Intro
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Italy is known for its fast cars, sleek design and… passionate residents. And also for his beautiful speakers. We’re looking at the brand new, beautifully designed Sonus Faber Sonetto I monitor speaker today. It is as we are used to from Sonus Faber a special appearance. But does this little monitor sound as good as it looks? We’ll sort it out for you
Sonus Faber has recently started producing all its loudspeakers fully in Italy again. Somehow a pleasant thought. To be stronger in the diverse hifi landscape to form McIntosh laboratory, Audio Research, Wadia and Sonus Faber together the McIntosh group (formerly Fine Sounds Group). A kind of sacred quartet. Let’s see if this speaker can get us into higher spheres.
Construction and appearance
The Sonetto I is the smallest monitor in the range and looks very stylish. This is one of the finest loudspeakers the editor in question has had in his listening room. For some people it may be too much ‘bling bling’ but we think the design is very successful.
The combination of the white with the silver accents is a hit. The black underside with the integrated bass port comes back into the woofer. This allows you to place the speakers relatively close to the rear wall.
In addition to our white version, there are two other versions available in the Sonetto range. High gloss black and a beautiful walnut veneer version that fits nicely in a modern interior. However, the icing on the proverbial cake is at the top of the speaker. The top is upholstered with black leather for a classy look.
Does all this play a role when buying a speaker? Without a doubt!
The Sonetto I weighs 5.5 kg and is nicely balanced. If you want some more foundation in the lowest regions, you can go to the Sonetto II. It is a bit wider to accommodate the larger woofer. Are you looking for more foundation? There are three floorstanders available in this range so that a suitable solution is available for every room.
Materials
The Sonetto has been given many elements from the more expensive series. Especially the tweeter is a beauty. It is a silk dome tweeter with the so-called DAD (Damped Apex Dome) technology from the reference series. This technology ensures that fewer phase errors occur in the high-frequency area. In fact, the ‘brace’ attenuates a small, central area of the soft dome so that there is no ‘anti-phase’. So there is potentially more detail coming through in human language.
The 15 cm woofer consists of a combination of natural fibres mixed with cellulose pulp. A proven recipe at Sonus Faber. The mixture of these materials is unique to the Sonetto range but retains the Sonus Faber sound.
Inside is the Paracross Topology. This crossover technology is again from the top series and should, due to its ‘semi-balanced’ design with certain components on the negative side, provide more contrast in the display. In short, they have put quite a bit of technique into the new Sonetto at Sonus Faber. You will find out in a moment whether the sound is appropriate.