Many thanks @keiserrg!
And thank you for asking. I’ve had the Ktêmas just over 10 years now and as the Swedes say my memory is “good but short”. But a few random points in an attempt to provide some kind of answer:
- The speakers I has immediately prior to the Ktêmas were Verity Audio Parsifal Encores. However before that I owned a pair of SF Electa Amators (curse myself for selling them) and before them a pair of Minima Amators. So it is more than fair to say I have a soft spot for the SF house sound and particularly the “silky” smooth highs from those soft dome tweeters.
- I didn’t really make any head-to-head comparisons, I heard them at a friend’s house and fell head-over-heels in love with them. His system is still one of the best I have ever heard, with top flight ancillaries in a large acoustically treated room and a result of a 40-year evolutionary journey consistently and relentlessly pursuing his sound ideal. I bought mine shortly after Franco passed away, knowing they would be the last speaker he ever designed. Thinking back I was also swayed by the fact I had a Devialet D-Premier at the time and this was the amp Franco was himself using to drive them in his office/studio in Vicenza.
- They sound just glorious to my ears. Smooth, liquid, organic, musical. Nothing sticks out, nothing seems out of place. Powered by my Nord Three amp** they play to realistic levels with very good dynamics. They sound beautiful at low levels and can make you jump out of your seat in the crescendos. For piano, which I listen to a lot, they are a match made in heaven. They are so resolving that it is easy to hear the difference, for instance, between a Steinway and a Bösendorfer. In my system/room they play down to 25 Hz (see below for the measurements I just sent to Mitch for him to build my FIR filter with) and ignoring the room modes that I am hoping to banish with the DRC the bass is tight and controlled. The only fly in the ointment for me is I have never got close to the sound staging of my friend’s system in my room. Mine lacks depth and the width doesn’t extend beyond the speakers. His is as big as the recording captured, the room literally just disappears. I am hoping DRC will take me closer to this since Mrs Struts is not so amenable to room treatments.
- We are building a new summer cottage on the island of Gotland and my plan is to have a pair of Accordos (or Guarneris) there. I just don’t see any need to change.
- Final point, today these cost £25,000, or less than €30,000. To my mind that makes them a stone cold bargain. I have a friend with Aida 2s (>€100,000) and without any disrespect to him it just seems silly to me. In my opinion there are many products, particularly speakers, priced to sell in the far east where more expensive seems to automatically be considered better (I have heard this from several, mainly US, high end manufacturers). It just seems to me that Franco never fell into that trap. They are the pinnacle of his career, the best speaker he was able to design in his lifetime, yet I can afford them and I own them! They are very likely my end game speakers. I am really looking forward to hearing what more Mitch can squeeze out of them!
Anyway, I hope you are able to audition them. If you love your Guarneris I honestly can’t imagine you not falling for the Ktêmas exactly as I did!
** I also think the Nord (or the Eigentakt modules it is based on) are an absurd bargain and perfectly capable of driving the Ktêmas which dip to 3.2Ω at 27Hz and need a bit of current. Part of me lusts after some audiophile jewelry like my friend’s Pilium or a pair of d’Agostino mono blocks but I can’t afford them. Luckily for me the Nord is affordable, utterly transparent and a match made in heaven with the Ktêmas!