
Sonus faber first dipped a tentative toe into the deep and fast-flowing waters of digital audio streaming a couple of years ago with its Omnia wireless speaker. It was (and is, for that matter) a reasonably pricey option – but thanks to a prodigious combination of looks, finish and performance, it didn’t disgrace the brand’s proud name. Quite the opposite – it went toe-to-toe with the acknowledged market leaders and emerged as an eminently viable option.
Demonstrably flushed with this debut success, Sonus faber is back with a bigger, more extensive, and considerably more expensive variation on the ‘wireless digital audio’ theme. This ‘Duetto’ system is Sonus faber’s take on what is now an established product type—an audio system with wired and wireless connectivity options contained in a pair of loudspeakers.
Of course, new ground can only be broken once, and Sonus faber plants its flag in territory that Bowers & Wilkins, KEF, and JBL (to name but three) have been involved in for some time now. But if the company can ‘do an Omnia,’ the Duetto could be a very diverting alternative indeed.
Looking the part
Indeed, it looks the part. The relative elegance and unarguable quality of Sonus faber’s cabinetry have been a Point of Difference for the company ever since its founding in Veneto, Italy, back in 1983. Regarding aesthetics and tactility, Duetto is well up to the standard the asking price demands. The cabinets are the brand’s trademark lute shape – they’re beautifully constructed and flawlessly finished and look the business, whether in ‘walnut’ or ‘graphite’. At the rear of the cabinet, both a bass reflex port and finned heat sink are seamlessly integrated into the overall shape – and as well as being a sophisticated solution where visual appeal is concerned, Sonus faber suggests the arrangement assists in the rejection of internal resonances.
Those of a more traditional audio persuasion will opt for a pair of fine-looking optional Duetto loudspeaker stands. However, the design also lends itself to desktop or bookshelf use. While you could argue the same applies to any small two-way design, the inherent flexibility of the Duetto’s active speaker system makes a good case for extremely flexible use.
Further design flourishes are apparent in the front baffle surrounding the driver array and at the top of each cabinet. Here’s where Sonus faber has deployed – and tidily applied – its customary faux leather. There are small, magnetically attached grilles supplied with the speakers, but (at least as far as I’m concerned) the front of the speakers look better without them. The ‘primary’ speaker uses that elegant faux leather-covered top of its cabinet to house the ‘Senso’ control interface.
Bring the power
Both speakers require mains power, of course. Each has a 25mm silk-dome tweeter with a copper-capped ferrite magnet system and a 133mm paper-pulp long-excursion mid/bass driver with a Neodymium magnet system with copper cap and aluminium ring housed in an airflow-easing ‘organic’ basket. Each driver has a dedicated DAC (provided by AKM and Sabre). In a drive to balance performance with efficiency, Sonus faber has specified that each tweeter be powered by 100 watts of Class A/B amplification while each mid/bass driver receives 250 watts of Class D power. This arrangement gives a working frequency response of 37Hz – 30kHz, and the Duetto is compatible with every digital audio file type up to 32bit/192kHz resolution.
Aside from the illuminated ‘Senso’ interface, what separates the ‘primary’ from the ‘secondary’ speaker is its selection of wired and wireless connectivity options. The wired stuff consists of an Ethernet socket, a pair of stereo RCA inputs that can be switched between line- and phono-level, an HDMI eARC socket (so a TV can be part of the action), a digital optical output and a pre-out for a subwoofer. All these sockets are hidden in a recess at the bottom of the speaker; this looks better than a rat’s nest of trailing wires, but it makes installation more ‘fiddly’ than plugging into a rear panel. The sockets are also grouped closely, precluding ‘chonky’ cables. Wireless connections run to Bluetooth (with aptX HD codec compatibility), and dual-band wi-fi – which means Duetto is compatible with Apple AirPlay 2, Spotify Connect and TIDAL Connect. It also allows Chromecast to be built and the system to be Roon Ready too.
Active art
The art of an active speaker system is to convey just the right amount of information to listeners without overloading them. This is often best done through a combination of basic display functions on the loudspeaker backed up with an iOS or Android app to provide more ‘granular’ detail. ‘Senso’ has a deliberately constrained range of functions, such as power, play/pause, input selection, connection, and volume, with illuminated insets on the top plate, all controlled by gesture. With lights that move from side to side, it can look like a Cylon from Battlestar Galactica, but it performs its functions properly. There is a small remote too.
Its app allows the listener to drill down into the system set-up, accessing a webpage that informs the primary speaker if it constitutes the left or right channel of the stereo pair, lets it know where it stands concerning boundary walls, informs it as to the presence (or otherwise) of a subwoofer, and checks for firmware and software updates.
Poised and informative
The Sonus faber Duetto’s sound matches its elegant looks. No matter if it’s receiving an aptX HD Bluetooth stream of a 320kbps file of Punk as F**k by The American Analog Set [Tiger Style] from a Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, a vinyl copy of 13th Floor Elevators’ Easter Everywhere [International Artists] via a Technics SL-1200GR2, a 24bit/96kHz FLAC file of Arooj Aftab’s Last Night [New Amsterdam] from some network-attached storage or a Netflix-derived stream of the soundtrack to Daniel Goldhaber’s How to Blow Up a Pipeline [Neon], the Sonus faber is a poised, informative, and thoroughly entertaining listen.
Low-frequency extension and substance are significant, but the Duetto doesn’t ignore the finer details in favour of kicking right off. It controls its bass output heroically, ensuring convincing rhythmic expression and momentum, and it loads on plenty of information regarding colour and texture as it does so. It’s nice that Sonus faber has fitted a pre-out for a subwoofer, but anyone with a listening space more modest than ‘cavernous’ needn’t rush to attach one.
It’s a similar story in which detail retrieval and insight are concerned when considering the midrange. No matter if voices are speaking or singing, the Duetto transmit lavishly, forking over every scrap of information regarding tone, attitude, emotional state, and even the shape and dimensions of the room where the vocalisation is occurring. The broad strokes are all there, of course, and in total – but the system is just as alert to the transient inputs of palate, or tongue at the back of teeth.
Despite the unpromising nature of the 1,900Hz crossover point, the transition to the top of the frequency range is smooth – and once it’s up there, the Duetto is just as substantial, just as fanatical where detail retrieval is concerned, and just as willing to sink its teeth in, as it is in every other part of the frequency range. The control of attack and decay of individual treble sounds is approaching martial, and a balance between ‘fidelity’ and ‘entertainment’ is struck with real expertise.
Tying it together
The Sonus faber ties everything together with a real sense of unity and commonality, creating a large and persuasive soundstage from which to communicate. Even dense, foggy, or inexpensive recordings get plenty of elbow room, and the Duetto keeps the gaps between individual elements lovely and dark. It dispatches even those significant dynamic shifts apparent when a symphony orchestra shifts into overdrive with no apparent effort. Still, it is alert to tiny harmonic variations when the same orchestra stands down while the pianist takes a solo. Its sense of authority and its powers of organisation is/are considerable.
The only way to make the Duetto sound anything less than utterly assured is by playing at significant volume levels. Its composure doesn’t desert it, but the previously wide-open soundstage loses a little of its three-dimensionality, and… no, there’s no ‘and’. That’s about it.
So, as far as getting a hefty serving of convenience with no commensurate drop-off in pound-for-pound sonic performance, your options became more numerous. Ultimately, a separate amp, speakers, DAC, and necessary cables will yield better audio results at the same money as the Sonus faber Duetto. But whether those results will be anything like as discreet, good-looking, or sonically vibrant, well… that’s by no means a given.
Technical specifications
- Type: Bass-reflex loudspeaker system with integrated amplification, DSP, and wireless connectivity
- Driver complement: 133mm paper pulp cone mid/bass driver; 25mm silk-dome tweeter
- Amplification power (w)/type: 100 watts Class A/B (tweeter); 250 watts Class D (mid/bass)
- Frequency response: 37Hz – 30kHz
- Crossover frequencies: 1900Hz
- Inputs: Ethernet; stereo RCA (line-level or phono); HDMI eARC
- Wireless inputs: wi-fi; Bluetooth 5.1 w/aptX HD
- Outputs: subwoofer; digital optical
- Digital audio sample rates: 192kHz (streaming and optical); 48kHz (Bluetooth)
- File types: AAC; AIFF; ALAC; DSD; FLAC; MP3; MP4; OGG; WAV; WMA
- Dimensions (hwd, cm): 34 x 21 x 27
- Weight (kg): 6.8
- Finishes: walnut; graphite
- Price: £3,490/$3,999 per pair, optional Duetto stands: £649/$749 per pair
Manufacturer
Sonus faber
UK distributor
Fine Sounds
+44(0)1592 744710
By Simon Lucas
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