Sonus Faber Grand Piano Home Floorstanding Speakers
Sonus Faber Grand Piano Home Floorstanding Speakers
[Jul 13, 2002]
tayroh
Audio Enthusiast
Strength:
overall good performer. no big faults(at least to me)
Weakness:
I suspect it could be a little bright in some system. (not a problem for me, though) You need to break them (esp. woofers) in with some power. "Good" all around player. good highs, mids and bass. good looking. good detail. neutral. hard to find fatal faults (I think this is most important). good ability to fill a relatively big room. good soundstage. good for both music and HT. good for both piano and violin. I auditoned N804, Thiel 2.3, Proac 1.5 and Dyn 1.8 mkII at the time of purchase. N804 was just boring and their reputation was not justified at least to me. Thiel 2.3 had amazing ability to disappear and best imaging but overal timber especially of string instruments was clearly sub-par. Other models also had certain very sexy attributes but at the same time had very serious faults. I wanted to listen various music and did not like speakers to direct me to listen just a certain type of musics. Now after more than 1 year, it is giving me detailed, smooth and full-bodied sound. I can recommend this Sonus Fabers to anyone. FYI, they love power even though the published sensitivity is 90db. Similar Products Used: Used B&W CDM1, P6; auditioned various models (B&W N804/804, Dynaudios, Proacs, Virgo) |
[Jun 13, 2002]
Tariq soomro
AudioPhile
Strength:
Balance,detail & build quality
Weakness:
None Beautiful piano finish.Lush rich sound.Finely detailed and perfectly balanced.Work very well with Audioresearch amp & counterpoint preamp.Toe in for best sound Similar Products Used: B&W , ProAc,JBL |
[May 29, 2002]
Jim Kauffman
Audio Enthusiast
Strength:
The SF Grand Piano home (SF GPH) reproduces recorded material flawlessly. A B&K 220 Amp and a Parasound preamp power my pair of SF GPH speakers. I routinely enjoy nightly 'performances' in my 14 x 16 library listening to both classical music and jazz. Neville Mariner's direction of Vivaldi's 'The Four Season' by St. Martin-the-fields comes through beautifully. Not only is the sound staging right on, but also the sound quality is as close to the actual performance as I've ever heard. Whether listening to large orchestras or small quartets each instrument and their nuances are clearly heard. The SF GPH never fail to gratify me when I listen to kettledrums way off in the background of Aaron Copland's 'Appalachian Spring.' The audio spectrum of the SF GHP is solid from top to bottom. I listened to the jazz group Flim & The BB's 'tricycle' at fairly loud levels and both the low and high notes came through clearly. As for voice reproduction I've heard nothing better! Christopher Hogwood's interpretation of Mozart's 'Requiem' performed by the Academy of Ancient Music is itself compelling, the SF GHP accurately reproduce all three choral ensembles in this masterwork. As an added bonus, t
Weakness:
None Wow, now that I have broken in these speakers the sound is phenomenal! The best purchase I've made. Similar Products Used: Parasound pre-amp & amp |
[Apr 16, 2002]
Mike Worton
Audio Enthusiast
Strength:
Very solid cabinet with good stands.
Weakness:
None Now that I''ve broken in these speakers, I''m enjoying them more than ever. They require at least 80 hours. These speakers are just perfect for Jazz and horn music. The sound stage is so life like. I''ve never experience a speaker that sounds this close to live music. I''m sure that other speakers are out there, but at a much higher price. Female volcals are just perfect. Guitar and piano sounds very realistic and natural. Very good, tight low bass. They work well with my home theater. They don''t seem to be as picking on placement as other speakers that I''ve worked with. Similar Products Used: Kef Q90 |
[Apr 11, 2002]
Standing Wave
Audio Enthusiast
Strength:
Absolutely musical! Wide realistic soundstage. Beautiful Cabinetry.
Weakness:
Extreme bottom end somewhat lacking, below 30Hz Require a serious amplifier. Need a fair bit of space behind them to sound right. I brought these speakers home after months of demo sessions with various products listed below. While others may have exceeded in different areas such as bass depth, details, and sheer in-your-face volume, none could provide me with the overall enjoyment delivered by the Grand Pianos. Given the right source and amplifier, this speaker sounds incredible, as do most other Sonus Faber speakers. The soundstage is very large and real, giving you a sense of "being there" with the performers. The detail and tonal accuracy is simply stunning. Imaging is spot-on and performers can be "seen" moving in Opera recordings. Vocalists sound real, every hint of breath and raspiness is revealed. While not the best speaker for loud rock, it offers amazing dynamics with snare drums and electronic music. The Grand Pianos don''t have deep bass punch but low piano notes, cellos, and stand-up bass sound more genuine than I have ever heard (except live of course) In terms of appearance they are stunning, being classy but not overbearing. Construction quality is top-notch, among the best I have seen. If you are shopping for a speaker in this price range, give them a listen. Just make sure they are demoed with really good amps. The rest of my gear: Rega Planet 2000 CD Linar Preamp 2 Linar Power Amp 250 Harmonic Technology Truth-link Interconnects Harmonic Technology Pro-AC11 Power Cords Harmonic Technology Pro-11 Plus Speaker cables Similar Products Used: Compared them to B&W Nautilus 804, Monitor Audio Gold 60, Naim Allae, Linn Espek, Revel F30, and Focus Audio. Own or have owned Paradigm Active/40v.2, KEF Q80, Mission 701. |
[Apr 10, 2002]
Keith Sharp
Audio Enthusiast
Strength:
Timeless design. These are the BEST LOOKING speakers I have ever seen.
Weakness:
None. Read the review in Stereophile Guide To Home Theater magazine , May 2002 issue. This review describes the Grand Piano Home very well. I positioned them toed in toward me 30 degrees, tilted back 13 degrees and tweeters raised 2 inches higher than ear level. ENJOY!! Similar Products Used: Klipche Forte II, Concertos, Concertinos. |
[Feb 27, 2002]
Saintdannyboy
AudioPhile
Strength:
Excellent Sound Stage and resolution. Good extended Bass.
Weakness:
Need a good amp to match, with lots of breathing space for the speakers. I have posted my brief review about 8 months ago and received couples of enquires from audio friends all over the world about the performance of this speakers. What I would like to share is the pair of speakers is definitely better than the old model "Grand Piano Concerto" in all manners/area. Only small draw back is you need a slighly bigger listening area to coup with the bigger bass it produces. The speaker has very good potential, and I feel it sounds like a Usd6000 speaker with a matching system. I was comparing it with Dynaudio Contour 3.0 in my dealers showroom, despite it is not that punchy in bass, but it has a very balanced overall sounding effect. I like its high very much. And its neutral sounding could easily give you what''s the change in tone/sound whenever an equipment has been changed or added in the system. Equipment list: Mini Lab Cable from Wall socket to Utlimate Outlet 20amp HC. Transparent Powerlink XL 15A from Utlimate Outlet to CDP CDP - Electrocompanient EMC1 Audio Note An-Vx balanced interconnect from CDP to Amp Amp - Mark Levinsen 383, with VDH Mainsstream power cord, connected through Transparent Isolator XL to wall socket Audio Note An-SPe speaker cables Sonus Faber Grand Piano Home Speakers CDP and Amp sits on Golden Sand DH Cones, 3 pieces per set Similar Products Used: Grand Piano Concerto |
[Feb 27, 2002]
Danny
AudioPhile
Strength:
Excellent Sound Stage and resolution. Good extended Bass.
Weakness:
Need a good amp to match, with lots of breathing space for the speakers. I have posted my brief review about 8 months ago and received couples of enquires from audio friends all over the world about the performance of this speakers. What I would like to share is the pair of speakers is definitely better than the old model "Grand Piano Concerto" in all manners/area. Only small draw back is you need a slighly bigger listening area to coup with the bigger bass it produces. The speaker has very good potential, and I feel it sounds like a Usd6000 speaker with a matching system. I was comparing it with Dynaudio Contour 3.0 in my dealers showroom, despite it is not that punchy in bass, but it has a very balanced overall sounding effect. I like its high very much. And its neutral sounding could easily give you what''s the change in tone/sound whenever an equipment has been changed or added in the system. Equipment list: Mini Lab Cable from Wall socket to Utlimate Outlet 20amp HC. Transparent Powerlink XL 15A from Utlimate Outlet to CDP CDP - Electrocompanient EMC1 Audio Note An-Vx balanced interconnect from CDP to Amp Amp - Mark Levinsen 383, with VDH Mainsstream power cord, connected through Transparent Isolator XL to wall socket Audio Note An-SPe speaker cables Sonus Faber Grand Piano Home Speakers CDP and Amp sits on Golden Sand DH Cones, 3 pieces per set Similar Products Used: Grand Piano Concerto |
[Jan 27, 2001]
bruce
Audio Enthusiast
Strength:
PURCHASE PRICE WAS 3100 INSTEAD OF 2100 ... JUST TO CORRECT THE PURCHASE PRICE |
[Oct 08, 2001]
RRC
Audio Enthusiast
Strength:
wide soundstage, focus, transparency, strong bass, good sensitivity (90db), nice cabinets
Weakness:
a bit hard at the mids maybe not yet burned in completely As above. Be careful for amplifier matching. I think these speakers prefer tube gear than SS. Similar Products Used: Proac Response 2s |