Franco Serblin
- Thread starter Pierre
- Start date
Has any of you ever heard any of Franco`s speakers (Kteama / Accordo) or made a comparison with Sonus Faber (Amati Futura / Guarneri Evolution or older models)?
I would love to hear a Franco speaker, but it is not easy
Hi Pierre,
Have you seen/read the reviews of Ktema and Accardo which do compare to the 'older' Serblin speakers from SF?
NOPE! I did`nt know that there was a comparesion between new and old and i can't find them. Can you send me a link?
Amati Future vs. Ktema
http://www.monoandstereo.com/2011/03/sonus-faber-amati-futura-reviewpreview.html
A recent proud owner of Ktemas. Die hard fans of old SF speakers back in the day it’s got mid to die for and seductive sound but finding it a bit too slow by today’s standard. Owned Guarneri Evolution buying blind based on reviews and forums and got rid of it after 3 weeks, auditioned Guarneri Tradition and Seraphino Tradition, didn’t like both, sounds too sterile and analytical for my taste. Auditioned Ktema, instantly hooked up under 5 minutes, listened for another hour and struck the deal. Never regretted it, I think it’s a perfect middle between old and new SF.
What are you driving them with? Any pictures of your system? I've heard these speakers at a show and they were fantastic.
Congrats. I owned the original Guarneris and the SF Strads and really really enjoyed both. I compared them side by side with Quad electrostatics and was shocked to find that i preferred the Gs relative to the smaller 2805 on every level including areas where I expected and electrostatic would comfortably win. And then when I added the 2905 into the mix, I still was not moved to part from the G. It took the side by side comparison with the SF Strad that inspired me.
I can imagine the Kterma is a masterpiece. Enjoy...what is the rest of your system?
SFG Homage(Originals) owner here--totally agree
-I too have auditioned the Palladios and Evolutions and wouldn't swap 'em at any price for the SFGH's.
Frankly none of the post Franco SF Models impress me only his legacy
with the Ktema/Accordos carry the genes that made his original SF's so great.
I've heard the Ktemas --they will become a classic.
BruceD
-I too have auditioned the Palladios and Evolutions and wouldn't swap 'em at any price for the SFGH's.
Frankly none of the post Franco SF Models impress me only his legacy
with the Ktema/Accordos carry the genes that made his original SF's so great.
I've heard the Ktemas --they will become a classic.
BruceD
Although I have not owned any SF speakers personally, I have used a few and generally really liked what they did; some more than others but the Amati Futura could have found a place here in my listening room for instance. I do now use the FS Ktema; which is sheer pleasure, it responds so well to any product development work, so in some ways is a fantastic tool; but for kick back listening it is sublime.. Continuing Franco's ideals and it genuinely does present a stage of performers in front of you, even my wife has fallen for them which tbh, is a rarity!
the only half decent picture I could find. On an Easter holiday trip to visit my dad can’t take latest pic. Please do not criticize my room acoustic, it will be totally different in 2 months.... LOL...
FS Ktema in Birchwood, Accuphase A-250, A-650 integrated as loaner preamp, Kuzma XL DC with 4-11 tonearm and Miyajima Madake cartridge, Silvercore MC pro SUT, Jadis JPS 3 phono, Siltech cable throughout from Ruby to Double Crown mix. Just switched to permanent C3900 pre amp before the trip, the improvement was sublime, can’t wait what Triple Crown RCA coming next week will bring to the table.... FS Ktema I would say is an extremely transparent, polite but not tame at all, uber transparent but never bright nor analytical. It just convey what your source and the rest of the gear send with total transparency while magically maintains all the good parts of the dear old school Sonus Faber sound while totally rid the negative parts of the old school Sonus Faber sound (ie. colored, veiled, warm, etc). Like I always said, perfect middle ground between old and new SF house sound. For me, it is a classic already.
This speaker is just amazing. It just doesn’t fight you at all. I switched so many loaners components before I settled with what’s permanent. The Ktema just follow without any fight, just like chameleon it can sound veiled, transparent, warm, detailed, liquid, dry, sweet, syrupy, whatever you throw at it it will just follow.
I recently bought a pair of Accordo's. I was intending to use my MasterSound PF100 monoblocks (120 watts of 845 tube power) and the company, in response to my email concerning the suitability of this amp for these speakers, thought it might be too powerful.
High Fidelity's review of the Accordo from 2012 quoted what Franco Serblin had to say about the optimal amplification for these speakers after reading the review:
"Post Script
After having written this review I received an email on the final, recommended amplification for the Accordo, which essentially confirms what I wrote above:
'Let me clarify some issues related to amplification for the Accordo. These speakers have been designed to be as transparent and dynamic as possible. In order to successfully achieve this objective I have used a unique woofer with a long-stroke diaphragm and low resistance in bass-reflex application, designed to offer the best impulse response. Although the Accordo can be driven by any amplifier, we recommend driving them with amplifiers with low output impedance and middle power output (40/70 W into 8 ? and 80/150 W into 4 ?). Too much power may result in too long woofer cone travel and consequently deterioration of signal quality.
If we use the Accordo with a tube amplifier or a solid-state MOSFET with high output impedance we may end up with not fully optimal bass control, and this may lead to uncontrolled cone travel. Needless to say that tube amps are generally not too good in this respect. I use the Einstein integrated amplifier, nice sounding, but with not such good bass as tube amps.' "
What do you think of this opinion? Is my tube amp too powerful for these speakers? I am driving them tonight with some Pass Aleph 0 monoblocks which put out around 75 watts of Class A power, which appear to be more accord with Franco's recommendations. Both amps sound very good to me.
For those of you with Accordo's, which amps do you enjoy the most?
High Fidelity's review of the Accordo from 2012 quoted what Franco Serblin had to say about the optimal amplification for these speakers after reading the review:
"Post Script
After having written this review I received an email on the final, recommended amplification for the Accordo, which essentially confirms what I wrote above:
'Let me clarify some issues related to amplification for the Accordo. These speakers have been designed to be as transparent and dynamic as possible. In order to successfully achieve this objective I have used a unique woofer with a long-stroke diaphragm and low resistance in bass-reflex application, designed to offer the best impulse response. Although the Accordo can be driven by any amplifier, we recommend driving them with amplifiers with low output impedance and middle power output (40/70 W into 8 ? and 80/150 W into 4 ?). Too much power may result in too long woofer cone travel and consequently deterioration of signal quality.
If we use the Accordo with a tube amplifier or a solid-state MOSFET with high output impedance we may end up with not fully optimal bass control, and this may lead to uncontrolled cone travel. Needless to say that tube amps are generally not too good in this respect. I use the Einstein integrated amplifier, nice sounding, but with not such good bass as tube amps.' "
What do you think of this opinion? Is my tube amp too powerful for these speakers? I am driving them tonight with some Pass Aleph 0 monoblocks which put out around 75 watts of Class A power, which appear to be more accord with Franco's recommendations. Both amps sound very good to me.
For those of you with Accordo's, which amps do you enjoy the most?
Similar threads
 | Steve Williams Site Founder | Site Owner | Administrator |  | Ron Resnick Site Owner | Administrator |  | Julian (The Fixer) Website Build | Marketing Managersing |