overall musical,capable of show you magic

difficult matching to show the magic

love at first sight,didnt no off their excistence,typical SF,surprised of the cost,recogniceble as family soundSF.
The first time I heard them did remind me of the character from extrema but then softer and smaller.
They were driven by a Marantz pm 14,wich sounded sweet and seductive,and I couldnt wait to here them on my amps,so that took place.
That was a fine match,so I bought them.
Placement took a while to get the sound complete and correct.
They are standing almost in the middel of the livingroom,sounding complete free of stress and have a very detailed and deep stage,and a natural basresponce,wich many people below cant seem to find.
Holographic soundfields often appear in front of me,showing a good musical window to look into the music.
Very important for these babys are the matching with equipment of quality,dont be ashamed to connect them with gear of 3 till 10 times their own price because they reward you with excelent sound stage and emotion .
I let them sing with an Accuphase combo who deliver great dynamics with easygoing sweetnes and air.
Everyone who listens at my place is knocked out by the performance and power of the tinos and think they are being fooled by such small cabinets.
The soundstage is also high where it has to be ,wich often is not heard in other systems who seems neven lift, by instance voises, above the speakers.
You can almost touch the instruments,look the singers in the mouth,real magic.
Resently I orderd a Croft tube poweramp that brings them even more to live,it sounds realy gorgeous.
If you want to buy these babys note that they sound best on the Sf stands espesially the ajustable,wich I have to, for better overalsound and tuning,they are realy worth the money.(realy sounds less on others,tryed several)

Similar Products Used:

elipson,mission,sf concerto,EA,extrema(most not used often listened)many more

I had a difficult time deciding between these and the Vienna Acoustics' Haydn bookshelf speakers. I finally decided on the Haydn's and once at home, was not impressed by them. The sound is very cold, clean crisp highs, but no bottom or mid-range at all. Returned those to my local retailer and came home with the Concertinos. The difference is quite remarkable. Where the Haydn's were meek and mild, the Concertinos are full and robust. Everything from Steely Dan to Diana Krall to Isaac Stern sounds fabulous. You can never tire of these.

Superb imaging and soundstage, incredible value, matching stand bolts into speaker cabinet for stability and better bass response.

Fixed height stands are a bit pricey at $425.00 per pair.

After 6 months of auditioning these and other similarly priced monitors I decided to purchase the SF Concertino. I was initially impressed with their looks and build quality, but after spending an hour or two listening to them I wouldn't have cared what they looked like. I had never heard such amazing imaging with such a wide and deep soundstage from any speaker in this price range. The high end is natural and free of grain. The midrange is exceptionally accurate with true presence. The bass is considerably better than what you'd expect from a 5.5" driver and is the most clear and musical low end that I heard. After hearing these I was tempted to stop shopping but my better judgement told me to check out others in this price range. So I listened to the ones I listed above. I kept coming back to the Concertinos. When I found out they were going on sale here at Audioport for $835.00 the pair I ran over and bought them. Three months have passed now and I have no doubt that no matter how long I searched in the $1000 price range i could not have done better. The only main speaker upgrade I can imagine would be to another Sonus Faber speaker.

Similar Products Used:

KEF RDM series, B&W CDM 1 SE, Paradigm monitor series

After listening to numerous speakers in the $1K pricerange I recently decided to purchase a pair of Concertinos. I have to say that I was initially a little more than disappointed in them. I have several amp/preamp combinations to choose from and originally used them with a Mac C-26 and Mac 2100 solid state setup. The result was what I would characterize as a hard sounding high end and a somewhat harsh lowend. (more about that later). After reading some reviews that recommended trying tube with these speakers I switched to a pair of Curcio moded Dyna Mk-3s and an AVA Pas 4i hybrid pre. I have to say that I am now very happy with these little wonders. Soundstage and highs that are detailed and midrange that is the sweetest you can imagine. The low end won't shake the windows but it will probably make you wonder how SF gets such substantial low end from this little cube and 5" speaker. If you are a bass nut you may want to choose a sub but try them without and you may reconcider. Although they do have some minor shortcomings I feel that they definately should be on your "short list" if you are looking in the $1K pricerange. Also why have a couple of the everyday "boxes" when you can have something that is this great looking. They are absolutely beautiful. Take a listen, take a look and take em home. I love my SFs.

I have auditioned these speakers with Rotel amp and cd player (971 and 991), and with Cal cl-10 cd player and Macintosh amp. With either systems the timbre of the speakers was not rich and with rotel system the sound was really harsh. Yet, everyone has different taste of sound, so audition yourself and never listen other's opinion on speakers even a "expert!" There are so many good speakers out there under 1k.

Sonus faber is famous for its two reference quality miniatures: the explosive Extrema and the graceful Guarneri Homage. A dog world analogy best describes the Concerto relative to the two classic masterpieces. It's essentially an Extrema/Guarneri mongrel puppy. (A greyhound/Italian greyhound mutt!) A healthy bite off the subtlety and grace of the Guarneri coupled with a tasty chunk of the spunk, speed and power of the Extrema. Of course, being a cute and cuddly but a bit clumsy puppy - it lacks the refinement, microscopic resolving power, and imaging prowess of its two "show quality" folks.
Still, the Concerto exudes a classy performance unmatched by many. The treble is extended, smoooooth and airy. The midband has exquisite delicacy, high resolution and articulation that approaches the high standards set by the Quad ESL63. The bass is fast, has good pitch, has tremendous weight and has visceral slam for a minimonitor. Imaging is very palpable and spectacular ...

As its name suggests: the Concerto excels at recreating small ensemble chamber music. It generates the atmosphere, vitality and delicate performance of a string quartet far better than most speakers. Its rendition of Vivaldi's Four Seasons alone would easily convince Vivaldi himself to buy a pair!

Heavy hitters the likes of Ella Fitzgerald, Rickie Lee Jones, and a whole bunch of females with heart melting voices are also reproduced with lifelike presence and intimacy. No doubt about it -the Concerto is sweet and seductive as it is charming! And wait - it can do Metallica convincingly as well.

Lately, hearing St. Saen's Le Cygne through the Concertos moved me to tears - a testament to their extraordinary communication skills . I am enjoying them well beyond my expectations. I will keep them as long as I live.


My personal components:

NAD 502 (modified)
McCormack Micro Line Drive (passive)
McCormack DNA 1 deluxe
Wireworld Eclipse interconnects
Wireworld Silver Eclipse speaker cables

Borrowed components: (from friends)

Sony XA7ES
Conrad Johnson MV55
Pass Aleph 3

My tweaks / accessories:

Chang Lightspeed ISO CLS6400 20AH power line conditioner
Wireworld Aurora power cords
Sonus faber Stand Iron (adjustable from 23.5-31.5")
Shun Mook Mpingo
Audioprism Stoplight
Audioprism Blacklight
Audioprism Isobearings
Bright Star UIS 3
DIY pneumatic isolation / sand box platforms
DIY sound absorbers

finest fit and finish of any speaker in the worldSmooth, spacious, Detailed, plenty of bass when used in the right size room

not too efficant 87db

WOW these are the finest speakers in the world. They are detailed smooth, accurate, and have plenty of bass in the right size space. You can't expect a bookshelf speaker to have earth shaking bass in a huge 20 x 30 livingroom. If you have ever heard Martin Logans they are like an orgasim which is great. Sonus Faber is like a long Swedish Message. Listening to them is an emotional expirence, second to none in the audio world. I have used them with conventional wiring not bi-wired. Nothing about these speakers sounds boxy they are spectacular. Laid back smooth sound imaging to die for and the ability to take you fully into the music. You expirence with a particular piece is like never before. As far as my equipment
Denon AVR 3300 110 watts per channel
Cal Labs cd deck
Sonus Faber Concertinos Fronts
Sonus Faber Picalo Solo center
NHT Super One rears
Sony DVD 850
RCA S-VHS
25' Sony TV
Technics SL 3300 Turntable
Rega Needle
Philips pronto
Canare digital cables
Canare interconnects
Canare Video Cables
Tara Labs Speaker cable (fronts and center)
Monster cable speaker cable rears
Monster 5000 Line conditioner

Again these speakers are the finest fit and finished speaker out there and at least in my opinion the finest sounding line of speakers nothing even comes close.

Similar Products Used:

B&W 802, Vienna Acoustic Haydens, Boston Acoustics, Martin Logan Scritps

Classy look,easy listening, sweetness, good bass (for the enclosure), a bargain!!

Not so neutral, not for high levels of pop/symphonic music

If you like the treble sweetness and listening area is about 20m2 or even less this is the speaker for you. Period. If you like the sweetness of a valve amplifier but you have trouble with the speaker match, buy a cheap but good S.S. amplifier (a Rotel 980 will do fine), combine it with these babies and you'll hear the music of you dreams at a fraction of the cost. Only if you hear pop in high levels (e.g. Massive Attack) best try the concerto grand piano because the concertinos will transform into cooling fans!!!

Similar Products Used:

B&W CDM1, Jamo Concert 8

smooth, musical

Bass, but then again it's a book shelf speaker, and what are subs for.

I have had these for almost six months, didn't post a review until I feel like they are fully broken in. These have to be one of the best pair of book shelf speakers for around one grand. I have had floor standing mirage om-6, definitives bipolar speakers, and demo B&W cdms series. None of them had the smoothness like the Sonus IMHO. The sound stage is not that forward which is what I like, a bit laid back. The only thing lacking is the bass, but then again it's a book shelf speakers and I have a 1000 watts mirage sub to take care of the lower frequencies, blend very well. I got the piano gloss finished ones with the nice shiny black stands(bit pricey for a pair of stands but it matches nicely), extremely classy. I am running it with a B&K avr202 receiver, probably will sound better with tubes amps. If you have a small to medium size room and like vocals, jazz, classical, and maybe R&B these speakers have to be on the auditioning list.

Similar Products Used:

B&W, Mirage, Definitive Tech.....