The new Sonus faber Duetto wireless speakers can be easily connected to TVs, turntables, and active subwoofers, are Wi-Fi Certified, and easily directly connected to AirPlay 2, ChromeCast, Tidal, Spotify, Qobuz, Roon, and Bluetooth aptX HD. Which is in itself already an appealing proposition since the speakers will retail for $3,999 USD per pair.
After all, the external design of the Duetto compact speakers follows the Sonus faber decades old philosophy of the most natural sound reproduction through the use of natural materials. The lute shape wood cabinet merged with an elegant and custom designed heatsink guarantees stiffness and musicality while avoiding internal resonance, creating the Sonus faber signature Natural Sound. The Duetto speakers also have a leather top interface SENSO which allows for the user to control and set up functions such as volume, input selection, and connections.
"Our intention behind expanding into the wireless speaker category is to provide our consumers with the Sonus faber authentic sound quality they know and love combined into one versatile package. Duetto is a true Sonus faber stereo system, blending 40 years of premium speaker design, Italian style and materials with the modern technology and streaming features" says Chief of Design Livio Cucuzza. "Today's streaming capabilities do not compromise quality but rather offer an even higher quality for an almost infinite choice of music. Place the Duetto in your preferred space, choose your favorite source, close your eyes, and enjoy a one-of-a-kind listening experience."
The Duetto design is based on a traditional 2-way system, featuring a 0.7" tweeter and a 5.25" mid-woofer, as specified by the Sonus faber research and design team. The silk dome tweeter is equipped with a copper cap to amplify the driver's intended frequency response, and encompasses a waveguide ring that expands the out-of-axis response to improve the listening experience from every part of the room.
The paper pulp mid-woofer with neodymium magnet is able to achieve the deepest frequencies and is enclosed in the new Sonus faber Organic Basket which prevents resonance and eases the air flow produced by the long excursion of the driver. Each speaker includes two separate amplifiers – a 100W class AB amplifier that takes care of the tweeter, and a 205W class D amplifier that supports the power needed from the mid-woofer.
The Sonus faber engineers also made sure that the Duetto speakers are able to connect to a world of analog and digital sources. Users can easily connect to a TV through the HDMI and optical inputs, to a turntable through the phono input, and to an active subwoofer that can be automatically recognized through the Duetto setup system. To customize all the speaker settings, Sonus faber developed the Sonus faber app, common to the Sonus faber Omnia wireless system.
Since the connectivity panel is only available in a single speaker of the pair, many similar stereo pairs of wireless speakers are normally restricted to being connected physically using cables. Connecting the two speakers wirelessly always involves strong compromises in quality, range, latency and can degrade the intended performance, particularly when using Bluetooth. For that reason, some manufacturers have explored to use of dedicated wireless links, which raise other questions regarding limited fixed bandwidth, coexistence with other wireless systems, system cost, etc.
Tackling the problem head-on, Sonus faber engineers decided to explore the benefits of UWB (Ultra-Wideband) technology that avoids latency and interference in the connection between the two speakers. Using UWB radios from SPARK Microsystems, the Duetto speakers benefit from the lowest latency data transmission and deliver high-quality, uncompressed audio performance, without the risk of interferences from other existing systems that are now common in every home. For more details see a separate, related announcement.
Sonus faber is a designer and manufacturer of high-end audio products, founded in 1983 in Italy’s Veneto region, world-renowned for luxury goods manufacturing. Latin for "Artisan of Sound," Sonus faber expertly informs their state-of-the-art audio engineering with the traditions of Italian design expertise, hand-producing speakers with design cues inspired by centuries of musical instruments, crafted from organic materials such as wood and leather to reproduce sound as the artist intended.
Sonus Faber is part of the McIntosh Group, which offers a broad suite of premium equipment across its portfolio of owned brands including McIntosh Labs, and Sumiko Phono Cartridges. Through its Fine Sounds distribution companies, the group distributes numerous premium audio brands such as McIntosh, Pro-Ject, Sonus faber, and Rotel.
www.sonusfaber.com
