details,clarity,dynamic,punchy & sublime!

my gears: Audiolab 8000s- 60W,- philips 962sa , transparent The link-200 RCA> taralabs Prism 2+2 spk.cables... AV amp Maranz sr6200-AQ VSD2 coax cable it seem no need to run in.......!really ! just used original jumper,single wire, wonderful endearing soundstage!i never heard !details,clarity,dynamic,punchy & sublime!high,med,low, no problems...!^O^'' Even watching movies is awesome! trust me!Concerto =??=must buy!

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mission ,AR

Excellent music and movie experience

None

Excellent speakers! These speakers can only be described in an emotional sense. The sounds are warm and moving. I''ve tried many others. They were nice and technically excellent speakers, but, Sonus Faber are an experience. And the look is like a Ferrari or a fine Italian suit. Even watching movies is awesome. I would have paid more for these beautiful babies. Powered with Pioneer VSX 49 7.1 channel at 160 watts per channel. I''m now on the look out for more Sonus Fabers!

Superb midrange and vocal performance, pinpoint imaging, amazing transparancy at the price

Quite power hungry, but only revealed through weaker amplification

I,ve bought these little beauties (Walnut finish) just more than a year ago, and haven't spent a moment without joy listening to them. Straight out of the box they immediately outperformed any previous speakers I had in terms of transparency, and this became even better after about a month. The only problem I had in the beginning were the fact that my Marantz PM-68 struggled to delivered the power the Concerto's needed. This is not meant as a critisism towards the PM-68, as it is not in the same class as the speakers. Upgrading to Plinius 2100 Pre/SA-50 Power combination amplifier solved the power problem immediately. The kind of bass performance the SA-50 Class A power amp manages from these speakers is quite extraordinary.
What I love most about these speakers is the tonal sweetness, which compliments any well recorded classical and acoustic vocal type of music. Female vocals in particular sounds as natural as I have heard, even compared to much more expensive setups.
Some might have a question mark concerning the use of an amplifier costing three times as much as the speakers. But this is testimony to the fact that these speakers can handle that kind of quality, and I would firmly recommend these speakers to anyone looking for tonal sweetness. For lesser quality amplification however the use of a subwoofer is recommended, but then these speakers only deserve the best you can throw at them.

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KEF RDM2

Exquisite, intimate rendering of vocals and small group settings; rock solid imaging and wide, deep soundstage.

Bass extension, whaddaya expect from small speakers?

I bought these recently to supplant my much-loved Vandersteen 2ce's, but I have not regretted the switch one iota. These monitors do more of everything except for the very bottom end.

I have a Sunfire True sub to perform that last duty, but to be honest I don't find it necessary to switch it on for most of the music I listen to (unlike the previous reviewer, but to each his own).

I primarily listen to jazz, brazilian, world, classical and pop. Some things I've listened to recently:

Cassandra Wilson, "New Moon Daughter" - to die for

Miles, "Kind of Blue" (last remastering) - revelatory

Prokofiev/Cleveland Symphony, "Lt. Kije Suite" - incredible dynamics (on vinyl, turned the sub on for this one!)

Steely Dan, "Two Against Nature" - incisive, detailed but smooooth

Daniela Mercury, "Feijao com Arroz" - in-your-face vocals, very punchy

I have a strong feeling that I won't be replacing these speakers anytime in the near (or even far) future.

I would even be willing pay the unconscionably inflated price these are retailed for in the USA, but fortunately I got a much better deal :)

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Vandersteen 2ce

stereo soundstage is huge and three-dimensional.

none, if used with a good sub.

I listened to alot of different speakers in the 2k to 4k range and could not find a better sounding speaker. The concertos flat out rule that price range. They do movies and music great. Build quality is fantastic, they look fabulous.The matching adjustable stands are a must. The fixed stands are a few inches to high in my seating position. I have mine bi-wired to a sunfire cinema grand and they can handle the power. Listening to my favorite cds I get goose bumps.

lush and clean, sound stage excellent, non fatique

A little light on the bass, but the balance is great

I bought this to supplment my main set, THiel 3.6 driven by Mark Levinson 333 and sometimes Sonic Frontiers Power 3, ARC ref 1 pre amp. Fabulous!!

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Dynaudio 1.1

With tube pream (Viking)and good end (UBIQ 2x170W)that is one of the best pair no mather if sorrce is CD(Marantz 48a) or Turntable (Kuzma's basic model).I made speaker cable by myself (find Ozren Bilan at web and see his instructions).
This pair of lauspeakers are made for the place I have that is 3,4 x 5,6 x 2,2 m.
Beside I'm lucky because Itali is near and costs per pair is under 1000$ there and I have across the street Kuzma's shop (He is Slovenian guy)

Always musical

Excellent speakers but adding a sub brings them to a whole new level.

No question, these are excellent speakers. I have had mine for over a year and have never had a bad moment with them. They love lots of power and throw a wide soundstage. Lots of time and care with placement is well worth the effort. Like many monitor style speakers they image extremely well. These speakers convey a huge amount of detail and will reveal any deficiencies upstream. In my case adding the Concertos to my system allowed me to hear weaknesses in my vinyl setup, causing me to realign my cartridge. Now my vinyl has never sounded so good.

These speakers convey music. I never get the feeling that I am hearing something out of a "can". Rather, the Concertos have a way of reviving the initial recording session and bringing the life of it right into your listening room. The details are not etched or ugly but relaxed and lifelike. Female vocals, acoustic guitars and jazz ensembles are where they really shine.

I run mine with the REL Strata sub and would not want to spend much time listening to music without it running. My previous speakers were floor-standers so I am used to some decent bass; the concertos alone do not provide that. With the sub, however, they are powerful top to bottom. Big music like Massive Attack or Front Line Assembly can get the whole room throbbing in awsome 3d detail. Even intimate folk music benefits greatly from having a sub.

From a whisper to a scream, these speakers (with sub) can do it all in a totally musical manner.

Not much to add to previous reviews - detail, clarity, surprising amount of low bass from a small box. Vocals particularly good.

Very long run-in needed. Leather tops rather ugly and retain dust - more walnut would look better.

I bought my Concertos pre-owned, by mail order, without being able to audition them. This gamble was based on the very favourable other reviews at this site - thanks guys, you were right! (And Hi to Jan - I think we have "talked" elsewhere, Merlijn)

At first I thought I'd made a BIG mistake - they sounded very dull, the bass was woolly and overstated, and the top end had no life at all. As I said to Wes when querying this on his hifi website, the Concertos sounded like the source was a tape deck with Dolby switched on. But with no money left to buy anything else, and no option to return them to the dealer, I kept listening.

After about another 20-25 hours of use, something wonderful happened! Suddenly the Concertos began to brighten - and I mean suddenly, over the course of maybe only 4 or 5 CDs. Within a few hours more they transformed - bright and clear. It sounded like they were completing a run-in, but because I am the 2nd owner, I thought this would already have happened. I rang the dealer and found that the previous owner didn't like them and traded them in quickly.

My conclusion is that these speakers apparently need maybe 50-100 hours before sounding right. I would advise anyone considering a demo to try to find a dealer with a well-used pair - even if they look shabby, they will probably sound better than a newer pair.

The Concertos really do startle me sometimes, particularly with sudden low bass notes on CDs I thought I knew (previous speakers were small Mission 780s). Very low bass can be a bit woolly, but I suspect this is probably due to budget speaker stands, or perhaps my CD player, rather than the Concertos. Forthcoming upgrades to better stands and an Electrocompaniet EMC-1 should show whether this assumption is correct. But overall I love the sound. A real mark of quality is that they are just as good at low volume levels, when listening quietly in the evening.

I paid GB£550 ($800). Ex-demo Concertos sell for £750 here, still good value. I probably wouldn't pay the full new price of £950 - I'd look for an ex-demo pair of more expensive ones, for better value. Maybe Concerto Grand Piano, ex-demo at around £1250.


Amps : Alchemist Kraken pre and power
CD : Marantz 63 KI Signature Mk II
Speaker cable : Goertz MI-1

Soundstage, Detail, Imaging.

For a monitor; none.

The last pair of speakers I owned before the SF's were large floorstanders by Quadral. They had loads of bass but for me there was too much of a good thing there so I searched for a speaker with tight controlled bass. I found it in the Concerto's and received a bonus in the imaging department.I must say that the totems were the only other contesters who came very close in this respect. As I mainly listen to jazz and chambermusic I found out that for me this is the ultimate speaker. I have not heard a better reproduction of human, especially female, voices. I read other reviews in which the writer stated that these speakers need to be matched with a subwoofer. Although I expect that listeners who prefer more modern music styles in which bass plays another and perhaps more dominant role will not fall in love with this speaker, in my opinion the quality as well as the amount of reproduced bass is quite natural and thus sufficient. I have used them for 1 1/2 years now and would select them again if I needed speakers today. I use them with a Densen B100 and B300. Placement requires some attention because, as I found out after moving twice during this one and a half year period, it is very room dependent. I also found out that they sound best when they are paired with SF stands.

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Dynaudio, Chario, Totem.