I listened to the Sonus Faber Extrema today. They were powered by McIntosh MC601s. Very impressive resolution and holographic soundstage. The combination was warm and lush, dominated by that classic and pleasurable Sonus Faber midrange. Bass extension was good, quick and well focussed.
They are a confident match with the MC601s.
Stand Mounts were positioned and towed inwards, typical Sonus Faber style. Projection was wide, depth felt 3rd row stage seating.
Beautiful finish with lovely accents like brandishing in the wood veneer. Indeed they look amazing.
I could easily spend time, lots of time with this speaker but ultimately I would want more than what these are physically capable of delivering. And for AUD$100K RRP, their bass roll off falls well short of a full range loudspeaker. I would estimate that with the addition of a pair of subwoofers set at a crossover of around 50Hz the subs would fill in where the Extremas start to drop off.
Short of what they are not, they are a joy and combined with a pair of subs would be sublime in an averaged sized room. I get that they are rare Anniversary speakers packed with innovative new crossover tech pushing slick drivers. But the Extremas are priced for the collector. If they were otherwise priced, perhaps I could be convinced to consider taking them home.
Definitely worth a listen. If you can't swing a special price on these, you would probably want something else in the Sonus Faber range.
...Those Il Cremonese in walnut finish were staring me in the eye but just inboxed were yet to be setup for demo... They look nicer than Lilium also.
