SONUS FABER LUMINA III FLOORSTANDING LOUDSPEAKERS

The Lumina III has an integral plinth. This causes some consternation in some circles (not just in the Lumina) for reasons I can’t quite fathom. I think some would prefer the narrow lines of the speaker to extend into the floor, rather than terminating in a wider plinth. However, such speaker designs fail tilt tests and anyone who has kids or pets going through their ‘parkour’ phase will attest, having a loudspeaker with a lower centre of gravity is a good thing. As the bass port exits through the rear of the loudspeaker, the air-gap caused by the spikes is mandatory, and Sonus faber provides spike shoes for those not wanting to ding up their nice new floor.

One of the good things about Sonus faber almost without exception (the Extrema notwithstanding) is their relative ease of drive. And with an 89dB sensitivity and a pretty benign four-ohm nominal impedance, the Lumina III is no exception. In fact, the less expensive a loudspeaker design, the more important these figures get, as the Lumina III is likely to be partnered with decent – but not super high-end or super-powerful – designs. While there is an obvious family connection with the McIntosh brand (and, let’s face it, those big blue power meters of McIntosh typically show a brand that is no stranger to the Watt), this is not a model that needs hundreds of Watts or the current delivery of an arc welder to make a noise, and its rated 50-200W amp suggestions ring true. I used a Primare i35 Prisma integrated amp to great effect, and I’d suggest you’ll find a perfect partner for the Lumina III in solid-state amps in the £2,000-£4,000 price bracket. That being said, the important part is more to do with installation than partnership, as these are loudspeakers that do benefit from reasonably careful installation in room. In particular, take the rear and side wall placement into close consideration, and possibly consider a slight up-tilt of the front baffle. I found an extra turn or so on the front spikes just gave the loudspeaker an extra ‘focus’ to the treble, but your mileage may differ.

Sonus faber has a reputation for making loudspeakers that sound as good as they look; sometimes sounding a bit too ‘nice’ in the process, with an indistinctness and warmth in the lower midrange. In fairness, many love this kind of sound, but those who want a bit of pep and pace to the sound often think they should look elsewhere. Recent designs have challenged that perception, and the Lumina III is very much cut from the same nu-Sonus cloth. This is a far more exuberant design; not quite ‘boisterous’ and far from ‘uncontrolled’ but more direct and forward sounding than you might expect from a Sonus faber design. This is, I suspect, a conscious voicing to try and bring new listeners to the Italian brand. And, if that is the case, it works extremely well. Forget polished recordings (it does them well, of course, but so does everything); I played Shame’s ‘Nigel Hitter; from the excellent post-punk Drunk Tank Pink [Dead Oceans, on Tidal]. This might be delayed 2020 angst released in early 2021, but it’s choppy Television/Talking Heads sound filtered through COVID-lockdown drudgery. If you think modern London music is all grime, all the time, this angular, guitar-driven claustrophobia-fuelled assault on the senses will shake you back to reality, and is played very well through the Lumina III. The sound is as tight and edgy as the music itself, with a fast and dramatic bass line that is big enough to cope with the live-sounding drums and the head’s down pace of most tracks. It makes a good soundstage too, even if the material doesn’t lend itself to discussions of imagery and spaciousness.

Of course, ultimately the Lumina III doesn’t stray too far from well-trodden Sonus faber territory; there is still a lot of refinement and grace to the sound when called for, but there is dynamism and energy when it is not. Curiously, Rossini shows us the way; listen to the full William Tell overture [LSO, Gamba, Decca, from 1960], which almost everyone forgets actually starts with the slow ‘Dawn’ passage and gradually builds to the ‘March of the Swiss Soldiers’ (better known as the theme to The Lone Ranger). Traditionally, Sonus fabers were magical in the Dawn bit, and get a bit lost when it gets to the ‘Hi Ho, Silver… Away!’ part, but through the Lumina III there is more of a sense of balance; perhaps you lose some of the majesty and magic of the slower and pastoral sections (the bits Disney uses to accompany animated ‘morning!’) but the Lumina III wins in the more excited passages.