Floor Loudspeaker Reviews

Above the bass, the Amati's overall balance is flat, though with three broad depressions and three areas of excess energy apparent. The lack of energy in the lower midrange and low treble might be thought to make the speaker sound laid-back, yet I note that MF did not find the speaker lacking in dynamics—quite the opposite, in fact. The slight plateau in the upper midrange might be thought to add to the perceived recorded detail, while the narrower peak in the presence region might add a bit of sparkle. Yet, again, MF noted no problems at all in these areas. Again, an enigma.

The Amati's horizontal dispersion (figs.6 and 7) reveals very well-behaved off-axis responses, though with a slight lack of energy in the same presence-region areas where there is a similar on-axis lack. This will be due to the relatively large midrange unit's starting to beam at the top of its passband, and is followed by the tweeter's usual wide dispersion at the bottom of its passband. Vertically (fig.8), a big suckout at the upper crossover frequency will be evident for standing listeners, but there should be only minor changes in balance for listeners with ear heights of between 36" and 44". (The tweeter axis is a high 40" from the floor.)

Fig.6 Sonus Faber Amati Homage, lateral response family at 50", from back to front: responses 90 degrees-5 degrees off-axis, response on tweeter axis, responses 5 degrees-90 degrees off-axis.

Fig.7 Sonus Faber Amati Homage, lateral response family at 50", normalized to response on tweeter axis, from back to front: differences in response 90 degrees-5 degrees off-axis, reference response, differences in response 5 degrees-90 degrees off-axis.

Fig.8 Sonus Faber Amati Homage, vertical response family at 50", from back to front: differences in response 15 degrees-5 degrees above HF axis, reference response, differences in response 5 degrees-10 degrees below HF axis.