Even now, years later, I think about how perfect the Sonus faber Serafino really was. I regret not keeping the speakers after the test. They would have stood as rock solid today too, no matter what new speakers they were compared to.
But now I may get another chance, because Sonus faber has revamped the entire Homage series. Which consists of the compact Guarneri, now on its fifth generation, the flagship Amati and the second generation Serafino, not to forget the third edition of the Vox centre speaker.
As we have written before, the Homage series is a tribute to Italian violin makers like Amati, Guarneri and Stradivari. So it’s no surprise that Sonus faber is taking its homage seriously and hand-building the Homage series, just as the violins were originally built in Sonus faber’s neighbourhood, Arcugnano.
The four loudspeakers in the Homage series have been upgraded both externally and internally. The original lute shape has been retained, a kind of signature of Sonus faber, which also hand-builts several of the more affordable models in the Olympica and Sonetto series.
“The most complex but also most exciting and challenging moment for a designer is when you are asked to improve on a timeless icon,” says Sonus faber’s Head of Design, Livio Cucuzza.
Inspired by Italian craftsmanship and instrument makers, but also by Italy’s rich musical history, it comes as no surprise that Sonus faber speakers are renowned for their ottima riproduzione vocale.
It’s also something they’ve sought to improve further with the new Homage series.
Intono
The four speaker models are available in three designs. The deep red you see in the picture above, in dark brown wenge wood or the more neutral grey, called graphite.
The cabinets, which are hand-built at De Santi from start to finish, feature new technology on the inside. We’re not just thinking of new crossovers here, but the Intono, which simply put is a chamber behind the midrange unit on the Amati and Serafino, and a mechanical valve on the inside.
It’s supposed to combine the advantages of a closed cabinet and a bass reflex cabinet, and reduce the disadvantages of choosing only one of them.
The unit plays in a closed cabinet until the sound pressure increases enough to force air into an adjacent chamber on the inside. This should even out the impedance and improve linearity, so to speak.
The Delefilters feature expensive components on a custom made circuit board, such as coils from Jantzen, custom film capacitors from Clarity Caps and capacitors from Mundorf.
The tweeter unit in the Amati and Serafino is Sonus faber’s familiar 28mm D.A.D. unit, paired with a new 150mm cellulose fibre midrange, with new suspension, a front phase plug, new magnet structure and coils.
The larger Amati model has two new 220 mm base units claimed to have 23 percent power, while the base units of the sleeker Serafino measure 180 mm.
The compact Guarneri has a new 150 mm midrange bass, which has as low a lower resonant frequency as 15 Hz, and a frequency range of 40 Hz – 35,000 Hz.
Pricing
The Homage series will be available this month, and prices in euros are as follows:
- Guarneri G5: € 15.000 per pair
- Guarneri stativer: € 3.000 per pair
- Serafino G2: € 25.000 per pair
- Amati G5: €35.000 per pair
- Vox G3: € 16.500 per pair
Specifications:
(Vox is not specified at the time of writing)
Guarneri G5:
- Type: Toveis Stealth Ultraflex bass port
- Dimensions: 377 x 239 x 375 mm
- Weight: 14,6 kg
- Frequency range: 40 Hz – 35.000 Hz
- Sensitivity: 86 db SPL (2.83V/1 m)
- Impedance: 4 Ohm
- Crossover frequency: 2,200 Hz
- Drivers: DAD 28 mm tweeter, 150 mm neodymium magnet midwoofer
Serafino G2:
- Type: 3.5-way Stealth Ultraflex bass port
- Dimensions: 1091 x 396 x 485 mm
- Weight: 48.5 kg
- Frequency range: 30 Hz – 35,000 Hz
- Sensitivity: 90 dB SPL (2.83V/1 m)
- Impedance: 4 Ohm
- Frequency: 200 Hz – 250 Hz – 2.400 Hz
- Units: DAD 28 mm tweeter, 150 mm neodymium magnet midrange, 180 mm woofer
Amati G5:
- Type: 3.5-way Stealth Ultraflex bass port
- Dimensions: 1,176 x 411 x 512 mm
- Weight: 55,5 kg
- Frequency range: 28 Hz – 35,000 Hz
- Sensitivity: 91 dB SPL (2.83V/1 m)
- Impedance: 4 Ohm
- Frequency: 200 Hz – 270 Hz – 2.200 Hz
- Drivers: DAD 28 mm tweeter, 150 mm neodymium magnet midrange, 220 mm woofers