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REVIEW: Sonus Faber Signums Speakers Review by Keith at Audio Asylum

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Yesterday I spent 2 hours auditioning the Signum setup at Innovative Audio in Manhattan. Great service, by the way. If you do go to listen to them, work with either Bill or Bruce -- they are both trained by Sumiko to set those babies up.

The system included a Mark Levison No.37 CDT with a No.360S DAC, a BAT VK50SE preamp, a BAT VK60 stereo amp, with Tara The One speaker single-wires. I was told by Innovative that Sumiko "does not believe that biwiring the Signums would bring much improvement". The room was on the slightly live side of neutral and quite damped on all walls, and about 12'x18'x11'. The speakers were set up against the long 18' wall, about 7 feet apart, with a 24" rack between them which held a BAT VK500 amp and some other stuff that was not used. The Signums were toed in to cross behind my listening position and were on SF adjustable steel stands roughly 24-26" in height, and roughly 6-8" away from the back wall to simulate small room placement.

Oh my... what sound. The first thing that came across was the sheer neutrality of the speaker: The vocalists did not seem forward or stand out of the mix of music, each instrument had its own place but the entire picture was always coherent, and it was rather hard to trip these things up on coherency. The midrange, however, was simply obsurd -- it was simply one of the most natural, open sounding midranges you can ever hope to hear (in fact I'd love to get a SET-user's opinion if they hear this). Definitely a lot less of a "boxy" signature than many other speakers with its openness, which extended from the upper highs to the mid-bass. Also, as stated here before by others, the bass is extremely tight and controlled, and I'm still amazed by how these small suckers managed to pull off bass drump hits, timpani taps, and double bass plucks. The Signums can be warm when Mary Chapin Carpenter calls for it, and extremely fast and transparent when Jascha Heifetz is bowing away.

By the way, although the Signums are definitely very refined and neutral, I don't think you'll miss too much of the traditional Sonus Faber romanticism if that's what you're looking for. It's still there, and the system definitely weaves the music as well as the electronics permitted. The bass layer did manage to get tripped up when I threw Mahler 5th at it, but what the hey -- you're talking about the same 5" drivers that are playing the violas and horns at the same time and those come out clear as a bell.

The system was not the last word in pacing, but it was definitely adequate. I'm not sure if it was the electronics or whatever, but it did not sound hurried in any way. Whether I was playing Mahler, Diana Krall, Fuel, Natalie Merchant, or Sarah McLachlan, the music was never slow... and there is no doubt that the Signums can handle classical and alternative and vocals very well (within reason considering these are monitors, not 4-way 8' tall floorstanders). The system I used was slightly geared towards a classical/instrumental presentation, which I think might have caused rock to be presented "as is" instead of like Axel Rose out of hell.

But oh... the midrange. Did I mention how I'm still reeling from it? And how it's been a year since I've heard a system that made me really depressed at home? If these suckers are really so easily placed in the room, sounds like I definitely have a winner here for my small room. I can not even imagine how awesome they would sound if mated well with a good sub.

I'll post up another review when my order comes in. :)


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Topic - REVIEW: Sonus Faber Signums Speakers Review by Keith at Audio Asylum - Keith 07:34:57 03/15/00 ( 14)