Sonus Faber Venere 1.5 Loudspeakers

My home office has seen some wonderful standmount speakers rotate in and out of it. Time has come for another well reviewed "product of the year" type of speaker. The Sonus Faber Venere 1.5. Designed in Italy and built in China they have garnered numerous positive reviews. Not quite as many as the venerable KEF LS50 but no speaker in recent times has. Just a partial list of speakers that have come and gone in this tiny 9x10x8 space:

Magnepan MMG & MG 12
Paradigm Studio 20 and Atom Monitors
Infinity Beta 20 & Primus 152
Wharfedale Diamond 9.1, 10.1, Evo 2-10 and 80th Anniversary Denton
Quad 11L Classic
Dynaudio Excite X12
B&W 610i and 685 S2
Epos M12i and ELS3
Harbeth P3ESR
KEF LS50
Rega RS1

..and so on. The best of these in this room have been the KEF, Harbeth and Dynaudio speakers.

Now for a new challenger. The Venere 1.5 in basic black with custom stands. Let the games begin.

 

I love the KEF LS50s but the Sonus Faber are very good too. I look forward to your thoughts.

 

Thanks, Lee. Should be fun.

 

Looking forward to your thoughts. My local Sonus Faber dealer never offers to let me listen to them, but they sure are something to look at! One of the more artfully designed brands IMO.

 

Italian beauty!

 

Need pictures.

 

I hope there is a nice rack.

 

They arrive next weekend.

 

LeeS and Ham Sandwich........

Here then!!!!!!!!!





And here!!!

 

This is a nice price point for Sonus Faber. I always felt they were too pricey but if this one at $1200 sounds just as good as their best standmount from 4 years back it should be quite good. Which could be the case if they have found lesser priced labour. Hope you enjoy the new take on music through them.

 

Quite a list of speakers you have cycled through!
What kind of sound are you looking for? Or do you just like to try new speakers on a regular basis?
The Sonus Fabers should deliver a "relaxed monitor" kind of sound which is very non-fatiguing and suited to all types of music. Slightly recessed / relaxed midrange.
I believe they are carried in Best Buy these days and they are aiming for the mainstream market. They look awesome.
Good luck!
Some other monitors to try for future reference (each has their distinctly unique sound)
ATC SCM 11v2- very highly regarded monitor known for accuracy.
GoldenEar Aon 3- not the last word in appearance but great bass and a smooth yet detailed, unique presentation.

 

Sounds like fun. One of the first hi-gi setups I ever heard was Sonus Faber with Mcintosh electronics. Nice and rich sounding.

My Vienna Acoustics are the one pair of speakers that continue to stick around as other speakers pass through. I think they are more similar to Sonus Faber than not.

 

I just enjoy trying different sounds. ATC has long been on my list. The GoldenEar speakers are interesting, but as you said, not much to look at.

 

Thank you, Richard.

 

These were some of the better I listened to in this range—more emotional than the KEFs, but not something I could live with. They do seem to get the attack of violin very well, if memory serves.

 

I am looking for some new bookshelve speakers, but these are a bit out of budget. these would be on a short list though.

 

That's a nice list of speakers. I'm another who will try different pieces just for the experience. My buying has become exclusively used though as I know most of what I'm buying is temporary.
Have you tried any Revel speakers? I ask because of the 20 or so bookshelves I've owned, The Revel M20 is my favorite. I'm considering a pair of Revel's M106s.
I'll be curious to read your take on the Sonus Fabers.

 

This thread was temporarily forgotten as I had a bit of a health issue. Wound up having spinal surgery on Oct 9th. Spending a couple of weeks home while mending before I return to work. Meanwhile the Venere 1.5's are breaking in and I will have more to write later. Their sound stands in stark contrast to the wonderful KEF LS50's that occupied the same space in my room...however they really are growing on me.

 

I friend ask me to recommend a good wall mount speaker. Has has various reasons why he really would only consider wall mount. I suggested the Venere wall mount model. Any opinions on my suggestion?
Also
What is the correct pronunciation for Sonus Faber and Venere

 

Here's to a speedy recovery ... get well soon Art!

 

I have never heard their wall mount speakers and I never recommend anything that I have not heard extensively. As for pronunciation, I only know how I pronounce them. For "proper" pronunciation please refer to a Sonus Faber dealer.

 

I'm pretty sure my local Sonus Faber dealer pronounces them "Soh-Nus Fah-Ber" the way I do. Of course, one of the advantages of being a redneck is I don't concern myself with things like butchering language.

 

That's how I pronounce it and I'm the anti-redneck...see everyone has something in common...lol!

 

Thoughts that I posted on another forum earlier today with initial impressions of the Sonus Faber Venere 1.5 vs the KEF LS50. Both are being used in the same very small room and with the same amp, source and cables.

"The Venere 1.5 is much more forward sounding than the LS50. I'm sure that the LS50 is a technically superior transducer but the Venere 1.5 is no slouch. The SF's are more expressive and more fully fleshed out. They are excellent at reproducing the sound of a recording space, much as the LS50's are. The difference is between sitting in the first or second row with the Venere 1.5 as opposed to sitting further back with the LS50. Both speakers are excellent at giving an intimate portrait of the music. Tonality is better with the SF. Probably why the SF's are superior at allowing the listener to differentiate between instruments and hear them all simultaneously as a whole. It's easy to see why both speakers won product of the year awards, albeit the LS50's won with every publication that I know of."

 

Hi Art. That surprises me. I would have suspected just the opposite. Thanks for the info.

I'm glad to hear your surgery is behind you. I hope you are doing well and wish you a full and speedy recovery.
-Bob