Today a special listening

gian60

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Apr 17, 2016
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Today with 2 friends we visit a shop near my home to listen the Sonus Faber Ex3ma.
A model made in only 30 exemplary and only one for Italy bought from this shop.
The price is 100.000 euro.
Its a very exclusive product,made with the best material,for them,special wood selected by hand in norht of Italy,carbon fiber monocoque,a tweeter with beryllium diaphragm,a mid-woofer with neodymium magnet,and a passive radiator with a special crossover.
Its a 2 way with passive radiator.
They did this model to show their ability.

I listened all Sonus faber in my life and i don't like,also because listened with Accuphase and Mc Intosh,same distributor,and no one friends has.
So i was very curios to listen this
The system was
Dac/server Hegel ( 5.200 euro )
Pre KR
amp KR 680 stereo
cable,not expensive,i didn't check

At beginning of listening we were shocked
Sound very natural,very very fast and dynamic,bass very deep,can sound very loud,big scene and voice are really real,a little light,but speaker was not in right position,i am sure if we bring this speaker at home the sound will be amazing

Price is incredible high and at that price you can find better speaker,but sound is fantastic,construction and material are incredible and is a exclusive model made in 30 exemplary for the 30 years of Sonus Faber.

I am happy,another special thing from Italy,so we don't have only Mafia and Pizza

Regards
 
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LL21

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Very, Very interesting! Thank you for posting. I used to own the original Guarneri...such a fantastic speaker. So small and yet sound so big...more importantly, so refined.

I am told much more refined than the original Extrema. It is very interesting to hear from you about the new Extrema. I agree with you...amplification with SF is very, very important. It always sounded 'good' to me with any amplification...but it only sounded 'great' with certain amplification... and perhaps it sounded even better with amplification that I have never used.

Franco Serblin used to use (i believe) Berning amp with the Guarneri...i may remember incorrectly. I have never tried this combination.

With other SF (Cremona series), i believe (for me) that Krell Class A amps were better than midrange tubes...but with Homage, not so much. I still liked midrange tubes for Homage series as long as they had a LOT of current, or Class A amps like Gryphon.
 
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gian60

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I know very well all models you told,and listen many many times,Guarneri,Extrema,Stradivari,Aida,but this really is another world.Absolutly no comparison with the good model you spoke.
 

LL21

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I know very well all models you told,and listen many many times,Guarneri,Extrema,Stradivari,Aida,but this really is another world.Absolutly no comparison with the good model you spoke.

Wow...good to know! Thanks! Do you believe it is the best speaker they have ever made? Better than Sonus Faber and Aida?
 

gian60

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There is no comparison between this and other model.
I listen Aida 3/4 times in shop and exhibition and i don't like
If today i had money i bought
 

microstrip

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I know very well all models you told,and listen many many times,Guarneri,Extrema,Stradivari,Aida,but this really is another world.Absolutly no comparison with the good model you spoke.

I listened many times to the Sonus Faber Ex3ma - our SF dealer kept it for a long time. Extremely transparent, completely different from Extrema's that I have owned. A much modern balance, but they missed the "drive" of the old Extrema, much more colored, that could make a large room sing in tune at high levels!

IMHO either the Aida's or the Fenice are a better overall speaker - surely YMMV.
 

gian60

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Today i didn't find colored,not neutral speaker,but not much colored.
Aida has a 32 cm woofer so is more complete,but mid high are very good and also a deep bass.
One thing,i always liked the sound of small and 2 way speaker because disappear in the room and has a clear and fast mid high and not heavy mid bass .
This is also my taste,so different from a lot of people
 

DaveyF

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Jul 31, 2010
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I know very well all models you told,and listen many many times,Guarneri,Extrema,Stradivari,Aida,but this really is another world.Absolutly no comparison with the good model you spoke.

You are right, gian60, the original GH is far more resolving than then new Ex3ma!:D I have now heard the new model on three different occasions and while it sounds good, the times I heard it it lacked body and tended to be a little un-resolving in the extreme high end.
Unfortunately, I may not have heard the speaker in its best light as the ancillary gear was either Macintosh or Bryston, and as was brought to your attention, the SF's are like most speakers...very dependent on the upstream gear. As for the price, I agree that it is Waaaay over priced.
If you never heard GH's with mid power tubed gear, you probably have never heard what they can do either. :(
 

Uk Paul

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A speaker 'like' this SF is what I have held a long desire to live with for many many years, but all of the models I have heard (not these) just lacked enough body to present the complete image. It is a diifficult problem for the designer, but I live in hope that soon it will be acheived as there are many benefits of keeping the unit small. 100k is not real though, yet again.

Nice to see the D3 there too, and the flag.. ;)
 

Tango

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Do they only come in that light color? How efficient are they? Any still acailable?
I wish I havent sold Magico Mini II.

Tang
 

PeterA

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Today i didn't find colored,not neutral speaker,but not much colored.
Aida has a 32 cm woofer so is more complete,but mid high are very good and also a deep bass.
One thing,i always liked the sound of small and 2 way speaker because disappear in the room and has a clear and fast mid high and not heavy mid bass .
This is also my taste,so different from a lot of people

I completely agree with you, which is why I preferred my Magico Mini II over the full range Magico V3 at the time. A good 2-way can do a lot of things well. Amplifier matching is important and I have found them difficult to integrate well with subwoofers, but for their limited range, the best ones can be fantastic.
 

PeterA

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Do they only come in that light color? How efficient are they? Any still acailable?
I wish I havent sold Magico Mini II.

Tang

I have a difficult time thinking of a speaker that I would rather have for my room and taste. The Magico M3 comes to mind, but it is too expensive. Perhaps Magico will make an M1 or M2, but it would cost a lot. The Mini II sounds great and looks fantastic, IMHO, and it should remain a classic for years to come. On the used market, if you can find one, it is a great value at about $10K.

DSC_1519.jpg
 

gian60

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Apr 17, 2016
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Hi Paolo,i was jocking

@Tang
there is only that color and kind of wood,sensitivity is 88 db but with 60 watt of KR sound very loud

@Peter
I listen Mini magico some times from Italian distributor and i like a lot,more than others magico models,i love this speaker

@Paul
This shop has 3 big room,one with USA flag full of all MC Intosh and others USA product,Other 2 with Italian and GB flag
 

Tango

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i am happy,another special thing from italy,so we don't have only mafia and pizza

regards

Come on gian!!

Most of all you have monica bellucci !!!
 

bonzo75

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Big Dog RJ

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Yes agreed on the points made with these, especially with the right amplification.
Listened to these at Rab's place (Carlton audio visual) with all top of the line Arc-ref 250, & ref 10 pre plus Michel gyrodec with arc ref phono. Sound was awesome for a speaker of this size. A true monitor in every aspect, although I equally enjoyed the cremona auditors at a fraction of the cost. These are also available at Shaun's place (Klapp audio visual) and price tag is 100 grand $AUD. Shaun demoed using Mac mc601 mono amps with the c2300 pre using the mc500 sacd. Sound was OK but no where compared to Arc amplification. That was a great weekend indeed, until I learned about the cost! Then the comparisons started in my mind, I would obviously prefer stats with top of line cj amps and still have funds available...

Not a single pair has been sold over here and I think these two dealers are planning on returning these to SF for some other series that could sell.

I believe a transducer made of this quality with this cost level in mind, is not meant for the average person with other priorities that need to be budgeted. This is basically meant for those with large amounts of disposable income who can sleep peacefully without having to wake up the next morning and think of where the funds would be required to run the household with family priorities.
This demographic is definitely not me but it was worth a listen.
Cheers, RJ
 

gian60

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Hi Big Dog,
today my son is in Melbourn to visit the town.
After 6 months of University in New Zealand,he is visiting Australia until 22 december
He told fantastic country
 

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