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Sonus Faber Guarneri Memento or Wilson Duette


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Hey guys I am looking for a new pair of smaller speakers. I've listened to the Wilson Duette a few times and really liked what I heard. I've not listened to the Sonus Faber Guarneri Memento yet, but they are on the top of my list to audition. Does anyone have experience with either speaker or an opinion on them. Or, a suggestion on something similar. Of course I will be going by what my ears prefer but it is always nice to read everyone's opinion.

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hey Chris

I had the two side by side recently. Very different designs, in almost every regard. The Wilsons are definitely less placement sensitive, which is unusual for a Wilson design. The Sonus Fabers are less dynamic but extraordinarily sweet. The Duettes are surprisingly close to full range, although the Sonus' do go surprisingly low for a small woofer. If you do large scale stuff the Sonus is a more obvious candidate for a sub. Obviously the appearance is dramatically different as well. If you want to describe the system, I would be happy to try to give you some thoughts as to how they would match up, what it takes to drive them, etc. The best advice I can give you, obviously, is to find a place where you can compare them. They are both quite expensive two way designs and finding a store that has them both at the same time may be tough. We are dealers for both lines but we special ordered the Sonus and were more than happy to oblige the customer by breaking them in for him.

 

Take care.

 

Rick

 

Man, I saw some comments on another forum that you were on. I couldn't believe how vicious the posts were. I have never done this much and the vitriole kind of shocked me. I thought this stuff was supposed to be fun.

 

 

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Hey Rick - Thanks for the input. I have a local Wilson / Sonus shop where I've listened to the Duettes and other version of the Sonus speakers. I was pleasantly surprised by the great sound of the Wilsons. I think I better do some very indepth and lengthy listening to the Sonus speakers first. After reading your opinion and doing more research I'm not sure they fit my needs at the moment.

 

What I have in mind is an office system connected with a McIntosh MC275 tube amp and a McIntosh C220 preamp.

 

At this local dealer I mentioned is where I heard the best system I've ever listened to. Audio Research components and Wilson Maxx 2 speakers. Absolutely stunning, and the system I will eventually own one day.

 

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Oh yeah, about the other forums and comments made by some people. I really don't understand some people. I think we all share the same interests and goals with great sounding, great music. it is amazing how people like to attack and twist words into what they want to see instead of what was written. These forums will never be that way! This pace is laid back like a good listening room. Sure there are posts that go under the radar and involve personal attacks, but these i hope are few and far between. I certainly do encourage all opinions even if they are contrary to everyone else's. Just no attacking people like the other forums. I am actually working on an article about the state of audiophile forums. The more I research the topic the more depressing it is. Hopefully we have something going here that will never stoop to those intolerable levels.

 

You're 100% correct. This stuff is supposed to be fun. The minute it stops being fun everyone loses.

 

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The Guarneri Memento is actually $15K. I think the look of them is so fabulous. I just can't rule them out :-|

 

Compared to what I could get for much less money these seem like a less than wise purchase. But, you only live once right?

 

Stereophile August 2007 Review

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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  • 3 months later...

Where you coming out on your speaker search? I am considering the same speaker types now that the big Avalons have gone into the home theater and the boss is refusing to permit anything large going back into the living room. I have mostly ARC tube gear in the system. The new, small Ushers are getting a lot of good press and will leave you with some extra change to pay for those hi rez downloads from RR.

 

Regards,

Jim

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Hey jxo - I've decided to go a different route. I had this great idea for a fabulous office system with either of the two speakers mentioned in this thread. But, now I've decided to go for my ultimate reference system and just pass down some current components for my office system.

 

I too have a pair of Avalons that I just love! Speaking of ARC, did you see my article on the tour I took?

 

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