Deleted

[Power Pop 23]

Go ahead - if the aesthetic of the Sonus faber Serafino G2 is worth the cost.

Otherwise, enjoy the aesthetic and measured performance of the Revel 228Be loudspeakers.

Consider observing each anniversary of the purchase of the Revel loudspeakers by burning a single dollar bill.

 

[Karmacoma]

I say go for it, you only live once, plus you are not burning money, you say you can buy them at a great discount, so really you are saving money.
Looking forward to see them in your amazing dedicated music space, as nothing else less than that will do, or they would look out of place.

I often wonder if you're serious or if you're just trolling.

 

[Cote Dazur]

I often wonder if you're serious or if you're just trolling.

I hope it is not keeping you up at night.

 

[xanalog]

All I'll say this is a perpetual audio hobbyist story. You have something, but something "higher end" tempts you because it must be an improvement (and *looks* the part), right?

Perhaps we are talking about humans' tendency to be materialistic: Same applies to watches, cars, homes and that freshly painted bridge that just went on sale.
I have become a tight-wad with my audio dollars {ty@amirm), but still believe in the DSOP$ slogan (Don't Spend Other People's Money).

 

[JeffS7444]

If $12K is of no great consequence to you, and won't freak out if your Revels prove more challenging to sell than expected, go for it. My guess is that buyers of largish speakers selling for $3K, let alone 12K+, are not so common, and buyers willing to pick them up in person, rarer still. Beats me if they'll sound better than what you own now, but they certainly look pretty, don't they?

My younger self simply needed to get the lust for elite, high-end stuff out of his system, and fortunately, I didn't take a beating in resale. But there are no guarantees that you will be as fortunate.

IME, owning stuff which is perceived as elite feels pretty fantastic for awhile. But in a matter of months, maybe a 18 months tops, I started to view them simply as normal, everyday things: Some were actually pretty good, while others were simply expensive for no obvious reason.

 

[JeffS7444]

Perhaps we are talking about humans' tendency to be materialistic: Same applies to watches, cars, homes and that freshly painted bridge that just went on sale.
I have become a tight-wad with my audio dollars {ty@amirm), but still believe in the DSOP$ slogan (Don't Spend Other People's Money).

Yes, if it involves borrowed money, then this Dave Ramsey rant applies

 

[pablolie]

Perhaps we are talking about humans' tendency to be materialistic: Same applies to watches, cars, homes and that freshly painted bridge that just went on sale.
I have become a tight-wad with my audio dollars {ty@amirm), but still believe in the DSOP$ slogan (Don't Spend Other People's Money).

I'd venture to call it optimistically idealistic, even... and naive, which we are born as.

And I have had similar experiences in audio, in cars, and in mechanical watches.

I explored the high-ish ends of each, and over time (too much time) I settled on a largely ideal Venn diagram middle between high quality and value. I have expensive watches in my collection, but tend to never wear them anymore (but they are all mechanical and beautifully made). I keep an expensive ICE car in storage while I drive an everyday EV (but mostly ride my motorcycles). I have spent a lot of money on audio experiments but now only spend money on music, pretty much.

And like you, I grant anyone else the right to go on the same exploratory journey. My only advice is always keep in mind what those dollars you spend here and now can do to elevate your life once you've discovered your true inner balance later in life. A few mistakes are fine. Too many (divorces, buying too much expensive stuff on credit, etc) you shall eventually regret.

 

[MouseOnMars]

Why are you wasting your time with junk like sonus faber. Buy some genelecs.

 

[Flaesh]

Sonus Faber

I was thinking of something like that

but it only

((

 

[MouseOnMars]

I was thinking of something like that
View attachment 557914
but it only
View attachment 557915((

boring

 

[mcdn]

I was thinking of something like that

Yep, peak Sonus Faber was early 2000s. That was true furniture that also sounded good. The more recent stuff is precision targeted at people with more money than taste.

 

[Purité Audio]

I remember taking some Kiis to a customer to compare against his original Stradivarius which were gorgeous looking and they really weren’t that bad, a few years later another customer had some ‘Olypimcos’? again compared against Kii and those were really poor.
What are the latest iterations like?
Keith

 

[thewas]

The good thing with many SF is that their directivity is not too bad so if the owner gets tired of their sounding with equalisation he could get them to sound closer to the neutral tuning of the Revels in case he prefers their looks.

 

[mcdn]

I remember taking some Kiis to a customer to compare against his original Stradivarius which were gorgeous looking and they really weren’t that bad, a few years later another customer had some ‘Olypimcos’? again compared against Kii and those were really poor.
What are the latest iterations like?
Keith

I heard some recent ones in a local showroom. They were poor in every way - unbalanced, no real heft. And they were ugly. The wharfedales in the same room wiped the floor with them.

 

[mcdn]

I heard some recent ones in a local showroom. They were poor in every way - unbalanced, no real heft. And they were ugly. The wharfedales in the same room wiped the floor with them.

I say this with a heavy heart, as the proud owner of some 2004ish Cremona Auditors

 

[Sokel]

Ex-owner of Olympica and notorious anti-hot highs here.

Nice for a smaller space, nothing to bother toed a little off-center, certainly not highs, they would go out of the window.
Nothing special admittedly though, bigger, older stuff with wide baffle were way better and could kick.

 

[Gregm]

So, in the end

I’ve got a pair of Revel performa 228BE speakers less than a year old, which are great.

But I have found a pair of Sonus Faber Serafino G2‘s less than two years old heavily discounted in perfect condition within easy driving distance. If I sell the Revels and buy the Sonus Fabers, it will probably be a net outlay of about $12,000.

While I fully intend to audition the Sonus Fabers, in the long run I doubt I will really notice that much of a difference as they are both superb speakers.

I fear I am falling pray to upgrade fever, not to mention that I think the Sonus Fabers are quite beautiful to look at.

I welcome your comments.

Thus so far you have received mostly snide remarks (and some not so snide) about SF speakers and how they measure.

The real question is, however, how heavily does the discount weigh in your decision?
In other words, try taking the FOMO out of the picture.

{If the two speakers were the same price, would you exchange your Revels for the SF? If so, IMO go ahead!}

 

[Mort]

I hope it is not keeping you up at night.

I'll take that as a yes.

 

[marin.weigel]

Interesting

Guess, you've become disinterested with the course of this thread.
But since we're at ASR here, I strongly recommend to first get a measurement microphone, install REW, maybe even rePhase, get acquainted with the how and what to check out your room acoustics, and consider fixing it physically and by DSP.
That way, you're keeping yourself busy tinkering while saving a lot of dough and actually optimizing the sound for almost free.
Anything else will keep you locked within the circle of confusion ...

 

[Keith_W]

Poor guy. On any other subjectivist forum he would have received enthusiastic replies on how wonderful those Sonus Fabers are. The replies here have been pretty brutal in their honesty, and now we've scared him off.

To be honest, out of the box they aren't great. But with some careful measurements and DSP, they can be improved. As others have pointed out, the off-axis performance isn't terrible and if the on-axis is corrected, it will be much better. But it would take a lot of work. Is it worth it for those looks? The answer is subjective, but IMO Sonus Fabers are the most beautiful speakers on the planet. I go ga-ga every time I see one, I just love the way they look.