Not content with a recent car audio partnership with McIntosh for Alps Alpine, Italian loudspeaker manufacturer Sonus faber has just launched a new collection of something it is known to do very well indeed – high-end speakers.
There's a twist, though: the Vicenza firm says the Lumina collection is designed to bring its legendary handmade-in-Italy craftmanship, artisanal design and "natural" sound quality to a wider audience of design-conscious music lovers.
The Lumina collection comprises the Lumina I standmount, the Lumina III floorstander and the Lumina Center I centre speaker.
In Latin, ‘Lumina’ means ‘light’, but to Sonus faber the Lumina moniker can be extended to embody three key Lumina design elements: 'Lu' (luxury sound experience) 'mi' (minimalist design) and 'na' (natural sound reproduction). Clever naming.
The range uses Sonus faber’s DAD (Damped Apex Dome) tweeter – the same used in the company’s higher-end Sonetto series – featuring a Kurtmueller hand-coated soft-silk 2.9cm diaphragm. The 12.5cm midrange unit also heralds from the high-end Sonetto series, including Sonus faber’s proprietary natural fibre- and paper-blend air-dried diaphragm.
The 10cm midrange driver, meanwhile, has been freshly developed for the Lumina collection and features a custom-made basket and cellulose pulp diaphragm blended with other natural fibres. And lastly the 12.5cm bass units have been designed from scratch for Lumina and also feature a paper pulp cone, for perfect coherence with the rest of the drivers.
The reflex ports are placed on the frontside of the bookshelf and centre channel but are downward-firing on the base of the floorstander. Thanks to this solution, Lumina says the speakers are significantly less sensitive to placement.
For luxury, there are chrome rings around the drivers and real multilayer wood and leather. Sonus faber also says the cabinets are perfectly squared: the designers executed a minimalistic look in order to emphasise the quality of materials used.
Lumina’s multilayer wood on the front baffle, as well as the real-wood veneer, is available in two wood finishes – Walnut and Wengè, both in matte finish with maple inlays – or an alternative Piano Black colourway. All other surfaces of the cabinet are hand-covered in the company's trademark black leather.
Luminas are also provided with two pairs of nickel-plated terminals, allowing for by bi-wiring and bi-amping.
The Sonus faber Lumina collection is now available globally, however orders are being accepted for UK delivery with stock arriving on 28th September.
Lumina I is priced at £799 ($899/AU$1595), Lumina III floorstander is priced £1999 ($2199/AU$3995), and the Lumina Center I costs £649 ($699/AU$1295).
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