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I interviewed Franco Serblin, founder and president of Sonus Faber, one rainy morning at the June 1992 SCES in Chicago. We met at Sumiko's exhibit and conducted our discussion in the back of the room, where his Extrema loudspeakers were winning my vote for "Best Sound at the Show." Franco spoke mostly in Italian while his administrative assistant, Cesare Bevilacqua, translated. We were joined by Lorenzo Sen, a Vincenza audio dealer. Franco was charming, philosophical, and dressed as elegantly as he had appeared in the January 1992…

My main listening room has served as my standard listening space for the past 15 years. It's 26' long, 13' wide, and, with its 12' semi-cathedral ceiling, constitutes a voluminous, sparsely upholstered space. An 8' by 4' doorway at the back of the room opens into our kitchen, which adds another 25' by 15' space. I set up the speakers at the narrow end of the room, and listened from two positions: 8' away for nearfield, and then my favorite spot, another 10' back. The speakers were also auditioned in a 15' by 10' study. Upholstered with a wall-to-wall carpet,…

As might be expected from such a small speaker, the Sonus Faber's B-weighted sensitivity was on the low side, the same as the BBC LS3/5A: 82.5dB/W/m, a little lower than specified. As can be seen from the plots of impedance magnitude and phase (fig.1), however, the Minima is very easy to drive, even low-powered tube amplifiers being suitable. The port is tuned to a high 65Hz.

Fig.1 Sonus Faber Minima FM2, electrical impedance (solid) and phase (dashed). (2 ohms/vertical div.)

The acoustic crossover between the two drive-units is shown in…

Sonus Faber established its reputation in the 1980s with a succession of stand-mounted monitors—the Parva, Minima, Electa Amator, and, in 1991, the Extrema. Knowing that the Minima's days were numbered, I snagged a pair from one of the last production runs. It was the quintessential Sonus Faber minimonitor, with superb focus and imaging. I found the sound sweet, forgiving, slightly rolled-off on top, and somewhat ripe in the mid- to upper bass. Not what most audiophiles demand today, perhaps, but a treat for sore ears.…

Description: Two-way, stand-mounted reflex dynamic loudspeaker. Drive-units: 1.2" (28mm) silk-dome ferrofluid tweeter, 110mm Dynaudio Esotar T330 cellulose-acrylate cone midrange/woofer with a "Hexacoil" voice-coil. Crossover frequency: 2kHz. Crossover slopes: first-order, 6dB/octave. Frequency response: 70Hz-20kHz ±3dB. Sensitivity: 84dB/W/m (2.83V). Nominal impedance: 8 ohms nominal, 6.5 ohms minimum. Amplifier requirements: 100W maximum.
Dimensions: 12.1" (315mm) H by 8" (200mm) W by 91/2" (240mm) D. Enclosure volume: 6 liters. Weight: 13.2 pounds (6kg)…

There are five individual categories: Loudspeakers (including subwoofers), Amplification Components (preamplifiers, power amplifiers, etc.), Digital Sources (CD players, transports, processors), Analog Sources (phono cartridges, turntables, tonearms, FM tuners, etc.), and Accessories (everything else).

The two most important categories, however, are the "Product of…

B&W Nautilus 801
($11,000/pair; reviewed by Wes Phillips, Vol.22 Nos.1 & 5 (footnote 1) January & May 1999)

Revel Ultimate Salon (review)
($14,400-$15,500/pair, depending on finish; reviewed by Larry Greenhill, Vol.22 No.3, March 1999)

Runners-Up (in alphabetical order):
Alón Circe ($12,000/pair; reviewed by Wes Phillips, Vol.22 No.5, May 1999)
Audio Physic Virgo (review) ($5395/pair; reviewed by Michael Fremer, Vol.22 No.6, June 1999)
B&W Nautilus 805 (review) ($2600/pair with stands; reviewed by Larry…

Linn Klimax 500 Solo monoblock power amplifier (review)
($19,000/pair; reviewed by Jonathan Scull, Vol.22 No.10, October 1999)

Pass Labs X1000 monoblock power amplifier
($24,000/pair; reviewed by Jonathan Scull, Vol.22 No.6, June 1999)

Runners-Up (in alphabetical order):
Adcom GFP-750 preamplifier (review) ($1250; reviewed by Wes Phillips, Vol.22 No.3, March 1999)
AudioPrism Mana Reference monoblock power amplifier ($15,000/pair; reviewed by Jonathan Scull, Vol.22 No.9, September 1999)
Audio Research Reference One…

Linn Sondek CD12 CD player (review)
($20,000; reviewed by Wes Phillips, Vol.22 No.2, February 1999)

Runners-UpArcam Alpha 9 CD player ($1599; reviewed by Kalman Rubinson & John Atkinson, Vol.22 Nos.1 & 2, January & February 1999)
California Audio Labs CL-20 DVD/CD player ($2495; reviewed by Kalman Rubinson, Vol.22 No.1, January 1999),
dCS 972 digital-to-digital converter ($6995; reviewed by Jonathan Scull, Vol.22 No.2, February 1999)
Entech 205.2 D/A processor ($449.95; reviewed by Brian Damkroger & John Atkinson,…

Rega Planar 25 turntable
($1275 with tonearm; reviewed by Sam Tellig, Vol.22 No.5, May 1999)

VPI TNT Mk.IV turntable
($6400; reviewed by Brian Damkroger, Vol.22 No.2, February 1999)

Runners-Up (in alphabetical order):
Koetsu Rosewood Signature Platinum phono cartridge ($5500; reviewed by Jonathan Scull, Vol.21 No.11, November 1998)
Kuzma Stabi S turntable ($1200; reviewed by Michael Fremer, Vol.22 No.7, July 1999)
van den Hul Black Beauty phono cartridge ($4000; reviewed by Jonathan Scull, Vol.22 No.5, May 1999)
van den…