Sonus faber grand piano domus edition

The curvaceous side "cheeks" are finished in either black lacquer or a satiny Teak wood. The cabinets in those speakers are a combination of solid cured maple and a complex system of laminated components stained with a special formulation that's hand-applied in a delicate procedure only a few artisans are capable of performing. Finally, a high-gloss lacquer is applied, giving the finish a luxurious look and feel that has to seen and felt to be truly appreciated. Like the Concert series, the new DOMUS range features ingeniously decoupled side panels that, in conjunction with the leather wrap, are said to control cabinet resonances based upon Mr.

Serblin's studies of how the great violinmakers crafted their instruments. The DOMUS series drivers have been heavily upgraded from those used in the Concert series and are based on the proprietary vented phase plug designs developed for the Stradivari homage.

A variant of the very popular Vifa ring radiator used in previous Concert series speakers has been retained throughout much of the DOMUS line. Where the original was a two-way with a passive radiator, the new design is a ported three-way that plays louder without strain, is far more dynamic at both ends of the scale, and extends far lower in the bass. Sonus suggests running them full range in a 5. I also found that the familiar ring radiator tweeter here provided far smoother high frequency response than the slightly excessive top end of the older Grand Piano.

The tonal balance has more in common with the more expensive Sonus faber speakers than with the original Grand Piano. The DOMUS Grand Piano features a smooth, extended top end, a slightly suppressed but pleasing upper midrange, and a very sweet, smooth, well-balanced midrange, which is a Sonus specialty I'll be curious to see if the measurements correlate with what I heard. The original Grand Piano was good down to around 40Hz, below which response dropped off admirably, free of any attempted "bumps" suggesting more bottom end than there really was.

More importantly, top to bottom driver integration is exceedingly well done, with no seams sticking out. Even if the measured upper mids prove to be slightly recessed, the speaker's smooth, somewhat forgiving, yet admirably detailed presentation makes long term listening exceedingly pleasurable. The balance makes edgy soundtracks tolerable, while the really good ones still manage to shine. There's enough real estate on the lute-shaped cabinet's rear panel for the posts to be placed horizontally, but for some reason the designer chose vertical placement, which makes hiding the cables difficult.

Try not to settle if possible. I would be careful. The Domus are more detailed and maybe less "colored", but I thought they were thin and analytical compared to the GP Home. There have been changes at SF and the more recent lines have changed from the original sound. Some like the new sound, some do not. I would recommend listening to the Domus line before jumping in. I second Dtc's thoughts. I just picked up a pair of Concertino Home after dreaming about the Signums for many years.

Although very open and detailed I did not feel the SF "magic" -- they sounded more cold and analytical than I had remembered the older SF speakers very surprising since they were driven by bridged MC tubes. I thought maybe it was just my ears, but then I got my Concertinos and WOW that beautiful emotive bliss is all there.

If the GP Home is your dream speaker, don't settle for anything less and be patient. You'll just end up cycling through substitutes and ultimately get what you wanted in the first place after much time and money. Or, since hi-fi gear retains its second hand value so well, get the Concerto Domus, snag a pair of GP Home when you find them, and hock the Concertos if you prefer them to the GPs.

That is if you can spare the extra capital while you're selling of course. Is there a SF dealer near you? If so, definitely go have an audition. My guess is that you'll firmly decide on holding out for the GPs since you like the old signature sound so much as do I. Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I think my mind was already made up in the matter, and you all confirmed it. I should just wait out for the GPs.

I have heard many speakers before, and for some reason the Grand Piano sound just stays with me. I for one, would be very upset if I got the Concerto Domus and realized the SF "Magic" or coloration was not there any longer Good call.

It seems like Classe and Bel Canto have similar qualities -- very smooth and musical yet powerful and controlled compared to tubes.

I would tend to agree with Dtc. I owned both of these speakers and can say that the GP Domus is more accurate but the the GP Home was sweeter sounding and more musical. If I was to make a recommendation it would be to stick to your guns and wait for a pair of GP Homes to appear. Ideally get a partner to do this while you are seated in your normal chair, use wide bandwidth material, and aim for the most sharply focused result, an effect that is analogous to adjusting the VTA on a record cartridge with a line contact stylus, for those who are familiar with the world of vinyl.

Oh, and it is best to remove the baffle covers, which definitely have a impact negatively on sound quality. The choice of amplifier and cable is not hard either. Other equipment was available too, including several DVD-Audio and SACD players, and where the latter performed well musically which was not always the case , the GP Home was more than capable of showing where the advantage was, even though the tweeter is not certified to extend up to 50kHz, still less kHz.

The Sound. On performance, the basic prognosis is straightforward, though my test pair was already run in, and I cannot vouch for the way it sounds fresh from the box, which could be substantially different.

In its run in state, this is a speaker which is broadly neutral tonally, except for a localized lower treble lift, which is discussed later. The bass is well extended for what is a relatively compact floor stander. The treble is not absolutely top quality. But this is part of a speaker which costs roughly four times as much as the GP, and simpler versions of the same Focal tweeter used in lower grade speakers are not quite in the same class.

The Sonus Faber tweeter is sweet and refined, and the treble output is more energetic than most Italian speakers. In a lesser speaker and with less than first rate electronics in charge it might be dismissed as bright, in fact it appears to loose output smoothly at it approaches 20kHz.

The excess energy is in the lower treble, apparently centered around 5kHz. The bass line in Jennifer Warnes Rock you gently from The Hunter album has a complex repeating pattern, which often causes even some very good speakers trip over themselves and sound ungainly.

The effect is that the song floats on the bass line, which must be as it was conceived. This is a speaker with an assured bass, which is quite full and deep when taking the modest enclosure dimensions into account, and which above all gives a clear impression of pitch and propulsive timing.

This is also a loudspeaker with a wide working dynamic range, which manifests in various ways. But the issue of dynamics is not restricted to overtly loud, dynamic recordings like this. Dynamic resolution if you will forgive the term is also an issue with orchestral recordings, where the requirement is for small scale, quiet sounds to be resolved in the presence of much larger ones, and where individual instruments should be heard in a group of similar sounding instruments.

This is something that concerns the whole system of course and not just the loudspeakers, but the GP Home is one of the best in my experience. It has a scalpel like ability to dig down to the finest detail, yet the music never sounds desiccated or brash. The brightness is unlikely to be a problem in practice unless the listening distance is low, perhaps because the room is small.

Ideally listen from around three meters or so, and if necessary orient the speaker so that the tweeter axis cross over a little behind the listening place.