Listened to these at the same shop as Shawn (below), much the same setup. They weren't set up optimally in my opinion (along the short dimension of a rectangular room, not far enough into the room. nevertheless it was 'verboten' to move them around, not to mention, an hour's worth of work).

Cables were Monster Sigma series, the real expensive ones.

Despite the TV and the electronics between the speakers, the imaging was damn good. Further out in the room and there would have been a deeper soundstage.

The bass was very tight. The entire frequency range was crystal clear, limited only by the room and the CD player. I would really like to hear these hooked up to a Wadia 8xx series, the Adcom GCD 750 is good but ultimately not as refined.

These speakers 'let go of the music', meaning they seem sensitive enough just to let the notes flow without a huge amount of amplifier power, which is an important design feature in my opinion. Notice that you don't need $10,000 of Levinson amps or the like; all you need is the beautifully built $3000 60w/ch class A Sonus Faber amp.

The size is about right in my opinion, any bigger and it gets impractical to set speakers up in any but the largest rooms. I think, however, that a listener should be able to sit well back from these for best integration. At a distance of 8-9 feet, the bass wasn't quite as well integrated as it could be.

As far as the price, well, $20,000 is full retail which means you are paying SF, the importer Sumiko, the retailer, and who knows who else along the way. You could probably fly to Italy, tour the factory and take them back with you for a total of $15,000, have more fun, and save some cash.

But I truly doubt that anyone with the scratch would regret paying so much for speakers, unless their trust suddenly disappeared and they had to sell again. They are beautiful, wonderful sounding, and they're built like instruments. I would take these over Wilsons, for example, in a heartbeat. And I think they offer better value than the Utopia series. Most other speakers that are available in the US and sound this beautiful need a fair amount of amp power to get going.

For my $20,000 I would rather take a year off from work, learn about electronics, find the materials, and build my own set of speakers. That would be the best value for money. This is an option which the audiophile mags NEVER mention, since their bread and butter is (let's face it) in retail sales.

For sound: 5 stars. For value: 4. For decadence: 5.

Beautiful craftmanship and typical SOnu Farber sound.

overpriced

Firstly let me say I do not owns.However a clientof mine does,and since I installed his system I feel can comment.

These speakers certainly were not placed in a ideal listening enviroment.The wood work is exquisite,and craftmanship all around is top notch.I found them to be very "warm"sounding and execellent overall response to most music. In my opinion they are colored and many people find this a big attribute in a speaker.The mids are probably the best I have heard on any speaker,period.The bass seemed boomy,but that may ne due to the room.The highs were smooth in most cases except on one cd (Aria) and that may be the cd itself.

My issue with this speaker is the price.Since Sumiko has their hand out as middle man,the overall value is not justified..The Von Schweirkert Vr7 is an example of one speaker that outperforms this piece and it cost 5k less.For that matter the VR5 gives it a run for the money.

No doubt these a deserving speakers of good reviews.I am sure there are plenty of people who loved these beauties,and well they should.

Similar Products Used:

Dunlavy

I never thought I would say this, but a pair of speakers can be worth $20,000.But only if these speakers are used with electrinics that are up to the task.
The soundstaging and imaging is state of the art.
The timbre is right on the money.
The dynamics are excellent.
Best of all, the sound is seductive.
As soon as I can afford these, these speakers are mine.

I own a pair of Sonus Faber Grand Pianos and was curious about the sound of the new Sonus Faber Amati Homage. Currently only two stores in the US have these. Incredable sound stage, amazing detail, beautiful vocals and great design are only a few of the attributes that keep me raving about these speakers for the next week. These are a must hear! A rating of six is justified for these.

THERE ISNT A BAD THING ABOUT THEM

none

THIS IS A RESPONSE TO THE IDIOT WHO DID THE REVIEW BEFORE THIS ONE.

A) B&W's top of the line is actuly 45000.00 the Nautilus
rookie

B) If you had a clue you would understand that once you get over the 10000. mark you Purchase speakers that "move your soul" its totaly subjective. these speakers are probably the finest music speakers you can find BUT one could argue that Martin logan is better it is all dependant on you taste.

C)If you are trying to gauge whether these are 18k better the one speaker or 5k better then another YOU HAVE NO CLUE ABOUT WHAT FINE AUDIO IS ABOUT AND STOP POSTING REVIEWS

Similar Products Used:

B&W, Martin Logan , Vienna Acoustic

Aesthetics, delicate, electrostatic like midrange

I own these speakers, am very happy, and will spend the rest of my time and money upgrading the electronics around them. Apart from sounding great, they are the most stunningly beautiful piece of hi-fi ever made

But here in Europe, they cost 40% less than WattPuppy 6's, and the same as Logan Prodigies or Alon Circes. We get stiffed on US equipment !

There, they cost 20% MORE than Watt/Puppy 6's, and nearly DOUBLE Circe's, which I think are as good but a lot uglier so I would never buy them

It's curious this massive relative price differential means that you guys worry about whether they are worth the extra money over the Wilsons, and we do it the other way around

Conclusion: Stick to equipment from your neck of the woods. Price is never an indication of value

I had the opportunity to spend a couple of hours with thease speakers last night.....I could sleep! Thease speakers did nothing wrong and everthing right. I cannot express what an incredible experience it was to be in the company of thease prefromers. From the first note, the Amati's completey dissapeared. I was envelpoed in a warm, inviting musical presents the likes of which I have never experience before. Previously, I have given extensive sesions to the Wilson Watt's and Naut 801's, niether came close to the openess, transparency, musicality of the Amati. Worth 20 Grand!? It's all relative. But if I had that much to toss around I would be banging down on my dealers front door gripping my platinum card, and as I rushed to pay I wouldn't give the slightest consideration to the Wilsons or the B&W's.

Sound, impact, transparancy, looks, just about anything

couldn't find one

First of all: I don't own these speakers but have only auditioned them as the dealer was kind enough to let me 'play'with these babies for two hours.

I originally came to listen to the concertos, for my new system. I have decided to buy them after listening to (too) many speakers in their price range. After this session I had time left for the day so the dealer told me that, if I'd like it, I could listen to the big brothers of the concertos for comparison. You guess my reaction: A triple 'Yes Please'! So we went upstairs to their Hi-end listening room (approx. 30x18 ft) When I came in I was astounded by the appearance of these beauties!!! They look so good, all handpicked, high quality wood, nice (not nice, better than nice) front looks etc. I auditioned them with the top-notch Mark Levinson gear, don't know the nrs anymore and cables&interconnects worth well over $20grand.

When I first put up (or actually had the dealer put up) the fist CD I was amazed by the sound just flowing out of these SF's!!! I have not listened to many other speakers in this price range but I must say that (for me) they outran the B&Ws. Not easy but I believe they sounded more transparant, and gave me more the feeling that I was listening to music, not its reproduction. After My 5th CD I found Out that it had been closing time for the shop already but the dealer (amazing guy: friendly, informative, like it has to be)
let me listen on for an other hour while they were cleaning!

This aditioning was truly amazing and I recommend everyone who is in the market of buying speakers in this price range to listen to these gems!!!

Similar Products Used:

B&W Nautilus 802

very nice looking...craftmanship

PRICE!!!!

ya ok..20K for these..i dont think so..there is now way how these are actually worth that much...you cant tell me they are 9-11K better than BW's top line...or 18K better than a set of Paradigm Studio 100's...and not to mention..they are not a full range speaker.... 6K or 7K ..yes i would think about buying them....but not for that outragous price....yes these are an outstanding speaker none the less..but for 20K the store can keep them....maybe make a sale to a "la de da" who just wants to have them for an image thing "ohh i payed 20 grand for those" ill give the value a 1...they just are not worth that much...but as a performer....ill give it 5 :)

Similar Products Used:

B&W , Paradigm