SONUS FABER Amati Tradition
Floorstanding loudspeakers
I was left with mixed feelings after auditioning the Sonus Faber Amati Tradition speakers. They are impeccably built, they are euphonically voiced and they are backed by a well-crafted marketing story of grand proportions. However, I feel they could have achieved more - that the real potential of these Italian beauties was wasted.
Function and form
Only superlatives can describe the craftsmanship of the Amati Tradition. The lute shaped cabinet is used by Sonus Faber to suppress internal standing waves, a laminar bassreflex duct that runs as a backbone at the speaker’s back and that we have already seen in Olympica range should ensure unturbulent flow of air, glossy metal and soft leather parts on the baffle look luxurious, and deep brown Wenge or deep Red Wood finish are both amazing. The Sonus Faber speakers are also among the few that look equally amazing from inside – check the attached pictures for yourself.
The Amati Traditions are reasonably tall (118cm) and reasonably heavy (61kg); the cabinets are braced and each driver sits in its own compartment. Sonus Faber has never ceased using silk dome tweeters and the Amati Tradition is not an exception. Midrange and dual bass drivers are a sandwich of foamed polymer and cellulose. The bass drivers hands over to midrange at 250Hz, however each bass driver covers different range – they are crossed over at 80Hz. It should be easy to blend the Amati Tradition with your electronics for they provide nice 90dB sensitivity and low 4 ohm impedance. Speaker terminals make bi-wiring possible, spikes (again very beautifully made) are fully adjustable. As it is, the Amati Tradition is a love at first sight.
Bass management
The bass of the Amati Tradition was very tuneful and easy on ears, although it was also quite dependent on the source material. First of all, considering the size of the Sonus Faber Amati, I expected weightier lows than with my Revels, which was what I did not get. The explanation may be in the fact that woofers of the Sonus Faber do not use the benefit of the whole cabinet’s internal volume and only occupy their own mini-cabinets within the main cabinet so actually they behave like two diminutive subwoofers, one atop the other.
When I played electric bass on Peter Gabriel’s Sledgehammer from So, I got pretty punchy and ‘deep’ bassline that has nice roundness and fullness to its tone. When I played My Foolish Heart from The Bill Evans Trio disc, the bass got loosened and flabby a bit. When I played a piano recording, the instrument was present but lighter, less full-bodied at its bottom end. When I played Johnny Cash’s American IV: The Man Comes Around the vocal was very natural in midrange and a bit too warm and soft in upper bass. What I want to say is that the bass of Amati Tradition was not even and depending on the program material its qualities ranged from great to merely good, all depending where the accent was placed in the recording.
Clarity & delicacy
The Amati Tradition are not cheap and have to fight against strong contenders – Wilson Audio, Magico, YG, TAD or KEF – they all have excellent speakers in the similar price range. And all the mentioned are better as far as we talk about resolving power, transparency and the level of detail. The Sonus Faber Amati Tradition were apparently designed to please the eye and the ear, to pay homage to Italian instrument makers, to seduce you by its voluptuous looks, to throw you amidst the cheering audience in a concert hall. The dome tweeter of the Amati Tradition is very good and somehow manages to balance between hot tuning and silkiness. The former gives you forward presentation that is slight departure from neutral balance, the latter is the reason for comfy sound without shrill.
Tonal accuracy
As much as I can be reserved towards the Sonus Faber’s Amati Tradition for the technical sonic attributes, I could only love them for their tonality. They were rich, smooth (maybe too smooth), slightly laid back and rhythmic. Compared to some aforementioned competitors the Fabers sounded quite dynamic too although they cheated a bit – the warmer bass and the accent on highs was actually what made the dynamics actually sound bigger.
Spatial resolution
Due to the hotter tweeter it is necessary to really take time and position the speakers accurately in a room. I found the Amati Tradition to be quite ‘beaming’ speakers and it took me few songs to find the right toe-in before I found the tonal balance to be satisfactory. The not-so-contoured bottom end caused the images to be slightly larger than I am used to hear with my Revels. This was welcome with large scale symphonic works where the size really matters and less welcome with chamber music or with female-fronted jazz where often the size of a solo instrument was less specific.
The Amati Tradition does not represent a step forward for Sonus Faber, rather it is a reflection on its past for much more money. As much as I would love this speaker for 15 thousand euros I am disappointed at what it costs.
Recommended resellers
E.P. Audio, Dobřejovice u Prahy, +420 323 605 088
Manufacturer's website: http://www.sonusfaber.com
Associated components
- Sources: Van Medevoort CD460/DA468, C.E.C. TL-51XR
- Amplifiers: Mark Levinson No.526, Mark Levinson No.423
- Interconnects and speaker cables: Kubala-Sosna Emotion
- Loudspeakers: Revel Ultima Studio2
- Power conditioning: IsoTek Titan, Shunyata Research Sigma HC, Nordost Qb8
Gallery
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