Sonus Faber MINUETTO speakers (Satin Black) MADE IN ITALYI'll spare you my history with various sonus faber speakers. lets just say, I'm a fan!
The Sonus Faber Minuetto have far more in common with the Signum and Electa Amator ( both those models are fairly pricey even on the second hand market) Than they do with the Concert Series and the other models ( Concerto, Concertino, Grand Piano, Domus, Toy etc).
At the time when the Minuetto was born, Sonus wanted to put a speaker out that was more cost friendly, but still had their signature ( full mid / warmth) sound. The Minuetto pre-dates the Concert series as a consumer / Cost friendly model. They drew heavily on their high end monitors in both construction and sound and priced the speakers for exposure, when in reality it could have very well cost FAR more than what they priced them at.
Owners loved them, 1 review panned them and thanks to the "pay for praise" audio rag industry, the sales of the minuetto was effected if not altogether halted, ( an unfortunate effect of the audio media and it's ability to make or break a model and even a brand in some cases - They damn near put an end to TBI speakers with one review and tried to do the same to Cambridge Soundworks in a follow up review of a product that they had already given a relatively fair review to. - I have no love for Magazine reviewers - My ears, my wallet, my choice , PERIOD! - some dude with "golden ears" can't tell me what I should and shouldn't like to listen to.).
In any case... This set is my second pair in Satin Black. I have a walnut set that I use pretty regularly . These are a bit rough , I bought them as they are. Cosmetic blems abound. - presentable but clearly some scuffs, scratches, dings , snags and the like - far from Trash and equally far from MINT! sonically as great as any Sonus Faber should be. Faber's live on the opposite end of the sibilance scale when compared to The LS3/5a, Kef 101, Jim Rogers JR149 etc. It's a MIDrange present speaker ( a vocals and jazz champion) where the LS3/5a and its variants live on the higher frequency spectrum, and may be considered as shrill to some as the Sonus Faber may be considered Dark to others.
so here you have them, lacerations, multiple contusions and sweet sweet Italian sound. - My other set in black cleared just shy of $900 ,
NO LONGER BEING OFFERED ON AUDIO CIRCLE
(grills have a few wear spot/holes along the frame - They're clean not stained, that's h20 from where I wiped some lint/dust)
This is a ding, although masked somewhat by the touch up the previous owner did , it's there. not terribly visible from across the room but certainly there to the touch - and the worst of any blems these speakers have . so if you can live with that. the rest is minor in comparison.
