Comparison – Sonus faber Guarneri Tradition & Guarneri G5

Comparison

Sonus faber Guarneri G5 & Guarneri Tradition 

 

 

 

 

The new Guarneri G5 from Sonus faber and their predecessor, the Guarneri Tradition, are both utterly gorgeous, but given six years have passed since the release of the Tradition in 2017 and the fact that the visible differences between old and new are pretty small, we wondered how they’d compare sonically. 

 

We didn’t have any of the previous Homage series left when our new demonstration G5 stock arrived which would’ve made direct comparisons tricky, but fortunately, we traded-in a pair of Guarneri Tradition shortly after receiving our new stock, putting us in an ideal position to make comparisons.

 

 

 

 

Aesthetically, there are a few subtle cosmetic changes, which make the new speakers appear a little more modestly dressed. They don’t draw attention to themselves visually in quite the same way – a lower key beauty if you like. Thankfully, the beautiful dedicated stands featuring carbon fibre legs (designed in collaboration with Pagani Automobili) are unchanged. 

 

There’s limited published information about the changes between the models, but we do know that the fifth generation model features a new mid-bass driver that uses new cone material that’s claimed to further reduce resonance over the predecessor. A change to a drive unit necessitates alterations to the crossover, and the newly designed versions of these help to lower the noise floor over the previous model, too.

Our first thoughts were how have the changes altered the sound…..

[See image gallery at criterionaudio.com]

 

We carried out our own listening in our medium demonstration room, partnering both models with the very latest Naim Classic 300 Series components: the NSS333 streamer with the optional NPX300 power supply, NAC332 pre-amplifier and a pair of NAP350 monoblocs. All music played was streamed via Qobuz.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The differences between old and new are subtle, but apparent. For instance, the mid-range of the new speakers was more lush and the mid/treble transition smoother and more natural. The old version seemed a bit more forward but actually less transparent. Bass was not greatly different in quantity or depth (well maybe it’s a fraction richer and deeper, but not significantly).

 

These speakers are not about massive bass anyway, but the bass delivery of the new Guarneris was noticeably more tuneful and better defined, so it was more about quality than quantity, and it was plentiful for a loudspeaker of these proportions.

 

[See image gallery at criterionaudio.com]

 

 

The overall sonic effect of these improvements is a more natural, tuneful and cleaner presentation: interestingly, the sonic changes mirror the cosmetics in a way.

 

Sonus faber have always paid special attention to the aesthetics of their loudspeakers, and this is very much in evidence with the latest generations of all of their ranges. For some it’s felt that this could be at the expense of outright sound quality, however, the international audio press have unanimously applauded the Guarneri for its performance over the years, so whilst no loudspeaker brand is for everyone, they still hold their own against the competition while looking stunning. Furthermore, it’s much easier to live with a pair of pretty loudspeakers than boring or even ugly ones, so we see no downsides here.

 

 

 

View our range of Sonus faber models here

The post Comparison – Sonus faber Guarneri Tradition & Guarneri G5 appeared first on Criterion Audio.

The new G5 Guarneri from Sonus faber and their predecessor, the Guarneri Tradition, are both utterly gorgeous, but given six years have passed since the release of the Tradition in 2017 and the fact that the visible differences between old and new are pretty small, we wondered how they’d compare sonically. 

The post Comparison – Sonus faber Guarneri Tradition & Guarneri G5 appeared first on Criterion Audio.