Similar Products Used:

Thiel CS2.2-Levinson 27.5- Levinson 28 Theta Transport and DA - Pass Aleph 5- Chord 600- Chord preamp- BOW cd player-Moon audio eclipse cd player