Sonus Faber Concertino Domus

[snowfox88]

Hello Audioholics members. I know the users here have vast knowledge and I hope someone can help me out.

I am intrested in buying pair of Sonus Faber Concertino Domus speakers used. I have red some reviews and according to them these speakers should sound awsome for their price (they were sold at 1300€ pair when new). It also seems that these speakers are relatively power hungry.

FREQUENCY RESPONSE:
50 Hz - 20.000 Hz, tuning port included.
SENSITIVITY:
88 dB SPL (2,83 V/1m).
NOMINAL IMPEDANCE:
4 ohm.
POWER HANDLING:
30W - 150W, without clipping.

My current ampifier is Rotel Ra-1062 that is rated 60W @ 8 ohms. By reading the audioholics review it seems that the amplifier is capable of driving heavier loads than the specifications inform.

With a power supply this size, the RA-1062 can deliver power in excess of its rated limit (60wpc @ 8 ohms; 90wpc @ 4 ohms) with both channels driven at full bandwidth.

Now that I developed a good understanding of how the RA-1062 could drive reasonably efficient small speakers, I was curious to see how it would handle my 4 ohm, less efficient, floorstanding RBH Sound 1266-LSE towers. I usually frown upon driving these speakers with less than 150wpc given their 87dB sensitivity and 4 ohm impedance, but since the RA-1062 seemed to be built to drive harder than speced, I figured I would give it a try. I was pleasantly surprised to hear the Rotel drive these speakers without incident.

So what do you audioholics think? Will my Rotell be able to release the full potential of SF Concertino Domus?

If someone here has owned these speakers, please share. I would love to hear your experiences regarding the sound quality and the power concumption.

 

[GranteedEV]

Will the rotel be able to release their full potential? Sure, at moderate listening levels. I'm willing to guess it has plenty of dynamic headroom and can handle the 4 ohm load. It really depends on

-how far away from the speakers you'll be
-how your room interacts with them
-how loud you plan on listening.

Using the receiver's pre-outs and later adding more amplification certainly wouldn't hurt though, something like a pair of Emotiva UPA-1s, would probably MORE than eliminate any adequacy problems you might have, not to mention maximize channel separation.

 

[snowfox88]

I will mostly listen them with small to medium volume. The speakers would come to my PC setup, so I will be sitting relatively close to them. My room is small and narrow. Not the optimal listening enviroment, but I will try to do something to the sidewalls to minimize the reflections.

 

[GranteedEV]

In that type of case, even 1 watt into 4 ohms may be more than enough power while giving you more than enough dynamic range for loud transients... at 3-4 feet away you'd be looking at clean reference peak levels which is pretty friggin loud.

BUT - I don't know if they're suited to near-field use though. AFAIK a lot of speakers want to be 5-7 feet apart and 6-10 feet away from you for optimal imaging - for a desktop you may be better off going with near-field studio monitors. I don't know too much on the matter to be honest, but I've read something along those lines here and there.

 

[snowfox88]

Yeah, I was kind of wondering do they suit in close distance use. So I will propably look for those near field monitors. I guess most of the monitors are active, but wouldn't it be wise to look for passive speakers since I have already amp?

 

[GranteedEV]

I don't think being active is a bad thing, it takes the passive crossover out of the equation and they're usually bi-amped. The only real problem you may experience is that studio monitors may sound too clinical for your tastes, because they're striving for accuracy over enjoyability. There's always EQ for that though.

Anyways have you considered these?

 

[ParadigmDawg]

I ran the A'5's with a Velodyne VMS-8 sub in my office for a while and it was one of the best sounding systems I have set up for nearfield.

http://audioengineusa.com/A5B-Powered-Bookshelf-Speakers

http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=66783

This was my system for the office. It sold in like 2 days so don't think I am trying to pawn it off on you.

http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=65102