Once again, I had the best time with Mr and Mrs B'zilla!
This time things were different.
B'zilla got a new set of super speakers the $6500 Sonus Faber Sonetta VIII
Note in the back are the Thiel 1.6 speakers and a pair of Wharfedales. To the sides not shown are a set of JBL speakers!
As well as
<DRUM ROLL>
$600 a pair Emotiva PA-1 Balanced class D Ice monoblock amps!
First up the Sonus Faber.
The firs obvious thing is the looks on this thing were just superb.
plush real leather tops
Yep, that was real leather complete with some sort of monogram. Also these are the fourth pair of speakers rolled out. We know because it is stamped right there on the rear near the top.
Also note the unusual shape of these speakers. The sides of the speakers are actually curved and ends in a very narrow back. The speakers are covered with real wood, no vinyl- I beleive it's Walnut.
They are quite heavy. I estimate them to be about 60 pounds.
The 3 woofers are aluminum 7 inch drivers.
The midrange driver is a cellulose pulp woofer.
Their advertised frequency response is 36 hz - which they weren't really able to manage in the room.
So what did it sound like?
Well interestingly it sounded very different depending on which amp was used. The DAC used was a DC-1 run with XLR cables .
Run full range without a sub. With the XPA-2 gen 3 the sound had some hard impactful lower mid range/ upper bass. There was a slight treble roll off.
The Emotiva Basx A-300 sounded significantly more pleasing to my ears with a more balanced sound. It lacked a bit of the powerful low mid range impact. But both of us preferred it. Something was just missing with the XPA-2 gen 3.
The PA-1 amps (run completely cold) was sort of the star of the evening and it provided a light, brighter sound that was more vivid and airy than the other Emotiva amps.
The Arcam receivers amps had a happy medium between the PA-1 and the A-300.
So overall I think these were impressive speakers. They had a distinct lack of coloration on the bass side of things that some other speakers including my Axioms have a tendency to bloat slightly. This is probably due to the enclosure. However, at least in B'zilla's large living room these would not be considered full range speakers which surprised me. Now it could just be a lack of amplifier power to really wake up those drivers. I found myself suggesting Quad XPA-1 amps to wake them up in the lower ranges. I felt like something was stopping the speakers from really waking up and moving that bass. So it could just be a matter of synergy.
But with what we had, I felt like there was a drop off at about 50 hz though you could still hear lower frequencies in the 40's. However keep in mind the frequencies it did do were powerful with good impact. So I would definitely reccomend a pair of subwoofers to supplement these speakers like the PSA S3000 would be ideal for something like these.
The Emotiva T2's in the same room had what could easily be considered full range response with surprisingly powerful extended low bass response (and they cost a $1000 a pair) .
I would actually compare the sound of the Sonus Faber to be very similar to the Axiom M80's with a slightly different tweeter and a bit better resonance control in the upper bass. The tweeter is quite pleasing with little "electronic shenanigans" however there is a very mild coloration on the speaker which I didn't find necessarily bad.
The overall experience however was quite pleasing. This was by no means a bad speaker. It was a GOOD speaker. It was a very pleasant speaker with a very natural response.
However it acted differently on different amps indicating that these speakers like the Axioms take a bit of playing around till you figure out what gear complement it.
On the Emotiva XPA and A-300 amps the soundstaging wasn't thrilling. I noted that it sounded like the XPA-1 L amps trying to drive the Tekton Pendragons - like it was being held back in dynamics and bass.
However with the PA-1 things changed quite a bit presenting some admirable soundstage. I told B'zilla these speakers are in the range of the top speakers he's had in his room. No it's not the BEST sound I've heard in his room nor the most detailed but it is among the top. Sometimes you have to look at overall sound and the overall experience and these are speakers that one could be happy with.
However, there is the case of the Emotiva T2. The T2 pretty much did everything the Sonus Fabers did at 1/6 the price but also dealt out full range bass filling the room with a nice full range powerful sound. It wasn't as fussy with the amps so impressive soundstaging could be heard with both the A-300 and the XPA-2 gen 3.
The Sonus Fabers however did have a hair bit more composure in the mid range and upper bass and the vertical height was also a bit larger. And of course, the T2's didn't look anywhere near as nice or substantial as the Sonus Fabers. The T2's are completely dwarfed in size by the gorgeous Sonus Faber speakers. So you have to figure in how much you want to pay for the looks. Whatever you pay, you'll find these speakers are quite good though whether they will outdo some high value options at lower prices by a significant margin is a tougher question because if you look very carefully lower priced gear aren't really far behind in sound quality.
If it was me, considering my Axioms, these may be a slight upgrade to them because of their slightly bigger vertical sound and better composure. But either way the improvement would not be enough for me to spend 6k. It's too pricey for the sonics.
If money wasn't an issue and I was looking for something that sounded good and looked great and unique well, you got what you are looking for!
I can't close however without mentioning a bit more about the Emotiva PA-1 amps!
The sound signature in B'zilla's room reminds me of the amazing Heathkit Tube monoblock amps that he made out of a set of DIY Heathkit stereo tube amps. So it had a very vivid sound reminding me a lot of a saber dac with an airy treble and open sound. If you recall I mentioned that these heathkits though colored in sound provided stunningly vivid holographic aural images. Well this was very similar.
The tone was on the lighter side of things but the PA-1 amps grabbed my attention and it definitely grabbed B'zilla's attention. He cautioned me that these amps had less than an hour of use so they were very cold. With the subwoofer engaged these provided engaging sound that was perhaps a bit bright but nevertheless quite engaging.
But needless to say I was interested to see what these little amps are going to sound like in my room.
So....
I went home with them!
Thanks again for the great time, my friend!
Stay tuned for my impressions this weekend! hehehehe