More than just one Sonetto...
Sonus faber has used High End in Munich to announce a new ‘Sonetto’ collection with eight models. It inherits from the Olympica Collection a top in natural leather handsewn and embellished by the branded Sonus faber logo (see below), and also the so-called “Voice of Sonus faber” configuration of DAD (Damped Apex Dome) tweeter and natural fibre midrange cone, a combination previously only available on the higher Olympica, Homage and Reference collections. The Sonetto collection comprises three floorstanders (Sonetto VIII, Sonetto V and Sonetto III), two standmount/bookshelf models (Sonetto II and Sonetto I), the Center I, and the Sonetto Wall, an onwall speaker for use as main stereo, multichannel surround or LCR solution. The simultaneous release of this on-wall option with the more conventional box speakers at this level brings a useful versatility to the Sonetto range. Manufacturing will be undertaken entirely in Sonus faber’s factory in Vicenza, Italy.
Sonus faber R&D manager Paolo Tezzon explains the Sonetto concept, saying: “Sonetto is what I like to call a ‘democratic’ range of loudspeaker systems because it is about aiming to the highest quality in music reproduction within a cost conscious package.”
Sonus faber is distributed in Australia by Synergy Audio Visual; for more information visit www.synergyaudio.com
German speaker company ELAC first showed the Concentro M (pictured left), the smaller version of its ‘ultimate speaker’, at High End 2017; this year it was on active demonstration, looking a little Blade-like with its JET 5 tweeter concentrically embedded within the crystal-like AS-XR driver. ELAC also had a whole new VELA range of speakers to announce. ELAC is distributed here by Synergy Audio.
Meanwhile FinkTeam, born from the design consultancy run by Karl-Heinz Fink, confirmed its new and more affordable loudspeaker slightly worryingly (for Star Trek fans) called ‘Borg’. Pictured right, it’s a two-way floorstandings tan ding standing design featuring a 10.25- inch high-power mid/bass driver and an AMT (aka JET, above) tweeter using a strong 25 m pleated Kapton diaphragmphragm phragm with 50 m aluminium strips. While crossing from such a large bass driver to this kind of tweeter is no easy task, FinkTeam laughs off the problem, saying “a technical challenge is just a design exercise that may take a little longer to solve...”
The above image shows the High End Munich demonstration room for French company Trinnov Audio, whose Altitude16 home cinema processor and Amplitude8m amplifier we reviewed last issue. The room aimed to show the benefit of optimising the room acoustics, and of doing it in the electronic domain, but also with room treatment from art novian, with which the company has previously partnered, and whose products are available in Australia through the same distributor, Cogworks. Vinyl was played on an Origin Live turntable through an AS Audiospecials preamp, while another longtime show partner German speaker company Bohne Audio delivered the striking B12 speakers with additional 18-inch subwoofers in support — the company’s Markus Wierl is shown in the picture. Other presenters included Stefan Bock, MD of MSM Studios, pioneers in creating high-resolution audio content and immersive content in particular across Dolby Atmos, DTS:X and Auro:3D, here presenting violinist Alessandro Quarta delivered in Pure Audio format. For more information on Trinnov Audio in Australia, visit www.cogworks.io