Sonus Faber Signum Floorstanding Speakers

Sonus Faber Signum Floorstanding Speakers 

USER REVIEWS

Showing 1-10 of 20  
[Jul 17, 2017]
Hector
Audio Enthusiast

I bought them S/H 10 years ago. First I listened them with a 35W tube amp (music angel). It worked well on a small room but it was truly inadequate on larger rooms. I put them away for 7 years and last year I tried again with a totally different amplifier combo: PS Audio Gain Cell Preamp and a pair of ncore 400 monoblocks. This set made the signums play like no other speaker of this size in a 25 sq meter room. You need much more than 8K to get something more and that I think will be only in the bottom end frequencies, which will propably bring you room acoustics problems.

The ncore amps produced phenomenal bass extension for a speaker of this size!
Of course you can't beat physics laws. That is, you need something more from the deep bass especially on classic symphonic music.

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
5
[Oct 05, 2015]
Miguel
AudioPhile

Sinceramente agudo y medio extraordinario, se distingue abanico de graves todos ellos distintos , vivos y reales los tengo asociados a un vendetta research scp2 y ear 529 plato townshend y ortofon mc2000 por cierto ,con estos componentes, no necesito para nada transformador a pesar de la baja sensibilidad de estas cajitas musicales.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Jan 13, 2007]
Alan 004
AudioPhile

Strength:

Beautiful build quality. Walnut and Leather. They just rock when they need to and sing softly when all you want is a piano concerto.

Weakness:

Non.

I bought these speakers and stands new, way back in 2000 when I was living in the UK. My system was a KRELL KAV 280cd, COPLAND CSA 28, Nakamichi DR-1 Tapedeck, and Transparent Music Plus XL Cables. The speakers always sounded superb, but never quite had enough bass. Even my friends comented on this, and alas, I had to agree. But with the hybrid tube amp, they really were sweet. Fast forward now 7 years, and here I am back in the USA. With the advent of ebay, I decided to check into KRELL amps.. oh my lord! How affordable things are now! I wasted no time in securing a KRELL KAV 300iL for $1500.00. Then took advantage of Transparents upgrade system(no one tells you about this in europe). Traded in all my old Music Wave Plus cabling(old technology) and spent $4000.00 on all new Transparent Super Cables. Everything was upgraded to Transparent Super.. power cables, speaker cables, balanced interconnects. I was like a giddy school boy at christmas! Could not wait to open those shiny new boxes! I turned everything on and waited with bated breath...loaded Roger Waters and hit play. All I can say is, now those beautiful Sonus Faber Signums are just untouchable. Bass... the walls vibrate! Loud? With 200 watts/channel, they are totally different speakers. I never new what they could do until now. The old Copland? 60 watts/chanel. What was I thinking? The bass really is amazing. These babys just need a lot wattage, balanced inputs to your amp, and look out! A word of advice. If you want to upgrade anything in your system, what ever it is, please start with the cables first. $4000 is a lot of money, but all I know is this. It really does make an astonishing difference to your system. And don't just do speaker cable. Keep it all standard through out. Power cabling, interconnects, and speaker cable, all Transparent of what ever level you can afford. The results will be more than you can imagine. I lose hours out of my days if I am not carefull lisening to music.. it is mesmorising! I come home from work and just look at those big black cables, walnut speakers, and sleek amp/cd player and I smiel the smile of kings:)There is a reason manufactures put balanced inputs onto thier products. Use them! Your speakers will love you for it. Long live Sonus Faber.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Jul 28, 2003]
Ian Morris
AudioPhile

Strength:

Looks, Sound...almost everything about them

Weakness:

None that I can think off, with the above system I no longer use a sub woofer since the bass is more than adequate

The speakers are visually and aurally stunning. They demonstrate superb stereo ismage to such a degree that there is no hint of the speakers being present in the soundstage. The are punchy an have phenomenal bass for their size. They play load, fast and sweet with no hint a graininess. They sound very natural. They are teamed up with Sonus Faber Musica (which made a huge difference), Sonus Faber Ironwood Adjustable stands (also made a big difference) and play either a Krell KPS 20i or Mark Levinson No 39 CD players

Similar Products Used:

Marten Logan SL3's

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Jul 10, 2003]
Steve Huff
AudioPhile

Strength:

Looks, build, quality, sweet mids, highs, air

Weakness:

Well...ummm..maybe if you want the bass of a floorstander, but teh bass these do put out is tight and punchy

Bottom line. Best bookshelf I have ever heard and Ive heard the Dynaudios, revel M20's, etc, etc. I actually preffered these of the SF Cremonas. This is a GREAT little speaker. i own 2 pair!

Similar Products Used:

Revel, Dynaudio, B&W, Avantgarde

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Sep 13, 2002]
Dan Lee
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Perfect sound quality unmatched by any other model. Great looks.

Weakness:

Looks too good - my wife does not let me take them from livingroom to my own study upstairs. :-(

If you say that this speaker lacks bass, then there is something worng with your system. I use TEAC CDP, EAR Valve amp, and Nordost speaker cable, and this speakers produce thundering bass - in fantastic controlled, tight way - impressive. Of course it has the best sounding mid and treble as well. I feel this speaker sounds better than anything I heard - even up to 8k level. But sound is one thing (but the most important), but another point with the Signum is that it is best looking -milion pounds high end furniture like speakers. It enhances the whole listening room both in visual and audio aspect. It matches very well with my 15w/ch SET valve amp - sounding rich and sweet.

Similar Products Used:

QUADs, LINNs, Monitor Audios, Tannoys, B&Ws

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[May 20, 2002]
fccat
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Almost everything

Weakness:

Lack of bass

Sonus Faber Signum is excellent in both sound and build quality at its price range. The sound quality is superb in almost every aspect in high end speakers. Sound is very smooth and detailed, soundstage is very transparent and deep with excellent layering. Perhaps, the best of all is the beautiful mid & high frequenices. When I compared the Signum with Dynaudio Contour 1.3 SE, the 1.3 SE might sound a bit more neutral, but the Signum sounded more ''sweet'' in the midrange with better soundstage. Some may find that Signum is a bit coloured but I would say the Signum conveys emotions and liveliness better than the 1.3 SE. The only weakness I''ve noticed is the lack of bass (Don''t get me wrong here, the bass relative to its size is probably good enough.) I compared the Signum with the SF Grand Piano Home side by side, although the Signum is inferior in the bass department, it blows the GPH away in midrange and in overall performance. Simply put, the Signum is one of the best in the $3000 range, if you are lucky to find one (it has been discontinued), be sure to give it a listen.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Oct 01, 2000]
tom
Audiophile

tiny speakers like these still do not have enough bass even with asubwoofer.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Sep 26, 2000]
Steeve McQuin
Casual Listener

Strength:

detailed, transparent

Weakness:

bass

big room >20m2 required a sub. after 2 months these little babies really song. if you preffer music other than trash or heavy metal go for it.

Similar Products Used:

B&W solid, quadral, canton

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Nov 14, 2000]
Stéfan
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Reproduces music accurately

Weakness:

None

I believe that technology should serve music, rather than the other way around. It seems that "audiophiles" are afflicted by a disease known as technomania, which is unfortunate as they are clouded and bedazzeld by brandnames, watts, and new formats amongst a variety of things. New developments in audio reproduction are in itself not bad, hi-fi technology should however be APLLIED in such a way to accurately reproduce the musical event. Technology should not be used just for technology's sake!!

Philosophical tirade aside (and trying to avoid hifi techno jargon), I would like to share my experience with an awesome loudspeaker. I purchased a pair of Sonus Faber(SF) Signum loudspeakers after owning a pair of SF Concertino's for over a year. Owning a pair of SF speakers (especially the Signum's) is an event in itself. Apart from reproducing music as close to the real thing as possible the craftmanship is exceptional. Both form and function is in perfect harmony, irrespective of the model.

The Signum's are exceptional loudspeakers at any price, music is natural and one finds one-self being drawn into a perfomance time and again. One of the many strenghts of the Signum is its ability to portray an evenly balanced tonal range. Transparency, accuracy and staging is portayed in a believable manner, more than loudspeakers I listened to with prices two to three times that of the Signum's.

Owning a pair of Signum's (or any of the SF range) however does come with a few preconditions.

1. Coupling the speaker with the dedicated SF stand is a must - this is a crucial part of a complete SF speaker system.

2. Although not difficult to drive, the Signum's sound better with more power (as I guess most loudspeakers do).

3. It needs a lot of space around it.

4. Apparently (I have not tried it yet as my room dimensions does not require it) the sound is greatly improved by adding a subwoofer? I do not think the Signum's are bass shy, in fact they are anything but that.

5. System matching is crucial ( as with all hi fi), getting this right will elevate the speaker to greater heights.

In conclusion I would recommend the SF Signum to anyone looking for a loudspeaker. If it seems too expensive it would be worth your while to stretch there - and for those who already think they have it all, try it! I guarantee you you will live with it for a very long time!!



Similar Products Used:

B&W 805, Sonus Faber Concerto Grand Piano, Martin Logan Aerius

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
Showing 1-10 of 20  

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