Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
The Fidelios are and audio revelation for me: transparent, natural, delicate, dynamic and with absolutely holographic soundstaging. Before the Fidelios, I owned a pair of Sonus Faber Electa Amator II speakers, which were decent, but after a while made me crave for the beautiful Guarneri. I heard the Guarneri on several occassions, with different set-ups and I was always impressed. I was close to buying them but luckily I discovered the Fidelios. These speakers have everything what the Guarneri's are famous for: delicacy, naturallness, beautiful tonal palette, immediacy and lots of emotion. They better the Guarneri's however in terms of bass extension, macrodynamics and imaging. The depth and width of the soundstage is simply spectacular! The walls seem to disappear, especially on large scale orchestral music; my 16 x 18' listening room is transformed into a huge concert hall. The layering of the soundstage is phenomenal, and the focus is superb. These speakers really sing and are always extremely musical and smooth without compromising detail and transparency. They are also easy to drive and sound good with both tubes and solid state. If you're room is not too big, even low powered SET's will drive them to realistic levels.

Strengths:
Transparent and refined midrange, smooth detail across the spectrum, absolutely superb soundstaging, tight and detailed bass. Ease of drive and high WAF (the Italian gloss black finish looks great).

Weaknesses:
The bass may sound a little weak in large rooms, although it's still very well extended and powerful for such a compact enclosure.

Similar Products Used:
Sonus Faber Electa Amator II (great for the money but lacking in refinement and delicacy) and Guarneri Homage (very similar to the Fidelios, but lacking in dynamics and bass extension), Revel Ultima Gem (neutral, but "sterile" and bright at times).