Question Advice on second hand Sonus Faber Venere 1.5

[albertociarr]

Dear Forum members, hi! This is my first post, and I am very new to the hifi world, but eager to learn more
I write here because I would like some advice on the purchase of a pair of speakers.

Since I am just starting, I was looking into the second hand market, with the idea of putting together a system piece by piece.

A shop in my area has a pair of used Sonus Faber 1.5 (bookshelf speakers), which seem to be in very good conditions for 530 GBP.

I saw that they are a discontinued product, but reviews at the time were enthusiastic. Would it make sense as a purchase? Are they difficult to pair effectively in a system?

Note: my living only allows for bookshelf speakers at the moment, no way to fit towers.

Thanks in advance for you help!

 

[daytona600]

£530 Seems a far price if matching stands are included and in good condition
nb - they need a quality source + amp

 

[Al ears]

That's pretty good value even without the stands that were expensive. Extremely well built.
not too inefficient at 85dB but would be at there best with a decently powerful amp as stated.
what size room are you looking to use them in, could you have plenty of space around them?
You say room only allows for bookshelf speakers which concerns me, where do you plan to place them

 

[albertociarr]

Thanks for your replies!

No, the seller did not have stands. He told me they were used little, as it was his 2nd system. Is it too expensive in this case? I saw online much higher prices for these. They were bought in 2017 btw.

Related question: would it be so terrible to use them without stands, but on a very solid piece of furniture?

Would something like audiolab 6000A/Marantz PM6007 be a good fit as an amplifier?

For the source I was planning a streamer first (Audiolab 6000N or Cambridge Audio CXN V2) and then a turntable (to be seen at a later point).

Room is around 4 m x 4.5 m. They would be ~1.5 m one from the other, 50 cm from the wall at least, a lot of space in front

 

[Al ears]

You could use them with that equipment but because of their placement they would not be giving their best. They need to be at the correct height as well.
Amps with more than 50wpc would be better
Go ahead but it seems a fair bit of money for speakers to be used in the position you intend. My opinion only you understand.

 

[albertociarr]

You could use them with that equipment but because of their placement they would not be giving their best. They need to be at the correct height as well.
Go ahead but it seems a fair bit of money for speakers to be used in the position you intend. My opinion only you understand.

Thanks for the advice. I appreciate it, since I am unexperienced. The positioning may be improved later (I recently moved, room can be re-arranged).

What part of the placement I described is most problematic? The absence of stands or the room size? I can place them further from the wall if that is the issue. Regarding the height, they would be more or less at eye-level.

I say only bookshelf speakers, but they are not going to be "on a shelf". It is more related to the visual impact on the room and not having something occupying space on the floor in the living room (compromise with my partner )

 

[Al ears]

Because of their size I would be surprised if you could actually get them on a bookshelf
Room size is fine. Ideally the tweeters are best placed at ear level when you are seated in your listening position.
If you may purchase stands in the future I think the originals were about 60cm high.
They should be fine that far away from rear wall as they are front ported and not too fussy about placement.

 

[albertociarr]

Because of their size I would be surprised if you could actually get them on a bookshelf
Room size is fine. Ideally the tweeters are best placed at ear level when you are seated in your listening position.
If you may purchase stands in the future I think the originals were about 60cm high.
They should be fine that far away from rear wall as they are front ported and not too fussy about placement.

Thanks. Yes, I meant at eye/ear level when seated, indeed.

In general, I wanted to know if it was a good deal. I want to assemble the system carefully with time. If the Venere1.5 are a good occasion at this price, I am happy to buy them and wait a bit to get the most out of them.

 

[Al ears]

Thanks. Yes, I meant at eye/ear level when seated, indeed.

In general, I wanted to know if it was a good deal. I want to assemble the system carefully with time. If the Venere1.5 are a good occasion at this price, I am happy to buy them and wait a bit to get the most out of them.

I think they are brilliant speakers and if needed would be quite happy to pay that for them
driven by a decent amp you will not go far wrong.

 

[rainsoothe]

Thanks for the advice. I appreciate it, since I am unexperienced. The positioning may be improved later (I recently moved, room can be re-arranged).

What part of the placement I described is most problematic? The absence of stands or the room size? I can place them further from the wall if that is the issue. Regarding the height, they would be more or less at eye-level.

I say only bookshelf speakers, but they are not going to be "on a shelf". It is more related to the visual impact on the room and not having something occupying space on the floor in the living room (compromise with my partner )

Hi. You MIGHT be able to get away with placing them on a cabinet, but they would be severely gimped, and it would probably be waisted money (imo) if you place them on a unit. Also, slim floorstanders will take up less floor space than standmounts when used on stands. On top of that, Sonus Faber's own stands might be sort of mandatory, since they're supposed to be locked together with the speakers (reading around suggests that instructions for this are pretty unclear, by the way), and I think their top plates are also slightly sloped backwards, so the speakers can be a bit tilted back so the drivers are in phase.

I'm not relaying all this info to deterr you, but to give you some stuff to think about.

So all that being said, yes, they are great speakers, and if you can position them properly (on stands and ideally at leas 2m apart) and provide them with good partnering equipment, they will give you a lot of satisfaction. I would suggest seriously considering the Musical Fidelity M2si amp, a Bluesound Node 2i (especially for it's software, which is more important than you might think) which you could (and probably should) later upgrade with a Denafrips Ares 2 DAC.

If all the above seems too dear or impossible to accommodate, you would probably be better served by a pair of Dali Oberon 5 (you and the missus should see them in person, they're actually pretty small) on the end of a Marantz PM6007 (or Rotel A11 Tribute or Rega Brio) + source.

Try to audition.

 

[kukulec]

ok, back in 2016 i heard them with a primare i32, expensive cables, dedicated speaker stands. i wanted to buy those. audition was in a 18 sqm room. they sounded muddy, but still lacked bass. i was disappointed. i really think that you can buy better. i agree with rainsoothe. a slim floorstander could be a good choice.