Sonus Faber Concerto Grand Piano Tower Speakers, any good?

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selfilm

New Member
Hello everyone, I am new to Audiokarma but wanted to ask if anyone has spent time listening to Sonus Faber Concerto Grand Piano tower speakers? I have an opportunity to buy them pretty inexpensively (sub $1,100) and wanted to get everyone's take on them?

Thanks for any input,
Sincerely, Scott
 

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selfilm said:
Hello everyone, I am new to Audiokarma but wanted to ask if anyone has spent time listening to Sonus Faber Concerto Grand Piano tower speakers? I have an opportunity to buy them pretty inexpensively (sub $1,100) and wanted to get everyone's take on them?

Thanks for any input,
Sincerely, Scott
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It's been quite a while since I've heard that particular speaker, but I've never listened to a Sonus Faber speaker that I didn't like. Here's a review from 1998.

Sonus Faber Concerto Grand Piano loudspeaker | Stereophile.com

I've never heard a pair of the Italian Sonus Faber speakers I didn't like. What I've never liked was the US price: too high. And then you have to put them on costly stands.
www.stereophile.com www.stereophile.com
 
You may want to make sure none of the drivers suffered damage as a result of the possible fall ... Of course, the seller may not want to pull the drivers out before the sale.

(If all is good, seems like a great buy!)
 
selfilm said:
That's the way the photos came from seller. Probably fell off and just put on backward (cracked at corners). Looking for an opinion of the speaker though...
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The speakers are a sealed design, which utilize a passive radiator. With the binding post plate hanging off the speaker is no longer sealed therefore the performance is highly compromised. Walk away unless you can properly repair the problem.
 
selfilm said:
.. Probably fell off and just put on backward (cracked at corners).
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They wouldn't just "fall off" obviously a concerted effort was made to remove them incorrectly I might add which leads to why?

See post #6, the man knows of what he said
 
Dswankey said:
They wouldn't just "fall off" obviously a concerted effort was made to remove them incorrectly I might add which leads to why?

See post #6, the man knows of what he said
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I'd guess some sort of accident. Whether by somehow being knocked over, or perhaps while moving (in a vehicle).

I'd also guess it's not the original owner, as why would you have spiked stands on a wood floor?
 
rickb119 said:
I'd guess some sort of accident. Whether by somehow being knocked over, or perhaps while moving (in a vehicle).
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Not discounting what you're saying, my understanding is these are somewhat high end speakers and I'm having a hard time imaging that if they fell, were knocked over or went through a tough transport that they would just crack in what looks like 3 of the corners.

Another possibility which I just thought of was maybe someone tripped over the speaker wire at which point the plate was yanked off but still

Screen Shot 2024-11-18 at 7.03.04 PM.pngScreen Shot 2024-11-18 at 7.00.09 PM.png
 
rickb119 said:
I'd guess some sort of accident. Whether by somehow being knocked over, or perhaps while moving (in a vehicle).

I'd also guess it's not the original owner, as why would you have spiked stands on a wood floor?
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They have carpet covered rubber pads under the spikes, which actually negates the purpose of spikes.
 
One of the previous users pried that plate off to turn it over so that the banana plugs would not fall out. Kinda crude but notice the banana plugs are still in the speaker.

Need to check driver function as if they did get a tumble from on high the magnets might shift causing issues with proper operation. Replacement parts on expensive speakers are not cheap.
 
I have to wonder if these were roughly handled by someone who was stealing them. Sorry for the dark thought, but it took a lot of torque to break the plate that way. Even if not stolen, I would consider these abused. If I could test and check personally, it might make for a good buy. But I would not buy without the ability to make a personal inspection.

That said, I believe that these were very popular around 2001 or so. And listed for about $4000 if I recall correctly. These are a Franco Serblin design. Well regarded and collectable. They have the signature Sonus Faber low mid warmth. It is an elegant sounding speaker, but somewhat colored in my opinion. Lots of people love that sound.
 
I wouldn’t let the cracked plate discourage me if they are still functional. Since the thing is essentially hanging, pull it back and see if it looks like some kind of work was done. It’s not necessary to know how the damage happened, but it is a point to bargain for price. You will have to contact the manufacturer for a new plate or rig something up. Price should reflect that.
 
Broken connector plates are extremely common and not a deal breaker for me.

They were 3,500$ in 1998. Yikes~!

But if your paying 1K$ for speakers they better sound great even un-repaired.

Sonus Faber are known for highly detailed, Refined speakers.

If they sound intact this is a reasonable deal, Even better at 900$.
 
Blue Shadow said:
One of the previous users pried that plate off to turn it over so that the banana plugs would not fall out. Kinda crude but notice the banana plugs are still in the speaker.
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Would someone modify/damage an expensive speaker to do that instead of spending $10 on a set of better bananas?
Maybe they didn't know what those speakers were and just thought they were like Yorx or Emerson...
 
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