The end-of-summer parade into the product intensive holiday season shows no signs of diminished output this year. The latest on the upcoming list of launches to grace the market is something fun from Sonus Faber, an Italian speaker maker that is known for a wide range of high performance pieces. The company also produces one of my personal cost-no-object speakers the Aida, recently updated in the past few years. The subject of today’s discussion is on the opposite side of the cost spectrum, a new line of more entry level cabinets called the Sonus Faber Lumina.
The marketing team worked hard to put together a clever acronym for the name, but basic translation from Latin equates to “light”. The rest of the messaging for Lumia is Luxury, Minimalist Design and Natural Sound. For the most part, the Sonus Faber brand has always excelled at integrating these three talking points into their products. The industrial design usually includes leather, and the wood options of walnut and dark brown wenge usually set them apart from the great many piano black boxes out there. One of the things I’ve always appreciate most about the Aida was its high end, but natural and believable tonal structure.
The price point for the floor stander Sonus Faber Lumina III hits at $2.2k and the bookshelf style Lumina I just $899 a pair. Considering the retention of the standard Sonus Faber good looks and the use of the D.A.D. tweeter used in the Sonnetto series, there might be good reason to get excited for those in the market. The Lumina I is a two-way design with the aforementioned Damped Apex Dome Tweeter and 120mm cone mid range driver. The 4-ohm speaker uses a custom blend of traditional cellulose pulp and other natural fibers in the driver and claims a sensitivity of 84dB. Specs for the Sonus Faber Lumina III include a three-way design with custom 29mm silk dome, 150mm mid and 2x150mm handling the low end. Sensitivity raises to 89dB for the 4 ohm floor stander.
More info: Sonus Faber
For more of a deep dive into Sonus Faber as a company, you can check out The Occasional Podcast‘s interview with President Jeff Poggi and Brand Manager William Kline in the embed below or on iTunes.
