We’ve seen and heard them, but haven’t been able to talk about them for six months. Now the Sonus faber Duetto is finally here, and they are the manufacturer’s first wireless stereo speakers.
Sonus faber Lumina III is the obvious choice of speakers for smaller rooms
The speakers are quite small and fit nicely into a bookshelf, but deliver quite potent dynamics with surprisingly good bass weight considering their size.
Duetto is Sonus Faber’s alternative to speakers such as Dynaudio Focus 10, KEF LS50 Wireless II and Bowers & Wilkins Formation Duo.
Bowers & Wilkins does not quite succeed with the smallest speaker in the wireless Formation series.
Here you get a compact and wireless setup with everything built in. They have both Bluetooth Aptx HD and Wi-Fi, but also physical connections in the form of HDMI in, optical digital input, Ethernet and an analogue input that can also be used with a turntable. One of the outputs here is for an external subwoofer and not for connecting the speakers to each other. This is done wirelessly.
Livio Cucuzza, Sonus faber’s chief designer, says in a press release that Duetto combines 40 years of speaker construction and Italian design with modern technology and streaming.
The speakers, measuring 342 x 210 x 272 mm and weighing 6.8 kg, can be placed on stands designed specifically for Duetto’s lute-shaped cabinets.
Duetto supports Airplay, Chromecast, Spotify, Tidal connect and Qobuz, and they are also Roon Ready. Signal processing is done with digital processors from ESS and AKM.
Sound and input selection can be controlled from the leather-covered Senseo touch panel on top of one speaker. But it can also be controlled with the remote control or from the same app used for the Sonus faber Omnia. There you can also customise the sound settings and choose your own preferences.
The wireless communication between the speakers uses ultra-wideband technology to avoid delays or loss of sound between the speakers. The cabinets are designed in one piece with the electronics on a module on the back. As you can see in the images, you can choose between black or walnut-finished speakers. There are also a few customised stands available for the Duetto.
The small two-way speakers are equipped with a 13.3 cm midwoofer with Sonus Faber paper fibre cone and a neodymium magnet behind it. In addition, a class D amplifier module delivers a whopping 250 watts.
The 19 mm tweeter has a woven silk dome with Sonus Faber waveguide, a short funnel designed to provide uniform dispersion and better response on the side of the unit’s axis. There is 100 watts of Class AB power available and the speakers have a stated frequency range of 37 to 30,000 Hz. The crossover frequency is listed at 1,900 Hz.
The Sonus faber Duetto will first hit stores in November at a price of €4,000 per pair, while the stands cost €750 per pair.
Sonus faber Minima Amator II sounds as it looks, boundlessly beautiful.