Price Paid:  $2800.00 from AudioGon

Summary:
This may be the best 2800 I spent on a pair of speakers. They came with the factory original stands which is critical for setup and performance. They have beautiful cosmetics - old charm but stylish. SF really knows the art of cabinet design and manufacture. Setup will require some experimenting. Simply follow the setup instructions in the user manual and you will be done in 30 minutes max. The more toe-in produces sharper focus and more stage depth. Reduced toe-in gives a wider stage, less depth and focus. I listen at near-field about 5-6 feet away from each speaker, 6-7 feet apart. The speakers sit about 5 feet away from the back wall. These speakers are lot of fun to listen to. They are slightly colored but very pleasant sound. The highs are open. The mid-range is very articulate. The base probably gets down to 35 hz but you can always use a good sub. I use a REL B1 with exceptional results. These speakers have a bold sound. They like power and sound better as you increase volume. In other words, IMHO they are not ideal for low volume listening. Very well constructed. They look the part and have the performance to back it up.

Strengths:
Strong, articulate mid-range. Big sound-stage with excellent imaging. Very musical speakers. Strong WAF. Good resale value. Simply great fun to listen. They will reflect the quality of equipment up the chain. These speakers can groove and I am not talking about the 60's. I think SF is a unique company - even at this price level they produce works of art. Franco Serblin is not some ordinary entrepreneur selling hi-fi equipment. He is an agent of social change.

Weaknesses:
Slightly colored. Not as accurate compared to SF Guarneri Homage but compared to other speakers in the same price range - these are very special speakers. They are in a class of their own. Maybe somewhat expensive for stand-mount speakers but when you hear them you will change your mind.

Similar Products Used:
Quad 11L, 12L, various models from Epos, Monitor Audio, SF Guarneri, SF Cremona Auditor

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
Dear friends, I have been looking for a well balance speaker for a long time. I auditioned Armati Homage, B&W SS 30, 802 natilus and Genesis 5 and Martin logan Odyssey. I liked all of them in a way or the other but the most neutral and balanced speaker is the Aramti Homage. Of course price was a concern and guess what? I settled for the SF EA 2. It sounded great from the start when I heard it with a pair of the small Goldmund Mono blocks at the showroom. It was abe to handle music at loud levels and supprisinly has pretty good bass for suach a small bookshelf speaker. I never tought of buying a bookshelf as I had the impression that they sound small(no volume) and lean (no bass extention). But do not under-estimate the EA 2. Used with my Krell FPB 300/KRC 3 pre and Electrocompaniet 24/192 cd player in full bal mode, his baby has the authority and extention. Wide, bold, transparent, focus and warm sounding. My opinion? Go get one now...heard that it is no longer in production.

Strengths:
Warmth, focus, wide sounstage, great on vocals and Jazz music.

Weaknesses:
Needs powerful amp to bring out the best. Bass cant go low. Must use expensive original stands to sound best. Positioning and toeing is hard work. And very expensive for a bookshelf speaker.

Similar Products Used:
Used with Siltech 560S bal interconnect. Striaghtwire Virtuso speaker cable and Audience powercord on all components.

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
Electa Amator II......hmmmm.........I should write my review a bit earlier. Now I no longer own this pair of legend bookshelf. EA2 gave me life when listening to every kind of music, broad coverage like rock, metal, classic, jazz and strange music. It can handle well to all sound coming out to my ears. Good tonal balance, musical and the more important, it bass output is really superior. Sometime I think it can even beat floor standing model. Soundstage is great especially when U are listening to violin and sumphony. This is the strongly recommend tracks when you want to audit this speaker. For the accessories, the best stand for it is wood stone adjustable stand for good looking and good hi-mid sound re-production. The wood steel adjustable stand is also good especially on bass generation. However, it lose a bit on the outlook. EA2 is a gentle speaker which can go along well with different kind of amps. However, I would suggest you use strong power amp to feed it. Coz the biggest the power, the better the sound. I still miss this pair of speaker at some point.

Strengths:
Good bass generator, can win floor standing model. Good soundstage where normal speakers cant produce

Weaknesses:
If you want to drive it very very well, or say you want to fully utilize this speaker. It is required to have super power amp.....lots of $$$$$$$. Also, its high is not as good as I am dreaming.

Similar Products Used:
EPOS 12, Dyna Audio Audience 52, ProAc T2000 Sig, PMC FB1, Elac 310ijet, Elac Dolce Vita, Dyna Contour 1.8MKII

Price Paid:  $6000.00 from HI FI Store

Summary:
I just bought this speakers few days ago and right out of the box they sound fantastic. At the moment I have a mid price 2 channel system with which I am very happy and I will keep for a while. Before this system I had big expencive monoblocks and much more expencive speakers but components did not match. I had Sonus Faber Guarneri which are nearly double the price of this speakers but they don''''t have this big soundstage and could not play any music, only jazz and classical but for US$10000 you would expect speakers to play everything. But with Electa Amator II I am very happy and now my components are matched and sound is nearly perfect, I can live with this speakers for long time. My system is : Sony SCD XA 777 ES SACD Player Transparent Audio Reference with XL tech interconnects Krell KAV 300 iL 200 Watt integrated Transparent Ultra speaker cables Sonus Faber Electa Amator II I think they worth money that you pay for them.

Strengths:
Ability to play any music, very musical and detailed with huge soundstage and big sound, looks

Weaknesses:
none

Similar Products Used:
JM Lab Electra 920.1, Sonus Faber Guarneri, JM Lab Mini Utopia (also very good), Dynaudio

Price Paid:  $3500.00 from Digisom

Summary:
They still require good amplification, I had a Rotel 1080 driving them, it would distort at high levels. I replaced it with a Bryston 4BST and now they really shine, deeper bass, very controlled, more detail without distortion, higher treble, clean as a whistle...

Strengths:
Beautiful speakers, very lively sound, more than other SFs, still sweet and natural...

Weaknesses:
Need good amplification...

Similar Products Used:
KEf 104.2, SF Concerto Home