@Orobas
It was delayed because something came up at work. The positive is that I managed to listen to their speakers today, or rather the FM-30.
I must say that your description of the Gato Audio speakers was not on mark. I was promised speakers that had the Sonus Faber top and Dynaudio buttom. How disappointed I was initially.
The first speaker that was connected was the standmount FM-15. I am not used to standmounts maybe but I found the mid tones to be a little recessed. Then we switched to the FM-30. Damn I was surprised how hard the bass was from that speaker. Initially I found the bass a bit too much, but it was precise and nice. I warmed up to the bass as the session progressed.
I had some small talk with Frederik time to time where the audio was turned down a bit and I noticed the bass was still very present and alive even at lower volumes.
So what about the sound in general? I would say I was a bit disappointed when I listen to them initially. They sounded nice, no doubt about that, but compared to Sonetto V it was not so forward and agreesive in the top. I would not call them laidback, but the treble is clearly not as pronounced as Sonetto. I thought it would be the Sonetto that won the right to start the home audition, but then something happened. As I listened to the FM-30 I noticed here and there subtle notions in the music I have not heard before. It was quite interesting. The best describtion is that the Sonetto V takes the subtleties and present them to you. The FM-30 reveal them but let you discover them yourself.
It is an exact opposite approach from Sonus Faber that provides a stark contrast to present sound. Should you discover the music yourself or let the speaker present it for you?
I ended listening to track after track, to my surprice almost none of my tracks did Frederik know.
I know many weird tracks.
I would say that there is beauty to FM-30 sound and it is very revealing. You can instantly hear if you listen to a good or bad recording, but honestly I did not mind it as much as I thought I would.
I honestly think I might give them a go at a home audition. I also like the Sonetto and their lovely tune, but depending on the tracks I played the bass could be a little too subtle. It is really a close call, especially since it is 1½ month ago I listened to the Sonetto. So I compare more about the feeling and impression that the speakers left me with. But the details on FM-30 seems a notch better than Sonetto V.
I did not have the chance to test the jumpers at the back because Frederik and his team was doing some testing so the crossover pcb was actually laying outside the cabinet. Reminds me about my own work
I learned quite a bit about the company. It is a very small company with 5 men employed. They source their drives from an external company made by old scan-speak engineers. The drives are then modified to their wishes.
They also use a ring-dome tweeter. That explains why it is so much bigger than normal (38mm). I know nothing about drives and their theory, but I just remember from the interview with the R&D manager from Sonus Faber. He explained that they also used ring-dome tweeters in the past but went away from them again because of poor spreading. So I am just wondering if the sound is hampered by standing up or moving away from the sweet spot.
Again without knowing speaker internals I was told the jumpers changes the impedance of a resistor in the crossover network. The changes will be subtle but audible.
I was also curious how they test speakers being such a small speaker and he mentioned tools to capture sound few milliseconds after release so the profile can be made without the need for sounddamped chambers, but they also had measurements inside such a place.
They target an almost flat frequency curve too.