Hi all,

I've been offered a pair of SF Guarneri Homages at a price which is up for negotiation. Cosmetically they are good but the downside is that one of the speakers is dead, (ie no sound at all). The tweeter has a 'crushed' dome and the rubber around the cone of the woofer is perished. The other speaker works fine.

I currently have some SF Cremona Auditors (not the 'M' version), which to my ears are great. The voicing is very much to my taste, (I guess I've mellowed over the years). I run them with an Ayre V-xe power amp, a Classe CP-65 pre and stream through an Auralic Aries and an Esoteric K-03X on board DAC. I am hoping to get a better version of what the Cremona Auditors provide, (I appreciate the limitations of this type of speaker and it is not a great concern to me).

My question is: Has anyone previously replaced or refurbished drivers in the SF GH? Replacement items are getting rarer and expensive and I'm not aware of any company who repair/refurbish these on a regular basis.

The seller has asked me to make an offer which I am considering at the moment. They are a reputable dealer who I have bought some very good pre-owned hifi from before. I understand these were traded in some time ago and they would rather move them on at a discount than wait a long time to organise new parts and repair. SF apparently do not have the parts currently available but should do at some time but the timescale is somewhat open ended, as is the price.

Anyway, if anyone can provide the benefit of their previous experience or knowledge I would be most grateful. I need to consider the risk before arriving at what I beleive to be a sensible offer.

Many thanks.

Steve.