Verdict
Convenience and carrying out do n’t come in cheap , at least not in this instance – but the Sonus faber Duetto is a wise investing , nevertheless .
Pros
Cons
Check cost here
Key Features
Introduction
It take almost four decennary of excellence in the designing and execution of passive loudspeakers to encourage Sonus faber to deliver a wireless , all - in - one speaker system .
Omniawas its name and the reaction to it was so uncomplicatedly enthusiastic that the caller is back with a two - distribution channel variation on the ego - contain audio organization theme – Duetto .
It wait the part ; it ’s qualify to compete , and it ’s priced like a intersection with pretensions to the high end ought to be . But is it any good ?
Availability
The Sonus faber Duetto is on sale now , and in the United Kingdom it ’s priced at £ 3490 . In America you ’re looking at $ 3999 or thereabouts , while in Australia it ’s more like AU$6995 .
The idea of concealing elaboration and a batch of connectivity options in a brace of loudspeakers is far from a new one , of path – and sword with just as much hard-core hi - fi credibility as Sonus Faber already have their alternatives available .
KEF , for example , has a couplet of organization ( LS50 Wireless II and LS60 Wireless ) that sit either side of the Duetto , while DALI ’s Rubicon 2C is very similarly price . No audio product exists in closing off , in other word …
Design
Never is it more obvious that Sonus faber is an Italian brand than when discourse the design of its product . The company is never timid of putting the knockout yards in where the look and finish of its equipment is concerned , and the Duetto is no different . This is identifiably a span of standmounting loudspeakers – but different enough from the norm to be interesting .
The lute - shaped wooden console take their inhalation from musical instruments , and Sonus faber has desegregate a finned heatsink into the rear of each cabinet with both timbre and internal sonorousness rejection in mind .
At the bottom of each cabinet there ’s a petty recess to wait on with cable direction ( just superpower in the typeface of the secondary verbalizer , business leader plus all other physical connexion in the case of the primary quill ) , and at the top is a faux - leather inlay ( which is a customary Sonus faber conception flourish ) . The primary speaker also has the Senso mastery system integrated into its top instrument panel – input selection and loudness can be control here .
The standard of soma and conclusion is exemplary here – which , let ’s be honest , is only as it should be when you take the asking price .
Features
Each Duetto loudspeaker is fit with a 25 millimeter silk - attic tweeter ( featuring a ferrite magnet system with Cu cap ) and a 133 mm long - pleasure trip mid / bass driver ( have a Neodymium attractive feature system with atomic number 29 cap and atomic number 13 halo and enclosed in an constitutive basket to assist ease flow of air ) . Sonus faber provides magnetically attaching grilles to hide them , but – to my eye , at least – the drivers in their leather baffle surround deserve to be expose .
Each of the four drivers has its own DAC , and the heatsinks on the backside of the cabinet conceal 100 watt of Class A / B elaboration for each tweeter and 250 James Watt of Class D force for each mid / deep number one wood . Sonus faber suggests a frequency response of 37Hz – 30kHz can be expect from this arranging , while the DACs ( sourced from Sabre and AKM ) offer up compatibility with every worthwhile digital audio single file data format up to 32 - bit/192kHz resolve .
Each speaker unit need mains power , of course – Sonus faber provide the appropriate figure - of - eight mains moderate in lengths liberally key out as adequate . The primary speaker also take on care of all physical and wireless connectivity , and then communicates with its partner using UWB ( ultra - wide band ) wireless connectivity to eliminate interference and/or latency .
As far as connections go , there are plenty . Bluetooth withaptX HDcodec compatibility and dual - stripe Wi - Fi take care of the wireless stuff – and the Wi - Fi allows Duetto to be Roon Ready , as well as compatible withApple AirPlay 2,Spotify Connectand TIDAL Connect – and there ’s Chromecast built - in too .
strong-arm connector are all in the niche at the base of the primary loudspeaker system , where they ’re rather fiddly to get at and not so deep recessed that you may easily practice chunky interconnects . There is a pair of stereo RCA stimulus , switchable between phono and line - storey – so a lazy Susan can be directly connected . There is also a digital optical input signal , an Ethernet socket , a pre - out for a subwoofer and anHDMI eARCinput that have your telly conjoin in with the Sonus faber fun .
set up the Duetto is currently just a little bit fiddlier than is a ) ideal , and b ) likely to be the case in the near(ish ) futurity . There ’s a restraint app call , but it ’s not ready at the metre of my review – and so I set up the system using a web Sir Frederick Handley Page accessible via QR codification .
This allow me to tell the system whether the elementary speaker is the leftover or the right-hand channel , let it know if it ’s in free space or stuffy to a boundary , aline high-pitched - oftenness response , investigate something called a loudness optimizer [ sic ] , propose the system of rules as to whether or not I ’m using a subwoofer ( I ’m not ) , and to tick for software and firmware updates .
After that , the most basic ascendance is available via the Senso surface on the victor speaker system . The Duetto ship with a little remote control handset too – but it ’s a humdrum small equipment , and as such is powerfully at odds with the overall vibe of Italian sophistication the organization embody otherwise .
Sound Quality
There ’s plenty of dependable news to report here , but perhaps the most immediately important is the fact that the Sonus faber Duetto could not , apparently , care less about the sorting of music you care to play . From full - on symphonious fire like the Bulgarian National Radio Symphony Orchestra ’s violent disorder through Mussorgsky ’s Night on Bare Mountain to the virtually non - existent I take in a Ray by Grouper , the Duetto dead lap it up . If it ’s engagement and entertainment you come for , you ’ve come to the right spot .
From the bottom of the frequency mountain chain to the top , the Sonus faber is tonally consistent and nicely neutral , which entail the gravel description musical is solely appropriate . Detail spirit level are imposingly gamey across the display board , and the scheme is awake to the most minor , most transeunt occurrences in a recording as surely as it is the clobber going on front and centre .
It can create a large and persuasive soundstage – so when little is take place in a transcription , the spaces and silence are given appropriate weight , and when it ’s all recoil off the layout is controlled enough to keep things ordered . To call an audio system of rules organised does n’t go like the most flattering description , but it ’s essential if you ’re go to make proper sense of your favourite transcription .
At the bottom of the frequency range , the Duetto grok late – surely deep enough to make the idea of an external subwoofer seem like overkill . onset and decay are controlled well , so enough rhythmic expression is insure , and there ’s a mass of information regarding tone and texture useable . Up at the polar end , it ’s a similar story inasmuch as the Sonus faber is a substantial and detailed performing artist – but it ’s not scant of brightness or sting where treble sounds are concerned , either .
The midrange , though , is probably the most out - and - out enjoyable scene of the Duetto ’s performance . Like the remainder of the frequency range , it ’s richly detailed – but it communicates with such positivity , such candor , and such eloquence that it seems unlikely in the extreme point you ’re not hearing everything a vocalist has to give .
The only defect of any significance touch the volume at which you listen . Be in no doubt – the Duetto can play very meretricious indeed if you so desire , but if you do so then some of its composure can desert it .
It maintains its overall key admirably , but the soundstage can become tight and rather two - dimensional when compared to its layout at less oppressive degree – every constituent of a transcription seems to need to rush to the front of the stage , and the sound can become rather congestion and less well - defined as a result .
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Should you buy it?
Yes , you may probably get even better result by spend this same money on separate elaboration , speaker system , pennant , and DAC – but not staggeringly so
The strong-arm connections at the bottom of one of these speakers are n’t all that accessible and the aperture is n’t all that bass .
Final Thoughts
Just because I prefer a vast stack of dedicated one function and one function only audio equipment , that does n’t mean I do n’t realise other people value prudence and convenience … and this is exactly the sort of intersection ‘ other people ’ should be buy if they require a strong look of just what a Brobdingnagian stack of equipment is capable of .
Trusted Score
How we test
We test every hi - fi verbaliser we reexamine thoroughly over an drawn-out period of prison term . We utilise industry - standard test to compare features right . We ’ll always tell you what we find . We never , ever , accept money to review a product .
Find out more about how we examine in ourethics policy .
FAQs
Yes , with its HDMI eARC / ARC port , you’re able to connect the Duetto radio set speaker to your boob tube .
