‘Suprema’, a new super-ambitious tour-de-force design, offered for US$750,000 and comprising two towers per channel, hits the über high-end market for Italian loudspeaker specialist Sonus faber.
The new speaker is called, appropriately, Suprema and it celebrates Sonus faber’s 40th Anniversary in 2024. Suprema features the latest and most advanced technologies Sonus faber offers and has been developed by a highly skilled team of engineers. In fact, the company refers to the design as being “groundbreaking” and capable of “unparalleled audio excellence”. Going by its overall design and the proprietary driver, enclosure and external electronic crossover network technologies, there’s little doubt Suprema will be among the best loudspeaker systems available.
The Suprema system, which features a main loudspeaker tower and a dedicated accompanying low-frequency cabinet per channel are referred to as “columns”. Sonus faber has dedicated its very best craftsmanship to the production of Suprema in terms of technologies, cabinetry fit and finish and overall construction detailing. The four columns are said to be a “call back” to Sonus faber’s first Guarneri, with the main speaker towers being lute shaped while the subwoofer towers are constructed in an elliptical form harking back to Stradivari.
Sonus faber has used a mix of precision CNC-machined carbon fibre, wood and solid aluminium materials, all used for their particular strengths in terms of stiffness and resistance to vibrational distortions. For the first time, the front baffle is trimmed with Italian leather of the highest quality and sourced from specialist design house Poltrona Frau.
The main towers are configured as a 4-way system with an analogue, fully discrete stereo/mono active crossover in a separate chassis. There are eight front-firing drivers including a new 20 mm silk dome super tweeter with waveguide and neodymium magnet system, a new 38 mm silk dome tweeter also with waveguide and neodymium magnet system and a new ‘Camila’ 165 mm midrange driver with a dual drive neodymium ring magnet. The drivers load a dedicated sub-enclosure with “an organic shape” which is lined with recycled cork, a sustainable material Sonus faber claims has been used for the very first time in the industry.
Handling the low-end for the main towers are a 200 mm ‘Link’ mid-woofer with neodymium “slug” magnet, 65 mm voice coil and sandwich paper cone which hands over to four 200 mm woofers with 50 mm voice coil and sandwich paper cone.
A rear panel ‘Back Emission’ 28 mm silk dome tweeter and a ‘Back Emission’ 100 mm paper cone midrange driver, both with neodymium magnet systems, complete the transducer compliment.
The subwoofer towers each feature two high power 380 mm forged carbon fibre sandwich cone driver membranes, with the drivers controlled via a powerful neodymium magnet system. All the speaker cabinets are isolated from the ground by a system developed in collaboration with specialist IsoAcoustics.
The main tower frequency response for the front emission drivers is quoted as spanning between 45 Hz and 40 kHz while the back emission drivers go from 500 Hz to 20 kHz. Sensitivity is specified as 91dB (1m/2.83V) while the impedance is 4 ohms. The subwoofer tower is a sealed system goes down to 16 Hz and up to a crossover point from 30 Hz to 80 Hz set via the external crossover component. Its sensitivity is said to be 92dB (1m/2.83V) and its impedance is also 4 ohms.
Sonus faber told Soundstage! Australia, “The Suprema loudspeaker system is undoubtedly the most ambitious project ever crafted by Sonus faber. Born from a legacy of relentless pursuit of perfection, Suprema is the epitome of audio excellence, redefining the boundaries of sonic immersion.”
The new Sonus faber Suprema loudspeaker system will be available upon request from 9 January 2024.
Sonus faber Suprema Loudspeakers
Price: TBA
Australian Distributor: Synergy Audio
+61 3 9459 7474
www.synergyaudio.com
