The Sonus Faber Amati Futura Speaker Review
By Steve Huff
Life is funny sometimes. It was just 8 months ago (from the date of this writing) that I purchased my pair of Sonus Faber Guarneri Evolution speakers and I was in love with these speakers. In fact, I have owned all versions of the Guarneri and was always attracted to their design, their beauty and their sound, which improved dramatically over the years in each new model from the Homage to the Memento to the Evolution.
I assumed that this latest pair of Guarneri Evolutions would be my last set of speakers ever (well, we know how that goes). The sound quality in my small room always brought goosebumps and chills. The speakers disappeared and the sound just melted into the room. It was magical, especially with a SET tube amp (Line Magentic 219ia)
There was one thing that was getting to me a little bit though, and it was when my son came by to visit a few weeks ago that I realized he noticed it as well.
BASS. The Guarneri Evolution, while CLOSE to a full range speaker in BASS performance is NOT QUITE THERE and you do miss out on the lowest registers. It never really bugged me until I started listening to full size full range speakers.
While the Evolutions are a full and somewhat fatter sounding speaker that leans more to the warm side of the fence, they are just not full range speakers. They can indeed stand on their own without a sub but if you are someone who is used to full range super deep bass, the Evolutions may sound thin to you, especially in larger rooms. To me, they never ever sounded thin at all but with some music that was bass shy, they did sound a little bit lacking in the slam dept. I could play all kinds of music with them..classical, jazz, rock, soul, fusion, chill out and just about anything. Sometimes though, they could sound a little bass shy to others who visited my room. For me, they were perfect because I have only really known monitor speakers, and I knew that the evolutions were the best I have ever heard.
When my son came by he said “these sound a little thin”. I said, “well you have a sub in your system so you are used to deeper bass, and more of it”. He agreed but that made me want to go check out a full range speaker. I have heard many full range speakers at my local dealer but my Guarneris always sounded better to me than what they had on display so I knew to get better than what I had then that meant I had to go up the ladder to the next Sonus Faber in line, the Amati Futura.
So away I went…
It just so happened that the dealer I bought the Guarneris from, LMC in Scottsdale, AZ, had a pair of Amati Futura’s on Demo. They also had, in stock, a brand new in box pair in Violin Red, the most beautiful of all of the SF colors in the Homage line IMO. I hopped on down to LMC and met up with Mike, the guy who runs the place. LMC is huge. They have millions of dollars worth of speakers, electronics and all kind of goodies. It is a premium shop and you can listen or demo any speaker you desire, even the giant Sonus Faber Aida. They are all on display with top of the line electronics.
When I sat down to listen to the Amati Futura, I remember thinking “These sound BIGGER than my Evolutions, but not nearly as sweet”. I did not hear the soundstage width, the holographic imaging or the focused vocals I was used to but I knew that they would sound much better in my room, with my setup and cables and front end gear, at least I thought they would. In the shop they had the Futuras set up with top of the line McIntsosh pre-amp and amp. I am not a huge fan of McIntosh as I find the sound too direct and old school with only a very little “magic” to the sound. They have grunt and oomph, but none of the things that attract ME to HiFi. For others, that is THE sound, for me it sounds nice but not really the sound I was looking for.
In any case, I told Mike I really could not afford the Futura’s even though he was taking my Evolutions back in full towards the trade up. He sat and thought for a while and then made me an offer I could NOT refuse and I decided to take the chance and do the upgrade. I mean, he really worked with me this time, and it was appreciated.
Delivery within 24 hours!
The very next day two guys from LMC came into my house and boxed up my Evolutions (that were playing when they came in the house) and brought in the new Amati Futura’s, in their HUGE boxes. They unpacked the red beauties and set them up. Took them about an hour or so from beginning to end, not bad. When they left I did more tweaking but I was worried because earlier that morning I was reading how the Amati’s require much more power than the Evolutions even though the specs of the speakers say the opposite (86db vs 90db). People on Audio Forums were going on and on saying you need 200, 300 or even 500 WPC for the Futura’s and that they were much harder to drive correctly than the Evolutions. Uh Oh! My main amp at the time of delivery was an Audio Research VSi 75 integrated, and that amp powered the Evolutions into magical bliss, even with them being 86db 4 ohm speakers!
Yes, the Evolutions are rated at 4 ohms with an 86db sensitivity. NOT an easy load yet the VSi 75 drove them perfectly in my room. The Futuras are rated at 4 Ohm with a 90db sensitivity, so on paper they should be much easier to drive.
Well, in a way they are and in some ways they are not. It seems that the bass was there but a little boomy. I asked around and many told me it was the amp not giving my speakers enough juice. Others said the speakers had to break in. So I waited a while, and played the heck out of these Amati’s.
My tube amp at home sounded so much better than that megabuck megawatt McIntosh did at the shop. It’s more 3D, more liquid midrange, more depth, much larger soundstage width, more depth, etc. My Audio Research Integrated is not a cheap amp. At $9,000 it is expensive but those 75 Watts are VERY high quality watts. BTW, You can read my VSi 75 review HERE. I read somewhere that a guy was interested in buying the Futura’s and he was asking how the Audio Research REF 75 amp would do with them. Someone answered the guy telling him “Those Futuras need 300WPC, that 75 WPC will not work”.
That is NONSENSE. The Ref 75 is even better than what I have and I will tell you now that the REF 75 would be an AMAZING match for the Amati Futura’s if you value midrange purity and sweetness over bombastic bass.
Admiring The Beauty..then the Listening
With the power myth out of the way, and yes, if you read the Amati’s need 500 WPC to sound right or to have control or to sound full, then that is simply not true.
After I spent a few hours tweaking the position of the speakers and dialing them in perfectly I just sat and looked. I admired their amazing beauty. I looked them over closely and could not spot one imperfection. The woodwork was astonishingly amazingly fantastic. Works of true art. Instruments. Yes, these speakers are crazy expensive but when you see the detail and work that goes into making them you can sort of justify the price. I mean, these things cost the same as a decent car (am I crazy to say I would rather spend my money on these than any car)?
In any case, these are indeed the most beautiful speakers I have ever laid my eyes on, and I am familiar with EVERY single Sonus Faber speaker. I have heard them all and seen them all. In the late 90’s and early 2000’s I bought and sold Sonus Faber speakers and had the chance to hear all of them in my own home up until the Cremona. After that I heard the newer models at the dealer. But I have heard them all.
I have seen and heard countless speakers in my lifetime and nothing has come close to the beauty, the style or construction of the Amati Futura. Many complain about the new metal /nickel look of these speakers but in person it is jaw droppingly beautiful. I prefer the look of the Futura to the original Amati Homage (which also had looser woolier bass) and the later Anniversario models (which were a tad brighter/harder in the treble area than these Futura), without question.
So after sitting there wondering how in the world I became so lucky to own these speakers and admiring the beauty, it was time for the true test. THE SOUND.
For the past eight months I have listened to my Guarneri Evolutions every single day. I use my speakers and audio system more than my car, and more than anything I own. Even more than my cameras. I loved my Evolutions, that is for sure.
I became accustomed to the sound, the depth and the sweetness that are Guarneri. I was not so sure I was ready for this new BIG sound to knock me over 😉
So on goes some music.
1st impressions in hour one were NOT good. They sounded dull, direct and overly warm. A flat fullness that made me start to get VERY worried. Uh oh. Bass was a tad boomy. It was much more prevalent than it was with the Guarneri. Gone was the airy highs, the soundstage width and the clarity I have grown to love from the Evolutions. Now, knowing that these need some break in I decided to let them run for a few hours. I left the room and let them run in some.
2nd impression after 8 hours. MUCH better. Wow, break in is real as when I came back in and put on the same music I noticed much more of the high end coming through, muss less warmth and my soundstage and imaging was starting to creep back! Still was not up to the level of Guarneri though. I tweaked the speaker position more and sat in my room for 4 hours messing with placement. I decided to wait more and hope for the best.
3rd impression after 24 hours of play time. Better. As in, sounds like a totally different speaker than it was out of the box. Between burn in and placement, much better. . At this time, I could put on even an 80’s rock song on a horribly mastered CD at LOW volume and I was getting rich, full, detailed sound with a nice semi large wall of sound. But still, not up to my Guarneri in 3D sound or magic. Hmmm. I was starting to regret what I have done. I paid MORE for sound that I did not like as much? What a mistake. So I waited and burned them in more.
Impression after 140 hours. Uh oh. For some reason these speakers have taken a turn for the worse. Muffled and dull sounding more than ever. WHAT HAPPENED? I was so worried and bummed that I sent an email to Mike asking him if I could go back to my Guarneri! NOT GOOD! The speakers sound flatter, duller – and too full and too fat. No treble detail and they sound really rolled off. Almost like something broke. I will let them play all day and night to see if they get better. I turned up the volume and let it rip all day while I was out of the house.
FACT: MIDRANGE IS WHERE THE SOUL OF A SPEAKER LIVES
Yes, when you have a magical midrange you have vocals that come out to touch you. They are so real, so palpable and so juicy and wet that when it is done perfectly you can close your eyes and believe in your mind that the artist is in the room with you. I thought I had it good with the Guarneris, and I did..but the Amati Futura is on another level up from that. Best midrange I have heard.
Listening to Leonard Cohen’s “Coming Home” was as real and haunting as it gets for a vocal and the Futura threw a rich and timbre correct voice from Cohen. When a buddy sat and listened to that track he was wowed and amazed by it, then he bought the album..though I warned him “it won’t sound the same on your iPod dock” 🙂
I was still feeling that at times, with some music, that the sound was a little flatter than it was with the Guarneri.
If you are someone who has been eyeballing the Sonus Faber Amati Futura I will state right now that they are the most beautiful speaker I’ve ever owned, without question.
For the sound, not all will like it as it is a tad romantic and full sounding and I realized these are too large for my small room. It took a while for them to break in, and yes, it made a difference but these are still romantic and warm in nature. I now have about 400 hours on them and they seem to keep improving and becoming more transparent but if you love transparency, these will not be your cup of tea.
Not a hint of harshness nor are they overly warm..they are huge sounding speakers with a beauty that most other loudspeakers just can not match. It makes many high end speakers I have heard sound a little off or ragged. They have a soul just like the little brother, the Guarneri Evolution but remember if you want a cleaner, clearer more transparent sound, look to something like Focal as these Sonus Fabers are more soulful and thick.
FINAL UPDATE: I ended up selling these as over the long term they were a bit too warm and thick in my small room – too big – too much of a good thing and as soon as I had these things in my head I said “the journey must go on”.
Listening Suggestions to experience the sweetness of the Amati Futura: Lana Del Ray Ultraviolence LP or CD “Money, Power, Glory”, Enya’s “Journey of the Angels” song, Led Zeppelin Celebration Day live CD, Depeche Mode Sounds of the Universe CD, Laurel “To the Hills”, Apparat “Goodbye”, Sarah Brightman “Angel”, Sarah Blasko “Illusionary Light” , Sara Jackson-Holman “Freight Train”, Adrian Legg’s “Fingers and Thumbs” CD and Kathy Mattea’s “Calling me Home” CD. Leonard Cohen’s “show me the place” and “coming home”. All great stuff that can show off the capabilities of this speaker. Also give some Buddha Bar stuff a listen, fun stuff.
What is the price on these speakers?
Hello Steve,
i am undecidet wether to buy the amati futura or the foval sopra 2. you owned them both. Looking back would you still say that the focal betters the amati ?
I liked the Focal Sopra 2 over the Amati. The Amati was almost too warm at the end of the day. The Focal was airy and transparent and more real.
Thank you Steve.
Hi Steve,
fun to read user experience. thanks a lot. i am, too, into photography and (lets call it) audiophile hifi. I am also a hughe fan of the Sound the modern line of Sonus Faber Speakers offer and who does not love the way they look 😉
I read your Review of the Yamaha AS 3000 years ago and i own that amp for 2 years now and i thought what a pity that Steve ran into Problems with the amp. it never gave me any problems and they are not only able to drive the most demandings Speakers they are also a superb match to my SF Olympica 3 and would be probably as good with your new Sopras for little money (little in the grand scheme of things as the amp is not cheap). One thing i noticed like you did, is that speakers, amps, even cables really need some time to perform best. Placement and fine tuning the room for best sound is so important as well.
I hope you have a wonderful time with your new setup.
By the way, give a good record player a chance if you havent already. I am pretty shure this would enrichen your audio world. Vinyl sounds awesome. Greetings Elderin
Hello Steve, You say your room is small 12/12… but this is in which units of measurement? (foot?)
Sorry for the maybe stupid question…
Rgds
FEET. Thank you.
Dear. Steve, earlier pn I asked some questions on your experience with these SF Amati Futuras after your great review? Unfortunately these q were not commented on until now? Could you please? Thank you!
Lol… Sonia Fabre are very good speakers! Lois great too. PHD doesn’t mean anything! Technically good speakers can sound bad tool it depends on your room and system! It also depends on the sonic characteristics you are looking for!
JBL Everest? It’s huge! It’s bass driver are short throw bass driver for fast reaction but doesn’t go very deep. Plus, Everest speakers are very hard to drive, need very high current amps with good damping factor to control the massive bass driver. Watt along doesn’t mean anything if you are using Everest
Why do buy into this? Looks is not a speaker quality…..check out jbl everest …..no secrets just real
phd’s with 100’s of years in a we are grammys sound crew…………..yeah …..there should be INDUSTRY like hans zimmer people reviewig and buying for it to be assumed true …..nevermind
So you are saying any speaker that looks good can not sound good? Lol, you must not know much about Sonus Faber or how they sound. These speakers are world class, and for my tastes beat out the likes of Magico and 95% of others. Yes, speakers CAN LOOK Beautiful AND Sound even better.
Hi Steve,
How is your KEF LS50 up to now? I’d love to read more about your experience. Great review on Amazon, btw. Thanks.
T2
They are fantastic and it took Dynaudio C1 Platinums to really beat them handily. They are speakers thats sound more like $4k speakers.
Repeating my questions, could you please respond?
Oh and btw, I have a REL G1 sub, and noticed a very positive comment on another site when this was linked to the SFAF. Any comments on this?
Steve, could you give some more guidance on the placement you finally landed on? Like distance from walls, dial-in, Thanks
Ah, you shouldn’t have got rid of them. You could use lyngdorf DPA-1 or accuphase DG 58 for room correction. The will both clean up the bass and remove any effects of the room acoustic. You don’t need to even need to treat your room. Works wonders! I live in HK and have no problem with my Burmester B80!
Why did you get rid of them in the end?
In the end they were just too large for my room and have been ecstatic with Wilson Benesch Vectors ever since. The Amatis are gorgeous but my room was SMALL and even though they were huge, rich, powerful…it was too much of a good thing after extended time with them. If I had a larger space they would have never left. I will be keeping the Benesch though.
Wow, I just got the same combo, the Devialet 200 with the Amati Futura’s and SAM. Incredible!!!! I will never ever sell mine 🙂 Well, this is day 1 …
Halo Steve
I have a Zanden 6000 ( 2 x 2 KT120 tungsol – 90W/ch ) to drive my SF Amati Futura gear .
For 3 months now they still suck my emotions to the limit ..I’m very pleased ..
I think this is the end for me ..Emotion – drive and floating sounds without stress ..
I did not hear the stuff you mentionned ..
greetings
noel
Can anyone comment on what would be the better choice for my Amati Futura’s? Either Burmester 911/088 (or 111)’ or Devialet 800 monos? Currently have Ayre KX-5/VX-5 combo, but need more. Feel like I need mid to high frequencies to open up more. Thanks in advance, Glenn
Cant help there as I never tried any Burmester Gear. I can say that Id jump at the 800 Monos in a heartbeat if I could afford them.
I personally own burmester 088 with 911 mk3 driving B80 Mk2 of the same brand. I once consider trading in my B80 MK2 with Amati Futura. Amati Futura is just beautiful. In terms of sound, both are good just with different presentation.
However, in both Taiwan and Asia, a lot of Sonus Faber owners drive their speakers with Burmester. They have a synergy together. I have listened to Amati Futura with Burmester and Audio Research on many occasions. To my year, Amati Futura with burmester electonics, Amati Futura sounds better. Burmester will bring more detail, resolution, micro and macro dynamics to Amati. When I listned to Amati Futura and Aida with Audio Research, they all sounded rather dark whereas with burmester, they sound more alive and engaging.
As with Devialet, technically superior then Burmester but doesn’t sound as refined. Hard to describe the differences. The easiest analogy is when one compares the “bokeh” of lenses. Burmester is just butter smooth.
Wayne, thank you for the input. What you describe sounds like what I’m looking for with Burmester. I need to find somewhere to demo.
Yes it is truly great. Burmester gears in Taiwan and HK are often described to have a “glow” and “luxurious” in he high frequency. It’s really hard describe. Refined, silky without being bright.
They are also very very fast. Fast in bass too (911mk3 amp has a damping factor of 1800!!!, which is very good at controlling bass driver. Most amps have a damping factor between 4-800. Think of damping factor as how fast a bass drive can accelerate and stop.
While they are warm and musical in the mid-range, it’s not as warm as a combo of AUdio research and sonus faber (to me, glorious with some music like male vocal but too dark most of the time). That being said sonus faber speakers are warm, thus they are a good speaker to have with Burmester, best of both worlds.
I am surprised that ayre doesn’t open them up in the mid-high frequency. Maybe you have boomy bass or too much absorption?
FYI, ayre is also known to have good crystal clear high frequency here in Asia. The difference between ayre and Burmester, is like sunshine in a summertime afternoon vs a sunshine in a springtime morning according to local audio press
I just shifted from the evo’s to the amati futura’s since 3 weeks ..what a difference ..Just changing the Mercedes S to the Mercedes S AMG ..Everything so much convincing ..The lower end the most spectacular part in progress ..The mid fluend as the evo’s did ..The higher regions still to improve and actually even with the evo’s .. I’m glad i did the swop ..
Greetings from Belgium -noel
Hi Steve,
I’m afraid I have some bad news for you. I have EVO’s and love them to bits. I used to have an ARC 115 power amp and valve preamp. It was fab! I then auditioned the ARC LS17/REF75 versus the Devialet 200 (or 170 as it was then). It was very very close but I had a slight preference for the Devialet. It took me nearly 2 hours to come to that conclusion. I then compared the D240 (now D250) against the D170. That took 30 seconds! It was just soooooo much better!! I duly bought the 240.
The D240 was upgraded to a 250 and I now have a second unit to make it a D800. The difference between the D250 and D800 is truly mind-blowing!! Recently, Devialet SAMed the EVOs and that has taken them to a whole new level, especially in the bass. You owe it to yourself to compare the Devialet 800 vs the 200! It will blow you mind away – trust me!!
I’ve also been thinking about an upgrade from EVO to AMATI but not gone for it yet….
regards, Nick
NOT in my budget but I am THRILLED with the 200, so NOT hearing the 800 will be just fine 🙂
Hi Steve,
If you can’t reach an 800, try a 400. The monoblock 800s are so much better than the stereo 250 amp, and I’m guessing the same will be true for the 400s vs the 200 – for pretty obvious reasons!
With SAM, the Devialet delivers another octave of bass out of the Evos – unbelievable bass performance now and in a different league to before. I was considering a sub for the Evos before SAM came along.
I believe the Amati also has SAM now which should deliver even deeper bass(?).
Thanks for the great reviews of the Evos and the Amatis in recent times…
regards, N
I have a pair red violin Guarneri’s evolution ..My room is 46 m ( 5,2 m x 9,1 m ) ..Two points to consider in my humple opinion / They give me a stage too far back behind the speakers and they are loading the room not completely satisfactory . So i’m considering replacing them for the SF Futura’s ..Or the Magico S3 which i can ‘t audition . I must relay on the advice of the retailer ..
I’m in love with the looks of the SF Evo and Futura ..Can you advise me please ?
grts noel
Hi Steve,
Well firstly thank you for such a fantastic and well rounded opinion of what must be an absolute engineering masterpiece! I was particularly impressed with your view about what passion is and how it improves our otherwise very basic existence. i to am a passionate photographer and audiophile and i am finding it increasingly common that we must be a similar type of person who just appreciates the beauty and the amazing efforts of high tech products. For me i love and appreciate the time, research , passion and absolute genius of people that devote their live to creating products that enrich our lives and as you mention in your article, i too feel privileged to be able to walk in a store and purchase such amazing products.
Your comments about life and being able to enjoy it through your given passion were just spot on, so thank you once again.
i mean imagine all the people that purchase $200k cars just because they think people will look at them and admire them. they have absolutely no passion for the car and the history or heritage of the manufacturer and how that vehicle may be hand built in a particular factory or how many coast of paint it takes to get that finish it just astounds me, the lack of appreciation.
i love the Sonus faber Futura and after your review i will be making it my 2 year goal to own these with the devialet amplifier and hopefully they will have the sam encoding to match it.
i truly believe my success in my given role and lifestyle is directly attributed to my hobbies and pastimes which include photography, high end audio and fine automobiles.
After a hard days work, there is simply no better way for me to relax than enjoying a favourite piece of music with a glass of fine wine on a beautiful high end system, it takes me away for a while to a magical place and that is what we all find so appealing.
Thank you so much
Hi Steve, I admire how you describe the progress in the sound of music particulary when it takes so many hours like with the Amati Futura. I can not help but confess that this article put a smile on me outside and inside 🙂
The 6th and 7th impression with led you to reposisioning and eventually sunshine after rain shows very well how much effort is needed to make a good system reproducing “just good music”.
I agree that midrange is key but without the bottom end the midrange is not earthed.
I own Thiel CS3.7 speakers but have kept two smal subs from Audiodata out of the previous set up as they do a miracle to the bottom end. Very subtle extension of dry fast and well contured bass lines, and even on records without bass those two little workers add space and depth.
Overall I am quite satisfied with the sound of my system but at higher volumes the highs are a notch too direct and i have considered giving the Devialets a try as they seem well appriciated within the music lovers out there.
We have only one life to live and while living a decent and respectable life enjoying good music adds so much quality to it. And now and then i think about the people how eventuelly design and build the wonderfull equipment which enables us to float with the music.
Appreciate your listening suggestion!
Thanks and keep going!
Hi Steve, I also own a pair of these but without anything else… why? Long story short, they gave me an offer I couldn’t refuse.
My opinion for your next upgrade path would be
1. Adding another 200.
2. Trade up for a 250 (better performance then 200 of course and they could become 800 after that)
3. Burmester 911 with 088 pre amp. (<–This is the best setup and your Futura would tell you "this" is what I can do) This setup outperforms Audio Reference's Reference range Amp and Preamp,
I have heard all the setup I mentioned above with the Futura and quite a few other $10k-30k range amps /pre amps combo. I am on a quest to find a closest balance match for the Futura and I am planning to audition Gryphon, Dan D'Agostino, Soulution, and Goldmund next. But so far, Burmest 911/088, is the most balanced combination with the Futura.