Sonus Faber

Sonus Faber build loudspeakers the way the Cremonese luthiers, three valleys to the north, once built violins. In the Vicenza factory, hand-finished cabinets in walnut, maple and high-gloss lacquer are pressed against leather-clad baffles by a team that, in many cases, has spent careers learning a single curve. The lute silhouette, with its tapering cabinet and softly rounded edges, is not a stylistic flourish. It is the shape an acoustician would arrive at independently if asked to reduce standing waves inside a sealed wooden box.

Why we carry Sonus Faber

Because a loudspeaker has to live in a house. Over twenty-five years in this trade we have watched a great many technically excellent speakers get vetoed at the last moment because they looked like laboratory equipment in a room somebody had spent two years decorating. Sonus Faber is the range that ends that argument — and, crucially, it does so without buying the aesthetics at the expense of the sound.

The tonal signature is consistent from the smallest Lumina to the Reference cabinets: warm through the lower midrange, unforced at the top, and unusually gentle with voices. It flatters. Some listeners want a speaker that reports the recording without comment, and for them we would point elsewhere. Sonus Faber is for the listener who intends to spend three or four hours in the chair on a Sunday and does not want to be lectured at by their hi-fi. That is a legitimate goal, and it is one of the more common ones.

The collections, and where each one belongs

Lumina — the entry to the catalogue, roughly £925 to £3,475 a pair. Lumina I, Lumina II Amator, Lumina III, Lumina V and Lumina V Amator. The Lumina I in particular is a small standmount that, in a careful room with capable electronics in front of it, plays well beyond its dimensions. This is where most of our clients first meet the brand.

Sonetto — the working middle, roughly £1,750 to £7,000 a pair, and the point at which the full Sonus Faber character asserts itself. Sonetto I, Sonetto II, Sonetto III G2, Sonetto V G2 and Sonetto VIII. If somebody asks us for one recommendation across the whole brand without telling us the room, this is the range we name.

Heritage — the small-cabinet specialists, built the old way. Minima Amator II, Electa Amator III and Maxima Amator, roughly £4,250 to £17,500. These are standmounts priced like floorstanders, and they are worth it in the right room — a small, well-treated space where a large cabinet would be a liability.

Olympica Nova — the modern reference tier, roughly £3,500 to £17,125. Nova W for on-wall duties, Nova I, Nova II, Nova III and Nova V, with the Nova CI and Nova CII centre channels for anyone building a cinema around the range. The Nova V in walnut is the speaker we most often place in front of a client ready to make a twenty-year commitment.

Homage — the tribute line, named for the instrument makers, roughly £15,775 to £54,000. Guarneri G5, Vox G3, Serafino G2, Amati G5, the limited-edition Amati G5 Folgore and Stradivari G2.

Reference — the top of the house. Il Cremonese, Il Cremonese Extrema, Lilium and Aida, to £120,000 a pair. These are room-scale projects, and we would always want to see the room before quoting one.

Stands are not an accessory

The standmounts in this catalogue are designed around their matching stands, and substituting a generic one is a real, audible downgrade — not a marginal one. The mass, the height and the coupling all form part of the design. We stock the matching Sonetto I stands, Olympica Nova I stand, Olympica Nova centre stand, Guarneri G5 carbon-fibre stand and the Heritage Carrara stand. Budget for them at the outset rather than promising yourself you will get to it later.

Getting them right

Give the rear ports room. Most of this catalogue is rear- or down-ported. Pushed hard against a wall, the warmth that makes the brand appealing becomes a thickness in the lower midrange that no amount of cable will fix. Thirty to fifty centimetres of clearance is the usual starting point.

Do not over-damp the room. These speakers are voiced gently at the top. A room already stuffed with heavy curtains, thick carpet and soft furnishings can push the balance too far, and the result is a system that sounds polite rather than alive. Sonus Faber generally prefers a livelier room than a studio monitor does. If you are unsure, our room acoustics service starts by measuring rather than guessing.

Match the amplifier to the character, not just the wattage. A very forward, analytical amplifier can be a useful counterweight — or it can flatten the thing you bought the speaker for. This is a listening decision, not a specification one, which is why we would rather you heard the combination before committing. Our integrated amplifiers and power amplifiers are the usual starting point, and Dan’s Friday Five on integrated amplifiers gives a sense of how we think about it.

New for this generation: read our piece on the Olympica G3, a new generation of an icon.

Hear them

Hidden Home Technology is an authorised Sonus Faber dealer in the United Kingdom, supplying, installing and demonstrating the range from our reference room in Bath, Somerset. We are a family-run, CEDIA Professional Member business with over twenty-five years in high-end audio, working across Bath, Bristol, the Cotswolds, the wider South West, South Wales, London and the Home Counties.

Where can I buy Sonus Faber speakers in the UK?
Through Hidden Home Technology, in Bath. We carry the Lumina, Sonetto, Heritage, Olympica Nova, Homage and Reference collections and can arrange a demonstration here or in your own home. Get in touch to arrange a private listening session.

Which Sonus Faber range should I start with?
Tell us the room dimensions and how far the speakers can come off the wall, and we will tell you honestly. As a rough guide: Lumina for a small room or a first serious system, Sonetto for a typical sitting room, Heritage where the room is small but the budget is not, Olympica Nova upwards where the room is genuinely large.

Can Sonus Faber be used in a home cinema?
Yes — the Olympica Nova collection includes matching CI and CII centre channels and an on-wall model, so a full surround system can be built with a consistent voice across every channel. See home cinema design and installation or our projects.