I bought these about 4 years ago second hand at a steal. the seller was emigrating from my country and just wanted to get rid of it.

It was the first "commercially considered serious" speakers that I had owned.

These are supposed to be the affordable range of sonus fabers. These are brilliant speakers. with really only a few "flaws" or rather conditions that must be passed.

1) amplifier power: this speaker demands a lot 200+ I say. I've used it with an emotive upa2, an anthem 225i, a Marantz 510m and even a smallish CEC class a 60 watter. If you've got a fairly large space to fill then you're going to need a lot of power. my suggestion would be class A power. as I felt I got the best sound out a class a amplifier but just not enough SPL.
another thing that helped me was equalization, especially on the low end. on music with intricate bass note and chord progression, in a flat setup the speakers tend to sound sloppy and dead. with an eq boost you are gold. this is a harsh critique considering the size of the drivers and the fact that its only a 2 way speaker. with the right eq settings youd would easily be fooled into thinking there is a subwoofer in the room.

2) positioning. these speakers are quite finicky about positioning as well. consider wall treatments if you don't feel you're getting the best out of your setup. this was the one off case though were amplifier power seemed to outweigh the room acoustics.

Its said that sonus fabers have a unique sound and its something that some people need to learn to like. while I have no idea if that is true I do know that the speaker is quite finicky about the amplifier its paired with. preamps with equalization / tone controls or even a dedicated equalizer is a must for this speaker. the only reason this speaker doesn't get 5 stars on value is because you'd most likely need to go through a lot of different amplifiers and/or preamplifiers before you get a sound you like. meaning you might spend more than you bargained for.

Although my main interest is in 2 channel systems, this speaker seemed to have a bit more value on the HT side. I was more impressed with its movie playback and dynamics (explosions and other sound effects) than I was with its music reproduction. (complicated guitar or bass work)

If you're reading thins review, written in 2009, you're probably considering buying these SF's second hand, in which case you might not be able to listen to them first.....

you MUST listen to them with your setup before buying - if not you might be in for dissapointment...

Let me explain.... as per other reviews, these speakers need decent amplification....

I bought these second hand (I'd heard tghem years before and was impressed), and when they arrived, my big amp - (Unison Research Unico) was in the shop getting a humm fixed....

So I hooked them up to my 50W Arcam Alpa 8R. Aaaaargh they sounded horrible - harsh, fatiging.... Had I bought the wrong speakers?.... Tried biamping them with the Alpa 8, same thing!!!

Till the Unico (rated at 80W, but over 100 in practice) arrived home - a different pair of speakers... Harshness gone.

Looks like other folks on this website have had similar experiences, believe them and save yourself some misery....

Hope this helps!

Jazzpioneer, London

Especially to those Grand Piano owners who find this speaker glaring and harsh, I would like to share with you my experience. I bought Grand Piano for both stereo playback and hometheatre use after reading Stereophile's review. Even after months of burned in, the speaker still sounded harsh and unpleasant. It wasn't the sound that I imagined from the reviewer. The tone of the human voice sounded thin and strained. I notice from the measurement(published in Stereophile), the SPL reading was quite stable until above 4KHz where the loudness will rise gradually to about 5dB@10kHz. When I measure it at home. I realized that the difference from 1KHz was like 10dB+/-2@10kHz. No wonder the GP sounded harsh and glaring in my living room. I must say that my listening room is not very well damped. My kid's nose is very sensitive to dust. Since the crossover is at 2.3kHz, the harshness seem to come mainly from the tweeter itself. I inserted facial tissue behind the grill only covering the tweeter to tame the harshness from the tweeter. After many attempts I find 3 - 4 layers will be good enough to reduce the glare. The SPL meter now read almost the same as the measurement published by Stereophile magazine (in anechoic chamber). The sound totally change. It took some time to get use to the new tone after so long being tortured by the harshness. After a week or so, I cannot stand without the tweek. The sound became balanced and laid back with sweet details. Violin, guitar and sax sounded very real. I now enjoyed it very much. No more forwardness and harsh sound. I was also able to play louder presumably because the glare is gone. By the way, I am using Audible Illusions L1 with CD input. I find the Aux and Tape inputs very unforgiving. My conclusion is that the SPL measurement you see from anechoic chamber for you loudspeaker can be very different in your living room which is lively. Grand Piano need to well damped listening room. Try it out.

Silky smooth presentation and having a refined sound ; Plays music with emotion as with Sonus Faber's trademark speakers, making you wanna just sit down and listen to your music all night long. Wonderful speakers if you get the right amp. I thoroughly endorse the Plinius amplification with Sonus Faber line of speakers starting from the SA-102. Extremely satisfied owner.

None I can think of except that I've been enjoying my music so much with these babies.

This is an update of the earlier review that I"ve posted below. As I've pointed out earlier, the GP's do require quality amplification to shine, and this belief has been further reinforced after I've got the Plinius SA-100MkIII. Holy Moley this is the best sound that I"ve experienced in my entire life!!(at least in my home)!! I believe that the PLinius has brought out the best in the GP's no doubt about it. The Plinius-Sonus Faber combination is a match made in heaven if you are looking for a smooth and refined sound particularly ideal for jazz material and even for some slower pop music. Breathtaking transparency and musicality for a pair of speakers that just oozes quality, only with the right amplification. I"m grounded.

Similar Products Used:

B&W CDM 1SE, N804

Realistically reproduced sound, clear as crystal; Classy finish

Highs little rolled-off which is inherent in most Sonus Fabers speakers line; Not suitable to play hard rock but that's a minor caveat

Frankly speaking, I've chosen these speakers mainly for its sexy finish and curvaceous looks. Well anyway both sound and aesthetics are equally as important to me when it comes to buying speakers. Prior to purchasing the GP's I was using B&W CDM1SE which although a small bookshelf speakers were quite respectable on its own account. However, after swapping with the GP's the difference was huge. I was using Classe CAP-100 to drive these babies. I don't want to get into the details on how it sounds like and all those improvements such as detail, soundstaging, bass.....etc. Guess you all must have been bored after reading countless of reviews here. All that I wanted to add here is that the GP's require good amplification to shine. I've just borrowed the Audio Research D-130 power amp from one of my mate and was now using it to drive the GP's and the sound quality improved a little. I am now looking at the direction of Bryston BP-25/4B-ST amplification to drive the Grand Pianos. I strongly believe this setup will bring me to heaven.

After using the SF Grand Pianos with Audio Research SP 9 MkII preamp/Quicksilver 8417 mono amps for more than a year with utmost satisfaction, I have acquired a custombuilt single-ended triode amp fitted with a pr of 845 output tubes with 6AS7 driver tubes. With this SET amp in combo with Audio Research preamp, the Grandpianos sounded extraordinarily with low level resolution. The resulting sound is palpable, luscious and enticing. While the GP's may sound well using pushpull tubed amps with minimum 50 wpc power, they can be driven with success using single-ended triode amps configured with 845 or 211 tubes such as those offered by Cary Audio, Audionote, etc. On account of flexibility in addition to its musicality, aesthetics and build quality, this speaker model will remain a standout in its price level.

I picked up a used pair of Sonus Faber Grand Pianos (original Concerto, not the newer Home version), and initially I was disappointed, given all the glowing reviews. Specifically, the upper treble region sounded distorted, with cymbals taking on a smeared character. And the sound stage wasn’t as clear as I had anticipated. I knew that it was not due to anything else in my system, because the previous pair of speakers in the same system were Magnepans, which had the most incredible clarity in the treble and a spectacular sound stage. At first I thought that my disappointment with the GPs might just be relative to the Maggies, but as I listened more to the GPs over a period of months, it became apparent that the GPs indeed had a problem. Then one day on a lark, I popped off the grill covers. Holy sh*t! It was like a veil had been lifted from the music (which is, of course, literally what happened). Cymbals cleaned up immensely. Midrange became more focused. And finally I felt like I was hearing what these fine speakers were capable of. I’m not sure if the problem was due to the grill cloth itself, or possibly from refractions off the grill frame, but in any case, these grills do the speakers a serious sonic injustice. If you own a pair of Grand Pianos, immediately after reading this review, get up from your chair and yank off the grills. If you’ve never heard your Grand Pianos without the grills on, you have never really heard your Grand Pianos.

Exceptional clarity in the high-mids and highs; Strong on imaging and soundstaging; Excellent for acoustic and classical listening through tube electronics; looks great in walnut.

Sensitivity could be a problem for smaller amps; Crossover (2-3 kHz) a little high for the mid-bass driver to cope with; Can be sensitive to placement; Low end is slightly restricted, expecially with tube gear.

I've had the Concerto GPs in my system for more than five years now, powered by a Graaf 5050 50w 6550-tubed amp and bi-wired with Yamamura cable. Each time I have thought about upgrading the GPs, I struggled to find an adequate replacement even at twice their original cost (USD3,200 in 1998). The GPs reproduce stringed instruments and vocals with supreme clarity, bringing remarkable realism to acoustic and classical recordings. Imaging and soundstaging are exceptional for the price. I have at times yearned for a little more depth and attack in the bottom-end, but I have resisted the temptation to switch to solid-state amps for fear of giving up the superb match between tubes and GPs. With decent tube gear, the GPs produce mid-range and highs that are liquid and life-like. I am still not prepared to forego this for a little more bass impact. I do encourage bi-wiring these speakers for that extra resolution and improved imaging, and I recommend users stick with tubes for partnering equipment despite a slight loss in bass depth and attack. The rest of the system is: - Jadis JD3 CD Drive - Perpetual Technologies P-1A/P-3A DSP/DAC (Modwright Signature) - Monolithic Sounds P3b power supply for the PT components - Graaf WFB Two Pre-amp - Graaf 5050 Power amp - DH Labs digital interconnect; Transparent and MIT interconnects; Yamamura speaker cables.

WARM HUGE SOUNDSTAGE WHEN HOOKING UP TO RIGHT EQUIMENTS AS THEY SAY GARBAGE IN GARBAGE OUT. SEXY AND GORGEOUS IN ANY LIVING ROOM OR DEN. I HAVE TO GIVE THE GP A FIVE HERE

NONE EXCEPT FOR MY ISSUE WITH THE AUDIBLE HISSING SOUND ( NOT BUZZ OR HUM) BUT I GUESS JUSTMY BAD LUCK TO HAVE THIS DEFECT UNIT.SORRY BUT HERE IT IS A THREE RATING.

I HAD OWNED FIVE LOGAN SPEAKERS FOR QUITE SOMETIMES AND I LOVE THEM DEARLY. DUE TO MOVING TO A NEW HOME AND THE LIMITATION OF SPACE, I SOLD ALL OF THEM AT GIVE AWAY PRICE. DURING THE SEARCH FOR NEW SPEAKERS. I FELT IN LOVE WITH THESE LITTLE SPEAKERS WITH LEATHER BUT PRODUCING HUGE SOUND STAGE AND THEY ALSO LOOK GORGEOUS AS FURNITURE. WELL JUST LIKE HAVE A CAKE AND CAN EAT IT TOO. AFTER A MONTH OR SO OF ENJOYCEMENT, I STARTED TO NOTICE A QUITE AUDIBLE HISSING FROM THE MIDRANGE AND THE TWEETER A FEW FEET AWAY. THE HISSING SOUND ALSO REVEALED DURING QUITE PASSAGE FROM DIANA KRALL'S WHEN I LOOK IN YOUR EYES. I DID AN A/B SWITCH FROM ARC LS12 TO PARASOUND CHEAPER HP850 THEN FROM ANTHEM MAC20 TO PARASOUND HCA2205 BUT THE HISSING STILL DID NOT GO AWAY.FINALLY STEP IS SWITCHING ALL INTERCONNECT CABLES FROM AUDIO QUEST TO KIMBER ( EVEN USING XLR FROM PRE TO AMP) AND GUESS WHAT, THE STUBBORN HISS STILL IN THE SYSTEM. I WONDER ANY GP OWNERS HAVE HAD ANY SAME PROBLEMS BUT I AM VERY DISSAPOINTED TO HAVE A NEAR PERFECT SYSTEMS.

Similar Products Used:

BW CDM9NT, NHT SUPER ZERO, PARADIGM REF.,MARTIN LOGAN JUST TO NAME A FEWS

dim the lights and watch this LADY sing!

(i dont wanna know)

my audiophile friends said "if u had never own a Sonus, u have not gone into "HI-FI". and having read the reviews here... i went ahead to buy a GRAND PIANO on the resale market...without an audition. it was love at first sight when the BLACK BEAUTY was set up in my living room. All my concerns about the frequency range, the kind of drivers they used, etc left me completely. Mind u, i had shortlisted Thiel 1.6, Triangle Zays, Joseph Audio 22i, based on hours of listening. GRAND PIANO touched my SOUL without a wimper...i am sshocked at my own reaction. This CLASSY, SEXY creature will never leave my home. the sound? i will grow to like it...and nurse it to my satsfaction. Haaaa, hows that for a "review"?!

Similar Products Used:

other boxed speakers