Sonus Faber V's Sonus Faber

Mfslgoldcd,

Since you have owned them all, you know very well Extrema is a dry sounding speaker due to the tweeter. I have spoken with Dynaudio NA (Al Philippele) in length about their Esotar tweeter when I owned C5 in the past, they openly admitted Esotar T-330D used in Extrema and many other was very dated (introduced in the mid 80s') and slow sounding. The huge amount of ferrofluid used to cool the tweeter slows the speed. Yes, it can take 1000 watt in transit which is needed for recording studio that plays at 100 db all day long and reaches 110+ db in loud passage, but that design also becomes its fatal flaw when compares to modern dome tweeters not to mention ribbon. As a result, Esotar 2 employs smaller rear chamber to increase its top end extension at the expense of lower freq extension. Bob of Merlin decided to stick to Esotar 1 for that exact reason since he is making 2 way speakers and can't crossover woofer any higher in freq and still go to 30 Hz. He told me that verbally.

And as Branimir mentioned, Franco also perceived the shortcoming of its old design and moved to much higher efficiency drivers for all of his new speakers. I have also read in Taiwan audio publication an interview of Franco claiming the same thing. So if Franco is deaf, his Stradivarius should suck big time since Stradivarius is his cumulation of experience from past 20+ years.

I am not saying Cremona is perfect. What I am claiming is Cremona, given its higher sensitivity, can make beautiful music with modest tube amp and create a magical illusion that can't be matched by Extrema. Extrema is a speaker designed to wake up at loud volume, try playing it at 80 db and see what you can/cannot hear.

There are two camps of audiophile for everything - amp, speaker, etc. I belong to the camp that without tubes, there is no music. If I can use a small tube amp to create beautiful music, I don't mind Cremona's top end being not as refined nor as textured, low bass not as detail, etc.

Extrema and Stradivarius are on the two totem poles of Sonus Faber design. If you agree Stradivarius is a fine speaker, how can you claim Extrema is the best ever came from Sonus Faber?

Semi.
The Extrema from a design perspective is one of the best speakers ever. Plus remember the Extrema is a monitor design that can truely fill a large room.

You made some valid points Semi. So we are mending the fence.

In laymen terms these are the points I am trying to incorporate without insulting anyone.

The Stradivarius is top of the food chain for full range design.

The Extrema is top of the food chain for monitor design.

I am torn between the two speakers owning both of them currently. Both are great but in there own ways. The Extrema is a special design and feel that it has the most accurate highs and natural mid vocals you'll ever hear from a speaker. The only drawback if you can call it one. Is that the Extrema is definitely difficult to drive to reach it's potential. But at this level it's all worth taking the time out and matching the equipment to the speaker.

It is a matter of opinion with the tubes. Tubes are warm and can be rewarding. But solid state can deliver a lot of advantages over tuber if set up and matched with synergy. I personally feel that the Extremas reach a higher potential with pure class A mono blocks than triode tube amps. Don't want this to be an issue of tubes vs solid state. This is a debate and fact that the Extremas are great speakers. And are head & shoulders above the Cremona speakers. Remember these Extremas were $14K with stands back in 1992. Today dollars you are easily over $20K. Not to say price is everything but Sonus Faber knows what they are doing.

The Cremona speakers have there place. But when compared to either the Extremas or Stradivarius speakers they can not compete overal. Remember compare apples with apples.

In my opinion the Stradivarius is the best full range speaker. The Extremas are the best monitors. Now overall when listening to Blue Note Jazz Lps or CDs, believe it or not I prefer the Extremas over the Stradivarius. Stradivarius has more bottom end over the Extrema. But when it comes to lush midrange, vocal and super smooth highs I prefer the Extremas. So overall as a speaker I feel the Extremas are the best in Sonus Fabers designs. A lot of Extrema owners will agree.

10, 20 yrs down the line people will be searching for Extremas. Honestly I cannot say that about the Cremonas. Time will prove that I am correct as they are harder to find.

I am done on this topic.

Semi, what amplifiers are you driving the Extremas with? If you have heard them driven by amps like the CAT JL-3 (or even JL-2), if you like tubes, and the Gryphon Antileons, your perception of the Extremas may well change.
To really enjoy the full potential of the Extremas, a lot of attention must be given to the proper set-up of these speakers.

Thf.
I could not of said it better !

Extremas are not the easiest to setup and match . But when it's done correctly; WOW !! You'll hear how wonderful the Extrema speakers really are.

Now this is the last I speak on this topic.

Very good friend of mine owns Extrema's and he also think that it is the best speaker ever but, this weekend he came to my house to audition new Amati Anniversario and left completely confused... He admit to me that Anniversario is better speaker then his beloved( and cult like worshiped) Extrema's! Please, don't talk about amp since he also owns Mark Levinson No.33 and No.32, one of the best designes in his opinion! Extrema is 15 year old design and I simply can not except that somebody claim that it is better then Stradivari Homage, Amati Anniversario or new Guarneri Memento(yes, it is released in Europe!)... I respect Extrema very much but, let's put them were they belong-in history of high end audio. Of course, as one of the best speakers ever designed! Mr.Serblin do not share same opinion as Extrema fans but, at least they are very 'extreme' in defending their object of worship!
I like new Franco's speakers more then the old ones. In fact, IMO every new generation of Sonus Faber speakers is better and better. This is not souly my opinion(it is Franco's claim)...