Sonus Faber Sonetto G2 Lineup: Handcrafted Excellence in Every Note
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We are formally welcoming a new speaker brand into World Wide Stereo’s lineup — Sonus faber. Many of you may have heard of the artisans of sound before, but for those of you who haven’t, they make some of the world's most amazing, refined, natural-sounding speakers. In this overview, we will be focusing on the brand-new Sonetto G2 line, which features two bookshelf speakers, three levels of floor-standing speakers, on-wall speakers, and a matching center channel.
History Of Sonus faber
Starting in 1983, in the small, beautiful city of Vicenza, Italy, Sonus faber began their journey making their first pair of speakers out of a furniture factory. Throughout the years, they have become synonymous with natural sound.
They create not only some of the most natural-sounding speakers on the market but also some of the most gorgeous. Each speaker is hand-assembled, tested, and paired with a perfect mate. Not many other brands do that for their speakers below $10,000.
Handcrafting speakers ranging from the small but elegant Lumina series starting at about $1,299, and all the way up to the astonishing Suprema series for $750,000, they surely have a speaker for almost anyone looking for deep bass, smooth mids, and accurate highs.
Innovation: From Suprema to Sonetto
When Sonus faber first launched the Suprema speakers, their engineers were given a simple mission—make the best speaker you can with no cost constraints.
With that simple goal, they crafted one of the most impressive pairs of loudspeakers this century.
Now, they didn't do this just to make some incredibly expensive speakers that few will ever have the pleasure of owning. They also had a secondary goal in mind—to develop and design new acoustic technologies to be implemented in future revisions of their speakers to deliver the best sound at a lower cost.
And there are two key technologies that have been adapted for the Sonettos from the Suprema.
The Camelia Midrange Driver
The first is something that really stands out—the Camelia midrange driver. What looks like a white flower blooming from the center of the speaker is one of the most unique-looking drivers on the market.
It's not all for looks, though.
This design, with its five-cut pattern and reverse surround, delivers some of the most accurate midrange frequencies we've ever heard from a speaker under $10,000.
You can find the Camelia driver not only on the G2 VIII but also on the V and their matching center channel.
Most people's first question when they see this really unique design is: Why is the driver white?
We asked the same question, and Sonus Faber’s answer is quite simple—it sounds better.
During the development of the new Sonettos, Sonus Faber tested a painted black version of the Camelia driver to match the rest of the drivers in the Sonettos, and it was universally disliked. The sound was not up to their standards, so they decided to leave it in its natural, uncolored state.
Cork Enclosures
The second core—or maybe we should say cork—technology is the cork chamber hidden behind the midrange and tweeter.
The benefit of the cork enclosure is to help reduce distortion generated by the backward firing of the driver into the cabinet.
The idea of dissipating unwanted resonance inside the cabinet isn't a particularly new idea.
Lots of speakers do this, but the method using cork with waves cut into it is novel.
It also speaks to Sonus faber’s continuous efforts to use natural materials to create a natural sound.
Other speakers in the future are sure to use these new drivers and cork enclosures, and you can already see the first-ever speaker made with a cork cabinet being produced by Sonus faber in the new Concertino bookshelf speakers.
Additional Innovations In The Sonetto G2 Lineup
Onto the rest of the technologies within the new Sonetto G2 line—we have paper cone woofers, eight inches on the Sonetto 8, and a 1.1-inch silk tweeter.
These natural materials help build the sonic signature of these speakers, called the “Voice of Sonus Faber.”
The midrange drivers on all of their models in the Sonetto G2 line are suspended with a new organic basket.
This is an asymmetric organic pattern modeled after plants and their natural branching patterns.
The cabinets come in three finishes—gloss black, walnut, and wenge—and all the floor-standing and bookshelf speakers come with a concrete base replicating a stone slate.
The concrete base has two primary functions.
Firstly, it helps lower the center of gravity and adds weight to the speaker, making it less likely to tip over while providing a stable base to help reduce resonance with the room.
The second is to act as a natural reflector for the down-firing ports of the tower speakers, allowing bass frequencies to spread far and wide into a room, not being absorbed by the wall behind the speaker or carpet below.
The bookshelf models also use this to funnel the sound forward. The worst thing you can do with a rear-ported speaker is push them up too close to the wall—it can lead to chuffing, bloated bass, and decreased dynamics.
With the concrete base and front-facing port on the Sonetto I and II, this is functionally a non-issue.
These bookshelf speakers can reside in a cabinet or upright against the wall, like ours do in our Montgomeryville showroom.
Just make sure the front of the speaker is as close to the opening of the space or as close to the edge of your shelf as possible. This helps reduce reflections from the surfaces close to the speaker that can negatively impact the sound.
Final Thoughts
Of course, if you stop by our Montgomeryville showroom in person, we would love to let you listen to movies or music that you know well— as that’s the best way to judge if a speaker is right for you.
All of the Sonus faber Sonetto G2 speakers are rated at 4 ohms for their impedance and relatively lower efficiency, so make sure your amplifier can push some decent power at that impedance before purchasing. I would recommend a McIntosh amplifier with autoformers. That way, you are guaranteed to get the power you need to run these at the volume you desire.
Overall, we are thrilled to have Sonus Faber here in our showroom and hope you are too.
If you are in the market for an upgrade to your stereo or home theater system, we would highly recommend the Sonetto G2 lineup.
Shop the Sonus faber Sonetto G2 Line Here
Shop the Sonus faber Sonetto G2 Passive On-Wall Speaker Here
Shop the Sonus faber Sonetto G2 Center Channel Speaker Here
Shop the Sonus faber Sonetto I G2 Bookshelf Speakers Here
Shop the Sonus faber Sonetto II G2 Bookshelf Speakers Here
Shop the Sonus faber Sonetto III G2 Floorstanding Speakers Here
Shop the Sonus faber Sonetto V G2 Floorstanding Speakers Here
Shop the Sonus faber Sonetto VIII G2 Floorstanding Speakers Here
